# Leveling in North TX



## ryless01 (Aug 22, 2019)

I want to start leveling my yard this year with sand. The question I have, I have an area of about 400 sqft that i need to bring up at least 2 - 3 inches. Do you recommend my putting dirt down in this area, roll it and reseed? or should i use sand bit by bit over years?

Secondly, my plan for the year is to scalp and de-thatch soon. Once i have a few cuts in me, i will then be aerating and leveling. Thoughts of order or process, etc. 
Thank you in advance.


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## The Anti-Rebel (Feb 16, 2019)

2-3 inches is a lot. I might consider renting a sod cutter, cutting out that area, bringing it up to grade and laying the sod back down.


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## ryless01 (Aug 22, 2019)

The Anti-Rebel said:


> 2-3 inches is a lot. I might consider renting a sod cutter, cutting out that area, bringing it up to grade and laying the sod back down.


 Should i get soil or a 50 50 mix of sand and soil?


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

If it were me I would level in stages using 100% sand. I had some uprooted trees that I had to fill in that were several feet deep and certainly more than 5 inches over grass in spots. What got smothered quickly filled in from stolons and rhizomes of surrounding grass. That's the beauty of Bermuda... you can't get rid of it even if you wanted to.


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

Do NOT ever put down any type of bermuda seed with your existing bermuda. Chances are you will never match the seed with your current bermuda and you will have competing bermuda strands which can cause different textures and colors. Bermuda is hardy enough that if you cover it up it will come back. Hell, you can probably nuke it and it would come back!


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## McDiddles (Feb 24, 2020)

it's not a good idea to top dress/level anything more then a 1/4" or so. 2-3" of dirt covering the turf will suffocate it. Plan to cut those areas out, level and sod as Anti-Rebel recommended. If your sodding compost is best. If your leveling a mix of compost and sand is usually recommend. Careful with going full sand unless your lawn was sodded with a heavy sand mix. Sand can cause problems and has no nutrient value. Check your local landscape supply, often times they have a topdressing mix ready to go. kballen11 is right about the seed, unless you know what cultivar of bermudagrass you have, and even so it's unlikely you'll find seed to match it. Also, plenty of top dressing videos on youtube if you need some ideas on logistics.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

McDiddles said:


> it's not a good idea to top dress/level anything more then a 1/4" or so. 2-3" of dirt covering the turf will suffocate it. Plan to cut those areas out, level and sod as Anti-Rebel recommended. If your sodding compost is best. If your leveling a mix of compost and sand is usually recommend. Careful with going full sand unless your lawn was sodded with a heavy sand mix. Sand can cause problems and has no nutrient value. Check your local landscape supply, often times they have a topdressing mix ready to go. kballen11 is right about the seed, unless you know what cultivar of bermudagrass you have, and even so it's unlikely you'll find seed to match it. Also, plenty of top dressing videos on youtube if you need some ideas on logistics.


I disagree with 100% sand causing issues.. Compost is organic material, organic material breaks down over time leaving a void where that material once was and undoing what you thought you did with the level/topdress. Because sand has no nutrient value is exactly why it's the best material for leveling. Nutrients can be added in via fertilizer and other supplements. Roots will grow 3-4 inches through sand (easily) to reach the actual soil level and uptake nutrients that way.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I agree with @Kicker regarding sand. If leveling is the goal, nothing is as effective as 100% sand. Any organic matter will break down and undo all the hard work you did top dressing. I have also covered my Tifway 419 in small areas with well over 2-3" of sand and it has pushed through. Whatever got smothered filled in quickly from the surrounding grass.

I would not say the same for Zoysia or Saint Augustine, but anyone who figures out how to kill Bermuda by simply covering it with sand will be a millionaire.


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## erdons (Apr 3, 2018)

Throw that sand down, you can't kill Bermuda with sand even if you tried.


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## ryless01 (Aug 22, 2019)

erdons said:


> Throw that sand down, you can't kill Bermuda with sand even if you tried.


If if I level up 3+ inches in my 400sqft area, do I need, fert or top dress, maybe sod. Etc.


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## erdons (Apr 3, 2018)

Anytime I level I drop 46-0-0 fertilizer and water deep daily. In the deepest spots it was no longer than 3-4 weeks for it to pop out of that sand. To be on the safe side drop an inch of sand 3 times this season until you get it up to where you want it.


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## TNTurf (Mar 20, 2019)

I want to sand as well but what do you do about mowing? I am not going to run my reel until the sand is done but any other mower will just leave the wheel tracks. I guess you leave wheel tracks. I wish I had an older reel that was not a big deal to run through the sand.


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## McDiddles (Feb 24, 2020)

Kicker said:


> McDiddles said:
> 
> 
> > it's not a good idea to top dress/level anything more then a 1/4" or so. 2-3" of dirt covering the turf will suffocate it. Plan to cut those areas out, level and sod as Anti-Rebel recommended. If your sodding compost is best. If your leveling a mix of compost and sand is usually recommend. Careful with going full sand unless your lawn was sodded with a heavy sand mix. Sand can cause problems and has no nutrient value. Check your local landscape supply, often times they have a topdressing mix ready to go. kballen11 is right about the seed, unless you know what cultivar of bermudagrass you have, and even so it's unlikely you'll find seed to match it. Also, plenty of top dressing videos on youtube if you need some ideas on logistics.
> ...


