Rolling lawns...

My lawn is very bumpy, I don't want it perfect but we have a strip down the edge to turf in autumn, so i'm wondering if it's possible to roll the lawn to get it more even, would I just wait till damper weather and run a roller thing on it or what/how/when/where/why?

 

Hi Jay
I read somewhere that in somecases, rolling the lawn may not help. By flattening the bumps you could compress the lawn which would hinder growth of the grass. You could put spadefulls of soil in the hollows and level it off. In time the uneveness should even itself out. I done this in my garden. After leveling off, I trod on the area, then added more until I felt it was right. I also took 'the top' off the dips.
John

 

Hi Jay,

jpb is right, you definitely don't want to go rolling the lawn in damp weather - all you'll do is is compact the soil, made worse by the water within the soil profile.

You could add soil to the depressions as jpb says. If you do this in the autumn, I'd suggest using as much soil as you need, working it in with a tru - lute (a bit like a landscape rake) and then seeding on top.

Alternatively you could just add small amounts of soil regularly all through the growing season, but obviously it will take longer to acheive the final level doing it this way. If you decide to try this, just remember not to smother the existing grass, as you want it to be able to grow through any topsoil you add.

 

Good idea chaps - never thought of rolling to compact my already compacted lawn - DOH! It's just starting to look like a lawn a bit too, yes I admit it, I bought some aerating spikey sandal things from Argos and walked round my lawn like a drunk!