The lawn is uneven. This is not only ugly to look at, it also makes maintenance of the green space much more difficult and causes headaches. It's nothing new that lawns often suffer from problems, especially when maintenance is done incorrectly after the winter or throughout the year. Because of this, uneven green spaces are a common sight. Straightening the lawn with appropriate ideas will help you out of this mishap.
Uneven lawn: causes
An uneven lawn is always due to a specific cause. Sometimes all you have to do is fix the problem to straighten the surface, saving yourself extra work. However, if the problem is very advanced, you still need to take action to fix it. The following are the typical causes of uneven lawns:
1. Water drainage
A disturbed water drainage is in most cases the reason for an uneven lawn. In this case, the excess water can hardly drain away, causing accumulations that can subsequently lead to subsidence. The reason for the poor water drainage is either strong compaction of the soil or a lack of drainage.
2. Weight bearing
This cause means the stress on the lawn during a rainfall, for example from footsteps. Here the earth is pushed in depending on the intensity of the rain and the weight and angle of the coming shoe or a dog's paw. It can happen that this imprint no longer balances out and remains. The lawn becomes uneven.
3. Attachment
Even when laying the lawn, it can happen that it is not level. This is mainly due to incorrect measurements during installation.
4. Animals
Likewise, wild visitors such as voles or moles can be responsible for an uneven lawn. This is evident from the numerous holes and heaps that are spread over the area.
5. Trees
In rare cases, there are bumps due to tree or shrub roots. These often present a major problem as they must first be removed before the area can be leveled. So first check whether there is a corresponding plant in the area.
fresh patch of grass
straighten the lawn
Once you have identified what is causing the uneven lawn, you can be more effective at leveling it. Sometimes the area simply suffers from a lack of care, which can be recognized by numerous weeds, dried up or bare spots. In this case, it can help if you give the lawn a little "beauty treatment".
time
Like most of the maintenance steps involved in popular green space, you need to do this at some point of the year. Straightening the lawn is a major intervention in the soil structure and therefore requires a lot of physical work. Therefore, you should not level it too early in the year, as the earth is significantly heavier in these cases due to meltwater. In some regions, the top layers of soil may even be frozen. Therefore, the implementation of the ideas of April to late May best proven. This is particularly recommended for the following ideas below:
- fill up
- wear off
You can also carry out the other methods over the summer if the area to be worked on is not too large. In the case of particularly large lawns, on the other hand, you should definitely only choose spring so that the soil can recover over the summer. The latest time to straighten the lawn is early September. However, you should only do this if the lawn is otherwise damaged over the winter. You should also wait for a warmer period and dry days to make your work easier.
preparation
In order to effectively implement the methods listed below, you need to do some preparation first. It is mainly about determining the difference in height and the slope, so you know exactly how much soil you have to remove or fill in, for example. Ideal aids for determination are the following:
- level
- two staffs
- line
These tools will help you determine exactly how steep the slope is. To do this, proceed as follows:
- Place the pole at the highest point of the lawn
- Place the pole in the lowest part of the lawn
- tighten the cord
- each at the bottom of the stick
- use a spirit level to push the low side up
- cord must be straight
You can use the position of the cord to determine exactly how high the filling needs to be. Of course, this also works in the other direction, but you have to remove some soil from the place of the rod beforehand in order to be able to guide the cord. You can make a note of the values as a precaution in case you are still waiting for material or have to order or procure it first. In addition to the measurement, you should also consider whether you still need seeds. The specific tools you need will depend on the particular variant you are trying. However, clothing such as sturdy shoes and gardening gloves should be included.
Smoothing the lawn: 4 ideas
If the lawn in your garden is uneven, you have four methods to smooth it out again. Leveling lawns can be quite tiring, so depending on their size, you may want to consider asking someone else to help. For the methods, pay attention to the above information at the time as this will allow the lawn to relax after smoothing and allow the seed to sprout.
tip: As an alternative to leveling, you can cheat a little by planting hardy groundcover instead. With these, unevenness in the garden is hardly noticeable, they improve the quality of the soil and can be placed decoratively.
Fill up
With this method, you repair slight bumps by spreading new soil over the lawn. The big advantage: the existing grasses can grow through this layer, which makes fresh sowing unnecessary. While this method takes the longest, it will ensure level ground and a lush, healthy lawn over a period of several weeks. For this you need sufficient topsoil and sand:
- Mix earth and sand
- Cover hollows with about a centimeter of soil and sand mixture
- water sufficiently
- then let it rest until grass can be seen
- Duration: up to six weeks
- do not let it dry out
- repeat until surface is level
Do not flatten or flatten the surface after layering. The soil must be loose so that the grass can take root in it and even break through it.
Renew individual positions
If you only need to straighten individual parts of the lawn, you can do this by carefully loosening the top layer of lawn and repairing the soil underneath. A so-called lawn edger is required for this work, which is available for around 20 euros. This allows you to lift off the top layer and improve the floor. Once you have acquired such a device, proceed as follows:
- Pierce the area to be treated with a lawn edger
- this happens in the form of a cross
- Fold the resulting sections inside out
- now thoroughly loosen the soil
- Fill in the hollows with a sand-soil mixture
- remove raised areas
- then fix everything
- Fold sections down again
- Check area
- repeat if necessary
After you have touched up the spot, you have to water it extensively for the next time. It can dry out quickly, which can be fatal, especially over the first two weeks.
rolls
When rolling, you rely on the power of a lawn roller, which can straighten the lawn due to its weight. To do this, it pushes elevations apart and fills holes in this way. The lawn roller should be used on uneven surfaces that do not have holes that are too deep. Even the entire surface can be uneven as long as the pits are not too deep. It is also possible to straighten an existing lawn with rollers without having to sow new seeds afterwards. For this you need a lawn roller, which you fill with one of the following materials:
- sand
- water
Do not fill this until you have run the roller onto or near the lawn, otherwise it will become too heavy to transport. Then proceed as follows:
- mow the lawn
- water extensively after dry periods
- start from a corner
- preferably at the back end
- Guide the roller in straight tracks
- do not drive tight corners
- that leads to earth displacement
- then cross again
- Finally, let the lawn dry for 24 hours
When using this method, make absolutely sure not to roll young lawns, as they are too sensitive to the weight.
tip: As an alternative to the roller, you can use footboards, a shovel or your own weight (pound) to level the uneven lawn. However, these methods require a lot of time and effort, are not as effective as the roller and are best carried out with several people to save work.
removal
Demolition is particularly recommended if you see steep elevations and slopes that would take too long to fill up or are difficult to level with a roller. In terms of effort, this project is almost equivalent to a new system:
- Mow and scarify the lawn
- dig up completely in the case of heavy compaction
- Fill visible unevenness with soil
- Remove weeds thoroughly
- then fill in the entire lawn
- use the measured line height as a guide
- wait a few days
- Apply more soil to the area as needed
- wait a few more days
- this protects against seepage of the surface by rainfall
- now level the ground with a lawn roller
- fertilize and spread new lawn seeds
- then water sufficiently
After that you have to be careful. Do not enter the area until the first lawn cut has been made. This is done when the lawn is 10 to 15 centimeters high. Until then, you must not let the lawn dry out. After the first cut, you can look forward to a lush green area.