Roll out the green carpet for a garden glow-up
Successful lawn sod installation depends on buying high-quality, dense sod from a respected dealer and ordering the right amount for your yard.
Laying sod in spring or fall keeps your soil moist and reduces stress from extreme heat or cold, helping new grass establish roots.
Installing sod immediately after delivery prevents the grass from drying out in rolls, so you avoid patchy, brown spots in your new lawn.
Hiring a local sod service professional takes the guesswork out of soil preparation and proper installation, helping your new lawn establish roots quickly.
In the battle of sod versus seed, sod comes out on top if you’re looking for a ready-made, lush lawn and instant curb appeal. However, if you lay sod wrong, you could end up with a patchy, brown, bad investment rather than a verdant backyard oasis. These prep, position, and post-roll tips for laying sod will help set you up for success.
Buy the right type of sod for your climate and conditions from a respected dealer who follows best management practices. This means you don’t have to worry about your sod arriving already contaminated with weeds or lesser-quality grasses than those you think you’re purchasing.
Before you accept a delivery of sod, inspect it to ensure it’s dense, uniformly thick, evenly moist (not dripping wet), and free from yellowing blades of grass.
Avoid overspending or ending up with a bald corner on your lawn by accurately calculating how much sod you need. Whether ordering by pallet, piece, or roll, carefully measure your yard to get the appropriate square footage and add 5% to 10% extra to allow for cutoffs.
Sod ordered by the pallet covers an average of 500 square feet, making this the most economical and practical option for large lawn landscaping projects.
In most regions, the best time to lay sod is spring or fall. You can lay sod at any time of year, but opting for these seasons helps to keep the soil desirably moist and reduces the chance of damaging the establishing lawn with intense heat or cold.
Cool-season grass types establish best in the fall, and warm-season grasses benefit from spring laying. If you need to lay your sod during the intense summer heat, especially in drought-prone regions, you’ll have to go to extra efforts to prevent the burgeoning lawn from drying out.
Don’t have your sod delivered before you’ve done the right soil prep work. You want to install your sod immediately after it arrives—or, at the very least, within 48 hours of it being cut. When conditions are hot and windy, speedy installation is even more important.
The longer you leave sod in a roll or on a pallet, the greater the risk of this living plant material drying out, making it difficult to establish roots.
Freshly laid sod edging dries out quicker than the rest of the turf. Gently raking a fresh mound of soil up to the grass border prevents root exposure in any gaps. This reduces the risk of an unsightly and hard-to-reverse brown ring developing around the edges of your green lawn.
Kneeling on a piece of plywood while installing the sod keeps your pants from getting damp and distributes your weight more evenly over a larger area, helping to prevent turf damage.
Minimize foot traffic in the first 2 to 4 weeks following laying sod to give the roots time to bed in. Coach your kids so they know they’ll have to wait to play soccer on the lawn and find an alternative potty place for your pets. Pet urine can kill grass even when it’s established, but it’s even more problematic for new sod.
You can tell rooting is successful when you gently lift a corner of the sod and it offers some resistance.
Wonderful. I am going to have them remove and replace my driveway in the spring.
All Star Paving and SealingWe were having 2”x 2” tile installed . There was a small installation error and the new additional replacement tile was from a different lot and the colors didn’t match. Joe assured us that he would rectify everything , which he did without hesitation. We decided to go with the 18” x 36” tile...
CarifaTileWe had a 20+ year old landscape lighting system that needed replacement. Midwest Lightscapes worked with us to design a much improved lighting system, lighting the exterior of the house and the back yard. Installation of the 45 light system took one and one-half days, and went very smoothly....
Midwest LightscapesDid an amazing job transforming my yard. Also installed sod in places, would recommend to everyone.
Cardinal Landscaping & Construction LLCWe hired Jim to replace our hardwood floors with new hardwood. He and his helper Jerry did a fantastic job. Their work ethic is impeccable!! We would highly recommend McColl Floors!
They started cutting my lawn last Summer, so it has been about a year.
They show up and they did take us on as a client which seems to be a problem with other lawn care providers. We have multiple properties and this one was located close to downtown and no one really wants to mess with it.
The worker came out when he was supposed to come. He informed me he would honor the Angie's List deal, but would not do any more work for me since my son in law owns lawn care company as well, even though they do not do the same type of work. He said he did not feel comfortable giving me...
Bello Giardino LLCPhenomenal vendor. For $25 Moc mows and trims the lawn, and never leaves a trace behind. Highly recommended.
They are very good. They are very knowledgeable about plants, shrubberies, lawn care, and tree care. They clean up after themselves the lawn and the sidewalk. Even the street around the house is sort of cleaned up. They do a great job.
From average costs to expert advice, get all the answers you need to get your job done.
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The best time to lay sod depends on your location and grass type. Cool and rainy seasons like fall and spring are the best time to grow a lawn.
