New grass with old
 

Hi all,

New to this forum. I recently purchased a home in South Eastern PA. I have
an uneven section in my lawn where a tree had been. It's approx. 5' in
diameter and approx 3-4 " higher than the rest of the lawn. The former owner
removed a dead tree and seeded over the raised section. I want to level it
off to have an even front yard.

Here is my question: If I till the section and than reseed with the same
grass type will the section look different than the rest of the lawn?

My grass type is ryegrass and the lawn is approx 10 yrs old.

Thanks,

John

--

"New to this forum. I recently purchased a home in South Eastern PA. I
have
an uneven section in my lawn where a tree had been. It's approx. 5' in
diameter and approx 3-4 " higher than the rest of the lawn. The former
owner
removed a dead tree and seeded over the raised section. I want to level
it
off to have an even front yard.

Here is my question: If I till the section and than reseed with the
same
grass type will the section look different than the rest of the lawn?

My grass type is ryegrass and the lawn is approx 10 yrs old. "

There are several issues here. First, is whether the stump was
actually removed, or just partially removed, eg ground down, which is
more common. If the most of the stump was left, then the next question
is, how long ago was it done? The remaining stump will slowly rot away
over time, usually causing the ground to sink slightly over time. That
may be why the owner left it higher to begin with. The decaying
process can take 5 or more years. So, if the stump is still there and
you lower it now, you may have to fix a depression years from now.

In any case, if you decide to fix it, you have two choices. If the
turf on it is good, I would remove the existing turf, add soil, then
replace the turf. If the turf is poor, then I'd just add 4 inchs of
topsoil and seed it with the same type of grass. No need to till it,
especially since tree roots are likely still there. It may look a
little different at first, but over time it will blend in. Are you
sure the lawn is all rye grass? Usually rye is used in a blend with
other grasses.

wrote in message
oups.com...
"New to this forum. I recently purchased a home in South Eastern PA. I
have
an uneven section in my lawn where a tree had been. It's approx. 5' in
diameter and approx 3-4 " higher than the rest of the lawn. The former
owner
removed a dead tree and seeded over the raised section. I want to level
it
off to have an even front yard.

Here is my question: If I till the section and than reseed with the
same
grass type will the section look different than the rest of the lawn?

My grass type is ryegrass and the lawn is approx 10 yrs old. "

There are several issues here. First, is whether the stump was
actually removed, or just partially removed, eg ground down, which is
more common. If the most of the stump was left, then the next question
is, how long ago was it done? The remaining stump will slowly rot away
over time, usually causing the ground to sink slightly over time. That
may be why the owner left it higher to begin with. The decaying
process can take 5 or more years. So, if the stump is still there and
you lower it now, you may have to fix a depression years from now.

In any case, if you decide to fix it, you have two choices. If the
turf on it is good, I would remove the existing turf, add soil, then
replace the turf. If the turf is poor, then I'd just add 4 inchs of
topsoil and seed it with the same type of grass. No need to till it,
especially since tree roots are likely still there. It may look a
little different at first, but over time it will blend in. Are you
sure the lawn is all rye grass? Usually rye is used in a blend with
other grasses.

Thanks for the response,

I believe it is all rye grass but not 100% sure. I compared my blades to the
scotts website pics and description. I do have some weeds and crabgrass
mixed in. I'll look again tomorrow.

I'll dig a bit and see if the stump was removed or ground.

John