We've lived in our house for 25 years, and inevitably our front and back yards have developed low areas that need to be leveled out.

Our lawn is St. Augustine, and we live in north Texas, which has soil that shifts over time.

What is the best mix of topsoil and sand (or other fill material) to start re-leveling? And what's the best process to use that allows the grass to grow over the filled-in areas?

First, negate using sand. Any water you put down wether that be naturally falling rain or water from the hose will only seep down below the roots. If the roots are dry, the lawn will die. You need a good soil base to keep the roots moist. I dont know of particular grasses for your region, but heed my warning. I had a new sod lawn put in. it was dead within 6 weeks as I had the sod rolled onto a sandy based soil. 17k gallons of waterater and the kentucky blue grass was dead. Fast forward two years later, I had the dead lawn pulled. dug down and laid 8" of good top soil, a new lawn rolled and I have the nicest lawn 7 years later in the town. I water and fertilize, lyme and organically liquid fertilize all the time. Its a green, lush carpet.

I just leveled my yard in areas with what the place around here calls 'comppro'. 50% topsoil 50% recycled poo. Smelled like shit, but grass grew beautifully. Mix of Kentucky 31, Blue Grass, and some other random tall/creeping fescues. My strategy was throw as much at the wall as I could and see what stuck.

Prior to leveling, I sprayed area with round up, then burnt off dead stuff, then rototilled, then raked out old roots. After that had 9 cubic yards of mix delivered and spread over top. Giant pain in the ass, that stuff better live through the winter.

Topsoil, don’t lay it on too thick at a time, maybe 2” loosely laid, the st. Augustine will grow right through it.

Not sure how bad your low spots are and how carried away you want to get. If they are huge, or you are impatient, then killing what’s there, scraping it, regrading, and starting from scratch is an (expensive) option. If the lows are shallower or you are patient and willing to do it over time, Jimmy’s method works great. Add some soil loosely, water it in if you like, which tends to wash it around the grass if the lift is light enough. Once everything seems established and solidly grown through whatever lift you put down, you can add another, repeating as needed until your dips are filled.

Skins - bet your neighbor loves the contrast

quote:

Originally posted by snoris:
We've lived in our house for 25 years, and inevitably our front and back yards have developed low areas that need to be leveled out.

Our lawn is St. Augustine, and we live in north Texas, which has soil that shifts over time.

What is the best mix of topsoil and sand (or other fill material) to start re-leveling? And what's the best process to use that allows the grass to grow over the filled-in areas?

As someone who has lived in both the north (lawns in 3 US States and 1 Canadian province) and the south (lawns in 2 suburbs of Houston) I can assure you that the grasses are way different. Cool-season grass (eg Kentucky blue grass) has different soil and fertilizer needs (double the N but 7/8 less K) than St Augustine (a warm-season grass). In other words, ignore the advice of those in the midwest and northeast when it comes to Texas lawns.

We’re clay and much wetter down here in Houston and what works down here may not even work up there.

Have you checked Neil Sperry’s website? He is the preeminent Texas lawn & garden horticulturalist.

I’ve used sand here on my Bermuda front yard with a drag mat behind my rider. You can do the same with St. Augustine as long as you don’t overdo it. Just make sure you don’t cover the grass completely. My front yard is almost as smooth as a golf green. If your low spots are bad you’ll need to level over time and not in one or two sandings.

A "trick" we used when I was doing landscaping was to lay down an upside-down layer of sod in the low spots, then sod over the whole area. This works best when the sod farm cuts their product too thick, something that is not nearly as common now as it used to be.

Speaking of gardening, remember: You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.

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