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I recently bought a place with an acre of lawn in front of my home. It has a natural gravity flow watering system. I want to cultivate nearly all of this for a lawn. Currently growing is what looks to be 3 different types of grass - not very well because the ground is badly dried out and hasn't been worked in 3-4 years. There are bald patches everywhere as well.

I have an ATV and I'm looking to pull a plow, tiller or cultivator. Not sure what to do or what I need.

Spring is coming, snow will be melting and I need some help. The closest help is almost 2 hours away, because I am in a remote location. Hope these pics help. Can you all give me some direction?

Niall C.
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Sean Hamilton
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1 Answers1

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Year 1: pencil, paper, thin rod, hammer, sunhat, chair. Idea is to get a good idea of the area and its weaknesses and strengths. Make up a grid of granularity that suits your time allocation. The rod and hammer are for penetrating the soil to a depth of about 2 feet. Make notes on survey sheet of location and what you feel and hear as the rod goes into the ground. Note presence of stones, bedrock, depth of soil, ease of penetration and so on. The goal is to find whether there might be buried concrete or old ironworks, stump cavities, bedrock, too much sand/clay and so on. Try to find out why the bare patches are bare. In year 1 keep the grass down as much as you can by rough mowing, and look for obstructions.

Year 2: depends on year 1. At least now you have a good idea of what is under your soil surface. Any farmer would be reluctant to put a plow into unknown ground.

You might find this previous similar question with extensive detail in both question and answer of help in your process.

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Colin Beckingham
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