How can I take the bumps out of my lawn (grass is ok)

[dean]

How can I take the bumps out of my lawn (grass is ok)? Because when I cut the grass it bumps me up and down like crazy in some places. Can I put sand down? Thin layer of soil every week?

Thanks!

Dean

[roger61611]

Common problem. You can roll it.

[nospambob]

[Gideon]

Dean,

One of the best approaches is to core aerate the high spots and then roll the entire lawn with a roller of moderate weight. You can also top dress the low areas with about 1/8" of sand or good topsoil every week or so. Repeat until you are happy.

Good luck, Gideon

[dean]

Its over a septic tank field, so I'm not sure how much weight I can put on it in terms of large machinery at least.

What does "core aerate" mean?

Thanks

Dean

[Gideon]

Core aeration is a process in which you aerate the lawn by remove plugs (cores) from the soil. This can be done with a reasonably small power machine or it can be done with a manual shovel-sized tool which only removes 2 plugs at a time. In either case, the holes are about the size of your little finger.

When you roll the lawn, any areas which have been core aerated will compact lower than the rest of the lawn since those areas now have less total soil.

Any machinery heavy enough to ruin your septic field is heavy enough to ruin your lawn. You don't want equipment heavy enough to roll asphalt, just something that does some light compaction of the soil.

This info is probably covered in great detail in gardening-oriented newsgroups. Also, a trip to the library is probably a good idea since many lawn & garden books cover this in detail.

Gideon