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I live in southwestern ohio, and I think our yard is at the point where it just needs to be re-done. It is overrun with moss and has very little grass. We had very big shady trees, along with a lot of foot traffic from when I was younger, and most of the grass near our house was killed. We have since trimmed the trees and the foot traffic is a lot less, but now there is just dirt in that section, but most of it has been washed away by rain over the years. So I was planning on taking a soil test thing and then rent a tiller and till up the yard. Then buy a load of topsoil and add some compost and maybe some fertilizer to adjust the ph after the soil test. Then till all that in, spread seed, and then cover with straw. I don't know if this is the best thing or not, and if it is, I need some help choosing a grass seed. Thanks I will try and post some pictures later.

LawnBoy97 said:

I live in southwestern ohio, and I think our yard is at the point where it just needs to be re-done. It is overrun with moss and has very little grass. We had very big shady trees, along with a lot of foot traffic from when I was younger, and most of the grass near our house was killed. We have since trimmed the trees and the foot traffic is a lot less, but now there is just dirt in that section, but most of it has been washed away by rain over the years. So I was planning on taking a soil test thing and then rent a tiller and till up the yard. Then buy a load of topsoil and add some compost and maybe some fertilizer to adjust the ph after the soil test. Then till all that in, spread seed, and then cover with straw. I don't know if this is the best thing or not, and if it is, I need some help choosing a grass seed. Thanks I will try and post some pictures later.

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That may be a little much work have you considered a good power raking(the machine not a hand tool) make sure to clean up really good. Then aerate and reseed? Definately do the ph test that may help and you can get special fertilizer for iron or whatever you may need.

If you do till your yard make sure to go through it and remove all the moss and sod roots before you add soil don't want any uninvited guests and make sure it is not soft your first mow or you may be in trouble

Okay, I'll look into that. It just seems that the soil is so compacted that it needs to be tilled or something. But maybe these pictures will help to show you my situation.

Yep some type of loam would help lighten it up to help the grass roots grow better as you mentioned just add some compost, sand, etc to the topsoil. You will need to add some soil back if it has washed some away as you mentioned.

LawnBoy97 said:

Okay, I'll look into that. It just seems that the soil is so compacted that it needs to be tilled or something. But maybe these pictures will help to show you my situation.

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a proper areating will also loosen the soil the kind with the plugs

If it was my yard I would spray it with roundup wait two weeks till it up ad soil sand lime and fertilizer spread seed rake it in with a 4 foot rake and keep it wet.
I don't cover it with straw I never have and never have understood why.

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Carscw said:

If it was my yard I would spray it with roundup wait two weeks till it up ad soil sand lime and fertilizer spread seed rake it in with a 4 foot rake and keep it wet.
I don't cover it with straw I never have and never have understood why.

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I have never understood that either :/

I always thought it was to keep the soil from washing away if it rains. I think I might just go ahead and rent the tiller since it is $45 for a day and get a load of topsoil and mix it with the appropriate stuff, but instead of putting a whole new layer of top soil over everything, just focus on the dirt area since it is so low, but still add some to the rest of the lawn. That way I might be able to save some $$$. I don't know. It just seems like it would be good to just start over. But I am still open to suggestions.

I am definitely going to call around first, but I tried out this website as a ball park cost for the topsoil. http://www.themulchman.net/topsoil.asp
The only problem is that I am not sure how much to get. The entire front yard is about 40x32ft, but let's say I did wanted to put 2 inches on the dirt part, and half an inch everywhere else. I guess I just need to do more measurements and calculations first.

I do really want to dethatch and aerate my backyard and side yard too, exotion, so would you recommend the dethatch blade for the mower, or just rent a dethatcher?

LawnBoy97 said:

I do really want to dethatch and aerate my backyard and side yard too, exotion, so would you recommend the dethatch blade for the mower, or just rent a dethatcher?

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I never knew they made dethatching blades for your mower.....I thought it was either a separate machine or an attchment. Cool! :thumbsup:

I've just seen ones with really thick plastic pieces sticking out of them. Arnold Power Rake Dethatch Mower Blade: Gardening & Lawn Care : Walmart.com

But there was a thread on here that was also talking about some that use springs.

LawnBoy97 said:

I've just seen ones with really thick plastic pieces sticking out of them. Arnold Power Rake Dethatch Mower Blade: Gardening & Lawn Care : Walmart.com

But there was a thread on here that was also talking about some that use springs.

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Yeah I just added pictures of them to my above post!

From that picture it sure looks like they work. Well after talking it over, I guess what we are going to at least start with is dethatching, then aerating and reseeding with some sort of fertilizer. We are still planning on getting a load of dirt for where some has washed away, though. And if all of that doesn't work, we might have to consider tilling. Now what type of grass........?

According to your university spring seeding is all right. Any of the cool season grasses seem to be all right as well I would just clean it up and rake the good grass out good. Bluegrass or fescue would be fine there. The dead spots I would break up good and add some soil to the low spots. Fine fescue is the seed for heavy shade and a shade tolorant bluegrass is called for in less shaded areas. Trim whatever that bush is up and keep the tree trash off it and try it. Come fall you can rake it out good again and overseed it again but you will have to keep the leaves off it so it can get established. I would raise the deck up and mow about right over the shaded areas this summer. Growing grass where trees have been for many years is quite a chore around here. Any remaining shade just makes it harder yet.

Ok thanks. We do plan on tearing out those bushes and adding some stones and landscaping, so that would need less grass in that area, but definitely still needs soil. There actually is a good amount of sunshine since we got the trees trimmed. So within the next few weeks I guess I will need to be making some phone calls for soil and maybe an aerator.

Take some photos as you progress if you would. New folks can use it as well as all of us. Good luck.

possum said:

Take some photos as you progress if you would. New folks can use it as well as all of us. Good luck.

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Yeah I can use it.....as you can see from this thread: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/lawn-care-landscaping/14095-planting-grass.html.

Okay, I'll make sure to. Thanks

Tomorrow we are starting the work on our lawn, beginning with a load of topsoil being delivered tomorrow afternoon. I thought I would add some before pictures, and then keep you posted on how it goes. Thanks

Man, I had originally meant to keep this thread updated with our progress on the lawn, but I guess I was just too busy. Anyways, the Lawn is now looking great. We spread out the soil, I pulled some dandelions, laid down some lime followed by grass seed and then some Milorganite fertilizer. We then put down a thin layer of straw and watered. The grass quickly grew, and BAM!, green lawn. There are a few more bare and thin spots, but overall the lawn is looking good.

Thanks for posting back. It does look good. If it goes well through the summer it will be well established by next spring. Thanks again for the post back.

Thanks. I hope it does do okay. I guess I need to keep watering it to make sure, though, as some spots of the lawn get a lot more sun which causes the soil to dry out quickly.