brooklyn1 wrote:

So would I just soak the ground to soften it up and then roll it? Or
is there anything special I need to do first?
Thanks,
Dave

There's much you can do, wetting to soften the ground will help a lot,
but you can also aerate and add a dressing of rich top soil. Much
depends on how flat you want your patch of lawn and how much effort
you're willing to expend. I wouldn't try to make it flat all in one
fell swoop... instead periodically roll your lawn, especially after a
rain... yiou don't wasnt to walk on your lawn right after a rain
either, let it dry a bit so you don't make muddy ruts.

How do you roll it without walking on it?

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:16:19 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

brooklyn1 wrote:

So would I just soak the ground to soften it up and then roll it? Or
is there anything special I need to do first?
Thanks,
Dave

There's much you can do, wetting to soften the ground will help a lot,
but you can also aerate and add a dressing of rich top soil. Much
depends on how flat you want your patch of lawn and how much effort
you're willing to expend. I wouldn't try to make it flat all in one
fell swoop... instead periodically roll your lawn, especially after a
rain... yiou don't wasnt to walk on your lawn right after a rain
either, let it dry a bit so you don't make muddy ruts.

How do you roll it without walking on it?

Doesn't say not to walk on it...
says not to roll right after a rain, silly.

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

David Johansen wrote:
On Sep 24, 8:36 am, brooklyn1 wrote:
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:18:44 -0700 (PDT), David Johansen





wrote:
On Sep 23, 3:14 pm, brooklyn1 wrote:
On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:17:10 -0700 (PDT), David Johansen

wrote:
On Sep 22, 6:38 pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:
David Johansen wrote:
This summer we laid sod in our backyard and we
prepped/flattened the sod underneath, but we were in a rush to
try and finish some things up before it started raining and I
guess we walked on it too much before it all settled because
now the ground is fairly uneven and not as flat/ level as I
would like.

Is there a way to level the ground under the grass now that it's
established?

Thanks,
Dave

I assume you mean you want to smooth the surface making it even,
not make it level. Leveling (ie making horizontal) is hardly
practical after you have laid sod.

You could top dress it. Using a friable loam, rake and drag it
over the grass, cover thinly overall with almost none on the
high spots but filling up the hollows and cracks. A heavy log of
wood pulled by a loop of rope will give you a smooth surface and
in time muscles too! The grass will grow through the dressing
and form a smooth mat. This is best done during the growing
season otherwise you can get erosion down the hollows before the
grass grows.

David

You're right and I probably did use the wrong term. I am
interested in making the ground "even" (no hills or valleys), and
hopefully with all of the tips I've gotten so far that will work.

Thanks,
Dave

It would help to advise knowing the size of the area.- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

It's a little bigger than 15 feet by 25 feet.
Dave

It's small enough that you can even your lawn yourself with a hand
pushed roller... you can probably rent one but I think it's best to
have your own as you will likely need to roll your lawn a few times
each year: http://tinyurl.com/ycrrapq

http://www.amazon.com/Agri-Fab-18-In...5-0267/dp/B000...

So would I just soak the ground to soften it up and then roll it? Or
is there anything special I need to do first?
Thanks,
Dave


commence rant
Of course. Then you will find it too compacted. So you need to buy a
aerator and drill it. But then it will grow too slow so you will have to
feed it with lots of nitrogenous fertiliser. But then there will be a risk
of burning so you will have to water it. If it is hot you will need much
water to keep it green and an automated sprinkler system would give you a
source of great pride.. But then it will grow too fast so you have to cut
it, a dandy mower will look good, perhaps a ride-on would do the job in a
minute or two. But then it will be too uneven so you will have to roll it
again....... there's a hole in the bucket dear Liza, dear Liza a hole.
end rant

You can spend as much as you like on equipment and consumables and use up
large amounts of resources. Do you really need to? Why exactly are you
doing all this?

If you need a playing surface, generally for sport or small children, my
apologies as you don't have much choice. But there are less intensive uses
of the land that still look good, some can even be used for something other
than looking at.

David

Welcome to Southern Californian mentality, no matter where it comes from.
--
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara

http://tinyurl.com/o63ruj
http://countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm

In article ,
brooklyn1 wrote:

One would thinks so but rolling does not compact soil, in fact it does
just the opposite, in flattening the ground rolling redistributes soil
particles making soil more porous thereby increasing its volume

Citation please.
--
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara

http://tinyurl.com/o63ruj
http://countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm

Billy wrote:
brooklyn1 wrote:

One would thinks so but rolling does not compact soil, in fact it does
just the opposite, in flattening the ground rolling redistributes soil
particles making soil more porous thereby increasing its volume

Citation please.

There are no citations for common sense, common sense is not
debatable... you either have it or you don't... you don't. Flattening
ground is all relative/a matter of degree regarding compaction... with
freshly tilled/loose ground any pressure applied will compact but with
already compacted ground any pressure exerted to flatten the high
points will loosen the ground in the movement/shifting thereof. That
you can't immediately comprehend this most basic of juvenile phenomena
proves you were an abused child, you weren't permitted sandbox time,
you never tested cow pies, you never fingerpainted, you failed library
paste... when all the other kids were making mud pies bad billy was
busy deep throating his thumb, yanking his ear lobe, and humping his
blankie with his wee willie. LOL

brooklyn1 wrote:
Billy wrote:
brooklyn1 wrote:

One would thinks so but rolling does not compact soil, in fact it does
just the opposite, in flattening the ground rolling redistributes soil
particles making soil more porous thereby increasing its volume

Citation please.

There are no citations for common sense, common sense is not
debatable... you either have it or you don't... you don't. Flattening
ground is all relative/a matter of degree regarding compaction... with
freshly tilled/loose ground any pressure applied will compact but with
already compacted ground any pressure exerted to flatten the high
points will loosen the ground in the movement/shifting thereof. That

common sense dictates that there virtually is no lawn that has been
compacted so much that further compaction would shift soil from the high
points to the low points.

both common sense and practical experience will also show that even with
the most compacted soil, further compaction will only depress the high
points with very minimal soil shifting to the low points.

last but not least, common sense, practical experience, and engineering
principles dictate that soil shifting, redistributing merely moves soil
from one high point to another low point, effectively canceling any
increase or decrease in volume.

you can't immediately comprehend this most basic of juvenile phenomena
proves you were an abused child, you weren't permitted sandbox time,
you never tested cow pies, you never fingerpainted, you failed library
paste... when all the other kids were making mud pies bad billy was
busy deep throating his thumb, yanking his ear lobe, and humping his
blankie with his wee willie. LOL

common sense will also tell everyone that this kind of argument,
character attacks can only come from people with no ...common sense