New Lawn - uneven and unrolled

azzeretti

I got a new lawn down last October. We got drainage laid and loads of topsoil brough in. Over the winter and spring the grass has come up failrly well but two problems have arisen.

1) There is a lot of stones on the surface, A LOT. Too much to attempt to pick up manually.
2) The garden was never rolled and as a result it was soft to walk on and still is. Also, any dogs or animals that have walked on it have left foot prints and now the garden is very uneven.

I called a few places to ask about renting a roller but a a lot of them suggested that rolling a garden with grass on it like that is a bad idea.

Can anyone advise what I should do? The garden is 1 acre in size.

denisor

Whist I wouldn't be one to cast aspersions regarding what might have happened when your lawn was newly laid. Have you discussed your thoughts with the person who laid the lawn? The stones coming up is a natural occurance, worms moving in the soil alone can cause settlement.

Large animals are bound to leave marks, but you say dogs can leave visible dents?, that’s unusual. Even after the winter where I would have thought all subsidence would have naturally occurred by now, you say it still sinks?

I would be thinking for a 1 acre lawn, rolling it is a very good idea! Do you cut with a ride on? if so attaching one to it should make the task easy. Assuming that levels the ground to a comfortable firmness, I would say occasional localised wheel barrow load dumps of a fine top soil and sand mix, spread out, over time, (ie, don’t smoother the existing grass) will be the only way forward.