On Aug 20, 4:40 pm, Steve wrote:
John S G NOSPAMgoodwillATindigoDOTie wrote on 20 Aug 2007 in group
alt.home.lawn.garden:



I have three small lawns, each of which is below the level of the
adjacent paths. They are inherited from the previous owner of the
house and have not sunk in recent years. I want to raise the levels.

I have read that a new lawn requires to be laid on four inches of
topsoil. Can I put four inches of topsoil on top of the existing
lawns and then sow seed or put on readymade rolls? Or do I have to
dig up the existing grass?

I don't want to re-use the sods of the existing grass as there are a
lot of weeds (creeping buttercup, dandelions, clover, daisies,
speedwell and one that looks like pale green miniature spinach).

Be aware that adding soil on top of tree roots will likely kill the
tree.

If you want, you can apply a short-lived vegetation killer to the
existing sod to kill everything that's there. Be sure not to get the
stuff that says it lasts a year.

4" of soil cover will kill most grass and weeds, but some will come
through. You don't say, but if you're changing species of grass, you
probably don't want the stuff underneath to reappear in a few weeks. You
definitely don't want the weeds to show up again.

--
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement

You could try the "cover the old sod with newspaper and let it rot"
trick under the new dirt.