Behind the results
Leveling, topdressing and the work nobody photographs.
A genuinely flat, striped lawn is not a mowing height. It is sand, spread thin and dragged in,
repeated over more than one season, plus the equipment and labor to do it properly. Thin is
the operative word: a quarter inch a pass. Dump two inches of sand onto Piedmont clay in one go
and you build an interface that water will not cross and roots will not follow, and the lawn
ends up worse off than the bumps you were trying to take out.
Timing matters as much as method. Topdressing goes on warm-season turf at peak growth, so the
stolons grow up through the sand instead of being buried under it. It looks rough for a couple
of weeks. Then it looks like the aerial photograph at the top of this page.
Ask about your property