Question
Hi there!
In the early '80s, the previous owners of our house leveled out the backyard with fill and built an addition. We moved in 2.5 years ago, cut the massive tree down last summer, and are ready to landscape the backyard for our toddler. We're planning a play area with swing set and mulch and grass in the rest of the yard.  The grass area will be about 30'x30' total.

Walking around back there, I've found lots of rocks, potsherds, and even glass, and I've decided that when they leveled off the yard, they never put a layer of topsoil down. So basically the ratty grass growing back there is growing in fill dirt, which, coupled with the huge tree blocking out all possible sunlight, explains why the yard is in such bad shape. Add to that the surface roots from the tree, and we've got a world of issues going on back there.

So, like I said, the tree is cut down so we get 8-10 hours of sunlight back there now, and a good number of the surface roots have been pulled up. We're willing to till the whole thing and try raking or screening out some of the rocks and garbage. We also know we'll likely need to add in topsoil, compost, fertilizer or whatever to make the soil grass-friendly. We've bought a soil testing kit.

Here are my questions:
1. Should we kill the existing grass before we till?
2. How far down should we till?
3. Should we even bother tilling or just put topsoil on top of the fill?
4. Once we have grass-friendly dirt, should we seed or sod?

Thanks so much!

Answer
I wouldn't bother tilling, because you need to get some good topsoil on top anyway. tilled up garbage is still garbage, just tilled.

I'd just recommend getting some good topsoil (about 5 inches) and spreading it, then seeding or sodding.  Whether you seed or sod is totally dependent upon you, and what you want to do. It's much more expensive to sod, but it's also a very quick way to get a nice lawn.

Good luck!

-C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com