# PFTanx Nightmare Lawn Journal



## PFTanx (Aug 13, 2021)

Below is the saga of my lawn. It is a bitter example of just how much work a lawn can be when starting from scratch and ill equipped, such as myself. My solution to being ill equipped was to pay the people that were equipped. But, if any of you followed my "Rudderless Ship" thread (https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=31602), you'll see that wasn't the solution. Some even wondered how I could be 5 digits into this lawn and why I didn't just sod in the first place. Well, I think it will become clear how this all snowballed into what it is today. So, given the wealth of knowledge that was bestowed upon me from this wonderful forum, I decided to post my journal in hopes that some poor fool like me can possibly skip a dozen steps and get right to a beautiful lawn.

Some background;

-New build
-Clay Soil (soil testing done)
-Horrible drainage
-Lots of wood chips from lot clearing prior to build
-Sod was too expensive
-Seed seemed too slow
-Hydroseed seemed like a good happy medium
-Desired nice grass and simple, easy to maintain landscaping
-Some retaining walls were needed
-Happy to pay the pros to do all of this for me to ensure it was done right!

The very first issue we had with this was grading. The builder did their own grading. You'll see in the picture, a pond formed. This was mainly due to the fact that in that spot sat pallets of siding for our house. The builder, when they did the final grading, decided they didn't want to move the pallets and ensure a proper grade. *THIS WAS THE ROOT OF MY WOES *. Of course, I took this picture, sent it to the builder and asked them to fix it. They agreed they would and it was documented as a "to be completed" prior to handing the keys over. They marked it as complete and since this was in the middle of winter, I had no real way to see how the yard drained. Oh, how I wish I could have.

SO, why not go after them to even the score? I don't know....I'm tired, I want to be done with them, they'll argue the county signed off on the grade, I'll file complaint after complaint, it'll drag on. No more fight left in this dog. Onward and upward!

That's all for now, we'll pick up in April for the next post.


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

Welcome to the journals sir…was watching your other thread as well. It's not defeat…if you're honest with yourself, would you trust them to do it right a second time?

I think you're on the right track and I'll be following. You're definitely in the right place for help, which I'm sure you've seen with your other string.

*Final grade is where most GC's / home builders make money. They brought in some "free fill from the county" I just had to pay trucking ($175, HA!) and hourly rate for the excavator/ operator @$125…not unreasonable if he didn't spend 16 hours "leveling" it in the middle of winter. There isn't a single new home owner I know that doesn't feel like they got screwed on "final grade." You're not alone.

Stay positive and remember you'll likely have a WAY better lawn if you do it yourself. Good luck sir!


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## PFTanx (Aug 13, 2021)

April was a big month. I found a local one man landscaping company who had reasonable prices. Amongst the work I'd have him do was retaining walls, flower beds and downspout drainage. He does good work and I think his prices are reasonable. The yard is a blank canvas and plan to add to it over time.



Unfortunately, with some of the snow thaw we see the reality of our grading situation. The "hand raking" that the builder did to fix the low spot/lake was ineffective. But, it did look a bit better than originally. From what I could tell, I could probably add a few yards of dirt to the low spots and be fine (lol).



The first order of dirt arrived. It was 40 yards in total and was intended for 2 areas. The main area being the side of our driveway that had a significant slope on it. I added some geogrid webbing and put the dirt down. This is an OUTSTANDING solution to erosion control.









The reminder of the dirt (it didn't end up being much) found it's way into those pesky low spots. I thought it would be enough, but the joke was one me! It didn't even make a dent.



As far as soil/yard prep, this was the extent of what took place in April. A ton of work happened in May which will be the next post. The landscaper was able to finish of the retaining wall and steps, we were very pleased with the outcome!


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## PFTanx (Aug 13, 2021)

May......

May was a big month. All of the finishing touches were done and hydroseed sprayed. The hydroseeder himself was a good guy. Small family run operation and he was pretty anal about everything, which I appreciate. Answered all my e-mails and text messages (I tend to send a lot) with patience.

So, the first order of business was to take care of my ponding issue. As stated, I have lots of clay and a bad grade job. So, I had my landscaper bring in a Harley rake and I had 40 yards of dirt delivered (for those keeping score, that's 80 yards total thus far). We walked the property and I made it ABUNDANTLY clear, if nothing else, fix the pond. Even if that meant using all 40 yards. He assured me it would be taken care of.









Right off the bat, I was thrilled with how the finish grading was done. No more chunks of clay. No more low spots or ruts. It looked great. One thing that it didn't do was remove those rocks. In fact, it made it worse. So the anal retentive type that I am, I spent nearly an entire weekend in the yard raking out the top layer of debris. This included rocks, sticks, leaves, construction waste and wood chips. Hundreds of small piles everywhere; it was quite a chore and I cursed myself ever pile I made for getting sucked into this thing as my plan was to simply invest money and not time into it (haha).



One final step prior to seed was irrigation. Of course I had the seed bed perfectly manicured and then the irrigation guys came. One thing I hadn't taken into account was how brittle the clay had become. It broke off in massive chunks as they pulled the pipe puller through it. I watched the perfect seedbed get destroyed one foot at a time. So, I did it again, I got the rake, a shovel and tried to break up the clay and replace as much dirt as smoothly as possible as I could in the trenches. But hey, I had sprinklers now.



Two days later, the hydro seeding commenced. I watched with great pride as they drove their seed spreader around the yard to hit it with an initial layer of seed (they ran the scarifier over it first). Then they mixed more seed into the they hydroseed slurry and covered the yard in the green stuff. It was a sight to behold and I thought with the exception of regular watering, I was done (haha).





And then, our first major storm hit. It wasn't catastrophic, but it was a sign what was to come. The pond I spoke of earlier was as present as ever. It was almost like no dirt had been put there (it had been, I saw him do it). I sent him this picture and he said "maybe he didn't take into account the settling". This is when I got my first hint that while he may be great at building retaining walls, perhaps he wasn't the man to put down the finish grade.



Stay tuned for June, it just gets worse from here.....


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