[David, if you see this - post that picture of the grass too high and going over the sidewalk.] I call this "Topdressing gone wild." That lady has been applying a little topsoil for decades. At the highest it is 8 inches above the sidewalk (out of the picture to the right). In the distance ahead you can see the topsoil over the sidewalk is so deep that the grass is growing all the way across. I thought the sidewalk was missing there, but no, it's still intact. Here is what the level should look like. Rent the sod cutter and remove the grass. Tilling is the worst option of all. Fungus is not a problem but lumps and bumps down the road is always a problem after tilling.

Too bad you didn't write earlier. Search this forum for "leveling" and "dproud". Several years ago Dave Proud wrote an excellent tutorial on leveling lawns. His was a bermuda lawn so a few adjustments would have to happen, but the basic idea would be the same. Here is a basic outline: 1. Get the lawn growing well. Fertilize and keep it watered. 2. Mow it very short but not too short to kill the grass. The shorter you mow the less sand you'll end up using. 3. Cover the area with only enough sand to fill in the low spots. 4. Use a drag to spread the sand and knock off the high spots. 5. Water it to settle the sand. 6. Let the sand dry and check to see if it is level enough. In not repeat steps 3-5. 7. When you have it perfectly level, start watering just enough to moisten the top sand several times per day until you see the new grass coming in through the sand. Then start to back off on the watering frequency. Ultimately you'll get back to watering a full inch once per week. Also search YouTube for lawn leveling.

Texas-Weed wrote: Anyone who knows anything about turf grass knows darn good and well Zoysia is subject to all kinds of disease problems and Bermuda can survive nuclear holocaust. With all due respect Texas-Weed, I found another source that backs up Research Professor A. J. Turgeon's list of disease potential shown above in an earlier post. Again, bermuda has a higher disease potential than Zoysia. Of the 7 popular warm season turfgrasses, St. Augustine and Bermuda are the 2 worst when it comes to disease, according to Professor Turgeon's book Turfgrass Management. But let's look at a different book :-) Let's look at Texas A&M University's Richard Duble's book called Turfgrasses - Their Management and Use in the Southern Zone. This is what Duble has to say about zoysia: "Zoysiagrasses are relatively free of serious pest problems. Brownpatch, rust, and leaf spot diseases can cause problems in zoysia turf, but the grass usually recovers when environmental conditions change." Hmm, that sounds pretty innocuous to me--pretty harmless. Now let's see what Duble's book has to say about bermuda: "Bermudagrass does have numerous pest problems, however, which tend to increase with higher levels of management. High nitrogen fertilization rates, close mowing, and frequent irrigation tend to increase the susceptibility of bermudagrass to insects and diseases. "Serious insect pests that feed on the foliage of bermudagrass include armyworms, cutworms, sod webworms, bermudagrass mites, and Rhodesgrass scale (mealybug)....White grubs can severely damage bermudagrass by feeding on grass roots. Nuissance-type insects found on bermudagrass include chiggers, ants, and ticks. "Several serious disease organisms and nematodes also attack bermudagrass turf. Dollar spot, spring dead spot, leaf spot, brownpatch, and Pythium are all fungus diseases that attack bermudagrass turf. Several species of nematodes also cause significant damage to bermudagrass turf." Gee, that doesn't sound quite as innocuous as zoysia. Duble writes very little about zoysia's disease potential, but he's got a mouthful to say about bermuda's. Now let's look at what he says about weeds and bermuda: "Weeds are also serious pests in bermudagrass turf. Vigorous, healthy turf properly maintained provides the best means of weed control in bermudagrass turf. But, where turf thins due to environmental stress, pest problems, or poor management, weeds rapidly invade bermudagrass.

Do you have an N&S Rentals in your area? We've rented everything from chain saws to brick cutters from their place in Gaithersburg.