I have a city lot in Milwaukee.
I purchased the house last July, and posted here about what to do with the unkempt lawn... Thanks to the suggestions I got here, I got rid of most of the weeds without killing the grass.
Now I'm on a new mission. With all the rain we've been having lately, the poor topography of my lawn is making itself apparent. Basically, my entire lawn is sitting in 1-3" of water, with the deepest parts in the center of the lawn. Once the depression is filled, all the excess water flows into the driveway and down to the street properly. But I am left with standing water in the lawn for a day or two after the rain stops.
My thought was to get 15-18 yards of dirt (its roughly a 35' x 56' back yard), drop it on top of the existing lawn, landscape the depressions out and grade the entire lawn towards the driveway, reseed, and have a properly drained yard.
If I drop 3" of loose soil on top of the existing lawn, would I have to bother with tilling the base soil first, or will 3" be enough for a strong root system to establish itself and deal with the tighter soil beneath?
Thanks for any advice!