Leveling the soil

[Mike17]

I just got my home a month ago with thick ugly grass installed by roll.

I used a shovel to cut it to pieces, and mix it with the soil, added some more black soil, added scotts turf builder and scotts classic grass seed and watered with miracle grow garden feeder.

After 3 week the grass is growing beautifully but the soil is uneven and I just can seem to get it good. Any help, tip or trick I will be most greatfull.

[MoonShadows]

You have to start with a smooth surface. Try a tiller, rake it all out to a smooth surface. The grass will come back.

[imafan26]

How deep did you prepare the soil. How much amendments like "black soil" is dirt or compost? If the soil was not leveled out to start with and you did not till at least 4-6 inches deep and the center is hard. The grass will have a hard time to grow. Preparation is very important whenever you plant.

For new grass, I would have added 4-6 inches of compost and about a 1/4 inch layer of manure. Tilled that all in 4-6 inches deep with a tiller or double digging. I would not have mixed in the old grass. My old grass is full of weeds. It should be leveled it out and graded away from foundations. Water it to make sure there are no weeds coming up daily for about 2 weeks. If no weeds then great, if weeds come up you have to take care of those first and water again. When the soil is crumbly and forms a ball when you squeeze it but it is not water logged, then you would be ready to plant. You would have to water up to 4 times a day depending on where you live. I do not use grass seed, lawns here have to last 20+ years so we usually plug grass here.