Every autumn seems to bring a new project we rush to finish. One year we tried to sell our first house before the leaves fell. Last year we squeezed in tasks before a book tour. This year it was all about trying to grow grass in our sorry little front yard.
I realize landscaping updates aren’t the most thrilling content, and yes, I may be oddly fond of browsing fasttreeremovalatlanta.com, but we crammed about two months of work into this single post so it would feel more satisfying than “we threw down seed and waited.”
That photo was taken in summer, right after we had a landscaper level some small stump piles left over from tree removals (more on that in this post). The quick leveling cost just $60 and looked like it would make the yard ready for seed — until we saw how poorly the rest of the yard was graded. Those flattened spots were surrounded by low areas that collected water, so the yard wasn’t really ready for seeding after all.
We thought about simply dumping a few bags of topsoil and moving on, but I couldn’t shake the idea that a temporary fix would bug me for years. Eventually Sherry agreed that having dirt delivered and getting the whole yard properly graded was worth doing once and doing right. We’d mentioned this possibility in an earlier post, and seeing how badly the yard pooled after rain convinced us it was the right move.
Finding someone available in late September proved harder than expected — landscapers and dirt-delivery services were booked solid. After calling many companies, the landscaper who had done the initial flattening, Steve, finally found time to squeeze us in. A couple of scheduling hiccups and a week of heavy rain delayed the job, but mid-October he showed up and the dirt work began.
Steve calculated how much topsoil we needed based on the yard’s size and the amount of grading required to eliminate low, swampy spots. We ordered two heaping truckloads — about five car-sized piles of dirt in total.
With that much soil, a wheelbarrow and rake weren’t going to cut it, so we let Steve handle the heavy work.
The kids loved watching the machinery — Clara mostly watched from behind the railing.
Steve suggested we mark the future mulch beds first so we didn’t waste topsoil in areas that would be mulched. A few days earlier we laid out a hose to map curving bed shapes around tree groupings and then traced the line with marking spray. We won’t mulch until spring, so those beds are on hold for now.
By early afternoon the yard looked dramatically better. It’s just dirt, but seeing the surface smoothed and free of random moss, weeds, and mud made a big difference. Rain was forecast, so Steve recommended seeding right away so the rain could help settle the seed into the soft topsoil rather than compressing it into hard-packed dirt.
One reason we ordered plenty of topsoil was to fix a trouble spot in the backyard we call “The Wetlands.” From some angles it looked seed-ready, but after rain it would become an 8″ swamp, with about a foot drop from the walkway to the low area. Filling that gulley took a lot of soil, but it made the space far more usable.
Fast forward three weeks and the seeded areas began to show green. We worried that starting late in the season might mean little germination, but the lawn has slowly filled in. We plan to overseed next spring, and possibly again next fall, to build a thicker turf.
Our seeding routine has worked well in the past: use a broadcast spreader to distribute seed, then water daily for about 15 minutes with a sprinkler, ideally in the early morning so it becomes part of our routine.
We also added several evergreen shrubs to the backyard to improve year-round privacy, especially once the trees lose their leaves. We purchased them from a local nursery and chose plants that are evergreen, deer-resistant, tolerate partial shade, and mature around 10 ft by 10 ft to create a dense screen. The new plants are staggered about 6 feet apart so they’ll overlap as they grow rather than crowd each other.
We caught a fall perennial sale (40% off) and paid $25 for delivery. The plants came with a one-year warranty, so if anything fails we can replace it. One of the additions is wax myrtle, a native with a lovely scent; we plan to add more native shrubs over time to increase privacy and ecological value.
When planting, we dig holes twice as wide as the root ball but only as deep as the root ball itself — planting too deep is a common mistake. The large Nellie Stevens we planted were each about 7 feet tall and required some effort to settle in, but regular watering seems to be all they need so far.
Back to the front yard: here’s how it looked this summer…
…and here’s the progress we’ve made since grading and seeding.
The yard isn’t fully established yet, but it’s much flatter and far more mower-friendly — no more little swampy pockets after heavy rains, which is a huge relief.
The two truckloads of topsoil cost $750 and grading was $250. It’s more than I expected to spend on dirt, and it was the main reason Sherry hesitated at first, but seeing the results — and knowing this will make future lawn and landscaping work much easier — convinced us it was money well spent. Now if only those trees would stop dropping a bazillion leaves on the baby grass blades every couple of minutes.
Anyone else tackling major grading or seeding this season? Seeing the first green shoots poke through never gets old.
Psst — Sherry’s talking about the bun and her pregnancy over on Young House Life.