# Recovery time: some leveling at Spring scalp time



## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

I leveled a builder-sodded lawn last year for the first time. Overall it's less bumpy but I still have serious issues both with high spots and dips-- 1-5 feet across subtle (ish) mounds and valleys. I have 2 kids under 3 (read: limited time to do projects), so I may not have the time to do a second total scalp and leveling project mid-summer this year.

So below is my plan. My question is, if I do this at Spring scalp time, how long am I looking at for full recovery? I know that's not ideal but I just don't think I can invest the time for a full mid-summer job.


 Scalp to the dirt (string trimmer this time-- last year's scalp wasn't nearly low enough)
 Use my SunJoe with scarifying blades for multiple passes across high areas to try to dig down the level of the soil there, but leave bermuda roots and rhizomes to the extent possible.
 Use sand to bring up the low areas and smooth out whatever bumpiness the SunJoe caused.

So, if I do this soon after greenup-- April 1-15 range here-- how long am I looking at for the bermuda to recover from both the SunJoe and the sand? Am I looking at:

(A) No worries
(B) This will work but just be patient since you're causing some damage
(C) For the love of god don't do this


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## LittleBearBermuda (Sep 25, 2020)

I'm in north Georgia and I did my front yard during that time period last year. It took just under 2 weeks. I plan on doing it again this year. I also leveled my side yard June 17th...it took 3 days to grow through.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

LittleBearBermuda said:


> I'm in north Georgia and I did my front yard during that time period last year. It took just under 2 weeks. I plan on doing it again this year. I also leveled my side yard June 17th...it took 3 days to grow through.


Did you do just sand, or did you do more aggressive things like the heavy scarifying I'm talking about? Encouraging either way.


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## LittleBearBermuda (Sep 25, 2020)

I used an 80-20 mix. I scalped, dethatched and aerated.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

LittleBearBermuda said:


> I used an 80-20 mix. I scalped, dethatched and aerated.


So you beat it up a good bit. That's helpful to know. Thanks!


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## Theycallmemrr (May 16, 2019)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> I leveled a builder-sodded lawn last year for the first time. Overall it's less bumpy but I still have serious issues both with high spots and dips-- 1-5 feet across subtle (ish) mounds and valleys. I have 2 kids under 3 (read: limited time to do projects), so I may not have the time to do a second total scalp and leveling project mid-summer this year.
> 
> So below is my plan. My question is, if I do this at Spring scalp time, how long am I looking at for full recovery? I know that's not ideal but I just don't think I can invest the time for a full mid-summer job.
> 
> ...


You may want to wait until the beginning of May for it to be growing vigorously. Put out some fast release N fertilizer before attempting.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

Theycallmemrr said:


> You may want to wait until the beginning of May for it to be growing vigorously. Put out some fast release N fertilizer before attempting.


It's not a great idea to wait til may for the spring scalp though, is it? Or is that better than what I've suggested?


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## Reelrollers (Feb 6, 2018)

Are you reel mowing? I've found if you reel mow low and tight for a season, many of the imperfections are minimized due to turf thickening up and you may not need to sand as much as you think if you give it 1 hood season of reel mowing. Scalping really just let's the sun warm the soil faster and let's the grass coming out of dormancy come in vertical and thick without being "matted" faster than unscalped lawns. We did a test last year on our turf park and believe it or not, the area we scalped and scarified took the longer to green up vs the area we just scalped. We assume it was because the scarifier "put a beating" on the turf and took longer to recover.

I live in north GA and my fear would sanding that early the grass coming out of dormancy scalped won't have as much access to the sun where you have to lay the sand thick and will block out some of the heat hitting the soil where the roots are established. I would scalp late march for and sand early May (prefer late May) for 2 reasons:
1. You really want the grass to hold the sand in place especially with hard rains of spring
2. You can be more aggressive with the depth of sand if you have turf in its peak growing environment.

Good news is, regardless of the path your grass will recover. Just not sure you'll get the level results your seeking if the grass isn't growing fast to hold the sand in place.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

@Reelrollers, manual reel. In the past 2 summers I haven't been able to keep it low enough to satisfy me, but this year I'm going to keep to a strict PGR plan and see if I can mow as close to 0.5" as possible.

Part of my problem actually is that the peak of these high spots makes it very hard to mow at the low height I'd like-- I basically hit dirt there. So I really want to at least make some impact on those spots to make life easier.


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## kc8qpu092200 (Feb 29, 2020)

The first time I tried to level my lawn I did it way to early. Like the guys at Reelrollers mentioned I had a lot of washout with heavy rains. It caused more work the following year. It is best to wait until the grass is green and full before you sand.


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## Theycallmemrr (May 16, 2019)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> @Reelrollers, manual reel. In the past 2 summers I haven't been able to keep it low enough to satisfy me, but this year I'm going to keep to a strict PGR plan and see if I can mow as close to 0.5" as possible.
> 
> Part of my problem actually is that the peak of these high spots makes it very hard to mow at the low height I'd like-- I basically hit dirt there. So I really want to at least make some impact on those spots to make life easier.


@Bermuda_Rooster 
How much N are you putting down? What type of fertilizer are you using? You may want to try spoon feeding your N. That way you do not get a surge of growth. With a manual reel I would imagine you would need to cut at least every other day. PGR will definitely help. Start low and see how your lawn responds. Also DO NOT use PGR before sanding. I was still under regulation some residual regulation when I sanded and it took forever to grow through the sand.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

Theycallmemrr said:


> @Bermuda_Rooster
> How much N are you putting down? What type of fertilizer are you using? You may want to try spoon feeding your N. That way you do not get a surge of growth. With a manual reel I would imagine you would need to cut at least every other day. PGR will definitely help. Start low and see how your lawn responds. Also DO NOT use PGR before sanding. I was still under regulation some residual regulation when I sanded and it took forever to grow through the sand.


I already spoon feed and cut N way back from 2020 to 2021, but I am not always able to mow every other day. I am hoping with PG I can stretch it to twice a week when things get hectic at home or the weather doesn't cooperate.


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## Theycallmemrr (May 16, 2019)

Bermuda_Rooster said:


> Theycallmemrr said:
> 
> 
> > @Bermuda_Rooster
> ...


@Bermuda_Rooster 
I think you are on the right path to reaching your lawn goals. I try to keep my front lawn between .5-.75 with PGR and able to cut about 1x a week with my powered reel mower. I have not tried a manual mower but would think you would have to cut more often.


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