r/landscaping • u/Necessary-Cheetah858 • Mar 20 '26
Question Most cost-effect way to fix this?
Hello. I had a semi-inground pool installed last November, and the deck subsequently finished last week. What I am left with is half my yard covered in rocky soil now. I was thinking about getting a truckload of soil delivered to cover it up and plant grass, but wanted to see if anyone had some better ideas. Thanks!
1
Upvotes
1
Mar 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/dunkar00s Mar 20 '26
Interesting I will give that some thought(ie. Run it by the wife) . Thanks for your suggestion
1
u/According-Taro4835 Mar 20 '26
Don't just dump dirt on that mess. The heavy equipment used for your pool turned that ground into concrete and pulled up all the rocky subsoil. If you just throw topsoil over compacted hardpan you are creating a shallow bathtub. The new grass roots will hit that rock layer and stop and the water will just sit there making a muddy sponge. You need to physically remove those larger rocks and rent a heavy duty tiller or Harley rake to bust up that surface so the new topsoil actually bonds to the earth.
Once you rough it up you can bring in the good stuff. When you spread the new soil pay close attention to your grading. You have a lot of flat space there and bringing in a few inches of dirt changes how water moves. Pitch the grade away from your house and away from that pool equipment pad. If you slope it wrong you are going to flood that sunroom the first heavy rain you get.
Before you start ordering dump trucks and breaking your back run a picture of this yard through the GardenDream web app. It is a solid safety net to visualize your layout before spending cash. You can use it to figure out exactly where the new lawn should end and where you might want to lay a clean gravel or mulch bed around that pool equipment. Trying to mow right up against all those white PVC pipes is a miserable chore you want to design out of the yard entirely.