I am tilling large sections of my yard to fix ruts from cars that ran off the road into my yard.
I am using a small tiller and tractor. What can I do to smooth the ground after it is tilled before I plant grass seed?
Also, my tiller is not wide enough to cover the tractor tire tracks. Is
this a problem?
You need to rack out most of the rocks from the soil. Then broadcast your seed, lime and fertilizer. Next, get a roller or tamper and compress the soil. The next part is the most important. You need to keep the soil and seed moist until germination. It may take 7-14 days and in that time you don't want the soil to dry out. If so your seed will die and you'll be doing it again. A sprinkler system or a hose sprinkler with a timer is a must.
If you rent a mesh roller and apply about 1/4in layer fine bark mulch after you broadcast the seed, this will go a long ways in keeping the soil from drying out.
Assuming you don't have a blade, drag a log, beam or piece of cyclone fence. If more weight is needed, add some concrete blocks.
-- dadiOH ____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
OK.. now what are you going to do to keep them from coming back?
A metal leaf rake works best.
Not if you make a couple of passes at it. You could also rent a larger tiller.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?
Seed and fertilizer, yes. Lime, only if the soil needs it.
Wrong. Compacting the soil will make it more difficult for the roots of the new grass plants to get established.
A wristwatch works pretty well for me: just move the sprinkler every hour.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?
road into my yard.
it is tilled before I plant grass seed?
If this is a pretty big area, go rent a landscaper's rake for an hour or so. You can smooth a lot of area in no time with one of those. Otherwise, you can use a regular garden rake tines down to rockrake, then tines up for final smoothing (the landscaper's rake works a lot better, 'tho --hint, hint).
I am hilling up the area by the road to ake it harder for them to "drive through". ANy other ideas?
I have to be able to mow this too.
Do a whole earthwork. Dig a "drainage" ditch near the road, and pile the spoil in a ridge inward of that. Twice the vertical with the same amount of work.
Ummm...6" x 60" concrete posts about every 4' set into the ground about
36"?-- dadiOH ____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
I use to landscape and if you don't roll the seed after it's planted you take the chance of rain washing it away along with some of the soil.
A set of tire chains fastened to a 2x4 works great. Drag in several directions and by the time you are done you probably won't need a roller to compact it.
Harry K
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