crusher dust to level lawn

Bernadine · Dec 26, 2023 10:48 am

Hi I've just not to long ago turfed my backyard but sadly I trusted a couple of friends to do it and to my disappointment they dug up the ground with their feet as they laid it and so I ended up with a terribly bumpy lawn. Well another concreter friend told me to use crusher dust to level it and so i bought sit and he spread it. Problem was it was wet and so it clumped everywhere and I mean big clumps and my grass is dying underneath it. My grass was healthy and all green before he spread the crusher dust, but he didn't really spread it as it clumped and he left it like that. This was 2 days ago and I noticed my grass not showing through so I've tried hosing it in and my grass is yellow under the crusher dust, so now it's patchy and I'm devastated. Was it the right thing for him to do as in spread wet crusher dust over green grass and leave it? It's no leveller now either. HELP

ML24WA · Dec 26, 2023 12:29 pm

So your lawn is probably totally ruined now. I'd be surprised if you could bring it back, also, crusher dust will be full of coarse grained material and it will wreck your mower.

I'd dig the whole lot up and start again. Googling what to do would have been a better idea. Use washed sand or an 80/20 sand loam mix next time, something specific for lawn. Not every lawn is perfectly level and the lumps and bumps will disappear over time with mowing and top dressing.

Bernadine · Dec 26, 2023 2:39 pm

ML24WA

So your lawn is probably totally ruined now. I'd be surprised if you could bring it back, also, crusher dust will be full of coarse grained material and it will wreck your mower.

I'd dig the whole lot up and start again. Googling what to do would have been a better idea. Use washed sand or an 80/20 sand loam mix next time, something specific for lawn. Not every lawn is perfectly level and the lumps and bumps will disappear over time with mowing and top dressing.

omg really..... I'm devastated and I can't really afford to do it again, but thank you for your reply

Pulse · Dec 27, 2023 5:34 am

the grass is mean to go yellow when you cover it, just post a picture, I’m sure it will be fine, sand is better than crusher dust but should still be ok.

ML24WA · Dec 31, 2023 11:34 am

The grass shouldn't go yellow, I've never had my lawn or seen others yellow after top dressing with sand. You should have green start pushing through within a few days if the coverage is thin enough. If you have sections that are too thick it will turn yellow and die.

The other problem is the crusher dust may get quite warm (too warm for the lawn) and basically start cooking it. Same thing happens in the middle of summer if you don't water your lawn and it gets too hot for long periods, the lawn cooks, dries out and dies.

If you can thin it out more with a lawn levelling rake or normal garden rake I'd try to do that and rake off any excess, that might allow you to save it.

Pulse · Dec 31, 2023 8:50 pm

ML24WA

The grass shouldn't go yellow, I've never had my lawn or seen others yellow after top dressing with sand. You should have green start pushing through within a few days if the coverage is thin enough. If you have sections that are too thick it will turn yellow and die.

The other problem is the crusher dust may get quite warm (too warm for the lawn) and basically start cooking it. Same thing happens in the middle of summer if you don't water your lawn and it gets too hot for long periods, the lawn cooks, dries out and dies.

If you can thin it out more with a lawn levelling rake or normal garden rake I'd try to do that and rake off any excess, that might allow you to save it.

the leaves that are now underground go yellow, the tips that poke through photosynthesise and have chlorophyll, same reason they grow rhubarb in the dark.