I put down seed, starter fertilizer, sprayed torocity, then I leveled my 2000 sqft lawn with about 1.5 yards of a topsoil mixture using a leveling rake. Does this look okay? There’s some spots with bigger clumps that are “hiding” the grass. Will the grass grow through or do I have to break those areas up by hand?
My landscaper just so happened to drive by and called me and said my lawn will die by doing this…now I’m freaking out
by jgw1985
24 Comments
Your landscaper is probably trying to cut in some profit by doing work over yours.
How long ago did you do this?
How often are you watering? I’m seeing dry spots of new soil.
How did you apply seed?
Did you roll or rake after seeding?
Suffocating it and then when it gets wet will promote more disease. Same reason you don’t pile up mulch at the base of trees. Work it as far down to the soil with a rake and will come back.
Who owns those two nice lawns in the pic? I’m sure they can help you
You might want to look into plug aeration next.
It looks like the grass was not cut short enough to effectively level. You don’t need to necessarily scalp it but cutting it much shorter is ideal. I see bent down blades of grass in the soil which can lead to more dead spots if it kills the plants that were there.
I’ve done this before.
1. I’m guessing you just used bagged topsoil which is big piece and not the screens soil that is grainy. Just water it in real good and it should be okay. Try and remove any super large pieces
It should be okay, but lesson learned to use screened soil next time and less of it to just cover the seed – you don’t need a lot
Did u seed THEN level? Or vice versa?
It’s normal. Plenty of lawns in my neighborhood have done the exact same thing. As long you seeded heavily in those spots and water multiple times daily. It will fill in and look great in 2-4 weeks depending on grass type.
You can’t level cool season grass like this. It doesn’t grow through like warm season grasses. You have to take a much more measured approach or do it with the intent to re-seed.
Took mine 3 months to evenish. Just be patient and take it ever so lightly.
You’ll be fine just have to be patient. But for future reference, level first and THEN seed/fertilize
This will be fine, you didn’t mention where you are and what seed you put down, but it looks like cool season grass in a cool season location. Hopefully you seeded after leveling, it would be better, but if not, no big deal. It doesn’t look like you did massive leveling that the seeds are buried so deep they will never come up.
Keep it watered regularly until you get some sprouts, you will do well.
Why are you posting on here? Just walk over and talk to your neighbor, his grass is on point!
Your neighbor is putting in work!
Well, your old grass isn’t going to grow through that dirt. Your overseed might save you. Time will tell.
It’s not a big deal, just overseed again if it doesn’t look perfect in a couple weeks.
Short answer yes, long answer no. Time heals all lawn missteps
It’s just a lawn, breathe buddy
It doesn’t look pretty and honestly 2” is not short enough for leveling a lawn IMO.
But, given you laid seed I’d just water and wait. You did choke out some grass but hopefully it grows in nicely, maybe put some extra seed in the bare looking spots.
It’ll rain and the grass will go through. Doesn’t matter if youre the greenskeeper at Augusta, it’s going to look ugly for a week or two when you level.
i own a property services business in NY and we top dress all spring with Ecolawn250s and seed with it. i don’t see anything wrong here. go around and make sure it’s not too deep in some spots and do some spot raking if need be then give it a couple good waterings. will look great.
Best germination happens with no more than 1/8 inch of soil coverage. Looks like you laid the topsoil on too thick.
Throw some more seed on top and lightly rake it in or tamp it down. That might make you feel better at least. The grass should grow through as long as you didn’t put over an inch of topsoil on top of it.
it will be fine. nature allways takes over.
Sand?