Non-destructive Grading

hankhill – posted 02 September 2006 23:17

I was wondering whether anyone has figuredout the best way to reduce the level ofan area as non-destructively as possible.(I.e., least harm to existing grass.)

Obviously, an area can be raised non-destructivelyby putting down small amounts of dirt ata time, so that the grass is not buried andcontinues growing.

However, lowering an area would seem torequire digging up the turf, excavatinga certain amount of dirt, then replacingthe turf squares. Quite stressful for theturf.

I had one idea. In my area, fireants build bigbuild mounts–of dirt. If I let the fireantsinfest the area, and kept raking up theirmounds into a waste pail, eventually thesoil in that spot would compact down underfoot pressure. All of this non-destructively.

[This message has been edited by hankhill (edited 02 September 2006).]

TexanOne – posted 04 September 2006 01:09

That’s an interesting concept. However, who’s going to be tough enough to carry those pails of soil??

Those fire ants are deadly I’ll tell ya!

jr – posted 04 September 2006 07:27

It would be a neat trick to compel fire ants to create a colony right where you want the grade reduced, but doesn’t seem practical.Before we had air spades, we would excavate tree root systems hydraulically, with water under high pressure either washing the soil from the surface or injecting it under ground, and pumping the mud away. Then when we were done inspecting the roots or pruning or whatever, we would replace the soil.So, the point is, maybe you could devise a variation of this method, injecting water under the turf where you want to lower the grade, and somehow pumping out the mud until it lowers to the desired level.

cohiba – posted 04 September 2006 12:40

Why not aerate with a core aerater and pick up the plugs. The holes would eventually collapse and the ground lowered. It would take a few years but sounds less messy than the water and less itchy than the ants.

Just a thought………….

hankhill – posted 06 September 2006 00:15

All interesting suggestions. Too bad wedon’t have the technology to use the antsas micromachines controlled by a computer.

Few years down the road I guess.

TexanOne – posted 06 September 2006 00:44

If you can figure out the technology hankhill, please let me know. I would pay good money for someone to slip in a program for those little nasty critters to attack each other. I’ve certainly been unknowingly bushwhacked by fire ants a time or two.

Seriously though, I think cohiba has the right idea by removing core plugs. It might take a long time but the holes would eventually have to fill up from collapsing sidewalls and achieve the result you want.