Leveling dirt before laying sod

Rhino – posted 07 August 2001 18:08

I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to make the soil as level as possible before I lay the sod. I roto-tilled it a few times and raked it as well in an attempt to make it as level as possible. However it stills seems to be somewhat uneven. So anyone got any good pointers? Thanks!

seed – posted 09 August 2001 10:03

Rhino, very loose soil will have undependable grade, because voids will continue to collapse, causing subsidence and sinkholes on the surface. Sometimes it takes a few months of rain for things to fall back in place, or the area should be rolled. The actual levelling is difficult to accomplish except with a dragmat or a wide rake. You can inexpensively make a wide rake for yourself, as I also describe at “Starting a new lawn by hand,”https://turfgrass.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000073.html

best kind [of rake] you make yourself by nailing a 1 inch x 4 inch x 6 foot board onto the end of a 2 inch x 2 inch x 5 foot handle. Then to the ends of the resulting “T” you nail a couple 1 inch x 2 inch x approximately 3 foot braces that go back the handle. You can’t bulldoze with this simple tool, but it is extremely effective in knocking off the tops of the undulations. Then at night, you can go out with a flashlight held horizontally close to the ground, and rotate it at different places to see where you still have humps and valleys.”

Phil

[Note: This message has been edited by seed]

seed – posted 09 August 2001 17:04

Better than trying to describe the improvised “Fake Rake,” I’ll share a photo:https://turfgrass.com/planting/rake.html

Phil

[Note: This message has been edited by seed]