Anyone have an opinion on the appropriate mix of soils (top soil, sand and peat/compost) to use for filling in a fairly large (2,400'ish) sq ft area that's mostly bare dirt at the bottom of a sloping grade and in SE Michigan?
Grass seed would be "Shade Mix" from Advanced Turf Solutions (ATS) which is a mix of 35% creeping red fescue, 20% chewings fescue, 20% PR, 15% hard fescue & 10% KB as the area gets little sun due to being surrounded by very large, mature oaks and pines.
It's been almost impossible to find "good" quality bulk topsoil here, so I was planning to use a mix of 4:2:1 Topsoil/Masonary Sand/Compost until talking to the supplier this AM.
They said I'd be better off putting a "fill sand" base down, then putting pure "topsoil" (which will likely be full of stones and a good amount of inorganic material like glass, metal, plastic, etc) on top. Another company quoted something similar - put down a bunch of "fill sand" then topsoil.
I've read here that putting topsoil on top of a sand base is strongly recommended against, though I'm not entirely sure why.
After talking thru with supplier, they said I'd be better off if I want to stay with a mix to use "Sharp Sand" vs Masonary, as Masonary would just eventually sink to the bottom of whatever I put down, even if well mixed.
So, it appears the options are:
- "Fill sand" on bottom (amount unknown) with topsoil on top
- My "best guess" mix of 4 parts topsoil, 2 parts sand (mason or sharp - not sure which now) and 1 part peat or compost for nutrients. We'd also put ~1/2'' of Garden Magic "topsoil" which is 80% reed sedge peat and sand on top of the 4:2:1 mix.
- Something else I haven't even thought of yet (hence asking you guys)
That reminds me..supplier suggested NOT using any compost as it could "burn the seed" due to high nutrient content in the compost. (First time I've heard that).
We typically pre-germinate our seed and put it down once it has tiny roots showing, mixed with Milorganite in a 4:1 ratio of Mil to seed to get it through the spreader. When we've done this before, we then cover with a thin layer of Sunshine Peat Moss and a little EZ Straw.
Also wondering now if mixing pre-germinated seed with Milorganite is the right thing to do, as Mil is like 6% nitrogen. Isn't that ALSO going to 'burn the seed'?
Here are a few pics of the area.
Would appreciate any & all help/suggestions so that we do this right.
Thx..
Grass seed would be "Shade Mix" from Advanced Turf Solutions (ATS) which is a mix of 35% creeping red fescue, 20% chewings fescue, 20% PR, 15% hard fescue & 10% KB as the area gets little sun due to being surrounded by very large, mature oaks and pines.
It's been almost impossible to find "good" quality bulk topsoil here, so I was planning to use a mix of 4:2:1 Topsoil/Masonary Sand/Compost until talking to the supplier this AM.
They said I'd be better off putting a "fill sand" base down, then putting pure "topsoil" (which will likely be full of stones and a good amount of inorganic material like glass, metal, plastic, etc) on top. Another company quoted something similar - put down a bunch of "fill sand" then topsoil.
I've read here that putting topsoil on top of a sand base is strongly recommended against, though I'm not entirely sure why.
After talking thru with supplier, they said I'd be better off if I want to stay with a mix to use "Sharp Sand" vs Masonary, as Masonary would just eventually sink to the bottom of whatever I put down, even if well mixed.
So, it appears the options are:
- "Fill sand" on bottom (amount unknown) with topsoil on top
- My "best guess" mix of 4 parts topsoil, 2 parts sand (mason or sharp - not sure which now) and 1 part peat or compost for nutrients. We'd also put ~1/2'' of Garden Magic "topsoil" which is 80% reed sedge peat and sand on top of the 4:2:1 mix.
- Something else I haven't even thought of yet (hence asking you guys)
That reminds me..supplier suggested NOT using any compost as it could "burn the seed" due to high nutrient content in the compost. (First time I've heard that).
We typically pre-germinate our seed and put it down once it has tiny roots showing, mixed with Milorganite in a 4:1 ratio of Mil to seed to get it through the spreader. When we've done this before, we then cover with a thin layer of Sunshine Peat Moss and a little EZ Straw.
Also wondering now if mixing pre-germinated seed with Milorganite is the right thing to do, as Mil is like 6% nitrogen. Isn't that ALSO going to 'burn the seed'?
Here are a few pics of the area.
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Would appreciate any & all help/suggestions so that we do this right.
Thx..
