Levelling lawn after building work

[Mike_J_Smith]

Hi all,

We had some building work done earlier in the year when it was very wet and the digger has left really deep track marks and generally cut up a large area of our lawn. The builder advised this would happen and did tamp it back down a little, but we’re left with an uneven lawn which is actually quite dangerous when the ground is hard.

Any advice on how to get this back to normal? I’m thinking of hiring a rotavator, digging it all over, tamping it all down (with something?) and then turfing, but I have no idea whether that’s sensible or not.

Or is this something to get a landscaper in to sort?

Cheers, Mike

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

Thanks all for replying, sorry for not getting back to you sooner - I managed to pick up a bug and only really felt human again today!

Im not sure if you need to go as far as rotavatoring it all but it would certainly be good for your soil and then either laying turf or seeds.

You could just add top soil to the grooves.

Any pictures?

A lot of it needs just a bit of levelling out, so that might work. I took some photos, but they don't really convey that some of it has some quite deep tracks / cuts in it.

If the grass itself is intact, you could lift the lawn, fill in the holes with topsoil (tramping it down a little with your feet before a final level covering) and then relaying the turf.

Alternatively, do a mini lawn renovation by:

Scalping the lawn,
Top dressing with soil (dont worry about covering the grass this time) and levelling it off.
Put new seed down
Wait for 2-3 weeks.

Depends on what you feel up to.

I think this might need a mini lawn renovatiob. My wife is against using seeds, mainly due to the time it takes to grow. We've got a dog and it'll be hard to keep him off the grass for long period of time.

How deep are the track marks?
Any high spots?
What condition is the grass in? Weeds etc

As above, short cut, scarify and top dress and re-seed is probably the route to go.

If grass is really bad then kill it all off with glyphosate weed killer and rotovate and start again.

Deepest parts are maybe 4 inches I'd guess, not really any high spots. The grass is poor (see above photos); where the digger created mud, it's just regrown as weeds. We have a dog, so can we use weed killer?

Thanks again!

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

OK thanks all. Sounds like it may not need as extreme an answer as I was looking at. I'll have a think through what you've given me.

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

Thanks chaps. Sounds like there’s a consensus opinion!

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

@Mike_J_Smith - how'd it go?

Hopefully you have a lush green lawn to show now.

Ha, unfortunately not! Lack of time and having to do other stuff round the house has put this on temporary hold.

But I’ve got all the advice logged here and it needs to be done, so all useful once I get round to it.

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

Probably a job for the spring now as temperatures, light and leaves are dropping.

Yes, unfortunately looks that way. Ideally should have dealt with it a couple of months ago, but it is what it is!

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

I'd say that's the owners fault. In hindsight perhaps I was a bit quick to judge, having had my fair share of issues with "professionals".

In our case, we knew it would be a problem due to the kind of work we were doing and when we were doing it. The builder advised us beforehand as well. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so bad, but it was ultimately our choice.