# Do I really need $6k worth of topsoil?



## LawnInAK (Apr 14, 2019)

I have a new construction house on a lot over half an acre in interior Alaska. Most of the lot has been graded with fill dirt, the rest is covered in gravel. I'd like to establish grass. I have no experience landscaping and am being quoted $10k for hydroseeding. It seems simple enough to seed it myself, but the soil calculators online are telling me I need around 200 yards to cover the lot to 4 inches of topsoil. At $26 a yard plus delivery I'm looking at around $6k just for soil. Is there anything I can do to lessen this pain? Can I work with 3 inches of topsoil and integrate with 1 inch of the fill on the bottom? Anything will help at this point. Thank you.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

I would skip the top soil. Grass needs basic soil to grow. I've grown nice lawns in fill dirt. I would highly suggest a soil test to a reputable lab first as most fill dirt has some deficiencies. Post your soil test, get the needed fertilizers and start the seeding process. Over a few years, the top few inches of soil will gradually resemble top soil. As long as you maintain a strong and thick stand of turf, the roots will improve the dirt through root cycling.

I'm not sure what your weather is like but you'll need 2-3 months before a cold winter to get it established. If you have hot summers, seed now to get something going and again a few months before winter.


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## krusej23 (May 8, 2018)

I've found that hydroseeding is nice when you have areas that will be hard to water 3-4 times a day. The mulch that holds the seed keeps it moist during those times it can't be watered. With half an acre of land being seeded at once, this may not be a bad idea. As for the soil, it's not really necessary to add that much top soil. If you really wanted to you could add an inch or 2 but it's probably not worth it. The other advantage to hydroseeding is it won't wash away as easily during a heavy rain and it will hold your soil together too.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Incorporating compost into the soil might be better than topsoil. What is the soil type of the fill dirt? What is the organic matter?


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

If you have an irrigation system I would do it all myself. 
If you lookup the root cycling affect, basically the theory is that by growing plants and feeding them and amending the soil, you will effectively turn fill dirt into tblack gold.
Also, if you seed yourself, you get to pick exactly what species you want.
10k is a lot of money and youre not even guranteed a lawn and I bet there will still be a lot of work to make it look nice in the coming years.

That being said, people like to pay for convienice and the hydroseed company knows this.

Install irrigation
Lab test 
Amend soilt
Fallow 
Kill weeds
Plant seed this fall


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## airgas1998 (May 1, 2019)

he lives in fairbanks so his profile says...if that's the case he's talking about incredibly long winters and very short summers. he probably doesn't see temps above 65-70 with extreme cold easily can hit -40f below. on top of that lets not forget during say like now 20hrs of sunlight and just the opposite in winter.this is one of these cases that "spring" seeding is more doable than waiting for fall as he won't experience hot summer days.


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## LawnInAK (Apr 14, 2019)

Thanks everyone. It's tough to discern what I really need when I read several sources saying I need 4-6 inches of high quality top soil to establish lawn and a few telling me that grass will grow in near anything up here. 
I'm not in any rush to seed the whole lot at once since I'm doing if myself. I'm thinking sections a few thousand sq ft at a time over the next 2-3 summers.
After reading this, I think I'll get more fill dirt to cover the gravel areas a few inches and get the soil test for recommended fertilizer. I hear the water treatment plant offers a very cheap "eco-soil" compost as well.
The local cooperative extension pamphlet on lawns suggests a June/early July seeding for establishing new lawns in Fairbanks.
Thanks again!


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

I wouldn't think twice about not buying topsoil. As all have said turgrass will germinate in just about anything and root cycling will give you quality dirt in 2-3 years anyways.

If you can get compost for cheap, that's your option. Have the graders mix that in with your native soil (or rent a machine and DIY) and you will save a lot of money and jumpstart the microbial life in your soil.

The most important is to do the soil test and find out the pH and phosphorus levels in your soil. Both of those you will want to amend before seeding if possible.


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## LawnInAK (Apr 14, 2019)

May be a dumb question, but how essential is a soil test? Can I go ahead and just buy the standard "new lawn" fertilizer from Lowe's and maybe just over-fertilize a little?
Reason I ask is that I'm not sure how accurate of a picture a soil test will be since sections of my lot will be made up of a varying combination of 4 sources of dirt - any native soil, the fill dirt the builder used, the fill dirt I'm adding, and possibly just an inch of top soil that I'm thinking of having delivered.


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## jdc_lawnguy (Oct 30, 2018)

I would say soil test is essential. In the grand scheme they are pretty cheap and if you take some samples and mail them out. Your location may impact mail time, but your local extension may offer something.

One of the keys will be getting info about your your Ph and other nutrients since certain nutrients may not be available if the ph is to high or low.

Wit that said, I am constantly pulling grass from the gravel in my fire pit. If you get your soil in the hospitable range, your grass should grow.


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## alt-brian (Sep 14, 2018)

'Fill dirt' is not great for growing a lawn.

The term 'topsoil' has a wide range of meanings. It can be rich or poor in OM.

You wrote, "I hear the water treatment plant offers a very cheap "eco-soil" compost as well."

If that is true, I would bring in a bunch of that and till it in nice and deep.


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## HomerGuy (Jun 5, 2017)

I was in a similar boat, but in Michigan. I had a new construction house that needed to be seeded. I also considered the option of adding topsoil but the costs were just too much. I did not add any topsoil, and was super worried about it at the time, but now my grass is the nicest in the neighborhood (and some of my neighbors did put down topsoil).

You will need to get as many rocks and stones out at possible. The grass simply won't grow in stone or rock. I would recommend a Harley style power rake. My landscaper used a Bobcat preparator, and I don't think it did as nice of a job as a Harley rake would have.

I didn't do a soil test before hand, but it would have been helpful info to have. As someone already mentioned, some things like soil ph are easier to do before seeding. But I also realize that time and money are a limited resource, and frankly at the time I seeded I didn't have enough of either. I have since done two soils tests and found my soilt o be deficient in phosphorus and potassium, and have been slowing working to bring them into more optimum levels.


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## bencrabtree27 (Jan 8, 2019)

I agree with homerguy, if you're already wanting to cover gravel. Use that money you're saving yourself and rent a bobcat with a rake on it for a weekend. Have the compost dumped and move it around and mix it/ rake it in and seed.

I could be wrong but even if you didn't use compost and you just used the fill I would still Harley rake it to open it up some.

How about some pictures of the proposed site?


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