Improve your yard by leveling out uneven areas — here ’s how to do it step - by - step .
Getty Images / Dmytro Varavin
A yard is idealistic for playing games , hosting a barbeque , or simply relaxing in the warmness of the sun . However , it also has a lively character when it come to drainage . If a yard is not graded correctly or leveled , pee from rain and melting nose candy may flow back toward the home ’s founding , where it can cause legal injury to the concrete and seep through the walls into the basement .
Credit:Getty Images / Dmytro Varavin
With this in mind , it ’s essential to see a M is level to protect your home base . Additionally , miserable leveling can damage garden , tree , and landscape gardening . divot and prick can lead to standing H2O , an idealistic location for mosquitoes and other pests to reproduce . deflect these job by learning how to level a yard with this aboveboard guide .
Importance of Having a Level Yard
Leveling the yard might not seem like a pressing issue , but if the railyard remain spotty in places or slope back toward the house , it can lead to serious problems , like implosion therapy or foundation damage . Similarly , kettle of fish , prominence , and divots in the grand touch how the lawn look and can damage the garden , trees , and landscaping .
An uneven G can make standing urine issuance and pest problem and prevent the installation of newfangled sewerage lines , water lines , or a syndicate . It can also affect the health of the lawn , so it ’s necessary to take action to objurgate minor leveling issues before stand weewee and soil wearing can make the problem more challenging to resolve .
How to Test If a Yard Is Uneven
In most case , just looking out the windowpane wo n’t be enough to distinguish whether the pace is level or there are dip , divots , or other grading issues . Although standing water is a quick indicant of a trouble , this signaling is n’t always present . Homeowners can measure the one thousand ’s form using a mallet , a stage , two 3 - foot wooden stake , and about 100 foot of string .
take up at the house and push back one stake about a foot into the soil . Then , measure 100 ft away from the house and drive the second stake a foot into the soil . Tie the string to the first interest at ground horizontal surface and execute the string to the second stake . apply a point to verify the string is level and tie it to the second stake . mensurate the aloofness from the string to the ground .
Ideally , the ground will have a flimsy slope away from the theatre measuring about 1/4 - inch in deepness per foot , which comes to about 2 feet in deepness per 100 foot from the sign of the zodiac . Yard unevenness can straddle from balmy to severe , so before attempt to charge the pace , it ’s a honest idea to key out the severity of the issue .
Before Leveling the Yard
It ’s necessary to plan the correct time to point the yard . Attempting to level the yard when there is a eminent level of rain or other precipitation increase the endangerment of soil erosion . likewise , if you decide to level the yard in the midriff of summer or the source of winter , new seeds or turf may have difficulty growing . The best time of the year to level the yard is previous spring or early downfall .
apply a soil test kit to determine the soil character , which helps whendeciding on the best topsoilmix . For soil with in high spirits remains cognitive content , usecompostonly . A surface soil and compost mix should suffice if the soil is loamy , fine , and balmy . Other soil type can be treated with a mixture of surface soil , sand , and compost .
Water the lawn to slightly dampen the grease before render to level the yard , making it easier to lift and manipulate the soil with a excavator or blood . Also , prep the yard by pout the lawn and using a Edward Thatch rip or dethatcher toremove the Blackbeard . After the thatch has been get rid of , you could start leveling the railway yard .
What You’ll Need
Equipment / Tools
Materials
Instructions
How to Level a Yard
Make a Topdressing Mix
Before starting this process , mow and dethatch the lawn . It ’s also a good idea to apply enough water to tone down the soil . Once these preparations are arrant , make a topdressing admixture suited to the soil character .
Lift the Sod in Problem Areas of the Lawn
Any scurvy office deep than 1 inch or jut higher than 1 inch require the land lifted to define the issue . Use the blade of a shovel to trim through the superoxide dismutase , driving the leaf blade about 2 to 3 inches into the ground to get under the grassroots .
Carefully pry up the sodomite , give away the depression or find underneath .
Fill the Holes and Fix the Bumps in the Yard
Use the topdressing mix to satiate in any holes and level out the yard . To define bumps , use your shovel or a leveling roue to hit excess soil . Put the extra into the wheelbarrow in case you need additional soil to rectify holes or impression in the yard .
If you postulate to make up the gradient of the lawn around the household , decant the topdressing mix into the affected domain to raise the height of the basis surround the plate . Ideally , the ground should slope aside from the menage at about 1/4 - inch of depth per 1 foot of length or 2 human foot of depth per 100 feet .
Severely spotty yard with serious grading problems — hole abstruse than 3 inches and gibbousness taller than 3 inches — should be repaired by a professional landscape gardening company .
Spread the Soil Mixture Across the Yard
When you complete filling in any significant Great Depression and flattening bumps throughout the yard , the next footstep is to spread the topdressing admixture evenly across the intact lawn . Spread the topdressing admixture at a deepness of about 1/4 inch to 1/2 column inch . Adding too much could strangle the grass , so be heedful with the amount you use .
Water the Lawn
Either water the lawn using a garden hose and lawn sprinkler or connect a spray schnoz to the hosiery and manually irrigate the lawn . The water help the topdressing mix settle into the soil and fill melodic phrase pocket .
Reapply Soil Mix as Needed
Keep water the railyard regularly over the next few days . Check for any sign of H2O overspill or stand up water that could indicate the 1000 is still uneven . Reapply the topdressing mix in 1/4 - column inch or 1/2 - inch level as demand to fix any venial issues , but wait until the grass jump to actively arise or you could no longer see the first topdressing program . Otherwise , you may choke out the grass with topdressing .
Yard Maintenance Tips
After charge the yard , it ’s of import to continue vigilant to prevent future problem . If you notice any signs of standing water or recognise any dips or divots you may have missed , take action to even out the issue as soon as possible . Beyond this , keep up with right lawn care and maintenance , including applying surface soil , mowing the lawn , and crease up leaves , excess skunk cutting , and other yard debris .
activate the lawn to improve the health of the cubic yard . If there are area that are importantly damage , it may be skillful toreplace the sodorreseed the lawn . Water the lawn consistently after replace sod or reseeding , and head off walking on the lawn for about three weeks . go for a thin layer of surface soil or fertilizer and pee regularly to promote increase . Repeat this process until you make a stratum yard full of sizeable botany .
Frequently Asked Questions
Whether your lawn has been professionally pull down out , or if you followed our stair - by - step guide to do it yourself , it ’s better to await at least a hebdomad or two to mop the lawn .
Leveling a pace can help better the overall wellness of your yard or terrace , especially if the drainage is n’t working properly . A pool of urine ( or several of them ) in an scratchy lawn may take to plague , mold , or pull in chuck or other serious issues that can put down your yard over time . So , yes , it is worth it . Even more so if you ’re planning to do abackyard renovation project .
