Grass too low, what to do?

[topmade]

Our entire backyard is about 3" to 6" to low. It's a swamp when it rains and needs to be fixed before we put in a fence.
1) Can I cut the sod and reuse it? I've read that you can, but ours is pretty bumpy but healthy otherwise, so if I resue it will it flatten out?

2) Can I dump soil over the existing grass and lay sod on top of it or use grass seeds since there will be at least 3" of dirt?

I'm going to need ton of dirt as well so if anyone knows a company that can deliver this, feel free to pm me their info.

[chathamf]

You could likely re-use a good bit of the sod. I don't think you should dump soil over the old sod. Best to rip the old stuff out and redo it properly.

If it is a swamp, just putting in more loam will prob not fix the problem. You are going to need to have some sort of drainage installed to keep it nice and dry. By the sounds of it you may want to have someone come in to do this for you, unless you are up for some hard work and are pretty handy at doing things.

Personally, I would rent a sod cutter, rip all of the old sod out of there. If some of it looks pretty good after you cut it, you could re-use the good stuff. I'd bring in some new loam, make it nice and flat, and maybe install some drainage if you have somewhere you could route the water.

[topmade]

Yeah I'll most likely rent a cutter this week and just reuse the sod. It doesn't drain anywhere now because it's lower then the paved alley they just put in. We put down the sod pretty early, even before most of the houses were built around our block because we didn't want the kids playing on dirt and just guessed the height.

[chathamf]

Best thing about re-using the sod that is already there is that it will root way quicker then new sod. I work at a golf course..a few weeks ago we ripped up a bunch of sod, an put some new stuff down. At the same time we ripped up some sod, redid the grade and then put it back in. The stuff we re-used rooted and started growing like crazy way quicker then the new sod.

Just make sure you keep a ton of water on it and you'll be good to go.

[sevewone]

theres no need to install drainage. Just angle it from the middle point outwards. But like chathamf said, definitely re-use old sod, it will save you tons.
When you use the sod cutter try not to overlap the existing peice beside. If you do this, your good sod will be in peices of like 5 inches. Drive it slow and only have it at a quarter and a bit to be on the safe side. Raise it more or less depending on the depth.
Its going to take you a few hours, but the better the prep work (having the ground flat ie..), the better the result.