Right on. Thanks for watching! You prolly are already but be sure to check out The Lawn Tools here on RU-vid. Another great NWA channel! Appreciate you!
Thanks so much bro. Likewise about your channel. I think you and I take a similar approach to lawn care. Just do it, don't over think it and have fun. Then we just talk about it online. Haha, I'm glad you caught the rocking chair. It drives some people nuts when I rock, but for most folks, it has kinda become my calling card. Can't please 'em all. Thanks again buddy. Always appreciate ya supporting!
Great to the point video summation of the overall sanding/leveling process in easy to understand language. I've already checked out your other 4 part Series. Very informative.
My friends up the road at The Lawn Tools gave it to me. Good guys if you're not already subbed to their channel. I'm sorry, but I don't know where else to get them. Thanks so much for supporting the channel. Glad you enjoy the videos. Appreciate ya!
I've got solid red clay soil as well. Not a big deal. However, a lot of folks will aerate prior to putting sand down. That will let sand fall into the holes and loosen up the red clay a bit. Hope this help. Thanks for watching and the question.
@@BudgetLawns thanks buddy. This is probably the first lawn video I’ve watched in two years or so. I need to do just what you’re saying. Your channel is doing great I see!
Oh for sure. You've got your hands full. Better start sleeping and hydrating now haha. Small sections at a time would be worth it. Before you know it, you'd have the whole thing done and love it. Thanks as always bro. Appreciate ya!
Good question. I don't aerate in this project. Some folks do. I choose not to. It's a difficult enough task as it is. I don't have the time to do everything that can be done. If I did aerate, however, I would collect the plugs from the lawn. They would make it challenging to level if left. Thanks for watching. Appreciate your question.
Great guide, practical and to the point! I like to aerate or have the lawn aerated before I top dress with the sand for some added benefit with drainage.
Hi, i'm just starting to focus on my lawn more. I put St Agustine sod on Aug 17th and i'm trying to take care of it. Does this leveling method also work for St Agusting palmeto type. I'm also going to put down some PGF Complete fertilizer to start the fall season.
St. Aug. is a bit different as it is not cut as low. Usually, folks will not scalp it. However, I've seen it cut low before. You just need to be careful scalping and making sure not to smother it. Bermuda is much easier to recover. I don't level in the first year on new sod. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching.
Haha, I wouldn't mind. The hard part would be convincing the wife that I'm going to work on someone else's lawn lol. Thanks buddy! Always great to hear from ya!
Hey man. June or July is best when it’s growing super vigorously for quick recovery. However, it makes it very tough then because it’s so hot. A lot of folks will do it in the later part of spring to beat the heat. Just means a longer recovery. Hope this helps. Appreciate the question. Lots of folks wondering about leveling this time of year. Figured it was time for a video about it. Thanks bud!
@@BudgetLawns okay, I just went outside and put a 20lb bag of playground sand in my Scott’s turf builder dlx seed broadcaster and it worked awesome... a little dusty, but it worked good👍
I don't blame ya man. You're just in the first inning. Gotta get a few at bats before taking on that project. You'll get there. Thanks for keeping this in mind for when you do! Appreciate ya buddy! 👊
Enjoy the info you provide. My lawn is beginning to green up. There is low spots. Should I wait for it to be actively growing to level or level little by little in the few low spots while it is greening up. I am not ready to do a complete yard leveling project. I donot have a complete level yard it is level on the sides of my home and sloped in the front. Your information is most helpful. RGC
Thank you. I appreciate that. If it were me, I’d wait until it greens up all the way before doing any spot leveling. The sand would just slow down the green up. I hope this helps. Thank you for watching and the question.
@@BudgetLawns With that said (I'm here in Houston,Texas myself) would you recommend we level earlier than the summer months (Maybe mid to late May?) as to somewhat combat the high temps we'll get during summer? I'm thinking about doing maybe 70/30 or even 80/20 mix of sand and a organic soil just to help with the heat as my sod still somewhat new won't be a full year till late august actually.
