About to Sod backyard.. help???

[OB3]

I am about to tackle my backyard after living here 5 years. Right now there is grass back there, if you could cal it that. I intend on leveling out the yard which slopes away from my house with a few yards of soil... but i have a question??

Do i need to rototil the yard first to dig up all of the grass that is there now ?
Will any weeds that are there now come up thru the SOD ?
Should i kill off the old grass first ?

Hondapilot.org ..... i turn to you !

thanks


tl

[GeeWiz]

I seeded grass on top of fresh topsoil some years back. I rototilled the soil first, although someone later said it was unnecessary. It worked out great for me. But I can tell you that the weeds are tough to get rid of. After a few years of picking out the weeds, and careful tending to the grass, the grass seems to have choked out all the weeds.

I would consult with a local landscape company/garden centre and see what they say for your area.

Good luck. Take care of your back!

[stlblues]

I brought in some fresh topsoil, just added a couple of inches over the yard, used a haro behind the 4 wheeler to smooth it out, dampened the soil, then laid the sod. Get some friends if its a big yard. Once laid, use a roller, mine is filled with sand, then water with an anti freeze mix, again behind the 4 wheeler, be careful on turns. then water it. After a couple of weeks, use a fertilizer designed for sod or new yards, ya don't want to burn it. Don't use weed killer until its established.

[tim.s]

You can find lots of websites with tips on laying sod. It seems like your best bet is to till the soil first and add some soil ammendments or fresh topsoil.

It's also good idea to add fertilizer high in phosphorous on top of the tilled soil - it will help the new sod root faster and promote root growth.

[N_Jay]

Spray roundup.
Wait 2 weeks
Rototill
level
New top soil
level
sod
Water
Water
Water
Water


Did I remember to tell you to water?

[krygny]

I would consider sodding a front yard/lawn but not a backyard. Sod is usually high in Kentucky bluegrass. It looks beautiful because it's so consistent but it requires a lot of maintenance and is not very hardy or durable. If you're making your yard into a "showplace" sod is the way to go. But if you have kids who play there or pets, you'll be sorry. It won't hold up.

I would seed with a high quality blend. And I mean high quality. Don't go cheap. Different areas of the yard may have different conditions such as sun, shade, soil content, drainage, etc. The various seeds in the blend that will survive the best in those respective areas will germinate and thrive. Natural selection.

Unfortunately, spring is the worst time to try to seed a new lawn - crabgrass is coming. The best time is late August or September.

Just some considerations.

[krygny]

Scotts sells excellent seed but lousy fertilizer. It's all nitrogen. Your lawn will be plenty green (at first) because of the explosive leaf growth. But it's too low in potassium and phosphorus so you get no roots. If you like mowing every 2 days and watering like crazy, use Scotts. Other than that, it's really only good for ANFO bombs.

[larryziegler]

Originally posted by krygny
I would consider sodding a front yard/lawn but not a backyard. Sod is usually high in Kentucky bluegrass. It looks beautiful because it's so consistent but it requires a lot of maintenance and is not very hardy or durable. If you're making your yard into a "showplace" sod is the way to go. But if you have kids who play there or pets, you'll be sorry. It won't hold up.

That's not true....maybe the customary type sod in your area, but not out west. I have used sod based on hybrid bermuda (short grass that looks like golf course greens), Kentucky bluegrass, and fescue (the most commonly used sod out here). Sod is very durable for kids, pets, and play, and is the most preferential means to get your yard in quickly and thoroughly, epsecially if you have pets. Bluegrass is not the most durable when it comes to pets, as it does not regenerate itself quickly due to urine acid, is susceptible to weeds, bermuda runners, lawn moths, etc., whereas hybrid bermuda chokes everything in sight and does tend to spread into garden/flower areas if not maintained. Roundup takes care of that, as does an edger. I have only laid it on bare dirt, so I can't comment about laying it over an existing grass structure, but its super easy to work with. You can be utilizing it almost immediately and can be cutting it with the mower in about 2 weeks, at which time swingsets and such can be placed on it.

[OB3]

All good information here...
I am shooting to have the yard complete by the 2nd week in June for my sons 4th birthday, so i think seeding is out of the question, bc i will not have the time to get the topsoil for another 2 weeks or so. I will have to look into whether there is a durable sod i can lay that will be better for backyards as opposed to fronts tat have less traffic. The swing set area will be cut ut with either rubber or cedar mulch.

Njay, i have also heard about killing the grass there now, then removing first too.

thanks All

Now i am off to build my retaining wall.
No rest for me today


tl

[krygny]

Originally posted by OB3
...
Njay, i have also heard about killing the grass there now, then removing first too.
...

How would you "kill" the grass and why? If you're covering it with a layer of top soil and sod, anything underneath will just die, decompose and become worm food. That's good.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by krygny

How would you "kill" the grass and why? If you're covering it with a layer of top soil and sod, anything underneath will just die, decompose and become worm food. That's good.

Killing the grass gets rid of any unwanted grasses or weeds.

[OB3]

thats what i thought, to kill the weeds that make their way through after i lay the sod.

btw...retaining wall is complete as of 6pm

[jestmaty]

Having a popular house where most of the 12 year old and under seem to like to hang out killed my grass.

We moved into our 8yr old house July 3, 2006 and the front yard grass was beautiful. The previous owners had a 7 yr old daughter and there are not a lot of girls around the house, so I guess the 'kid' traffic was nowhere near what it is now.

I bought 35 of those 16" X 24" grass strips for about 79 cents each.

The grass was worn down to just dirt (hard dirt) under the new grass you see in the pic. I just raked all the junk, chopped a few pine tree roots that were above the ground, and watered the snot out of the hardpan.

About 2 weeks ago, I just laid the new sod on top of the existing dirt and "built" a new corner where there was no grass before. I water it twice a day for about 30 minutes. It has been a couple of weeks and the new grass seems to be thriving.

I'm sure I did it wrong, but it seems to be healthy and turning into a happy turf

[jestmaty]

And yes, I do need more grass.

[tim.s]

Originally posted by jestmaty
..I'm sure I did it wrong, but it seems to be healthy and turning into a happy turf

If it works and you are happy, that's all that matters.

I'm guessing it was the foot traffic coming up your driveway and cutting across to the front door that did all the damage. Did you consider putting down stepping stones or paving a curved walkway to prevent a reoccurance? But then it does look like they are hitting a pretty large section of your yard and annual resodding is probably much cheaper.

The driveways these days are barely wide enough to park the cars - no room for foot traffic.