Hey everyone, I am really hoping that I didn’t mess up too bad. We recently planted new grass next to our new patio. The grass is coming in quite nicely, however, I accidentally stepped on it today, and I sunk in a little more than I should have. Admittedly I didn’t to a great job tamping it. Is it a bad idea to rent a lawn roller? If that is the solution, should I wait or just do it now? We planted the grass two weeks ago and water it 3 to 4 times a day. Thanks for any advice.
by Pale_Ant_9992
22 Comments
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Your best option now that there’s germination is just wait. The soil should settle some on its own as you water it and even more as the roots start to take hold.
The first mow you may cause a few ruts but that’s something you deal with over time.
You’ll be just fine, don’t mess with it now
Now that grass is coming in you absolutely DON’T want to apply heavy pressure to it, like rolling. That will just kill a ton of grass. Just baby it and stay off it for now, next summer it should come in much, much thicker. You only want to apply compaction prior to germination.
So if you ever skip a step, motto is next time.
You don’t want the soil to be compacted, the seedling roots have an easier time establishing in uncompacted soil. Once the roots are more established and the soil is less wet, it will hold together better
Even if you tamped it down it’d sink in. You’ll be adding topsoil every year until you sell the place, that’s home ownership and the pursuit of perfection
Don’t mess with it. Of course it’s loose now, you just put it down and you’ve been keeping it constantly moist.
It’ll be perfectly fine in a month.
Just wait till next spring and add a small amount of top soil every few weeks throughout the summer
It will settle, let it do it naturally
It will settle and the roots will act as retention. So long as ur not on a steep incline you should be good.
It’s fine. It could come back over time..
I planted grass 7 days ago— I’ve got some decent germination & I’ve pretty much been gently walking on it everyday to make sure there’s adequate water coverage
I didn’t know I was supposed to tamp it. Recently I leveled some severe spots in my yard and I just spread the soil and screeded it with a wood pallet. And yeah, when it step on it, my foot makes 1 inch deep impression. I guess I’ll have to add top soil little by little next year.
Uh, you’re supposed to compact it? Whoops. Another problem to fix, after the fungus, over watering, under watering, over fertilization, and grubs. Yay!
I did that once too. Once the grass matured I didn’t even notice it. It should bounce back eventually and even out. Don’t worry about it too much.
Probably wasn’t even due to lack of compaction. More likely just a very wet ground.
Everything looks, good, grass looks too wet though. I would let it ride.
It’ll be fine. You shouldn’t be walking on it anyway
Be patient. Don’t mow it. Let it grow high. Let the soil settle. Cut back water to once a day soon.
Soil stability will come. Soil will settle, and the roots with help tremendously with soil stability.
You’ll want to stop watering for several days, maybe a week, to firm up the top. Then either roll it or drive on it with your mower
Yeah. It looks pretty good. Just leave it and it’ll be good in time. It’ll be like Augusta in the spring.