Scalping new lawn, upset :(

mickgreens

So I have spent a long time preparing what was a mess into something resembling a lawn. I laid it 2 weeks ago today and it seems to have taken well.

Yesterday I gave it a first cut, on the highest setting my mower has, and it's left a lot of patches where I assume the ground was not as level as I thought.

The turf is pretty well rooted and very hard (if not impossible in places) to lift.

What's the best way to fix this? I am not after an ornamental lawn in any way, just for kids, but this is a bit frustrating after all the hours I've put in and I don't want it to die.

Dave Morgan

Mick greens, that's not bad, all you need to do is level out the bumps. You cut a cross with a spade, peel back the turf and remove a bit of soil then firm the turf back in place. Firm it back in place, water and it'll recover well. You did a good job by the way.

Bushman2

Mick, you can try rolling the high points first. You can hire rollers that you fill with water. See how that goes. If no better well then i would do as Dave above describes. Your grass will recover so don't panic.

mickgreens

Thanks!!

Clarington

And of course if those options don't work for you go for the other method of slowly raising the rest of the lawn to match! Topsoil and sand sprinkled into the dips allowing the grass to grow through before you apply the next layer.

Fairygirl

That's the option I'm using Clari, especially as mine's  seed sown. 

You might find a combination of the two methods works well Mick. If it's just a gentle hollow, adding soil/compost and seed is easier. 

It looks very good anyway  

KT53

Whacking the high spots with the back of a spade may help too.  There will be some settlement in a newly laid lawn but you might be able to persuade the high spots to settle a bit more than the rest.