On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:53:33 +0000, MM wrote:

I'm preparing a patch (75 m2) of virgin soil for sowing a lawn. The
builder left the area roughly rolled, but I'm now raking and removing
stones and getting a fine tilth on top before sowing grass seed.

I want to get the most even lawn possible. I am raking and rolling,
and it's kind of level, but with pockets and gullies. When I fill
these, rake and roll over, I tend to get humps instead.

How do the pros do it? I would think the only certain way would be to
use formers and a tamping beam as if one were preparing a sand bed for
a driveway, then finally loosening the surface before actual sowing.

Any hints, web site referrals etc most welcome.

Get rid of the roller. All it does is compact the soil under the high
spots.

Go buy yourself a long 2x4 (or whatever the standard size of framing
lumber is in the UK), or even a 2x6 or 2x8. Attach an eyebolt at each
end in the long edge, tie a rope between the bolts, and start dragging
the thing around. It will scrape down the high spots and move the soil
it scrapes off into the low spots.

Protocol: dig over and rake. Drag your drag. Then water to settle all
the loose soil. (Or, given that you are in the rainy UK, wait a few
minutes until the next shower is over.) (Is joke, smile!)

Leave for a few days so the loose soil really does settle, then
repeat.

You might want to consider feeding the area at the same time: between
the water and the fertilizer, you will encourage weed seeds to
germinate. You can hoe these into oblivion when they are still wee
seedlings, and your hoeing will disturb the soil and expose more weed
seeds to be annihilated in the next round.

If you do this for a fairly long period, say until the end of this
coming summer, there will be many fewer weed seeds in your soil and
your lawn will be correspondingly more nearly weed free.

Lots of work and time? Yes, definitely, but you don't get something
for nothing. And gardening is an activity that demands patience to
attain good results.

HTH


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, BC, Canada
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