Best Soil Mix For Lawn Leveling I'VE Ever Used

Рет қаралды 68,754

3 ай бұрын

When you level a lawn it's common to mix sand and soil together and top-dress the low spots in your lawn during the growing season. The goal is to put just enough material on the low spots to bring the ground up to grade but not too much material to kill off the grass growing in the lawn already.
I have leveled out many spots in a variety of lawns over the years but of all the leveling mixtures I've used this one is the best quality lawn leveling soil mix I've ever used...and I mixed a lot of it myself.
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Пікірлер: 44

@lancef5636 3 ай бұрын

Great video. Really like your content!

@TurfMechanic 3 ай бұрын

Thanks a bunch Lance, I love getting feedback like that. Hope you have a great Easter!

@lancef5636 3 ай бұрын

You do the same.

@stevenbelcher5658 3 ай бұрын

Great video! Whats do you think would be the optimal soil composition for a shaded area for growing brown top bent / fine fescues in UK condiditons (very wet winters and dry summers)? i'm currently constructing a lawn with 4-6 iches of new soil and i'm using about 60% silica sand to 40% black silt (sandy loam with minimal clay content) for water rention but also good drainage. I'll add some small amounts of very fine compost to provide the seed with something to feed on until it estabilishes. Loam is suggested to be the best composition for lawns but also can suffer from compaction when wet (winter) so I'm thinking leaning towards a sandy loam is a better choise especially since its in shade all winter and hopefully the sand content isnt too high to cause any issues in the summer draughts. I water in the summer anyways but dont want to be a slave to the lawn.

@johnjrkean7008 3 ай бұрын

I found this stuff called recharge it's a powder u can spray of all kinds of microbes u might have come across this but If not id be curious to hear ur input ...God bless and Happy Easter

@ricknavarro4679 3 ай бұрын

Great content but bro…… Show me the baby!! Way too long of a video

@alexhill9095 2 ай бұрын

Thoughts on play sand mixed with 25% soil? Hard for me to find enough all purpose near me economically (need 2-3 cubic yards)

@TeachMrsH 3 ай бұрын

We are in a relatively new construction house and our lot was the lot that was used the most for moving heavy machinery on and off when they were leveling lots. Then sand was just dumped on top of it. Then sod just plopped on top of that... we are at a point where the sod is dying in the places where 2+ inches of sand were dumped on top of red, hard clay so I don't even feel like I can get to a point of leveling yet, I'm just dumping organic material and trying to stop the dead areas from expanding. So glad you made that point about not going overboard on the sand with clay soil! It really is like I have a concrete lawn in many areas.

@mikedomico8147 3 ай бұрын

Great video! Thanks a ton. Do you know the product by Jonathan Green, ‘Love My Soil?’ I’m considering using it. Mike

@TurfMechanic 3 ай бұрын

Thanks Mike, gypsum is the main reason to add that to your soil. Probably something I could've mentioned in this video. If you need gypsum and have hard soil then this is a good option plus it also contains molasses which is a good soil bacterial accelerator.

@webeducation 3 ай бұрын

Sand also captures more heat. 70/30 in shady areas. And 50/50 in more open areas may be preferred depending on where you live. I thought Gibberellic Acid was what promoted the growth. Great video, and perfect timing. Thanks.

@TurfMechanic 3 ай бұрын

that's a good point about heat buildup, not something I have given much thought to but in the early days of leveling it probably makes a big difference. As for the kelp meal, it has all of the stuff in it like gibberellic, cytokinins, buteric acids, etc. In overly simplistic terms each promotes growth in different areas and in different ways. With leveling we want top-growth to break through the sand/soil but with kelp we are getting a broad spectrum of auxins, many of which will tell the plant to put on new top growth. Normally I am a fan of putting cytokinins on the lawn by themselves to limit top growth in favor of root growth but for leveling that's not the case.

@webeducation 3 ай бұрын

@@TurfMechanic This is good info. This year my plan is to put a lot more focus on soil health. Was thinking gebberellic as this is the one they bio hacked/blocked in provista grass to make it grow slower. But you're absolutely right, that doesn't mean the others do not help with growth.

@TurfMechanic 3 ай бұрын

you're going to make me research the provista more, I've never looked into it in that way before. :)

@webeducation 3 ай бұрын

@@TurfMechanic Easter egg or gebberellic acid hunting. Decisions, decisions 😂

@robertlark10 3 ай бұрын

Great video.. sorry I’ve got to squeeze it in with a screaming 10 month old boy on my lap (the grass heir)! Are you gradually leveling and hoping the blue pops through or are you going to do more than 1 1/2 - 2” and hoping the rhizomes spread or a little of both? Thx Brian!

