My Lawn has a hill in it - help!?

I have a fairly long lawn in my back garden that has a small hill across the middle of it.

What I want to do is take the hill out by taking all the turf off leveling the ground underneath and either putting back the old turf or replacing with new turf or seeding.

Can I take the turf up so its not ruined myself? would I need a special tool to take it up?

I took all the turf off from my front garden a few weeks back and it was a nightmare trying to get it up and the front is a 1/3 of the size of the back.

Any tips on how to make sure its level before I put turf back on either front or back gardens?

Thank you in advance

 

It doesn't need a particularly specialised tool - you could use a sharp spade to do it. Just cut a neat cross in the turf, slice under it with your sharp spade, or edger, and fold it back, dig out from underneath, firm down hard, and relay - watering well is good after that too! No probs!! To have it level, use planks of wood if you have them knocking around, and a spirit level, to check in ALL directions, and you'll have a lovely level lawn, and will have deserved a nice cup of tea (or perhaps something stronger!)

 

You can buy a proper turfing spade or a hire a turfing machine as it is very difficult to get a thin even slice with an ordinary spade.
you could also think about removing the turf [excellent compost] and relaying the lawn either by re seeding or by turfing.
You can also buy a lawn leveller, tho i made one from a door scraper [see recent post]as it is quite difficult to get the lawn perfect with a rake [hayrakes are best but cost a lot]
http://www.ferndale-lodge.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?product=574074
Im just finished sowing a lawn extension, i used 2" of topsoil to get an even, stone free finish, and i top dressed the existing lawn with topsoil and the same, fine leaved grass seed, top dressing is reckoned to be an excellent way of improving the lawn.
i think you can judge pretty well by eye when the ground is level, but use two sticks, some string and a spirit level .......... having the string close to the soil will show where dips are.... is there some reason for this hill, i mean why was it left in the first place do you think?
unfortunately by altering the soil structure and/or the lawn seed you will probably end up with a different grass mix in the centre of your lawn, in time this may disappear.
You don t say why you lifted the front lawn, or how you have stored the turf, are you going to re lay this same turf? it may be easier to re seed / re turf with purchased turf, provided you can prepare the surface properly, it will be more expensive, but in my experience it is easier than trying to level the lawn after replacing the the existing turf if it is uneven, as Dendrobium says you can easily fix small bumps, but i got the impression you felt had a bigger problem

[ 16. April 2006, 10:05 PM: Message edited by: Lady Gardener ]

 

I removed an area or turf last year and found that I had to take out a thickness of around 4 inches to get the roots out too. This made the turf squares exceptionally heavy and really hard work to move. The end result was great but because of all the soil removal, the level of the garden was a few inches lower than it had been originally and the new turf was pretty thin. I used a normal spade, no fancy tools!
I agree with Lady Gardner, check all directions for level using a plank of wood and spirit level.

 

Thanks for all the replies, will have a look at the link posted, I do have some long bits of wood laying around so that should help.

Have found a place locally to hire a turf machine so will be doing that.

Thankfully I have really good soil under the turf, I planted some plants in a flowerbed not long back and they are thriving, I was told the soil is excellent where I am (not that i know much about these things)

My front garden was a mess, more weeds and strange looking plants than grass so I simply took the lot up and carted it off to the tip

Ive no idea why the hill is there its about 4 inchs high and about 7 feet deep and runs the whole width of the garden. I moved here last summer (and have found some strange things in the garden, the strangest was a small headstone which looks like its never been used) I spent most of last summer trying to sort the inside of the house out and only really cut the lawn and the back and trimmed the hedges down.

My other idea was to perhaps fill the dips either side of the hill with top soil and reseed, but as someone pointed out the grass would look different to the older grass.

Thanks again

Lisa

 

i do a lot of gardening and i ve found quite a few headstones, people buy them and then are not too sure what to do with them, one lady assured me her parents were NOT buried under the flowering cherry!