The most vital part of maintaining a well-kept lawn is the soil. Uneven, bumpy, and pitted lawns are far too common an issue but thankfully have an easy enough solution. Re-leveling lawns is the process of evening out terrain by adding soil, sand, or compost mixture to low areas and removing excess soil from high areas.
Why Choose to Re-level Your Lawn?
An uneven lawn can make your home look unkempt, damage the soil bed, and even be a safety hazard. Many homeowners choose to re-level their lawn not just to avoid these issues, but also to improve drainage, reduce soil erosion, enhance aesthetics, and improve foot traffic safety. Whatever the reason, this article will give you the ins and outs of re-leveling your lawn!
Uneven lawns can be caused by many factors, including foot traffic, weather, care, pests, and root systems. But despite its presence, don’t let it trick you into thinking it can’t be handled!
How to Re-Level Yourselves:
The first step is to remove all debris, sticks, and leaves from the terrain before you start. Spending a few days reviving your grass helps the process run more smoothly. Once you clean up, consider dethatching your soil’s thatch layer if it’s over a half an inch to remove all the dead roots and organic materials suffocating your soil. Regularly water your lawn for a couple of days to make it easier to work with, and you’re all set to begin re-leveling!
Topsoil (what you’ll use to fill in holes) is most commonly mixed with compost material, fertilizer, or sand, creating a breathable and nutritious layer that promotes lawn health. Once you have your mixture, apply it to the depression points in your yard, evening it out with a leveling rake and then watering the areas to help it settle. For high spots, use a shovel to redistribute the excess soil to lower points. For extra measure, use a lawn roller to compact the soil.
Cost and Resources:
Cost is variable depending on whether you do it yourself or get help from professionals. The biggest factor in choosing how to handle your project is to gauge the severity of your lawns needs.
Mild unevenness is an easy fix where high and low points differ by no more than 2 inches. This sort of issue can be resolved by topdressing which can range in cost from 200$ to 1000$, depending on project size.
Moderate unevenness is far more noticeable and can have spots up to 3 inches deep or tall. This requires more effort to fix: using topsoil and evening tools like a leveling rake to help remove excess soil.
Severe unevenness is best handled by professionals and is characterized by depressions or high spots over 3 inches. Attempting to mend extreme cases by yourself is a daunting choice, but not impossible. The work, however, can be very labor heavy, leading the price of professional assistance to be fairly high. Despite the cost, getting a landscaper’s help allows you the reassurance that the work is done well and efficiently.
For more information on how Algo Landscaping can help re-level your lawn, check out their lawn re-leveling page!
