Rejuvenate old uneven lawn

by Maxine
(Winnipeg, MB)

Hi Doug,

I asked this question 10 - 12 days ago and have not found an answer - maybe I am not looking in the right place or --- you just have not had time. We have bumpy uneven old lawn in Winnipeg in the Red River clays - very hard also.

I have bought your ebook on organic lawns and plan to try that. SOme of the low spots I willl have to put 4 - 8 inches of lawn dressing on to even it out.

I think I will have to roll it there or the lawn mower wheels will sink in. I am having trouble finding a seed with a very high percentage of the grass seed you recommend in the ebook. Any advise you can give us to redo our old spotty lawn would be great.

Thanks


Doug says that he gets over 200 questions a week and can't guarantee answering them all. :-(

Yes, you're going to have to fill in the low spots of your lawn so the lawn is level. Use a decent top soil if you can find one or whatever is available because we're starting a process of "fixing" that soil.

Rolling. Well you'll roll clay at your own peril. All that's going to do is compact the soil into concrete. Level it with a rake and then tamp it down lightly before seeding. By the time the grass gets to 6-inches tall and ready to mow, the soil should be stable enough to prevent the wheels from sinking. If not, simply add another bit of soil to raise the level again. But rolling and the concrete you'll produce will prevent the grass from establishing.

Grass seed percentages. Use a straight perennial rye grass or one high in fescues. And go with the best mix you can find with the highest percentage of those grasses you can find. This isn't rocket science, :-) we don't have to be perfect.

The key for heavy clay is to get as much organic matter onto that lawn every year as you can. The more the better and once you get the worm populations up to aerate and work that organic matter, you're going to start seeing improvements.

But it's going to take several years - you're starting from a long way back with heavy clay.

Hope that helps.