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Leveling a Bermuda Lawn

408K views 2K replies 401 participants last post by  Jeffersonzoysia 
#1 ·
I thought I would start this thread here for people who might have questions and for those of us who have done it in the past can give some pointers. I'll go first as I am sure I will miss some things since it has been quite a few years since I did it.

1. You will need some kind of sand, personally I don't think it makes a huge difference on the type of sand as long as it does NOT have any large rocks or pebbles in it that would damage a reel, anything smaller than 1/8"-1/16" should be fine. Whatever you can find around you for the cheapest price will do the job. I just started working in the concrete industry and found out we sell our sand for $40 a ton which is about 2-3 pick up truck loads of sand, you will have to find a way to transport it yourself but it's a viable option. I haven't had the chance to inspect it but it looks like it would do the job and it sits outside all day every day so it may be wet if you just had some rain.

2. You will want to mow as low as you can as this will help you find all the low spots and you will use less sand in the process and get better results.

3. Find a good drag mat (it's worth the money!) they sell some on Amazon, just make sure you get one that fits your lawn and that you have the equipment (tractor, riding lawn mower, ATV....) to pull it. If you have a small lawn you may be able to get away with pulling it yourself. This is something I wish I had invested in when I did mine as I went cheap and tried to make my own. After actually purchasing a real one and using it this year, it was night and day between the performance.

4. You will need about 1 yard of sand per 1K of lawn depending on how bad your lawn is. You can adjust your amount up or down depending on the severity of the job at hand.

5. You will want to lay down fertilizer after you are done dragging the lawn so as not to "collect" it all in one spot when you do turns.

6. Water, Water, Water. Irrigation or a good rainfall will help settle the sand down into the canopy and it will also wash it down into the low spots too. It's not a bad idea to get everything good and level and the apply water to the lawn and see if there are any spots you need to touch up or not. You will also need to water often for the first week or so to help the grass grow up through the sand and start filling in.

7. Aerate, I think this is a good step to do right before you level as it will create channels for water and nutrients to get down into the root zone and it should help "lock" everything together too. This is another step I wish I had done when I did my lawn.

Well that's it for now but if I think of anything else I will be sure to come back and add it to the thread. Please feel free to chime in with ANY and ALL questions and things you might have learned during your project.
 
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#1,002 ·
i know its to late now to take on this project, but next spring i want to level my lawn. i dont have a reel mower at the moment only rotary. but it doesnt seem to cut as low as i need it too. any recommendations on rotary mower that would cut lawn shorter lengths. or would you only use a reel mower for this type of project.
 
#1,003 ·
jpos34 said:
i know its to late now to take on this project, but next spring i want to level my lawn. i dont have a reel mower at the moment only rotary. but it doesnt seem to cut as low as i need it too. any recommendations on rotary mower that would cut lawn shorter lengths. or would you only use a reel mower for this type of project.
I think the Honda rotary mowers cut as low as .75". I'm sure somebody will chime in.
 
#1,004 ·
Thanks for the info. My bermuda may have time to fill in after quinclorac application the other day. Temps are still in the high 80s lows 90s but little rain.

tcorbitt20 said:
ladycage said:
What is the best temp range for Bermuda to grow in?

drewwitt said:
It's bermuda. It will be fine. Once temps drop a little in September it will go crazy.
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/turf/publications/Bermuda.html According to this, the optimum daytime temperature for Bermuda growth is 95°-100° F.
 
#1,005 ·
tcorbitt20 said:
ladycage said:
What is the best temp range for Bermuda to grow in?

drewwitt said:
It's bermuda. It will be fine. Once temps drop a little in September it will go crazy.
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/turf/publications/Bermuda.html According to this, the optimum daytime temperature for Bermuda growth is 95°-100° F.
Awesome article! Read threw and noticed that it calls for .07" of irrigation a day in order to reach that optimal growth in that temp range though. Thanks for sharing brother!
 
