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Levelling the lawn
Garden noob
Posts: 260
We took down some large conifers three years ago and now the lawn is becoming more and more uneven. I assume this is caused by the decomposing roots, or it may be the product of my imagination as I become increasingly garden-proud.
I'm not aiming for a bowling green but some dents are quite large and I can end up scalping the lawn if I'm not careful (e.g. 15-20 cm deep over 1 metre).
Is it worth trying to level the lawn at this stage? My concern is that my efforts will be quickly undone by further decomposition of the roots. Is it better to wait longer and do a proper job then? If so, how long?
Here's a "before" picture so you have some idea of the starting point.
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Posts
it will possibly take some time for the roots to decompose. Possibly, you will need get the service of a tree surgeon to remove the roots if they are that large. After removal, that area of lawn will need replacing. You can try this yourself or again get a lawn expect in to do this work. The lawn will need stripping out, levelled to your existing lawn and lawn layed as a stretcher style
Or you could fill in the hollows with some garden compost and sow some grass seed.
Our country garden had a very uneven back lawn and the problem was aggravated by the presence of soakaways and decomposing tree roots after the removal of three very large trees.
Over 2 or 3 years we did things like gradually filling in the dips / trying to remove some of the high bits, reseeding etc etc - but the grass seed was obviously either a different mix to the existing grass or (more likely) was just not 20 year old rather neglected turf with a good mix of thatch and weeds thrown in for good measure.
The end result was a more level lawn - but with very patchy coloured grass and different grass growth rates. It always looked 'wrong'. The way DHR suggests (lifting the turf, filling underneath and relaying the turf) would be a much better way to go.
In the end we bit the bullet when we had landscaping done last autumn and removed all the lawn, imported loads of top soil to get the levels right with the new landscaping and had the whole lot returfed.
Looks loads better - despite the best efforts of the local mole population
Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll have a go at lifting the turf in the worst areas and levelling the lawn.
Ultimately I'd like to landscape the garden, but we're young and clueless at the moment so don't really know what we would want to do. The plan is to garden on a shoestring budget while we gain confidence.
I'm not too concerned about reseeding large patches though - I did this previously and what started as an area that was obviously "wrong" (the dark patch on the left hand side) has now blended fairly well.
GN - I wish I'd been as 'clueless' as you when I started out.
Your garden is looking beautiful - such a transformation
Your grass colour really has evened out quite nicely. Mine was just permanently darker patches - even after 3 years. I think it was because the original lawn was in a pretty awful state and had been poorly laid and it just couldn't compare with the nice new properly prepped seeded areas.
Topbird - thanks for the compliments. We're genuinely clueless though - we knew nothing about gardening when we bought the house three years ago (it's our first home with a garden). I have spent quite a lot of that time reading about lawn maintenance though... Starting to get obsessive now
Doghouse Riley - I love what you've done with your garden. We don't have the vision or knowledge to plan anything like that yet, let alone the budget. We take the complete opposite approach: Zero grand plan and just do whatever job occurs to us next. It's extremely whimsical, but that strategy works for us while we're a bit naive because it keeps it fun. In a few years we'll think about a bigger overhaul of the garden, but for now we'll keep chipping away at the smaller jobs and increasing our knowledge.
Next up: The bluebells and tulips are coming up and I can't wait for them to flower
I also bought rooting powder last night so I'm going to experiment with my first cuttings soon.
Well - if you're doing propagation - you're hooked!
Nothing quite like the joy and satisfaction of making your own plants for free - even if you're not quite sure where to put them (we've all been to that station...) Lots of advice via the forum if you're not sure about when or how to take cuttings of certain plants.
But - for now - just enjoy what you're doing. It doesn't need to be serious - just make your own space & enjoy it