I recently purchased a house in Northern NJ where the backyard is more of a woods than a lawn. The land slopes toward the back of the house. In a 100x100 foot area there were about 20 trees. Moss, vines and weeds are the main ground cover. Very little grass. No maintenance has been done in about 5-10 (probably more) years.

I have brought down a few trees and created an area where I would like to create a green grass yard to let my sons play in. The difference in height is about 3-6 feet from one end to the other.

I know I’ll have to move some dirt around and will be renting a backhoe/excavator. I basically plan on picking up some dirt (1-3 feet) on the high side and moving it down to the low side. Then seeding and watering.

What I am looking for is some information on how best to go about getting this done. Do I need to do anything special before moving the dirt (like fertilizing or putting down weed killer, etc.) After I move the earth, do I need to put topsoil down or will I be fine with what is there? If I have to get topsoil, how much would your recommend I put down? (1 inch? 3 inches? 1 foot?) If I put topsoil down, should I rototill the lawn afterwards? What about fertilizer at that stage?

Since the area gets sun only about 50% of the time, what type of grass would you recommend?

I have a few books from the library, but any reading suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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Help!!!

I agree it is better to save the topsoil. You want to fill in the low spots with something like clay, and then replacing the topsoil.

Also something like a D3 Dozier would probably work better. They take a little getting used to, they use foot controls for the brakes and clutches instead of foot and hand controls, but once you figure out the controls, they work good.

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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.

> Got any before photos

Pictures are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88304024@N00/

The wood's been stacked.

I plan on having two (or three) retaining walls. One will be at the top of the property (top of the slope), maybe 2-3 feet high, i think it will be constructed from old railroad ties that are currently around the front walk. It will sit about 10 feet off the property line and I will try to use the area above it for a garden (vegatables or flowers). Then, down at the bottom I will have another retaining wall, or maybe two walls, going up about 5-7 feet total.

Thanks for your help in with this.

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Help!!!

Re: using the logs

Yes, that is something I have thought of. I will probably cut the slope, and put a few logs against it to see what it looks like. If I like it, then they will stay. If not, I'll move them whenever I get to the front walk. (Weeks or months later.)

As for a grade, I expect I will have something. While dead flat would be nice, I don't think it is realistic. It will still slope down hill, just not as severe.

My biggest problem remains the tree stumps and roots, which I suspect will get in the way on the topside of the slope.

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Don't be afraid of your soapbox. I don't intend to make the whole thing just a pasture of shortcut golf course grass. Only about 1/2. The rest (more on the perimeter) will have a few gardens, rocks, etc. and be left wild.

I've already done a lot of work to address drainage issues for me and my neighbors. I built up the ground around the house so the land slopes away from it for 8-10 feet. I then built a swale at the end of that slope by cutting a drainage ditch around three sides of the house, filled it with plastic piping and gravel, a layer of landscape fabric and then a few inches of dirt. We've had some pretty torrential rains in the fall (14-18 inches over a three day period) and neither me nor my neighbor had water in our basement.

Thanks for your help.

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Help!!!