I'm going to fill in a sunken area of my yard that got really low after the rains, and I want to put grass there. I read that you have to compact the soil really well first, but I don't have a roller or anything. What else can I use to do it at home, or should I rent something?
When I filled in a sunken area of the yard, I went with renting a small roller compactor because honestly there's no real shortcut - compressing soil properly requires weight and uniform pressure, and doing it by hand with shovels or trampling just leaves air pockets that settle later and mess up the grass. If you don't want to spend on rental, another option is using an air compressor with a vibratory plate (those rent too, usually cheaper than a big roller) or, worst case, fill the area with a mix of compacted soil and sand in 10-15 cm layers, stepping hard on each one - it's not perfect but it's better than nothing. What I'd definitely check twice is that the area drains well after rain; if it sinks again it's because water's pooling underneath, and in that case compacting just delays the problem.
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