# Preparing for leveling next year



## ajmikola (Feb 18, 2017)

So next year i will level. Have a few questions if anyone could help.

I placed some markers in the grass to point out what i'm talking about. The dips in the grass are so severe if i truly level it it will completely cover areas of the grass. Is that something i need to avoid or can i full on dump sand in those areas?

My hill has severe leveling issues to. I'm concerned about the sand washing away, is there anything i can do?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Completely covered in places is fine, but it takes longer to recover. With that comes the risk of erosion during a hard rain. It's sort of a balancing act, but you would probably be better off with multiple light topdressings on that slope.


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## csbutler (Jun 15, 2017)

I put down 4 tons on the main portion of my front yard (abt 2600sqft) in July. I had a lot of spots with 2 inches of sand or more. It took about a full month for my yard to completely recover. I have a decent slope in the front but it doesn't look like it is as much as yours. Atleast 3 times I was shoveling sand off the sidewalk and reapplying it. Luckily it worked out but I just had to stay on top of it. Like Ware said multiple light sandings would be best in my opinion. That is what I am planning on doing next year. Plus you don't have to move that much sand in one project.

I plan on aerating and then sanding once the grass takes off. I'll probably try and aerate twice next year and sand as much as I can.


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## ajmikola (Feb 18, 2017)

thx fellas. I can't wait to get going. Only 8-9 months away


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

What does everyone use to cover the irrigation heads when sanding/leveling? Don't want to lose them under a ton of sand


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

45ish psi is pushing up on them I don't think you have to worry about it.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

J_nick said:


> 45ish psi is pushing up on them I don't think you have to worry about it.


+1


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

J_nick said:


> 45ish psi is pushing up on them I don't think you have to worry about it.


Thats what I figured, but wanted to make sure. I've done stupid things when I could've just asked beforehand :lol:


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

gatormac2112 said:


> What does everyone use to cover the irrigation heads when sanding/leveling? Don't want to lose them under a ton of sand


+1 what everyone else said and if you have any OCD you can go around with your hand cannon filled with water and clean all the sand off the heads with it(That's what I do  )


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## 95mmrenegade (Jul 31, 2017)

I have always wondered if using a 60/40 or 70/30 sand to top soil would be better in a case like this


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

95mmrenegade said:


> I have always wondered if using a 60/40 or 70/30 sand to top soil would be better in a case like this


Definitely better than sand in this case, or even straight topsoil. Only downside is that you can't go as heavy and it's harder to spread but doable.


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## raldridge2315 (Jul 1, 2017)

Ware said:


> J_nick said:
> 
> 
> > 45ish psi is pushing up on them I don't think you have to worry about it.
> ...


There is a problem. I've had to replace heads because sand gets inside the popups and rotors (between the piston and the outer sleeve) and they will no longer go back down after use. Most of the springs are not strong enough to overcome the friction from the roughened surfaces. I have tried to disassemble and clean them , but no help. What will work though is the tunafish cans upside down over them. If the ground is wet you should be able to push them down into the soil flush with the soil line. I plan to sand this spring and I have been saving them for a couple of months now.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

This is homegrown video from Hunter, but they talk about their external and internal sand testing of the MP Rotators.

https://youtu.be/Hr6T7Im1UbE


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## raldridge2315 (Jul 1, 2017)

This may be true for Hunter. But my circa 2001 Nelsons don't like it.


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## ajmikola (Feb 18, 2017)

What about timing?
My plan is to scalp, verticut and aerate.
It doesnt seem like i should scalp and topdress as soon as first green-up occurs.
So that leaves me with scalping twice right?
1. Spring green-up scalp and fertlize.
2. Once actively growing, scalp verticut aerate and level? Perhaps late april or may?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

ajmikola said:


> What about timing?
> My plan is to scalp, verticut and aerate.
> It doesnt seem like i should scalp and topdress as soon as first green-up occurs.
> So that leaves me with scalping twice right?
> ...


You can probably scalp and verticut once you start seeing green in the lawn(Feb/Mar) and then once it's fully greened up (Apr/May) you can go ahead and aerate and level. No need to scalp again before you aerate, just make sure when you do scalp that you go as low as you can/want.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

raldridge2315 said:


> This may be true for Hunter. But my circa 2001 Nelsons don't like it.


I have an older system as well, probably from the mid 90's. I would love to have a system like Ware's, but not sure thats gonna happen anytime soon.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Mightyquinn said:


> ajmikola said:
> 
> 
> > What about timing?
> ...


