Question
Hi Kenneth,
We just built our house in zone 5( northeast ohio), and we will thinking about adding compost into the soil, which is basiscally foammy clay, before seeding the lawn. But our landsacper suggested us not to add compost to the soil, add to topsoil instead. He said that would result into weeds in the lawn. We are just wondering why/if adding compost would result in weeds in new lawn. Is there any method to prevent weeds while improving the soil with compost? (A hint: We can get compost for free)

Also, we have a slope of 5ft high over 50ft long in the front yard, and we are wondering wheather seeding would do it. Instant new lawn is not a big factor for us. We are shooting to get a beautiful, healthy lawn for as less money as we can get away with.

We would appreciate your help.

Thanks,

Dave and Junli  

Answer
Compost is excellent and you can get weed seeds from topsoil, too. In fact topsoil is just a description for soils which rest on top. It says nothing about the properties of the soil. It can be dirt or good quality loam. My recommendation would be 2" of compost mixed into the top 6-8" of soil.

Rake smooth and allow the soil to settle (the longer you wait and the more rain or watering you can allow the better settling you will have). Then rake out any depressions (even out the lawn area) and rake smooth.

A 5 foot slope on a 50 foot lawn is quite significant and you certainly risk runoff of water and erosion of soil and seeds. I would recommend you use a seed barrier (seed netting) to keep the seeds in place. I would actually recommend a retaining wall to even the slope out a bit.