Planting a new lawn

[tech999]

I just moved into a 1 year old house which has a little over an acre of property.The only lawn in place is crabgrass 20 feet around the house.The rest was all trees and underbrush.I just had all the underbrush cleared and now I am working on the small ugly and dead trees.
The soil is very hard clay and in some spots there is natural mulch(pine needles and leaves)6 inches thick.
I can get clean fill for $85 a truckload 5 1/2 to 6 yards and $140 for sifted topsoil the same amount.
Should I rototill then add the fill and topsoil or add the fill then rototill.
What kind of seed do you put down?Do I have to water or just pray for rain?
None of my neighbors water their lawns there is a very high water table.

[Advanced Lawncare]

The first thing I would do is a soil test. Most of the time these can be done at local University Extension offices for a small fee ($10.00 here). This will let you know of major problems with the acid base and any fertilizer needs. I would be willing to bet that the test will state that you need some organic matter in the soil, i would use well rotted manure, but peat poss will work too, but if soil is very acidic it may increase that problem. After correcting the underlying soil you can add some top soil. The problem with applying topsoil over existing ground without correcting it is that in time you will back where you are now unless you bring in a large amount of top soil.

Yes you will have to water it. You will need to keep the top inch of so of the soil moist while seed germinates and comes in. Failure to keep it moist will result in burned seed/seedlings and at best a patchy lawn.

As far as seed you best bet would be to check with local ag stores or lesco if you have one. Here we primarily use cool season grasses Fescue, Kentucky Blue Grass. On most of my installs I use a 80-90% fescue blend with a small amount of rye as a nurse grass.

I hope this helps

Ted

[tech999]

I talked to the person who cleared the underbrush today and he recommended clearing out all of the pine neddles and leaves before I put down the fill and topsoil.
He said I would probably need about 10 -12 truckloads of fill just to level off the ground.
I have a feeling this is going to be a long project.Just picking up all the mulch will take a while.I have to check and see if I can burn it.

[ODDJOB]

Just a note, as far as the acidity of the soil with the natural pine needle mulch you mentioned, they leach acid into the soil. Great for azaleas, rhodes and other acid loving plants.

[tech999]

Ok I planted the new lawn.I added 90 yards of fill and topsoil and had a soil test done.I put down 1600 lbs of lime and 300 lbs of starter fertilizer.I put 275 lbs of tall fescue and watered it for a week.
It was all nice and level whith even coverage,then disaster hit.Fri and Sat we were hit with the remnants of tropical storm tammy.I think we got like 5-6 inches of rain in 24 hours.
Parts of my lawn topsoil and all washed away,in the other parts it clumped the seed and topsoil.Now I have whole sections I have to reseed and bare spots throughout
How do I get even coverage again whithout ripping upm the new grass?

[tech999]

Here is an update,I have been very busy.I overseeded with a broacast spreader and patched 5 huge areas by hand.I watered it like crazy and left it.After about a month it needed its first cut even though the ground was a little soft.Now the lawn is fairly thick and I figure next sprig which is early March it should spread and fill in like a carpet.