lawn leveling/re-sodding

heisman77 – posted 16 July 2003 10:13

We live in Houston Texas, and our backyard is exclusively St Augustine. There are several low spots where water ponds. I am going to lay a layer of sand, and then a layer of good top soil and then I will re-sod. Is it ok to just lay the sand and soil over the existing grass, or does it need to be gutted? ThanksMark

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 17 July 2003 07:01

You can lay the sand over the existing grass but are you planning to lay the sod over it too? That’s not such a great idea. It’s very hard to get a good soil/sod interface when you do that. The roots from the sod need to be touching the soil underneath or they will stop growing as soon as they touch the air gap.

What’s wrong with the existing turf? Does it have any of the grass you want in it? If so I think you can recover significantly this season without starting over.

If you’re going to redo the entire yard anyway, I would suggest at this point to call in a finish grader to handle the low spots for you. He will regrade the entire lot in about a morning and make sure it all drains away from the buildings. At the same time, he can amend the soil with whatever you want in there. The end result will look like pure virgin soil and be ready for immediate sodding.

Sir Skrip – posted 17 July 2003 12:36

From my experience, wherever I have low spots, I just sprinkle sand on a weekly basis. Yes it takes longer, but that way i dont have to deal with re-sodding and all that. Of course, if your area is super huge and you want it done now, then add sod. But DO NOT mix the topsoil with sand! Use the topsoil to lift the low area, then sod. Then later once the root has grown in, sprinkle sand if its still a bit low. Thats what I would do.

heisman77 – posted 18 July 2003 09:36

Thanks for the replies. The areas I need to raise are random 6′ by 6′ areas in our back yard. So if I am understanding your replies, *it is not a good idea to lay sand down and then top soil and then sod right?* I was trying to save a little money on top soil. I have already purchased 10 top soil bags and 8 sand bags. Each bag covers 1 cubic foot approx…

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 18 July 2003 10:45

That’s funny! I was just going to suggest mixing the sand with the topsoil before you applied it!!

My reasoning is that the best soils are a mix of organic matter, sand, and clay.

The alternate reasoning is that when you mix clay and sand you get cement. First of all, cement is the stuff that hardens sand, gravel, and water into concrete. So on the technicality, sand and clay cannot become cement or concrete. However, does mixing them make it the best mix for growing turf? I happen to think you can’t make a mistake AS LONG AS YOU HAVE ENOUGH ORGANIC MATTER. This is a real problem for many, many homeowners. So if you can get five bags of compost or anything that has no bad smell to it, you could mix that in with the entire pile of materials you have.

If that is not Sir Scrip’s reasoning, I’m completely open minded on the subject.

heisman77 – posted 18 July 2003 11:11

Thank you for your quick replies! I was wondering though if the compost would “rot” the roots and inhibit growth?? I am interested in Sir Scrips comment on Dchall_San_Antonio’s reply as well. While I have you all here, and anyone else who wishes to interject, what do you think of the idea of folding a square piece of sod like a piece of bread, where the roots could have a dirt surface to grow into, and just laying that folded piece on an ungutted existing turf for the benefit if raising the low spot?Thanks!

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 18 July 2003 15:53

I’m not sure I’m following you on that folded bread idea. If it’s what I think it is, when you lay anything down on top of organic matter (like turf or even weeds), in a short while, the organic matter will vaporize leaving zero volume under the stuff you laid on top. That’s why you cannot raise a low spot with compost. You have to use something with residual bulk.

The vaporization is quite literally what happens. The microbes eat the organic matter and it completely disappears into the soil and atmosphere.