Going to hijack ajmikola's post: Like him, I plan on scalping down to 1/2" (hoping my bumpy lawn can take it), and verticutting (or verticutting and then scalping?). If I then set my HOC to 3/4" after a couple months decide to aerate and level, it won't be difficult to level at 3/4"? The lower the grass doesn't make leveling easier? Or should I not attempt to cut it so low before leveling?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I would go as low as you can ahead of leveling. The recovery is probably a bit slower, but I favor leveling shortly after my spring scalp. It's all personal preference, but I like to get it out of the way on the front end of the season.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Ware said:


> I would go as low as you can ahead of leveling. The recovery is probably a bit slower, but I favor leveling shortly after my spring scalp. It's all personal preference, but I like to get it out of the way on the front end of the season.


My having Zoysia worries me a little, don't want to have a beach through July :lol:


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

gatormac2112 said:


> My having Zoysia worries me a little, don't want to have a beach through July :lol:


That's why I do it early - so I don't have a beach in July.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Ware said:


> gatormac2112 said:
> 
> 
> > My having Zoysia worries me a little, don't want to have a beach through July :lol:
> ...


So then it wouldn't be too much on the lawn to scalp it down to 1/2", verticut (do I really need to do this if I scalp?), aerate, then level with sand all on the same weekend? If I'm putting down pre-e as early as mid February, isn't aerating a month later going to screw that up?

I'm not sure when green up occurs here in north alabama....I've never cared to notice before.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

gatormac2112 said:


> So then it wouldn't be too much on the lawn to scalp it down to 1/2", verticut (do I really need to do this if I scalp?), aerate, then level with sand all on the same weekend? If I'm putting down pre-e as early as mid February, isn't aerating a month later going to screw that up?
> 
> I'm not sure when green up occurs here in north alabama....I've never cared to notice before.


If you have been maintaining at 2.5", the turf will likely be very stemmy (you'll see a lot of bare ground) after you scalp to 1/2" . If that's the case, verticutting won't do much for you.








Where veritcutting really helps is when you've been maintaining a low HOC and the canopy is still very dense after a scalp:








Many people level mid-summer, but I like to get it out of the way on the front end of the season - but again, that's just personal preference. :thumbup:


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Ware said:


> gatormac2112 said:
> 
> 
> > So then it wouldn't be too much on the lawn to scalp it down to 1/2", verticut (do I really need to do this if I scalp?), aerate, then level with sand all on the same weekend? If I'm putting down pre-e as early as mid February, isn't aerating a month later going to screw that up?
> ...


Awesome. As always, thanks for the education. I will scalp to 1/2", aerate, then level with sand and pray


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Ware said:


> If you have been maintaining at 2.5", the turf will likely be very stemmy (you'll see a lot of bare ground) after you scalp to 1/2" . If that's the case, verticutting won't do much for you.


I would like to add a caveat to this as my lawn was at or around 2.5" when I started this Spring and I verticut my lawn and it removed A LOT of material from the lawn. My way of thinking when it comes to verticutting your lawn in the Spring time is that the more material you remove early on the less chance of it creating a problem later in the year as it gives you a larger buffer zone to play with. You might want to make a judgement call once you get it all scalped down and see how much build up you actually have.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Stemmy Bermuda is exactly what I was up against on my lawn and I opted to use the overseeder and "dethatch"/v-cut it a bit even so late in the season. I have overseeded with annual rye for winter cover and will deal with any negative consequences next season. My lawn was over 4" when I took over and my last cut was right at 2". I could see bare ground in some areas, not so much in others.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Mowed the lawn again today with the rotary, man it is really bumpy and not level at all. Going to be a major project next spring. One dumb question: I have several weak areas that are thinner, with the blades growing horizontal instead of vertical and also having more weeds pop up in those areas. I'm concerned that when I scalp and level these problem areas will persist as these have been there since the sod settled in a year ago.

Is there anything special to do to these areas or is scalping, verticutting and/or aerating and leveling going to be enough? I'm afraid sand covering these areas will never fill in.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

gatormac2112 said:


> Mowed the lawn again today with the rotary, man it is really bumpy and not level at all. Going to be a major project next spring. One dumb question: I have several weak areas that are thinner, with the blades growing horizontal instead of vertical and also having more weeds pop up in those areas. I'm concerned that when I scalp and level these problem areas will persist as these have been there since the sod settled in a year ago.
> 
> Is there anything special to do to these areas or is scalping, verticutting and/or aerating and leveling going to be enough? I'm afraid sand covering these areas will never fill in.


see the chewed ends ....one thing you'll not see on the reel. you might want to poke around (literally) to see if rocks or debri is below.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

jayhawk said:


> gatormac2112 said:
> 
> 
> > Mowed the lawn again today with the rotary, man it is really bumpy and not level at all. Going to be a major project next spring. One dumb question: I have several weak areas that are thinner, with the blades growing horizontal instead of vertical and also having more weeds pop up in those areas. I'm concerned that when I scalp and level these problem areas will persist as these have been there since the sod settled in a year ago.
> ...


Yeah I've been mowing with a push reel all summer long, but these last few mowings of the year I'm doing with a rotary as it about kills me pushing that reel. Starting next spring I'm all in on the greens mower.


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