The issue with sand is soil layering. See the link. As I mentioned it depends on the medium that's present. If you've got a lot of sand already, or If you're top dressing a golf green, sand it great. In my mind it comes down to this, do want a level lawn, or do u want a level lawn with nutrient rich soil? You can achieve both. Maybe it's different in Texas but here most suppliers carry a mix of usually 70% sand to 30% compost/soil mix. Also, most of the bulk sand I've come across is river sand, which always brings in a ton of weeds from my experience. What kind of soils are you dealing with in North Texas?

https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W161-N.pdf


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

McDiddles said:


> The issue with sand is soil layering. See the link. As I mentioned it depends on the medium that's present. If you've got a lot of sand already, or If you're top dressing a golf green, sand it great. In my mind it comes down to this, do want a level lawn, or do u want a level lawn with nutrient rich soil? You can achieve both. Maybe it's different in Texas but here most suppliers carry a mix of usually 70% sand to 30% compost/soil mix. Also, most of the bulk sand I've come across is river sand, which always brings in a ton of weeds from my experience. What kind of soils are you dealing with in North Texas?
> 
> https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W161-N.pdf


I could be wrong and I am no expert, but soil layering causing problems with water movement would only be an issue with a less porous material (like clay) layer above a more porous one. Sand on top of clay, for example, would not have the issue at all, at least not in a maintained lawn. Water and nutrients would go straight down through the sand to the clay, where the roots are already growing.

So . . . sand on top of any soil should be fine, but adding a finer texture like clay over the top could create serious problems. Or am I missing something?


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## McDiddles (Feb 24, 2020)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> McDiddles said:
> 
> 
> > The issue with sand is soil layering. See the link. As I mentioned it depends on the medium that's present. If you've got a lot of sand already, or If you're top dressing a golf green, sand it great. In my mind it comes down to this, do want a level lawn, or do u want a level lawn with nutrient rich soil? You can achieve both. Maybe it's different in Texas but here most suppliers carry a mix of usually 70% sand to 30% compost/soil mix. Also, most of the bulk sand I've come across is river sand, which always brings in a ton of weeds from my experience. What kind of soils are you dealing with in North Texas?
> ...


No dispute on that. Why I was curious about what kind of medium he was dealing with.

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/connected/layering-in-soils


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

McDiddles said:


> No dispute on that. Why I was curious about what kind of medium he was dealing with.
> 
> https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/connected/layering-in-soils


Gotcha. It's of concern to me since I'm growing bermuda in a heavy clay soil, and I will have a lot of leveling to do. I'm hoping to accomplish the leveling with sand and want to make sure it doesn't cause me problems.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

McDiddles said:


> The issue with sand is soil layering. See the link. As I mentioned it depends on the medium that's present. If you've got a lot of sand already, or If you're top dressing a golf green, sand it great. In my mind it comes down to this, do want a level lawn, or do u want a level lawn with nutrient rich soil? You can achieve both. Maybe it's different in Texas but here most suppliers carry a mix of usually 70% sand to 30% compost/soil mix. Also, most of the bulk sand I've come across is river sand, which always brings in a ton of weeds from my experience. What kind of soils are you dealing with in North Texas?
> 
> https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W161-N.pdf


Our "soil" for lack of a better term is complete crap, at least in my area. Greasy black/gray like clay that clumps and sticks to any type of probe/shovel/hoe that's inserted into the ground. It's holds moisture like crazy and is a pain to deal with.

That being said, last year in my soil test i sent off i had a composition test done and was surprised with what the results were. *I had never top dressed or introduced any sand to any areas of my lawn prior to this soil test*.

48% Sand
13% Silt
39% Clay.
classified as: "Sandy Clay"

I core aerated and top dressed with 100% mason sand several months later. I will say that i do have an abnormal amount of broadleaf weeds this spring, much more than i had the previous spring, I don't know if that's from the sand or all the rabbits that infiltrate my lawn.

Personally, I'll continue to top dress with 100% sand,


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## McDiddles (Feb 24, 2020)

Kicker said:


> McDiddles said:
> 
> 
> > The issue with sand is soil layering. See the link. As I mentioned it depends on the medium that's present. If you've got a lot of sand already, or If you're top dressing a golf green, sand it great. In my mind it comes down to this, do want a level lawn, or do u want a level lawn with nutrient rich soil? You can achieve both. Maybe it's different in Texas but here most suppliers carry a mix of usually 70% sand to 30% compost/soil mix. Also, most of the bulk sand I've come across is river sand, which always brings in a ton of weeds from my experience. What kind of soils are you dealing with in North Texas?
> ...


Interesting! Sandy clay, lol. Still relatively close to the coast. The sand doesn't surprise me, but the 48% does. I believe mason sand is a better choice.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I guess I'm lucky that I have sand on top of sand all the way as far as I can dig. I have seriously buried my lawn thick and it pops right through in a few weeks. So of course, I will continue to do straight sand until I get complete smoothness. Based on your numbers @Kicker, I would also continue to use 100% sand.


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## NycHorn (May 13, 2020)

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I thought adding sand to clay soil is a no no. It will supposedly turn it very hard. I also have problems with a bunch of low areas on st aug north Texas lawn. I'm at a loss for what to do. I am going to experiment this season and if it doesn't go well I'm just going to redo the entire lawn.


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## CrackedCornCrack (Jan 25, 2020)

@NycHorn :


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## DFW_Zoysia (May 31, 2019)

NycHorn said:


> Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I thought adding sand to clay soil is a no no. It will supposedly turn it very hard. I also have problems with a bunch of low areas on st aug north Texas lawn. I'm at a loss for what to do. I am going to experiment this season and if it doesn't go well I'm just going to redo the entire lawn.


I've planted several palm trees in my yard over the years. At first I planted them with just planting soil in the clay soil we have here. Blah at best.

Then I started planting them with a bit of cotton compost and red lava sand (a type of sand). Every single one grows double what they should be growing at.

My point is sand and clay - at least for me - does play well. I just laid sand on top of my Zoysia 2 weeks ago and it is amazing how fast the grass is coming through.


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