Novice with a sod question

[Mark Darbyshire]

My family and I are soon to move into a new house with a new sod yard. I'm all excited about my small little patch of yard. I live in Central Kentucky (Zone 7?) which is a very heavy clay soil. I plan on getting a soil sample taken and tested so I can better treat my yard with the right fertilizer. One tip I read to improve clay soil was to rototill organic material (compost) into the soil to improve water absorption and reduce runoff. Runoff is a big concern, as I have some mildly steep slopes on the yard. I will also have a wet-weather stream running through the back of the lot since I'm at the bottom of the hill on my cul-de-sac. My problem is that I won't be able to get to the lawn to improve until after the builder has planted the sod. How else can I improve the soil without digging up the yard?

Thanks in advance.

Mark Darbyshire

[Alan Sung]

Obviously it will be much harder if near impossible. If possible, pay the builder to truck in some nice screened loam (topsoil) and have it spread before the sod goes on. Even better is a 50-50 mix of loam and compost, but that costs more and may be overkill for a lawn. Works great for perennial and annual gardens. Don't expect a builder to do any rototilling though.

-al sung Rapid Realm Technology, Inc. Hopkinton, MA (Zone 6a)