@catharsus21 Ай бұрын

ive seen hundreds of vids ... and ive also seen sooooooo many doing it this way .. however , i use a " cement mixer " tp prep the soil mix . ie sand soil compost and slow release fertilizer all in the mixer . then place in the back of the trailer for lawn tractor and spread .. cuts all that time in mixing down .. but then again , thats just my thoughts

@TurfMechanic Ай бұрын

I've been planning on picking up a drum composter to use just for soil mixing; probably very similar to your use of a cement mixer. I mix soil a lot these days so I think that's probably a much simpler and clean way of doing it. Thanks for the comment and idea!

@catharsus21 Ай бұрын

@@TurfMechanic trust me when i say , it save a decent amount of time,. and makes for a homogenous mix .. im going to make a larger version using an old large drum .. eg diy version of a cement mixer . same thing but bigger drum .

@terencecah 3 ай бұрын

Application per sq fr for alfalfa meal?

@exnjute 3 ай бұрын

Those bags of various stuff you have there are quite expensive and a yard of non-amended screened top soil is $50/yd on up in my area if you have a pickup. I calculate I need at least 8-10 yards of soil to to a proper leveling job on my 7.500sq ft. If I buy it already amended for topdressing, the cost is nearly $1000.00= delivery charge. Lawn leveling/top dressing is not inexpensive is my point.

@chaseveacock609 Ай бұрын

You don't need ro level everything at the same time

@2Greenlid Ай бұрын

Yeah, just do the worse areas first, homeownership & taking pride is not cheap 😂😂

@troyhenry3267 3 ай бұрын

Turf Mechanic, I'm new to leveling, and I have a mostly red clay bermuda sod lawn down here in Georgia. I have a fairly small yard at about 4100 sq feet total. I'm only interested in leveling my front for now. What would you suggest I use as a bare bones concoction for putting out to level my bermuda?

@ChuongNguyen-up9fy 2 ай бұрын

I have used Black Cow. Never use sand as your lawn will stop absorbing nutrients. Unless you want to spend your whole life working on your yard like at the golf course. I live in GA too. near Fayette

@mikeo8890 3 ай бұрын

I got some organic compost from home Depot and it had a old rusty nail in it, also my reel mower has a hard time with those wood chips.

@TurfMechanic 3 ай бұрын

Rusty nail!? Oh my, that's insane. Always buy premium bags or from trusted sources locally but man, that one is crazy. As for any larger wood chips, after leveling use the rotary mower on a bagging setting for a few days to pick up any loose bigger chunks thatay be sitting on top. It won't get everything but in my experience it gets most and eventually you can get back to using the reel.

@wally7856 Ай бұрын

They sometimes use shredded old pallets for the carbon source in the compost which is where the nail probably came from, the magnets probably missed it. Sometimes you can see some paint on the wood chips which definitely confirms they were once pallets.

@josephmulero3962 3 ай бұрын

I am about to level my lawn. idk weather to use all purpose top soil or all purpose sand? it is a medium sized yard at a 4 plex

@TurfMechanic 3 ай бұрын

Sand will not shrink over time, soil will. A mix will be best of both worlds but will settle slightly and will require a bit of extra mixing work. I'm always for extra work, usually extra work is worth it...but if you have very minimal leveling to do just going with the sand will be fine and should create a thick enough layer to make a difference long term. Your call, your gut is not often wrong. 👌

@ex_yz 3 ай бұрын

using a peat moss spreader would take the work out of screening it 👍

@TurfMechanic 3 ай бұрын

In one of my next leveling vids I'll show how I'm getting rid of the sticks easily after it's all on the lawn. Way simpler than most people realize.

@ex_yz 3 ай бұрын

@@TurfMechanic looking forward to it!

@TK-mf5in 2 ай бұрын

Does a lawn need to be level? I mean, my little lawn isn’t really used for anything but I like it to look decent so I’d level it out if it meant something for health of the lawn.

@TurfMechanic 2 ай бұрын

the lower you mow the lawn the more important it is for it to be level. If you have high spots and low spots and your mower is set near the low end then you will regularly scalp the high spots potentially cutting into crowns while the low spots right next to them will be much taller cut. The visual of scalped grass next to taller cut grass is very noticeable and it's not good for the high spots to be constantly scalped. For tall cut lawns though it makes very little difference unless you walk on it a lot and don't like the inconsistency under your foot.

@TK-mf5in 2 ай бұрын

@@TurfMechanic oh wow thanks for the info! And for taking the time to respond to me. Very kind of you.

@wally7856 Ай бұрын

A leveled lawn sure makes cutting the grass with a walk behind mower much more enjoyable. Like walking on smooth carpet and the mower just glides over the surface with very little effort instead of hopping around and bouncing. Cutting grass on a leveled lawn puts a smile on your face instead of being a chore. Doesn't last forever though, every few years it'll need another go as the soil moves around. Much less work and material doing follow up levels.