If you have an unlevel lawn, you might be frustrated for a number of reasons. Not only can a bumpy, unlevel yard be an eyesore, but it can also impact your use of your property. Problems with leveling can lead to issues with standing water and drainage, causing even greater concerns for your Northern Texas home.
In this article, we’ll share what you ought to know about how to level a lawn.
Making sure that you properly level your lawn is important as you do not want to create more problems in the process. We’ll answer some of your common questions about leveling and discuss why it is best handled as a professional service for optimal results.
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There are multiple reasons why you might have a bumpy Texas lawn.
Some of the most common culprits of an uneven lawn include:
Foot traffic (children playing sports, pets, etc.)
Mowing equipment that causes ruts
Pest activity
Erosion
Poor grading to start
Often, the cause of an uneven lawn might help determine the best solutions. An assessment of your lawn can help guide the best plan of action.
Choosing to fix an uneven lawn can be a personal decision. If your lawn is only slightly unlevel and it’s not causing you problems, you might not be that concerned and choose to let it be.
But often, homeowners are frustrated by an uneven, bumpy lawn because it makes their yard more challenging to use and it can be an eyesore.
Of course, it can also lead to greater problems. Some of the potential problems with an uneven lawn include:
Drainage issues: If water is pooling somewhere this can lead to stagnant water and cause mosquito breeding grounds. Grass might also die in those soggy areas from drowned roots.
Runoff problems: If a leveling issue causes water to runoff toward your home, this can create serious foundation concerns. The grading should gently slope away from the home, not toward it.
Mowing mishaps: An uneven or bumpy yard can be very challenging to mow. This might lead to scalped areas or bare patches. You might also damage your mower.
Usability: Obviously, a bumpy Texas lawn might also be difficult to use. It can create safety hazards if there are trip and fall areas. Sports and activities can be challenging as well.
If you are frustrated by your uneven lawn, there are solutions. It might be time to consider a lawn leveling service.
As far as when to fix an uneven lawn, we recommend mid to late Spring and early Fall before the grass enters dormancy. This timing allows us to work while the grass is growing which reduces the amount of time that the property owner will see the new soil.
It’s also great for the grass as our leveling soil mix is full of nutrients and either help green-up grass in the Spring or build nutrients into the soil for the winter months so that come the next Spring, the yard is prepped for success.
Leveling a lawn in North Texas involves filling on low spots with topdressing to even out the grading.
But before any of that is completed, it’s really important to have a full assessment of the lawn done, in order to make strategic decisions. When homeowners attempt to level a lawn themselves, they usually just dump soil into low spots, and skip any sort of diagnostic or evaluative steps.
Before we even begin the lawn leveling, we’d complete a thorough evaluation and educate the homeowner.
Thorough evaluation: First, we begin with an overall assessment of the current state and the condition of the lawn. We identify the existing soil and grass types, determine if drainage needs to be addressed, locate sprinkler heads, determine what needs to be done with them before, during, or after the levelling work is completed. Then we create a grading plan.
Education: Next, we educate the client on the various factors involved, receive their approval, and schedule the work. We always utilize a landscaping crew, and not our maintenance team, as the skills are different. This is a landscaping specialty, best left to those who specialize in this type of work.
Lawn leveling often sounds “easy enough” to homeowners and they may attempt to handle it on their own. But there’s so much more to it than just dumping soil.
Some of the common lawn leveling mistakes that we encounter include the following.
Adding too much soil at once and suffocating the existing grass. You typically do not want to exceed a half inch of new soil per application. Most grass types can absorb this amount of new soil at one time. If the yard is very unlevel, it may require repeat visits in order to repair the grading while also maintaining the health of the grass.
Purchasing the wrong type of soil can also be a common problem. This can lead to compaction, lack of nutrients, and new weed introduction. Inexpensive “top soil” is typically low in nutrients and high in weeds or weed seeds.
Mistakes when performing the grading are also common. But this is incredibly important as it can create new drainage problems if done incorrectly.
Many homeowners also lack the proper tools to ensure a smooth finish when the leveling is complete. This can make the finished work look subpar.
There can also be problems created with your irrigation system. When soil is added to a property with an inground sprinkler system, many if not all of the sprinkler heads will need to be adjusted (and typically, raised). When homeowners tackle DIY leveling, this is commonly skipped and can create issues with watering.
We recommend a core and liquid aeration service at least once per year and possibly more depending on the state of the grass. Settlement of the new soil should be expected, and we often return to add more soil and further address levelling needs after 3 to 6 months.
After a lawn leveling service, you should keep an eye out for ongoing drainage issues and alert their landscaping company if they start to see any new trends with erosion or run-off.
If you are thinking about getting started with a lawn leveling service, it will be important that you make a wise choice in North Texas landscapers. Obviously, there are plenty to choose from, but you want to find a professional that will perform this service correctly.
Just like there can be a lot of DIY mistakes with lawn leveling, “pros” who are not experienced with this type of work can also make detrimental errors.
This could end up causing more problems in the long run!
At Grassperson, we’re here to help however you need us. If you’d like more information on how you can fix an unlevel lawn at your North Texas property, then we are here to help.
Since every property is different, we can develop a customized solution that is right for you.
If you are on the hunt for landscape enhancement services near Flower Mound, TX to help you upgrade your Texas landscape, we’d love for you to consider Grassperson. We love the opportunity to bring new life to North Texas properties, making them the envy of the neighborhood!
If you are in need of landscape enhancement services like lawn leveling near Flower Mound, TX to help you upgrade your Texas landscape, we’d love for you to consider Grassperson. We love the opportunity to bring new life to North Texas properties, making them the envy of the neighborhood!