Have An Uneven Lawn? 3 Ways To Handle Problems Small And Large

One key to enjoying your lawn fully is being able to comfortably walk and run on it. But if you have an uneven lawn, playing on it could be dangerous for you and your kids. And you're likely to see soggy or dead spots where water fails to drain appropriately. 

So, what can you do? Here are three maintenance tasks you can perform at home. 

Top-seeding. Top-seeding is a solution for minor problems that requires little hard work but does call for patience. Prepare a mix of usable growing soil — such as topsoil, sand, and compost — and rake about half an inch of it into a depression in the lawn. Spread it out evenly between grass blades. Now it's time to wait. As you recheck the area over a few weeks, you should eventually see that the grass has overtaken the dirt and the spot is a little higher. Repeat the process if it still seems a little low.  

Cutting Into Sod. If your problem area is larger or you don't have time to wait, you can raise or lower a spot with a little digging. Use a moon-shaped cutting tool (available at home improvement stores) to cut an "X" into the area to work on. Now, use a flat, square shovel to dig under each cut several inches and fold the section back outward. You should end up with a square of soil exposed. Add wet soil to the ground in order to raise it or remove soil to lower it until level. Replace the sod sections and stay off them for a while. 

Regrading. Does your problem area involve large holes or too many to reasonably do with a shovel? Then it may be time to regrade the space. This is invasive, and you may need to call on a professional lawn maintenance service, like Sunlight Landscape, to get the job done well. Regrading is essentially digging up the affected areas and leveling them with the ground around. You can use a 2x4 and a carpenter's level to ensure smoothness. Lay it with sod (for a quick solution) or reseed the leveled areas. 

If you're not sure how to solve your particular lawn elevation problems, talk with a local landscaping company about your options. Doubtless, they've seen your situation before and can help you solve it quickly so you can get back to enjoying your lawn with friends and family.