Rake to remove dead weeds, or repeat application everyday for stubborn or tenacious weeds until they die. The first thing to do is clear the area where your new lawn is going to be laid or sown. Sod staples for this purpose are inexpensive and available at most garden centers. Once your new sod has died on top of your previous lawn, you'll now have to remove two layers of sod to get any new grass to take root. See how we did it on DIYNetwork.com. Once the sod dies, you will end up having to re-sod again and remove all of the lawn underneath as well. Call around! If you don’t need new sod anywhere, you can use it as a good base for garden beds. Let’s figure out what might have gone wrong before, so we can keep it from going wrong again.”. Hopefully the old turf rolls up, but may have to come out in chunks. Method Three: Smother the Grass. 4. One of the main reasons is that if you put new sod on top of old vegetation, the new sod’s root system will never actually make contact with the soil. Remember, to establish a green lawn, dry is bad, mud is bad, moist is good. First, make 2-inch deep cuts in the turf every 2-feet using either a manual or a power edger. Calculate your lawn’s size in square feet. Installing low-voltage landscape lights is both simple and inexpensive, plus the lights enhance the appearance of your home and increase safety. Evenly spread about 1/4” thick over the graded soil. Do not simply till old turf in with the underlying soil. Now you’re ready to lay sod. This is because the sod cannot survive if you lay it on top of existing grass. Nov 10, 2012 - We used a demolition derby to simulate the wear and tear a lawn can go though over a few years. “Before purchasing any new sod you’ll need to take a few critical steps,” said Dr. Becky Grubbs, turfgrass specialist for the Texas A&M Extension Service. See “Keep Your Lawn Healthy With a Sprinkler Audit” for details. According to Turfgrass Producers International, “It is essential to begin watering new turfgrass sod immediately upon establishment.” Expect to water lightly but frequently during the establishment period. Water your newly installed sod thoroughly, and continue to water daily unless rain arrives. Water your sod three times daily until it takes root. To simulate a dishwasher disaster, we had a tanker truck flood our dishwasher with more than 800 gallons of water. Flatten any mounds or high spots on your soil. © 2020 Discovery or its subsidiaries and affiliates. Leaving hills and valleys in your dirt will complicate your mowing later. Seed can also be used to help with the blend. Rent a high quality rototiller and use it to remove the exiting grass and weeds. This can lead to a number of future lawn problems such as fungus growth and it makes it harder to grade the soil. Use the garden rake to grade the soil. You have an extra step ahead of you that others don’t: You must figure out what went wrong the last time so it won’t happen again. Let's get together. Soil preparation will likely take longer than laying the sod, so don’t buy sod well in advance. Follow the “one-third rule,” never mowing off more than one-third of the lawn’s height in a single mowing. Will the common sod in your area be able to thrive on the amount of sun it will get? During this time, check by lifting up corners of sod and resume watering when the sod is beginning to dry out. You can remove grass manually with a shovel, but the process is very labor-intensive and best for a small plot of grass. After the first week, reduce watering to every other day. As you lay sod on the entire area, butt in pieces tightly, leaving no gaps. Adjust the soil’s pH level and add nutrients as called for by the test results. Whether or not to remove the old grass before laying sod is a long-standing debate. Rent a sod cutter to remove the grass and its roots. LawnStarter is a startup making lawn care easy affordable and reliable. Get video instructions about kitchens, bathrooms, remodeling, flooring, painting and more. The pros have a few tips, and they begin with one realization: You work hard in the yard laying sod. Use a lawn roller one-third filled water. Prices are generally quoted in price per square foot or price per pallet. To determine the best plan for your lawn, check with your local garden center, sod producer or university extension program. All this hard work will go for nothing if you do not keep a close eye on your new sod’s water needs. “It is a living, perishable item, and extremely important for the life of your new lawn, to get it laid right away. Once you get the results of the soil test or tests, follow the advice. Here is the best way to repair insulation after heavy pest damage. I often get asked if you can just apply a shallow dressing of soil over grass and then lay sod on top of that. The short answer is, ‘no.’ This will allow air pockets and uneven ground settling, create a barrier that inhibits new root establishment, and create an overall situation for the old grass to compete with the new.”. “We only guarantee sod that is installed the day of delivery,” DG Turf’s Gibson said. There are two ways to remove sod from a lawn. Don’t forget to level your soil. See how we did it on DIYNetwork.com. We had the band to hook up all of their electronics to a single 20-amp outlet just to see it blow. Spread 2 inches of finished compost (this may be available for free if your town has a municipal compost center). 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