How do I lay sod? Instructions to lay sod. When laying sod, the first thing to figure out is the pH level of your soil and that will give you a reference of which type of turf grass to use. The second most...
When laying sod, the first thing to figure out is the pH level of your soil and that will give you a reference of which type of turf grass to use. The second most important thing to consider is definitely drainage. Without drainage, the sod is going to rot or dry out if it is not irrigated well enough, especially if it's on a slope. You are going have to water it more frequently than you would if it was on flat ground. Consider your site selection as far as how much sun you get or how much shade, because some turf grasses do better in full sun and some are even tolerant of shade.
Once you establish what type of sod you are going to go with, you'll want to prepare the soil. First, you want to get rid of all your large debris and then add soil if needed. If it is too rocky, you may want to add some top soil or some loam and make sure that it is draining well. Make sure that you have it graded well. Then you want to lay the sod down to make sure the pieces are butted up together so that there is no space in between the sod. Space allows weeds to come up through and it also exposes the small amount of soil on the root system of sod and causes it to dry out and shrink, creating even larger gaps between the pieces. Once you get your sod down, you want to go back and roll it with a sod roller. That is going to compress the sod down up to the soil so that the roots will have somewhere to grow.
Next, you'll want to fertilize. Your local garden center or nursery will have special fertilizer for sod. You want to use one that is a little bit lower in nitrogen because when sod is harvested at the farm, it only has about a quarter of an inch or a half inch at the most, of soil that is actually attached to the root system like grass. So, that makes it very susceptible to fertilizer burn. So, you want to use something that is low in nitrogen.
Also, once you get the sod down, you need to water it pretty much everyday. You may have to do it twice a day. You'll know when to water when the grass plates have a pale look to them, so you want to do it before the grass actually wilts. Give it a real deep watering. You want to try to achieve four inches of watering so that the grass does not dry up.
