Laying Sod Down

G

gt_andy

Forum Member
I bought a house not to long ago and the Yard is in bad shape.

I need to get some grass going in the back ASAP. I was looking into laying Sod down. Lowes seems to have a decent price on it right now.

Anyone lawn or landscapers have any pro/cons to this opposed to tilling up and laying seed?

Anything i need to make sure to do before laying this stuff down?


Thanks.
 
Same here. My backyard got torn to shit when they cut down some enormous trees, and we're going to be putting in grass where some of the 3,322,023 various beds are. Any help on best choice for new grass is appreciated.
 
gt_andy said:
I bought a house not to long ago and the Yard is in bad shape.

I need to get some grass going in the back ASAP. I was looking into laying Sod down. Lowes seems to have a decent price on it right now.

Anyone lawn or landscapers have any pro/cons to this opposed to tilling up and laying seed?

Anything i need to make sure to do before laying this stuff down?


Thanks.
Click to expand...

If you want a nice yard you need to go with sod. If your lawn is a wreck and you just want some grass there to not look as bad, then lay seed.

Rent a lawn cutter from lowes if you need to. Chop up the old grass, roll it up, get a few truckloads of soil, lay it down, roll it smooth and lay the sod. The grass will look beautiful and be nice, thick and full.

Seed looks like garbage if the entire yard is bad.

A friend and I did an entire front and most of a backyard in a day with just the two of us.
 
There is a sod farm near wixom/s. lyon called Cash sod farm. They charged me $100-120 per pallet, about 75pcs per pallet.
 
raroz28 said:
If you want a nice yard you need to go with sod. If your lawn is a wreck and you just want some grass there to not look as bad, then lay seed.
Click to expand...

What he said. Seed looks like crap and will never look as good as sod.
 
JPK said:
What he said. Seed looks like crap and will never look as good as sod.
Click to expand...

you guys do know that "sod" comes from "seed" at some point... right? lol.. I disagree with this statement.. Sometimes you can make a "seeded" lawn look amazing, but it may take a few seasons and lots of time spend on maintaining it. If you want "turn key" grass, sod is for sure the way to go, and probably cheaper than the required overseeding to bring a "crappy" lawn up to snuff.

BTW, how much is sod right now?
 
yeah i parked a car in the backyard over the winter and all the grass under it is dead now, only prob is the new sod part will probably be better than the rest of the lawn
 
Seed is actually very cheap, I paid $30 for I think 25lbs. Look on line and you can find a website that if you put your yard dimensions in it will tell you how much seed you need. I tilled, rolled and seeded my whole back yard last year and it's coming along great. There's a few small patches here and there didn't take but I'm working on them now. With seed you will get a pretty good amount of weeds, but the weeds help the seeds hold then after a couple months you can fertilize and take care of them.
 
I would never buy sod from lowes
buy it from a sod farm or a garden center you have 1 day to relay sod after its been harvested

peltz in Livonia is great
 
If you plan on cutting the old sod up, and laying new sod.. PLEASE go out and spray the area with roundup NOW and let it sit for a week first, OR the weeds will just come up through your brand new sod!

The weeds get cut off, but the roots stay put, and multiply underneath the sod.

It will save you lots of frustration!
 
Justindwright said:
you guys do know that "sod" comes from "seed" at some point... right? lol.. I disagree with this statement.. Sometimes you can make a "seeded" lawn look amazing, but it may take a few seasons and lots of time spend on maintaining it. If you want "turn key" grass, sod is for sure the way to go, and probably cheaper than the required overseeding to bring a "crappy" lawn up to snuff.
BTW, how much is sod right now?
Click to expand...

Finally someone is making sense.

Please remember that sod takes a lot of watering to get right guys. When you water, water good and long so the water penetrates deep, which will stimulate the roots to follow it down and take hold better. If you don't water long enough, you're promoting the roots to grow more side to side.

Water, water, water, and only cut when you have to. When you do have to mow your sod, cut it as long as possible. Grass roots are generally the same length as the blades, so once again you're promoting good healthy root systems, and longer grass holds more water / moisture which is better for the grass as well.
 
if you decide to seed or sod, strip to dirt and let the birds handle the grubs, also have the soil PH tested to see what your dirt needs for better grass you can make the soil balanced and get amazing grass
 
moneypit said:
if you decide to seed or sod, strip to dirt and let the birds handle the grubs, also have the soil PH tested to see what your dirt needs for better grass you can make the soil balanced and get amazing grass
Click to expand...

oooohh, some good tips there. No better time to test your soil. I just put down some lime a month ago.
 
I do landscaping for a living. Sod or seed take time and require care to get the best outcome. If you want instant results, sod is the way to go. I would stay away from lowes sod for the fact is sits around and dries out and i can assure you its more money then your local sod farm. Watering the new sod is key. There is also such thing as too much water also, its a fine line.

Ive seen great results from seed also. It may take a few seasons and is more difficult to get the "thick" look right away
 
If you want an instant lawn, sod is the way to go. When I built my house 3 friends and myseld layed my yard. Sod is very easy to install. I personally would not do sod again. Not only does it take a lot of water when first put in, it also take more water for the entire life of it. WHen you put sod in, your adding a layer of dirt also. Because the of this extra layer the roots don't have to go as deep. Seeding is rough and time consuming, but it will be much cheaper to maintain than sod is.

Like everyone else said also, find a sod farm and buy fom them. Even if Lowes is cheaper, the sod usually is not taken care of as well as a sod farm would.
 
I just did my back yard last week,150'x150'. I did the round up then tilled it then hydro-seeded it.
 
I did mine last summer, debating doing the front this year...


Sod is the best way screw seeding!

I do suggest if you sod yours and you have to add dirt to level the grade, anything over 1" of fresh top to a area you must run a tamp over it dry, wet it, let it dry out, hit it with a tamp again and repeat. I made the mistake of only doing that in the areas where i added anything over 2" ' s of top soil and everything that i didnt do was soft all summer when it rained, so soft that if you stepped in it you sank right down to the base under the added top soil. I had to add 20 yards of dirt to my backyard to level it and get it pitched/graded right for drainage. Basement hasnt had on drop of water in it since I did it either. Took one week for tear out to the sod being done.


btw here's a whole thread on it...

http://www.motownmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?155180-Slanging-Grass-Project!
 
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