You sure can. Lots of folks do it in late spring to beat the heat. Of course, your temps will be much hotter than mine in May so that won't have much impact on recovery. Here in northwest Arkansas, spring leveling just means a longer recovery time. Waiting until June or July when it's hotter just gets it back to normal faster. Geographic location plays a big part in all that. Good luck in the project. Sounds like a good direction you're headed in. Thanks for watching and the question. Appreciate ya!
I am in Boston area. My established lawn is good but I do need to get my lawn leveled out so that it's perfectly level. With that said I have Kentucky blue grass/ fescue grass. So just use sand ? Not a top soil sand mix? I have seen one guy on u tube use miracle gro potting mix moisture control product mixed in with medium Sand on his lawn. What is your opinion on doing that? The reason he used the potting mix moisture control vs top soil is that he said top soil introduces weeds where the miracle gro potting mix does not. Your thoughts on this. Thanks
There are a lot of things you can use. Sand. Sand/soil. Soil. Potting mix. Compost. Etc. You just need to find what works best for you. On bermudagrass, sand is the best in my opinion. I may use some soil on my new lawn in the really deep spots, but I haven't decided yet. Weeds are being introduced into the lawn all the time from wind and other factors. Sometimes to get things the way you want them, you have to give and take. Lawn care is never perfect. Too many people expect it to be. Just be careful with your grass types, depending on your mow height. It may very slightly because of the fescue since it doesn't like to be cut super low. Hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching.
@@BudgetLawns I definitely keep my lawn high in the late spring and all summer. Either the highest setting or one below the highest setting. No point in stressing the grass out . Keeping the grass on the high side keeps the sun from getting to the roots plus been told if you keep your grass in the high cutting position the grass roots will go deeper? I assume that is true. Looking forward to your answers. Regards
Yes, that's a good practice for cool season grasses like you have. Bermuda likes to be cut very low. To level, it needs to be cut low to get the best levelling done and work the sand down into the turf. It's just a bit trickier with fescue but can be done. You won't be able to go as heavy as I would be able to.
@@BudgetLawns okay. So I can get away with mowing lower at this time with temps not hot yet. To get that sand Loam mix into the ground in between the grass blades.
Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge with us. I’m about to tackle this for the first time, yard isn’t all that big (around 2500 sq. ft.). I will hand aerate first and then dump the sand!
You're welcome. Thank you very much for watching and supporting. Really means a lot. Nice, yeah aeration is another good step to add in there before the sand. Good luck in the project. The hard work will be worth it. Thanks again!
I keep watching your video just to hear you say “It will all be worth it.” After 8 days of working like a dog and everything going wrong I FINALLY have the sand spread out. Hope you’re right buddy! I do have a question though, when you say you water every day how much water are you putting down? You just wetting it good or going for a half inch or something? Fyi takes me about 6 hours to get 1/2” down on my whole yard (10k sq feet).
It’ll be worth it. Haha 👊. I feel ya on the long time to get the half inch. I’m in the same boat manually watering. Good news is when leveling I don’t water that much each time. I just put enough down to keep it wet so the sand doesn’t dry out too much. Usually that’s just 45 minutes in each spot instead of 2 hours. Hope this helps. Appreciate ya.
Thank you. Appreciate that! That's a tough call for St. Aug. It's not necessarily the grass that's the issue. It's the cutting height for it. Leveling with turfs that are cut high makes it difficult. Not that it can't be done, it's just a bit more risky because it can smother them. I don't see folks level higher cut grass very often. The reason short cut lawn folks do is because it helps prevent the scalping when cutting short on a bumpy lawn. With all that said, if I were to level St. Aug., I wouldn't scalp it. I would take it as short as I could without risking any damage. Then I'd just be a lot more conservative with how much sand I use. As opposed to making a lot of headway all at once, it'd just be a slower process over several levelings. Gotta keep it watered too, but that may get tricky as St. Aug. is pretty prone to disease. I hope this helps. Wish I could give you an answer from experience, but I just don't have it. Thanks again for the kinda words. I appreciate you!
Right on buddy! Thank you for the quotes on putting green haha. I grew up on a golf course and watched greens be built during a course renovation. The amount of layers, work and detail in them is incredible. Thanks again man! Always appreciate ya!
