Informative video. There's a lot unnecessary worry over this subject for people who actually put in a minimal effort to take care of their lawns. If your grass is healthy and you have a regular care regimen with fertilization, proper mowing heights, regularly sharpened mowing blades, dethatching, aeration, filling in low spots rather than crushing down the high spots, etc. and you're doing all these things at the correct times of the year for your location, then your grass will also survive rolling every few years if done at the correct time of year, and all of these tips are accurate. The fear of crushing the root system only tends to be a concern if it's too early in the season, if it's extremely wet, or if the grass is already failing to thrive due to other circumstances. Timing and temperature are critical. Need a good balance of early spring temps with a bit of humidity, a cloudy day after a light rainfall is perfect because you're not rolling over mudslides and if it's not sunny then evaporation isn't an issue. In the winter, moisture in the ambient atmosphere is pulled out of the air and into the ground. That's why your skin and lips get so dry and chapped in the cold, because all the moisture's literally in the snow sitting on the ground for several months. So the deeper layers of soil take better to the rolling by the time soil temps are getting over 40 fahrenheit. I have a guy with a 1-ton vibrating compactor come do it in the spring every few years, mostly just because walking and mowing becomes downright aggravating after a few winters when the mower feels like it's riding over potholes. It's not a giant Caterpillar steamroller like the clown in this video is riding on, it's a fairly small unit that's not much heavier than most tow-behind rollers, and vibrating drum on the rear axle works a lot like an impact drill, quickly tamping everything down rather than just relying on brute force crushing weight. I also apply some liquid aeration mixture afterwards, right before a rainfall that can water it in. I have Kentucky Bluegrass in the midwest with fairly high clay content in the soil, and my lawn gets positive comments all the time, not because it gets rolled, but because I look after it with many other routine maintenance steps all year long. And none of this has ever hurt or killed my lawn. In my experience, scalping, dethatching, and then overseeding in the autumn at least once every two years can be an extremely effective DIY alternative to aeration because it forces the lawn into survival of the fittest and allows new cultivars to germinate before the first winter frost; all the weak grass gets culled and the strong grass survives and looks the way it should in the spring, and can cope better with rolling.
Totally agree. Great information - thanks for sharing! The vibrating compactor is a cool idea. I've never heard of someone using that before, but I bet it works great! Thanks for watching, and I hope you have a great lawn season! 🍻
I don’t roll my yard in the spring. I don’t want anymore compaction than what my zero turn creates while mowing. After a few mows, its good! Good video Justin.
Thanks Gary! I agree, the more I have improved the soil over the years I don't really have much of a need for it anymore. I'm glad it's finally lawn season, I got to mow today for the first time!
Glad it was helpful! Yes, this is why I wanted to lay out all of the information so people can make an informed decision on whether to roll their lawns or not this spring. I personally have not rolled in several years - great soil will hold up well over the winter and there isn't much of a need for it for me personally. I appreciate you watching and supporting the channel as always Jeff. I hope that you have a great 2023 lawn season!
I agree with everything said in this video - I typically try to advise my clients to avoid rolling unless it is absolutely necessary given the compaction issues it can lead to. Well done video
Thanks Zeke. I agree - only roll your lawn if it is absolutely necessary. Solving the primary cause of your issues will always pay off in the long run. I appreciate you watching and dropping a comment!
A lot of people in the Midwest historically roll their lawns in the spring after winter. It's ok to do as long as you aerate, but people don't always do both. Yes, the app also provides soil temps. Thanks for watching!
I don't want to use that because it's too expensive and no room in my garage. I thought it was for the seeds 😄 I'll skip that step. Great information though.
Ok, the clown on the steam roller had my dying 😝 Great video - I never thought about not rolling in the spring, this definitely made me think twice about rolling this year.
If the sprinkler system was installed at the appropriate depth and you use a standard lawn roller (not something that weighs an excessive amount) you should not cause any damage to the sprinkler system by rolling it. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the sub! That is awesome that you are pretty close, such a small world. I appreciate your support and hope that you have a great 2023 lawn season!
If you just had new seed germinate, I would give it a few weeks to allow it to get established roots before I took a roller to it. Rolling newly germinated seed could stress it out and damage it. Thanks for watching!
Patricia, thanks for watching! Check out the video I did last year that goes in-depth on moles and how to get rid of them. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YwyPdON82eQ.html
I have a sandyloam lawn. Built a home 2022 spring and into the summer my wife and I raked and raked and seeded our lawn in 23 now this spring of 24 I want to over seed and fertilizer the lawn. Should or do I need to roll sandyloam? I'm thinking after I seed and fertilizer that it might help with the seed ground contact. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Yes, I typically run the roller over it when I overseed to ensure that contacts the soil well. I personally don't fill mine all the way up when I roll grass seed because it doesn't really need all the weight and compaction. I would personally avoid rolling the lawn with a full roller this spring especially if you just seeded last season. Good luck!
