First time home owner with not a lot of landscaping experience. An above ground pool used to be here. Can I put top soil down over this to grow grass or does the sand need to be removed first?
First time home owner with not a lot of landscaping experience. An above ground pool used to be here. Can I put top soil down over this to grow grass or does the sand need to be removed first?
Rent or borrow a tiller to break it up. How compacted the ground is due to the weight of the pool/water Is also an issue.
lumberman10
What is your local soil like? How deep is the sand layer?
RecordingSecure7072
Add dirt, till, level, add more top soil if needed, add grass seed and water.
Little_Impaler
Looks like a good location for a fire pit and pavers to me.
New_Illustrator2043
Remove as much sand as possible by hand, then use a shop vac. The ground will be tightly compacted from the weight of the pool water so aerate to poke holes in the ground, lots of them. You can buy a hand-held aerator at a garden store or online $25. Buy a cheap soil test kit,$10.00, this will tell you what condition the soil is in. Pools use harsh chemicals and who knows if it leaked into the ground? You’ll need to amend the soil so grass can grow. You might consider removing some the “old dirt” and then add “new” top soil so you don’t have a “hump” in the yard.
motorwerkx
I saw in your one comment you said it’s only about an inch or two of sand. That really won’t hurt anything. You can just go right over top of it with soil. I wouldn’t bother with all of the tilling and aerating that other commenters are suggesting. You’re going to put a couple of inches of soil on top of it anyway. Most residential grass varieties are only going to root 4 to 6 in deep at most.
SpiritedSous
Sand is pretty good about dispersing in the soil. Sand can be good for soil, my area has heavy clay soil and adding sand would make it into more of a loam although clay deposits would inevitably turn it into a clay soil again below grade. I’d say put some topsoil down on it and you probably don’t need to do much else.
7 Comments
Rent or borrow a tiller to break it up. How compacted the ground is due to the weight of the pool/water Is also an issue.
What is your local soil like?
How deep is the sand layer?
Add dirt, till, level, add more top soil if needed, add grass seed and water.
Looks like a good location for a fire pit and pavers to me.
Remove as much sand as possible by hand, then use a shop vac. The ground will be tightly compacted from the weight of the pool water so aerate to poke holes in the ground, lots of them. You can buy a hand-held aerator at a garden store or online $25. Buy a cheap soil test kit,$10.00, this will tell you what condition the soil is in. Pools use harsh chemicals and who knows if it leaked into the ground? You’ll need to amend the soil so grass can grow. You might consider removing some the “old dirt” and then add “new” top soil so you don’t have a “hump” in the yard.
I saw in your one comment you said it’s only about an inch or two of sand. That really won’t hurt anything. You can just go right over top of it with soil. I wouldn’t bother with all of the tilling and aerating that other commenters are suggesting. You’re going to put a couple of inches of soil on top of it anyway. Most residential grass varieties are only going to root 4 to 6 in deep at most.
Sand is pretty good about dispersing in the soil. Sand can be good for soil, my area has heavy clay soil and adding sand would make it into more of a loam although clay deposits would inevitably turn it into a clay soil again below grade. I’d say put some topsoil down on it and you probably don’t need to do much else.