The percolation test is quite simple -- Dig a hole about 1 foot deep. Pour it full of water and wait... Observe whether it soaks in... Then, once it has soaked in -- fill it up full of water again and let it soak in again.. If it all soaks in within a few minutes -- you may be draining too fast and the grass dries out too fast... If it doesn't drain within a day... you have other problems.... Sometimes clay soils will soak in great on the 1st round, then will become impermeable after the 2nd or 3rd round -- as the clay saturates... It can also help point out problems in the subsoil like pure coarse sand, big rocks and hard-pans... (Gosh, my lawn drains fine here, but doesn't drain at all over there... I wonder why?) The 2nd test is outlined on here somewhere -- but it is to determine your soil makeup.. You take a mason jar about 1/3 full of dirt (No rocks and sticks).. Fill it mostly full of water.. Shake it up really good and let it sit overnight... Then shake it up really good again and let it sit again... It will separate out into various layers.. Sand and rocks on the bottom, silt in the middle, clay near the top, and light organic material on the top or floating... You then measure the layers with a tape measure and it tells you the soil makeup... These tests will help lead you in the direction of which amendments will help vs which ones will hurt... If your soil is all sand and already drains too fast.. Adding more sand won't help anything... but adding a little Clay would help quite a bit... and vice versa. Thanks John

That water either needs to soak into your soil or drain off. The reason it smells is the water cuts off the availability of oxygen to the beneficial (aerobic) soil microbes and they are now dead and stinky. What will happen in that spot is the vegetation will transform from turf type to swamp type grasses. I have been in a home for nearly 2 years and just this month noticed I have the same problem. We got 3.5 inches of rain over 2 weeks ago and I still have 1 inch of standing water out in the north corner of the lot (I don't get out there much). You can dig a trench to a collection point that is lower or you can fill it in and let the water drain to another collection point. Ideally that collection point would be a legitimate drainage point like a gutter in front of your house. What I am going to do is spray the area with shampoo. Shampoo will help the water drain into the soil. When that does not work, I'll carve a swale out to the ditch (no curbs in the country) and let it drain that way. My property is raised above the road and has good drainage down the hill.

When looking at the pictures and reading that you were on a slope, I thought your house was built on the side of a vertical mountain. I was going to give you major kudos on defying gravity, but then I read it's just a picture rotation issue. When I take photos with my camera phone, often the pictures need to be rotated. You can do this on windows by opening the picture in the Windows Photo Viewer (this is the standard program that opens a picture in Windows) and rotating them using one of the two rotating buttons found at the bottom. When you close the photo, it will be saved with the rotation adjustments. Here's a screenshot showing your picture opened on my computer: Also, to answer your questions, we are going to need a little more info. The usual info needed is: Where do you live? The zone is helpful but can be very expansive. The city and state would be beneficial. What type of lawn do you have? In this case Bermuda, but if you know the particular cultivar it can be helpful (Common Bermuda, Celebration, Tifway 419, Princess 77, Yukon, etc.) If you don't know that cultivar is it a hybrid (must come from sod or sprigs) or is it a seeded variety? How do you mow (height and frequency)? How do you irrigate (how long and how often)? If you know exactly how much water you are putting down each time (1/4", 1/2", 1", etc.) that is even more helpful. Also, if you haven't already. Be sure to check out the Bermuda Bible - it is extremely helpful.

I did roll the sod after laying it. That's good for the sod, but if you were thinking that would help with the leveling, it's still going to settle for 3 years. I see the low spot fairly well. When you fill that with sand, if you want a faster recovery, be sure to use a broom or rake to lift the grass blades up through the sand. I've seen hybrid bermuda lawns smothered and not recover for 2 years after covering with ... compost! Nobody would predict that, but it was right around the corner from me. They've since converted to St Augustine. Dry edges on a roll of sod is not unusual. It will recover.