I'm having trouble with my lawn. It was laid down almost 4 weeks ago, but nothing seems to be happening – no growth, no thickening, just a dull, patchy look. I'm starting to wonder if the soil is the problem.
The topsoil was delivered by an earthmoving company who assured me it’s "good for lawns." Unfortunately, I was away on a long trip while the work was done, so I wasn’t able to supervise any of it.
Now I’m back and pretty disappointed with how it looks. Could the soil be bad despite what they claimed? What should I check or do next?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
by Wise-Ad8295
46 Comments
You have a lot of rocks there. I would take a rake, and use it to rake all the rocks/pebbles into 1 place and throw it away. Dig into the soil to loosen it so you can remove as many of those rocks as possible. Then you can seed and the rocks won’t be an issue. It’s like 30 mins of work.
did… did you put down grass seed?
If half of your “topsoil” is rocks and sand yeah nothing is going to do very well, sorry OP you got screwed over by them
If I paid money for top soil and that’s what I got I’d be pissed. It also looks like you just threw grass seed down. It needs to be raked in or covered at least a little bit with top soil or something like peat moss.
Definitely need to rake and remove as many rocks as you can, then throw down some seed. Rake that in. If you can, cover it with straw or something to help keep it moist and water light but frequently. Seed needs to stay moist not soaked for 1-3 weeks depending on type of seed for it to germinate.
Make sure you use decent quality seed as well otherwise you’ll get tons of weeds and poor germination.
There are more rocks in that “top soil” that I have in my rock garden.
I’ve never seen top soil with mixed in gravel. Pretty sure that’s most of the problem. Should have use a good mixed compost rich topsoil for a new seeded lawn.
What’s your location, that’s goddam rocks for a lawn what were there in first place?
I hesitate to call that soil. It is barely dirt.
Should have screened the top soil and covered the seed as well.
Was the top soil sifted or pulverized? Cause if so I’d call and complain, that has way to much rock
Is this a joke? Because you shouldn’t pay for that rock garden.
I’d either get more topsoil or till the whole area and rake out as many rocks as I can. The soil looks really compact, so the rocks are a bigger problem. Watering will just keep bringing more to the surface.
Seed was probably buried too deep or not enough seed was used…definitely needs another try
I see a ton of rocks in there..
Wow – the rocks that 4th pic shows is pretty bad. It’s getting pretty late to seed. But if you don’t want to lay sod, I think I’d rake off all the bigger rocks I could, lay down a layer of compost maybe 1 inch thick, reseed and put down straw to keep everything in place, retain moisture, and will break down by fall and become a natural fertilizer. Use good quality seed, like you’d get from a garden center. The annual rye idea from the other post is a good idea too.
Honestly this is why I don’t recommend top soil for seed starting unless you have hard pan or extremely sandy soil. It makes much more sense to just break up the existing soil with a tilther and add amendments that will benefit the seed starting process after getting a soil test done, and covering with straw mulch or straw blankets to keep the amount of water needed down to a minimum.
To fix this? You can try to scrape it up(3″-4″) screen out the rocks with a hardware cloth screen and lay it back down but that’s a lot of work.
Best bet is to [make your own top soil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30OLIXqiRiY). This worked out really well for me although its pretty expensive if you want to cover more than say 1000 square feet, but its perfect for top dressing and dealing with rocky soil.
Put sod down and be done with it
Where’s the top soil buddy?
Looks like you got some grass growing in your rock garden
The topsoil I got had a lot of rocks in it too. I raked what I could, but the deeper I raked the more rocks came up.
I wouldn’t worry about the rocks, but put more seed down and step on all of it to push it in.
Then cover with EZ straw, just enough so you can barely see the dirt – really helps keep the moisture in
Lols that’s topsoil ?
Top soil seed then black hummus or compost…i would leave soil take out rocks throw more seed down and seed starter then like 1 inch of hummus/ compost and water 2 times a day
I’ve seen construction sites with less gravel and rock in it, are you sure you got top soil?
Did you try putting any seed in dirt instead of the driveway?
I’m no expert, but it looks like they laid gravel down in your yard.
looks like my driveway. i cant keep the grass grom growing up through it. either.
not seeing any topsoil, seed or mulch.
Nothings gonna grow with all those rocks there
All I see is some form of aggregate/gravel. Not proper ground or even bagged (which wouldn’t be ideal) top soil with a mixture of sand potentially
I find that it’s hard to grow grass on concrete.
Where’s the soil? I see rocks
That’s some dog shit top soil my man unless they barely put a layer over some rock filled existing soil.
I’d get a load of compost and spread it over some seed and throw straw over the top of it so it germinates
You planted in gravel!!
Looks like concrete with rocks thrown in for the finish
Is this a joke?
That’s gravel
Good god here in the Midwest in my state top soil is FREE with free delivery and it’s blacker than coal.
I would be raising hell!!!
In reality though, Call that company explain and ask for it to be fixed in a calm manner. If they won’t do it I’d explore other options and go to small claims court, you will win!
I went through this with a new home and all new sod being installed half dead and uneven, I ended up getting my money back.
You’ll make it through!
That’s a great driveway you’ve made
Soil? 🤣 this has to be a troll post
That’s all gravels lol nothing gonna grow there
That ain’t soil. That’s a gravel driveway
Top dress with peat moss and use better topsoil.
Edit: top dress with compost. Apparently peat moss is the worse choice 🙂
Yea, that is not at all topsoil. It’s not even clean fill dirt. That is wrong. A crime has been committed here.
What soil?
The color of soil with organic matter is deep brown. That looks like sand.
Topsoil? That’s gravel
It looks like a parking lot.