There can be many causes of unevenness on a lawn. Sometimes it results from incorrect ground preparation before sowing grass, while other times holes and bumps appear even on a perfectly established turf. Dog-dug holes, grass frostbite, soil washout after rainfall, or ruts are the most common causes of unevenness. Wondering how to level your lawn so it looks like a football pitch? Check out our tips!
A way to a level lawn
The primary reason why unevenness appears on a lawn is incorrect ground preparation for the lawn. If the substrate is loose or, conversely, there are places where slopes and weed roots still remain, its surface may resemble a series of mounds and hollows. Therefore, the best way to achieve a pitch-like turf is to correctly proceed with establishing the lawn!
To avoid unevenness on the lawn, you must take proper care of the substrate. Firstly, the soil should be dug over, raked, and cleared of any debris (stones, rubble, roots, and weed rhizomes). Then, the ground should be thoroughly levelled and compacted with a special garden roller. If the substrate is non-uniform, too heavy, or sandy, you can enrich the ground with better quality soil before rolling.
Need more information about establishing a lawn? You can find it here!
Eliminating ruts on the lawn
An equally common problem is ruts on the lawn. It only takes driving over it once with a heavy car for the surface to be marred by long, worn ruts for months. The soil underneath them is heavily compacted, so before overseeding, it is worth properly preparing the area by carrying out aeration and scarification of the ground. If it is only a local problem, after the treatments, it is enough to level the area by adding soil and sowing grass into the prepared substrate.
Sometimes, however, there are so many ruts—for example, after intensive work by construction equipment—that it might seem there is nothing left to do but remove the current lawn and establish a new one. However, this is a fairly radical move. Usually, professional lawn regeneration is enough to level the area and ensure the blades grow healthy and beautiful on the regenerated ground.
Top dressing an uneven lawn
Another treatment that can be recommended in this situation is top dressing the lawn. It works particularly well when the unevenness and depressions are not large. It involves covering the turf with a thin (approx. 3-5 mm) layer of sand mixed with compost, peat, soil, clay, or chalk, depending on requirements. On light, sandy soils, use more clay and peat, and on heavy, clayey soils – more sand. By choosing the right mix, you can not only manage unevenness on the lawn but also improve the soil structure.
If the lawn is a few dozen square metres, you can do this yourself; for larger areas, professional help will be useful. It is important to spread the sand evenly and accurately so that the lawn is level afterwards. The treatment should be preceded by aeration and scarification for the best effect – the new mixture will penetrate the soil and enrich it appropriately.
If you are interested in the top dressing treatment, detailed information can be found in a separate article.
Levelling depressions
Sometimes, however, the depressions in the lawn are so large that top dressing alone is not enough. They become a problem especially when puddles form in them, leaving ugly, muddy marks on the lawn. If you don’t want to wait for the overseeded grass to grow, you can try a faster, but slightly more complicated method of how to level a lawn. It involves cutting out a rectangular strip of turf from the depression. Then, the unevenness is filled with soil to the appropriate level. The soil should then be compacted and watered, and the strip of cut turf rolled back onto the prepared ground. The whole area should be thoroughly trodden down or rolled, and then the lawn should be watered.
Uneven colour on the lawn
Lawn unevenness often also concerns colour. Yellow or brown patches are usually the result of inappropriate fertilisation (lack of it or too much fertiliser), diseases, or maintenance neglect. If this problem affects your turf, you can find out here how to deal with patches on the grass.
Wondering what might be the cause of uneven terrain and patches on the grass? Carry out a free lawn condition analysis and get answers to your questions!