What should we do to "prepare" for sod?

Question

What kind of soil do we use? I've heard you should put down sand as well. Is this true?

Answer 1

Dress the soil with top soil and make sure it is level.Rent a roller and roll it flat.Kill or remove all weeds,they will germinate through the new sod.Keep the new sod moist and do not fertilize four six weeks.

Answer 2

Just clear out any rocks and get it as level as possible, a few weeds are OK as long as they aren't too big. As far as soil as long as the ground isn't to harsh you can just rake it a bit to loosen or top soil if you want, but I've been in new home sales for a few years and have never heard of using sand.

Answer 3

First of all, don't think I would use sand , unless you have somekind of wild soil conditions.......just rake and level nice and neat.......I put a soil sweetner on and fertilizer and lightly rake again.....dampen the earth and kick out the grass....cut it with a hachet, once it is down if it's flat....I roll and water, if on sloping area's I just walk the edges into place and water. All the best......and you will be mowing in a week...don't cut it to short for a while.......enjoy

Answer 4

first you need to establish your perimeters of the lawn area. roto -till your whole yard  about 8 inches deep, then add 3 inches of soil amendment all over  then roto -till again to mix it in..then trench 8' deep and install a sprinkler system, depending on the size you may need more than one valve supplying water.. space your sprinkler heads equal distanced from each other. fill in trench ,compact some, rake the whole yard  until smooth, use a roller to compact the dirt rake and level again if needed roll again, install sprinkler heads 1.5 inches above dirt. test watering system, and adjust , if any areas are not getting water now is the time to install another head if needed.. repair dirt as needed.. sprinkle the dirt with a fertilizer and the your ready for the sod.,roll again,..remember  to adjust timer for sprinkler system to water daily  the new sod.

Answer 5

Till and rake, till and rake ,till and rake. Bust all the blisters on your hands and then your ready. The following day rake smooth - 1 person job as traffic compacts.Spread out you fertilizer as the bag states, lime if needed. Lay sod.

Use some plywood strips to walk on . Reuse ply wood strips on top of the sod to "jump" on and make good root/soil contact.

Water in really good - almost like a swamp. Take a day off. Water every other day for a week and then as needed. Never water at night as the wet  blades of grass set you up for lawn fungus , so water by 10am.

Pull gently on the sod in about two weeks to make sure its "rooting in " Maybe half fertilizer in a month but no later then Mid Oct. , as the grass will be going dormant and wont digest the meal you give it

Sand is used in establish grasses such as Bermuda that that a rhizome way of spreading. St Augustine as well. Its purpose is to fill in low spots and give a real pretty FLAT , putting green evenness to it. The creeping action of the grass will grow on top of the sand.