How to prepare ground for sod

Laying sod looks simple enough, but should be done carefully to avoid damaging the grass, the roots or compacting the prepared ground. This is especially important when not rototilling to prepare the soil. Watering the ground before laying the sod prevents shock to the roots and drying.

While sod can be laid directly on fill dirt, some preparation and follow up is necessary for the success of the lawn.

Determine the amount of top soil needed for your site & organize the delivery. New Construction Sites : It’s advisable to order soil based on a minimum 4 inch depth of new top soil. Once spread, leveled and packed with a roller it will result in a 3 to 3.5 inch depth of top soil for your new sod.

Fill in any puddles with extra topsoil. As you rake and level the dirt, assure that the water drains away from your house. On installation day, you’ll need fresh rolls of sod on hand so you can finish the job before nightfall. Sod needs to be laid and watered as soon as possible for the best results.

How to Prepare Your Soil for Sod. Loosen the top 6 to 8 inches of soil with a rototiller. Spread 2 inches of finished compost (this may be available for free if your town has a municipal compost center). Add 2 to 3 inches of sand to claylike soil to improve drainage.

Sod – Simply put, sod is the most expensive option because you are essentially paying someone else for time and materials of growing the grass. And, it is dramatically more expensive than seed. If money is no problem, sod may be the winning choice for reasons you’ll see below.

Is Sod Or Seed Cheaper? Seed will always be much cheaper due to the low amount of labor needed to cultivate it compared to sod. On average, seed can be installed for around $0.24 per square foot. On the other hand, sod costs an average of $1.29 per square foot, which is over 137% more expensive!

Easy to install.

Seed is considered to be less-labor intensive to install than sod. The use of a spreader can help you disperse grass seed easily, quickly and uniformly on top of prepared soil. Sod, on the other hand, can be much more cumbersome to work with when you consider that sod rolls are heavy (approx.

Your new sod should root within 10-14 days of application. This is also when you should mow your new lawn for the first time after laying sod.

Make Sure You’re Watering Enough

Your new lawn needs to be watered twice a day, for about 20 minutes per session every day for at least two months. This should be enough so that your lawn gets a solid six inches of watering per cycle.

If you walk on your sod before its roots have established, you‘re lessening your chances of success. How long must you wait to use your new sod lawn? The general recommendation is to wait two weeks – but the number of days you wait is really dependent on determining that the lawn has, indeed, taken root.

New sod does need to be watered more often than established grass to ensure that it will take root, but it is possible to put too much water on the sod. Too much water on your sod could make it soggy, which prevents it from establishing a strong root system.

Your Soil is Causing your Sod to Die

Did you know that your soil has to be prepped for your sod? If your soil is compacted or too hard, water that would normally soften it will run away. Your sod needs soft soil to dig its roots in. Without that, your new sod will quickly brown out and die.

If the grass comes out easily with no resistance, it is deceased. Dead grass isn’t coming back, so you’ll need to take steps to regrow your lawn. You’ll need to first remove the dead grass and prep the soil before laying the new sod.

The roots are short so the sod cannot withstand large amounts of water at a single time. Other than the first day, the ground under the sod should never be soggy. Usually watering four to six times during the day, for approximately five to six minutes each time, is required until the roots have been established.

Begin watering newly laid sod within 30 minutes of installation. Apply at least 1” of water so that the soil beneath the turf is wet. Ideally 3”-4” of soil beneath the surface should be moist. Watering in the evening is discouraged—water remaining on the grass can promote disease and fungus.

The Lawnifi New Lawn Starter Box is the best fertilizer for new sod and contains the perfect amount of nutrients for your newly establishing lawn’s needs. Although nitrogen is an important macronutrient for plants, your new lawn needs to get established first before it can begin promoting new growth.

Usually it’s about 30 minutes. So 20 minutes, 3 times per week will get an inch of water on your lawn, and 30 minutes 3 times per week will get 1 ½” down. Bear in mind that during extreme heat, you will need to water more, due to evaporation and heat stress on the grass.

To water well, timing is everything. Water in the early morning – between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. Midday watering leads to wasteful evaporation, while nighttime watering causes droplets to cling to grass overnight, increasing the chance of lawn diseases.

Watering in the morning (before 10 a.m.) is the best time for your lawn; it’s cooler and winds tend to be calmer so water can soak into the soil and be absorbed by the grass roots before it can evaporate.

If it’s not convenient to water in the morning, late afternoon is the next best time. However, don’t wait too long. Although it might seem smart to wait until night, when temperatures are cooler, watering in the evening keeps lawns wet overnight, which can make the grass susceptible to disease.