Will this work? Smoothing bumpy lawn

[Joe Gremlin]

Here's the "issues" I see with your plan.
150 x 50 is a LOT of sod to cut, store & tend to while you level the area.
It WILL dry out and could die if you don't tend it, so at least keep it wet.

You are correct. But I don't intend to pull up the entire 150x50 section. The mound and a bit of the surrounding area where the dips are is probably 25x80 or so which is more or less near the center of the lawn section. So my plan is to just pull up that area and to roll the sod to each end of the lawn section. Just sort of pull it out of the way while I try to fix the ground that lies below it. Then just roll it back when I'm done.

OK, then there is the volume of dirt or sub soil that you will strip off - as in, "where to put all this ?"

Two thoughts on this. First off, I don't really intend to strip it off so much as just push it around and smooth it out. However I also have an 800ft path through the woods on the back section of the property that desperately needs fill so I've definitely got someplace to put anything I end up having to remove. But like I said, I don't really want to remove the mound as it provides a nice extra barrier to protect against the pond spilling into low sections of the lawn if/when the water table rises above normal levels.

Is this a week-ends only project ?

More or less yeah.

How big is this mound? Is it rectangular in shape? is it your sand mound for your septic system?

It is rectangular, but it is definitely not part of the septic system. The septic system is much closer to the house. According to my neighbor, both of the ponds (there is another on his property) were dug 30 or so years ago. This mound is almost definitely is from when the pond was dug.

Some pictures would really help.

I actually took some pictures this afternoon before I posted the thread. But I didn't bother to include them because they really don't show any of the contour of the lawn. You can't really see the mound in them nor can you see any of the dips. You can definitely see both clearly when you're standing there but I just couldn't get them to show up in pictures.

 

[dusty3030]

Sand. Grass will grow back through it.

 

[jenkinsph]

If the bumps are small enough that you can't see them in a picture then I would think rolling should work. I would not expect to have good success with cutting the sod and replacing it.

 

[Jim in ICT]

What's wrong with filling with good topsoil, floating the dirt with the bucket, and keeping it wet to allow the existing grass to grow through the topsoil? It's still early spring and you should be able to keep the grass you have and spread on some fill dirt to give you the seat time that you deserve.
We built four years ago and I still have a section of the sewer line that's still settling. Winter is a good time to do this when the grass is dormant.

 

[Joe Gremlin]

I could do the topsoil I suppose. But how important is the keeping it wet part? Keeping it wet would require 300'-400' of hose. I'm not in love with the thought of buying that much hose for one job and then storing it until I eventually need it again.

 

[Runner]

I'm getting ready to do a similar project and thought about the idea of stripping the sod. However, the logistics of doing this (and likelihood of actually having the sod live afterwards) led me to the conclusion that it will be easier to just strip the top soil, infill the low spot, move the top soil back and re-seed.

I plan on using a box blade and loader, and may need to bring in some more top soil before it's all done.

 

[Jim in ICT]

Joe, it's veryy important if you want the grass to grow back. Think about if you laid down NEW sod, it would have to be kept wet as well. What part of the country do you live in? Do you normally have a lot of spring rains, or is it hot and dry? What about erosion if you get the sod pulled up and get a heavy rain?
How about a water tank to fill and transport to the site and put down with a short hose? If I have a good stand of grass growing, I'd do almost anything to keep from re-planting.

 

[Ford tractor]

Get a yard of good black dirt, a yard of peat moss and a yard of sand. Add fertilizer, lime, any other needed amendments then mix well. Every 3-5 days go out and sprinkle that mix into the low areas, just enough to add material but not so much as to cover the grass. Rake it in good and if you have a roller, flatten it out. Mix more as needed and keep at it until the low spots are full.

It probably won't take more than one summer of effort.

 

[Joe Gremlin]

Get a yard of good black dirt, a yard of peat moss and a yard of sand. Add fertilizer, lime, any other needed amendments then mix well. Every 3-5 days go out and sprinkle that mix into the low areas, just enough to add material but not so much as to cover the grass. Rake it in good and if you have a roller, flatten it out. Mix more as needed and keep at it until the low spots are full.

It probably won't take more than one summer of effort.

This sounds feasible, and it sounds like its worth trying before I do anything more drastic. The peat moss and sand make sense and should be easy to find. What is the significance of the 'good black dirt' and where would I get some? I'm guessing Home Depot isn't going to have bags of it.

 

[Joe Gremlin]

Joe, it's veryy important if you want the grass to grow back. Think about if you laid down NEW sod, it would have to be kept wet as well. What part of the country do you live in? Do you normally have a lot of spring rains, or is it hot and dry? What about erosion if you get the sod pulled up and get a heavy rain?

I'm in Southwest Michigan. It ain't exactly Seattle, WA but we do tend to get a fair amount of rain. Mostly the gentle soaking kind as opposed to torrential downpours.

If I had to, I'd probably try to find a way to use a small submersible pump, plunk it in the pond and then just run a bunch of extention cords from the shop when I wanted to water. If nothing else, extension cords are more useful around here than 400' of garden hose would be.


Thanks to all for the input so far. This is all very useful information and some really good ideas.