Would greatly appreciate any suggestions regarding laying sod-- and maintenance after it's put down. we are sodding a tiny urban(NYC) back yard area -- only about 12 x 15 feet. area gets sun for apprx 1/2 day. we just bought the sod-- nursery said it was a kind of "sun/shade" variety.
Help make our thumbs green :)
The nursery where you bought the sod should be able to tell you all about how to prepare the soil before laying the sod. If not, there are plenty of places online that'll tell you too. See for example
Prep is everything, as is aftercare (I know, I just delineated 200% of something). The ground should be raked free of all debris and as smooth as possible... every rock and pebble you pick up now will be one that doesn't heave through the sod later. Smoooooooth.
After the sod is layed, it must be thoroughly watered, both to keep the rootsystem hydrated as well as to help meld the sod layer to the ground layer. It should be totally saturated, and kept quite moist for several weeks afterwards. Of course, do not step on it for at least 3 weeks, longer if you can avoid doing so. Don't cut it for that length of time as well, and when you do finally cut it, leave it as long as possible (highest setting on mower) for the rest of the season.
Dave
But you're giving 110%, so it's okay.
Also, when you lay the sod, butt the long edges as tightly as you can against each other. Make it so tight that you'd think it wouldn't fit. If you don't, the edges will curl-up, and dry out. Stagger the short seams, just like a brick wall, and butt them closely, too.
Make sure that the soil you are putting the sod on is good topsoil. Unless you have excellent soil you may want to consider raking all of the soil off the top to about two inches down, then put topsoil in its place. Once it is raked out and leveled this will give you a very nice desired look. Chuckie
Chuckie Wrote:
Hi Jeffrey,
You don't need soil as you already have that. Purchasing topsoil ca bring in weed seeds and you don't need that. Adding compost wil improve the texture of your soil and add nutrients. A 2" to 3" laye tilled in before you sod will help. Here's how to lay sod and maintai organically.
-- Newt
Two inches is not nearly enough.
It's also important to roll it to make sure that the soil is evenly compacted, otherwise you run the risk of a wavy lawn. And after that, the rule is keep moist for several weeks.
Thank you all so much for your great advice-- it helps us tremondously. (we got no help from the nursery... the sales person told us that the person who would be loading the sod into our "truck"(a 1984 VW rabbit convertible) would tell us what to do... that person turned out to speak no english and even with my spanish-- which is not bad-- his advice amounted to, "water it"
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