Anything's worth a shot. Not sure that it would be heavy or easy enough with the right spacing to work very well. But I may be wrong. If you give it a shot at some point, let me know. Thanks for the question Appreciate ya watching!
Awesome! Thank you. Yeah man, sorry. The major cold blast and winter storm along with rain and a oversaturated building market has us way behind. Was supposed to be done in June, but it'll likely be late summer. We've got a slab waiting to frame. More heavy rain and storms slowing that down again haha. Just gotta roll with the punches. Thanks for asking. I'll keep ya posted more often as things start going up. Especially on Instagram if you're following there, budget.lawns. Appreciate you very much!
I wanna level my front lawn have terrible areas when I mow with my riding mover I scalp if the deck is to low. I also wanna over seed in the winter can you over seed in sand?
If you're talking about overseeding a bermuda lawn in the fall with a rye...yes you can. It will come in just fine with sand. Thanks so much. Appreciate ya watching.
@@BudgetLawns I'm in PA I have fescue grass. I just sprayed to kill the weeds. I'd like to level the lawn then later this fall I'd like to thicken up my lawn.
I agree that it is addicting to have done to one’s lawn, but I am of the mindset of wanting to hire someone else to do it for my lawn hahaha. So much hard work. I remember doing it last year on my corner lot and making three trips to The Sod Store in Tontitown. Literally took the entire day and was exhausting. But the results were amazing! If I end up doing it again and decide not to hire someone, then I’m going to retrofit a riding lawnmower with some broom brushes to help push and smooth out the sand on my lawn 😂
I get that 100%. It is one of the hardest jobs in the lawn. My front lawn is all I could handle the 2 times I did it. Corner lot is no joke. Thanks for watching and commenting as always man. Appreciate ya very much.
Good question. St. Aug. seems like it would be more difficult to level, because it doesn't like to be cut short. If they're really, really deep, you may consider working some top soil down into the turf for the deepest of spots and using sand more towards the surface. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching. Appreciate ya!
I'm not sure how many pounds a cubic yard is. Weight would very depending on how wet or dry the sand is at the time of purchase. Dry is better. I buy it by the yard. 1 yard per 1000sqft of lawn. Hope this helps.
Awesome vid as always. If I ever get a reel mower I may level mine. Right now I’m mowing on the lowest setting on my rotary and I’m not running into any scalping issues, which I didn’t expect. When I hit it with a ruler to see how low it was it was at between 1- 1 1/4 inches. I just got finished dethatching, scarifying, more pre-m for the barrier I just killed from dethatching, and hitting it with fertilizer. I watered that stuff in pretty good. A good rain is coming through the next couple of days followed by some heat. That Bermuda should be poppin’ in the next couple of weeks.
Thanks bro. That's awesome you can go so low without scalping on a rotary. No reason to level when that's the case. 👊Sounds like you're killing it everywhere else too. Nice job! You're right...some rain and heat is coming! Let's goooo! Appreciate ya man!
Great video!! I am buying a brand new house and builder is going to install Bermuda sod. Would you recommend leveling it right away? Or wait year or two? And, can I use reel mower on brand new Bermuda sod?
I’m building right now too. Won’t sand until the summer of its second season. I want it to establish really well first. Yes, you can reel mow it. Will just depend on how good of a job the builder does. That’s always iffy. Thanks so much for watching. Hope this helps. Appreciate you!
What type of sand did you use? Roughly what's your square footage and did you get the sand spread in 1 day or 2 days? I liked your video. Overall it was very informative!
Thank you. Appreciate that. Used masonry sand. I go heavy, about 2 yards for 1400 square feet. I did it in 2 days but could have done it in one. Had some extra time so split it up. Also helps to water it down after the first day to let it settle then use a little left over sand on day 2 to touch up spots. Opted not to go that deep in the video because you don’t have to do it that way. Thanks again. Hope this helps.
If you have significant leveling issues, do NOT use sand for the first round of leveling. Use native soil, get all the bad leveling issues corrected. Then use sand to fine tune it.
Solid tip and always a good, safe option. Thank you so much for adding that...will help folks out a lot if they're hesitant to go too deep in their really deep spots. Appreciate ya!.