#1,007 ·
tcorbitt20 said:
jpos34 said:
i know its to late now to take on this project, but next spring i want to level my lawn. i dont have a reel mower at the moment only rotary. but it doesnt seem to cut as low as i need it too. any recommendations on rotary mower that would cut lawn shorter lengths. or would you only use a reel mower for this type of project.
I think the Honda rotary mowers cut as low as .75". I'm sure somebody will chime in.
The HRR only cuts down to 1 & 1/8". I believe the HRX goes down to .75"

@jpos34
I don't own a reel either. I used my rotary and cut at the lowest setting, which is 1 & 1/8". It definitely seemed more difficult to spread the sand around than what I'd seen in other folks' videos. Even when with my neighbor's ATV, I could tell that it didnt look like the sand was spreading like in the videos I used as reference. But it is do-able.
 
#1,008 ·
jpos34 said:
i know its to late now to take on this project, but next spring i want to level my lawn. i dont have a reel mower at the moment only rotary. but it doesnt seem to cut as low as i need it too. any recommendations on rotary mower that would cut lawn shorter lengths. or would you only use a reel mower for this type of project.
When the time comes, are you referring to scalping before leveling? Take it down to the dirt if you want to. String trimmer if needed.
 
#1,011 ·
I've read that masonry sand is the best. I get what the hauler calls yellow sand and it costs about 1/5 of what masonry costs. It has some debris in it that I have to pick out though not too much. It's no where near as bad as some of the sand I have seen others get on this board.
 
#1,012 ·
Leveling Question:

Our house sits up probably 10-12 feet from the road. That means that my front yard is a bit of a hill. Would it be a waste of time to try and level it? Just trying to level any ruts or high spots. Is the sand just going to fall down the hill when it rains? I've added a picture of the front yard to give y'all an idea.
 
#1,013 ·
I don't see why you couldn't smooth it out a little at a time so that the grass you have holds it in place. I would do about 1/2 to 3/4 yard per 1000 and drag it in well. It will take a few apps but it beats cleaning the sand off of your driveway and sidewalks. Smoothing out turf is a multi-year endeavor anyway.

Not trying to be Captain Obvious but you'll want to wait until it starts growing strong next spring.
 
#1,015 ·
Khs2424 said:
Leveling Question:

Our house sits up probably 10-12 feet from the road. That means that my front yard is a bit of a hill. Would it be a waste of time to try and level it? Just trying to level any ruts or high spots. Is the sand just going to fall down the hill when it rains? I've added a picture of the front yard to give y'all an idea.
I wouldn't scalp it too low prior to leveling. If there is still grass poking above to hold the sand, it will erode less.
 
#1,016 ·
Here's my scenario/setup.

I'm in North Texas, and I've got bermuda grass that's about 3 years old planted from sod squares (poorly, by a budget builder, laid/planted in December). Our ground is very clay based and shale below that I believe.

Total front/rear is about 1/6 to 1/7 of an acre

It's got bumps and mounds and holes and just doesn't cut even. The mower wheels fall in and leave marks, I trip and fall walking sometimes, as it can be up to an inch or more in some places

My mower is a standard push mower, electric (Dewalt brand), and only has a single height adjustment setting (5 heights, one lever does front/rear together). I don't plan on changing this equipment out (not looking for more equipment investment if I can help it at all)

I want to level the front and rear come spring. From my reading, I believe I need to be scalping it in spring as low as I can, getting a giant pile of sand (still determining the type from my reading) and spread it out evenly with some sort of heavy flat thing (lawn leveler tool of some sort).

I also believe I shouldn't be mixing any sort of compost or other material with my sand - just use sand. I'm aware it may look weird for a bit while the grass grows through, but when it does it will be level, the soil will fill in itself somehow within the sand so it's not just grass in sand somehow?

Any tips or thoughts or things I should figure out first?
 
#1,017 ·
Wait till the lawn is growing vigorously for the quickest recovery.
Use mason sand only (roughly one cubic yard per 1000 sq. ft. of lawn)
Fertilize and water, water, water after the topdress/level.
You can use a landscape rake if you're wanting to keep equipment costs to a minimum.

The soil doesn't do anything with the sand, some may make it's way into the top layer of the soil but the grass grows through the sand. The sand is what's making it level. Don't expect this to be a one time thing. It'll need to be an annual/ bi-annual thing to achieve a level surface.
 
#1,018 ·
Just checking back on that value...

