Leveling or optimizing the soil before lawn seeding. Help! :)

Hello everyone,

we hope you take the time and can help us. Our property has been roughly prepared, now it's our turn.

Our goal is to plant ground cover on the steep slopes at the edges and to have a nice green meadow on the main area. It doesn't have to be English lawn, but it would be nice if there are as few uneven spots as possible. As a layman, I have already tried to straighten the contour at the edges and rake the main area. Now the following questions arise:

[*]How do you generally measure if your property has a slope from left to right? I have stretched strings on the sides to pile up a straight line, but this brings little for a left-right slope.
[*]We have now raked three times. The larger stones are gone, but we wonder how often one should go over it.
[*]So far we are working with a shovel and a rake. However, we wonder how to better level the property. Do you have any ideas, without calling in a company? The last rain has already left small puddles and caused unevenness again. Does a small roller help?
[*]We are considering whether topsoil is necessary at all. On what basis did you decide this?
[*]Is there a tip on how to make the edges more stable? We have now nicely improved the edge by dumping a wheelbarrow of soil and then distributing it on site. Or should one rather dump at the foot of the steep slope and pull the soil up to the edge of the main area?
[*]In general, I have the feeling that if I now walk along the sides, most of it breaks away. Does this just need time or should one know something else about it?

Thank you very much for your time. We hope you can help us!
Best regards

Unfortunately, I cannot provide practical experience yet. However, I recall seeing the solution with a [Europalette] and rope in a blog. Possibly complain and then pull over it very often.

But I am happy to save the tips that will come here as well.

Best regards! mini

without retaining measures (L-bricks, planting stones, etc.) the "edge" will always break away! Root penetration of the soil for stabilization with plants, as often practiced on (noise protection) embankments in road construction, requires a lot of space, time, and money (plants).

For leveling the ground with integrated slope:
Determine heights on a plan mathematically. Rent a rotary laser (construction laser) and then reposition it. Use strings only for horizontal distances.
Of course, it is also possible with strings alone, but much more labor-intensive.

The slope below was secured with 30 cm curbstones. I believe you can't really see the incline properly in the picture, it still slopes down quite gently to the neighboring house.

A water level would spontaneously come to mind to level the terrain in height. You basically only need a long, transparent hose for that. But it's just an idea, I've never done something like that before. In my opinion, it should work.

Sounds good, thanks