How Does a Lawn Roller Work?

Made of steel or polyethylene, lawn mowers place hundreds of pounds of pressure on lawn soil to flatten the area before mowing. The lawn roller is filled with water or sand before use, and becomes very heavy. Lawn rollers are filled only halfway with water, otherwise the roller won't move. Large mounds or heaps of earth can be rolled over with the lawn roller. This usually requires some digging around the edges of the large mound. Larger areas of land require a tractor to pull the lawn roller, and it is a good idea because of the amount of weight the lawn roller has when it is filled with water. The lawn roller is used to smooth out depressions in the lawn by adding soil and watering the area. The roller is moved over the surface of the new soil, and then the soil is watered. The process is repeated a few times. It is a process much like smoothing out the cracks in a clay pot. The lawn is watered one last time, and then allowed to dry before mowing. Extremely difficult areas to flatten may require more weight than water, and this is where sand comes in. Sand will fill a lawn roller with enough weight, evenly distributed, to pack down just about any unwanted lumps in the lawn.

The lawn is rolled and dead grass is removed. Seeds are spread over the lawn, and then watered. The seed spreading process is best accomplished with the help of a garden lawn spreader. This can also be done by lightly drawing a rake over the area to be seeded, and then drop the seeds over the area by hand. The lawn roller is then rolled over the newly seeded lawn. The growing process is started faster with the aid of the lawn roller pushing the earth and seeds snug together. The process of rolling establishes optimum contact between the seeds and the soil.

Before the lawn roller goes to work, the new sod is laid down over old soil. Rolling the lawn roller over the area helps the new sod bond with the old soil. The lawn roller is rolled over the area every week until the new sod is progressing on its own.