How to Lay Sod
Have you recently bought your favourite lush dense sod? Do you consider yourself a beginner w
Have you recently bought your favourite lush dense sod? Do you consider yourself a beginner when it comes to laying a new sod? Don’t stress yourself out as in a few minutes after going through this extensive guide; you will become an expert in laying the sod out.
Tools
There are a bunch of tools that you would need while endeavouring to achieve a perfectly well laid-out sod:
- Sod – You’ve got to need fresh sod needs for quick plantation and subsequent watering to ensure that it receives rich nutrients from the soil.
- Tiller – Make use of it to cultivate your lawn for and fill in the air pockets for proper aeration.
- Lawn Fertilizer – Depending upon the growth pattern of your lawn, you should spread fresh fertilizer around a month after the sod installation.
- Gardening Gloves – These are quite essential to protect your hands while laying the sod.
- Soil Test Kit – A very crucial item to test pH level of the lawn, it is used to make sure that the ground is pH balanced leading to healthy growth.
- Utility Knife – This is a must-have to cut patches of sod to fit it perfectly.
- Shovel – You could use a shovel preparing the ground by patting the sod down into the soil.
- Topsoil – A fresh layer of soil is recommended while preparing for the new sod.
- Face Mask – This must be worn at all times to prevent inhalation of excess dirt and lawn debris.
Lawn professionals recommend that one should plan the laying out the sod on a clear day as rain can delay will surely delay efforts. The following order of steps is considered ideal for laying the new sod.
Measure The Space
Before laying your new sod, it is necessary to take measurements of your yard so that you purchase enough sod to cover it. The easiest way to calculate your yard space is to walk over the area.
As the average human step is around 3 feet, tread the perimeter of your yard and multiply the number of steps by three to find out its actual length and width and further multiply those two numbers for calculating the square footage.
Preparing The Ground To Lay Sod
It is suggested to lay the turf during spring or late summer if you’re laying cool-season grasses and at any time of the year if it is a warm-season grass.
Firstly, dig out your lawn, water the area, spraying herbicides to smother them to death, and then remove them using a manual or power sod cutter. Later, lay compost at the top of the lawn for a few weeks so that the soil is fully suppressed. Make use of a rotavator to till the ground for loosening it up.
Apply starter fertilizer and a soil conditioner, and work them into the ground using the rototiller. Moreover, as an alternative to traditional herbicides, you can opt for vinegar which contains acetic acid that acts as a natural and environmentally friendly option to destroy the weeds.
Rake the ground for removing anything chunky, rolling it to achieve a proper level. It is advised to apply no more than a 1 to 1 ½ -inch of topsoil layer.
Then, finally, you should test the freshly raked ground with the soil test kit to ascertain that the pH and minerals are at ideal levels and you can even grade the area to slope the soil away from buildings and foundations, thereby preventing the problematic drainage issues.
Laying The First Row
You should always begin with the edges while laying a new sod to prevent it from drying out. Firstly, start along a straight edge in your lawn by unrolling the first row of sod. Try following the same line along with your patio or fence, keeping the edges straight and even.
Then, approach the centre region while trimming the sod widths with a sharp knife if needed to fit it in.
Further Laying
Then, it’s the turn of the outer edges of the sod, which should be unrolled on the far left-hand side and then, another on the far right-hand side after which you can start working toward the centre with your next strips.
It is possible that a single roll of sod does not entirely cover the complete area of your lawn, which is why you would have to separately lay the rolls, end to end, pressing the ends to adjoin them firmly together without overlapping them.
Don’t forget to stagger the ends of sod rolls so that the seams do not line up while laying the strips of sod in adjacent rows. If a strip appears to be too low, you can simply keep a substantial amount of topsoil under it to raise it to a proper level.
Finish unrolling the new sod one row at a time. Rake the soil as you lay the sod to clear any bumps under the surface.
Filling The Gaps
Lay smaller rows of sod along the edge of flower beds and walkways, and fill in little creases with more topsoil. Keep tapping each recently laid line into the ground to evacuate the air pockets. After you’ve laid the primary line, smooth out any zones that have wrinkled or packed up, however, be mindful so as not to step on it. At that point, cautiously pat the fix into the ground with a shovel to evacuate any air pockets and urge the sod to flourish. At the point when the grass is completely secured, check for holes in difficult-to-reach, bent or strangely moulded territories.
Use a utility knife to cut each piece as needed and make sure they are laid flush with one another and don’t forget to ensure that you’ve cut the openings to fit in the sprinkler heads and avoid other obstructions which may be sticking up from the ground. If your lawn is on the larger side, employ roller the moment you are done laying the sod, pushing it down firmly against the soil to smoothen the sod and remove the air pockets leading to good contact with the soil and enabling your sod’s roots to function more quickly.
Watering And Other Maintenance
New sod ought to be watered at the earliest opportunity to ensure its full-fledged growth. Water it day by day for the first week, ideally in the first part of the day, and abstain from strolling on it however much as could reasonably be expected.
After the first week, you can decrease the water system calendar to each other day, and then two times seven days as the sod flourishes.
When the grass develops to approximately three inches high, it’s the ideal opportunity for a legitimate trim. It is suggested to utilize a push trimmer as new fixes are as yet delicate as of now.
Treat the yard after you cut it to add new supplements to the dirt. Start watering your grass inside 30 minutes of the establishment. Sod is a living plant that requires soil contact and dampness to endure.
Water every day, or all the more regularly, keeping sod soggy until it is solidly established (around fourteen days). Lift a bit of sod to a great extent to determine that you are watering enough to wet the first soil underneath the sod.
After the establishing period, less regular and more profound watering should start to enhance precipitation deficiencies as it were. Maintain a strategic distance from fixed clock water system settings. Yards best perform when they get around 1 inch of water every week.
In the event that at least one crawls of precipitation happen in seven days, the extra water system isn’t essential. (Example: if 1/2 inch of downpour happens inside a developing week, apply 1/2 inch by the water system.) Do not squander water by overwatering; dodge run-off.
Climate conditions will direct the sum and recurrence of watering. Be sure that your new yard has enough dampness to endure hot, dry, or breezy periods.
Water zones on hills and embankments and close to structures all the more frequently, where reflected warmth dries the turf. Water the yard consistently for two or three weeks, checking intermittently to guarantee the best possible measure of water.
- Thinks to keep in mind
- Insects search out lavish, delicate grass and can rapidly increase or move into another garden with pulverizing outcomes.
- Guidelines don’t allow sod producers to utilize dependable bug sprays and we don’t try to annihilate all insects just to control the populace.
- All sod is likely sent with certain insects and their hatchlings or eggs. It is along these lines basic that you observe intently for bug harm and promptly apply a bug spray if necessary.
- Utilize more secure bug sprays to control the quickest populace developers, for example, armyworms and sod webworms.
We hope this all-inclusive guide serves your purpose and makes you confident enough to start the ‘sod’ful odyssey of yours on your own.
“A walk you made by disappearing amongst the green grasses is always richer than a walk you make amongst the green emeralds!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan
