Repairing a sunken lawn

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Radio interview source: Dave Minner, turf specialist, Iowa State University

Our list of things to do around our place never ends. One big job is to repair the yard. It's uneven and needs to be torn up, leveled, and reseeded. Some spots look almost like craters.

There are a number of reasons why a yard might start dipping in spots -- buried construction debris, rotted tree stumps, or dirt settling around the septic system. Sometimes a large boulder used to be in the spot, and even though it's gone now, the depression remains. However, before you start digging, call the local utilities to identify buried lines. Then, break up the ground.

Dave Minner is a turf specialist with Iowa State University and says to repair a sunken area, get out the tiller to work it up, then fill it with soil.

"You can even use potting soil, or some sand-clay mix, or compost," Minner says. "If you use straight sand, you'll have a dry spot in the yard so I wouldn't recommend that. Compost is a really good thing, you could even mix 60% sand and 40% compost and that'll grow pretty good grass."