1/7 of an acre is around 6000 sqft, so 6 cubic yards.... which is about 15,000 lbs of sand... that seems pretty insane... could that possibly be correct? Or is it not as big (visually) as it seems (in my head)?

I think the other thing to note, my grass has a thick root structure that is visible above the ground, rather than a "recessed" appearance I see from others. If I raise the levels of EVERYTHING it doesn't have much room for height growth before being a bit crazy...
 
#1,020 ·
I have 6k sqft of Bermuda im going to level soon. I do not have a reel mower that will go lower than about 1" so i plan on scalping as best and as low as best i can with my string trimmer. I will be using pump sand to do the leveling and plan on getting 8-10 yards and a bobcat to spread it then a drag mat to finish it off to its final grade. Mortar sand is $40/yard and the pump sand is $20/yard

I plan on doing this at the end of March/early April. The day length will be at 12+ hrs and the soil temps should be around 65-70 degrees. Anyone see anything wrong with this plan? Im in south Louisiana
 
#1,021 ·
Has anyone forked out the money (quoted $199) for a weekend rental on a Dingo/Mini skid steer to haul the sand around the yard. Or am I just over-estimating the amount of work it will be to move 8 yards of sand. Seems like it would speed the leveling project up significantly.
 
#1,022 ·
$199 for a weekend rental would be tempting, especially if you could use it to pull a drag. However, I'd be worried about what kind of damage it might do with multiple passes/turns over an area.

I moved 6 yards of sand via dump cart beginning of July (104 degrees) last year.. that was a beating.
 
#1,023 ·
jpos34 said:
Has anyone forked out the money (quoted $199) for a weekend rental on a Dingo/Mini skid steer to haul the sand around the yard. Or am I just over-estimating the amount of work it will be to move 8 yards of sand. Seems like it would speed the leveling project up significantly.
I considered it. For a major/first leveling project, I think it would work really well. For lighter topdressing, I think turning might cause more damage than I would want.
 
#1,024 ·
Ware said:
jpos34 said:
Has anyone forked out the money (quoted $199) for a weekend rental on a Dingo/Mini skid steer to haul the sand around the yard. Or am I just over-estimating the amount of work it will be to move 8 yards of sand. Seems like it would speed the leveling project up significantly.
I considered it. For a major/first leveling project, I think it would work really well. For lighter topdressing, I think turning might cause more damage than I would want.
Ware...I know they say leveling is a long term plan that one does a couple of times during the season.

But is safe to say you get to a point where you lawn is level enough and you do not have to keep leveling year after year?

For example looking at your lawn...it looks like its very level.

Do you still have to level year after year once you get to that point?

Thanks
 
#1,025 ·
ENC_Lawn said:
Ware...I know they say leveling is a long term plan that one does a couple of times during the season.

But is safe to say you get to a point where you lawn is level enough and you do not have to keep leveling year after year?

For example looking at your lawn...it looks like its very level.

Do you still have to level year after year once you get to that point?

Thanks
It lasts for a while, but research by an Austrian and a German physicist taught us that everything in nature tends to flow from order toward disorder - it requires focused energy to get it back in order. This "Theory of Entropy" basically says that ordered states are infinitely improbable, so pretty much every system in the universe will naturally be found in either the maximum state of disorder, or moving towards it - like all my daughters' toys in the house. :D

That said, I would say it's not a once a done thing. I can definitely tell my lawn is not as smooth as it was after the last time I leveled. It's not back to like it was before I leveled the first time, but it will eventually bother me enough that I will do some additional leveling. :thumbup:
 
#1,026 ·
jpos34 said:
Has anyone forked out the money (quoted $199) for a weekend rental on a Dingo/Mini skid steer to haul the sand around the yard. Or am I just over-estimating the amount of work it will be to move 8 yards of sand. Seems like it would speed the leveling project up significantly.
That is exactly what i plan on doing in a couple weeks. i was advised not to use anything with skids because it will destroy your grass while turning. i plan on using a bobcat with wheels to move the 8-10 yards of sand around my yard. $180 for the weekend in my area. almost seems too good to pass up place sand around the yard in a few hours then drag the rest of the weekend. should save a ton of time and effort

btw GO GATORS
 
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