How to level the ground

[tparvaiz]

Hi, I am a new bee in gardening and just moved into a new property...

I have noticed that on the side of the house, between my property and the Neighbours, the ground is not leveled. It's up and down and I am sure will create a ditch whenever it's' going to rain.

Question... what I should fill to level the ground? Please provide detailed steps as this will be my first attempt.

Thanks

Talha

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I don't know what is there, (grass, bare earth?) but my reaction would be not to fill in the holes, but to dig over the ground and level it off with a rake using the existing soil. If that left the ground lower than I wanted it I would add top soil and incorporate it into the top layer. Something different from the soil filling the holes is likely to give you problems one way or another.
I lost an eye in a fall recently, and this is one of my major problems. With monocular vision it is very difficult to tell when the soil is raked level

 

[tparvaiz]

it's grass, just that it has high and low ends

 

[Oliver Buckle]

In that case I would be tempted to leave it and create a soak-away where the water accumulates. Take out a turf, dig out a fairly deep hole and fill it with aggregate before putting a thin layer of soil and the turf back on top. Wait 'til it rains first so you can identify the lowest point where the water is, and just in case someone has already done this and there is not actually a problem

PS. And welcome to the forum, have a good look around, there is lots of interesting stuff.

 

[Chuck]

Without a picture it is difficult to know for sure what should be done. But, if this is a new property the area in question might have been designed that way, for instance it could be a berm or a swale.

 

[tparvaiz]

Here is the pic with the lower side (kind of a ditch) is shown with the arrow...

 

[Chuck]

That is a swale. It is designed for water runoff from both the house and the lawn. Whether it works or not is the question. How much higher is the slab from the tallest areas of grass?