Having a new lawn installed in your yard through the help of sod rolls can be a great improvement to your home. With fall temperatures lower in many areas of the country, this time of year provides you with a perfect opportunity to install and plant your sod lawn. Here are some recommendations to help you prepare for and install a successful lawn this season.
Prepare Your Yard
Before you can plant any new sod in your yard, you will need to get the soil ready for new sod. You want your new sod to have the best chance at success, so this step is a good opportunity to enrich the soil and help boost its condition through some maintenance. Remove any large rocks and weeds growing on its surface. A good way to do this is by scraping the surface of the soil with a mini excavator to remove one to two inches of the existing soil. This not only removes any rocks and weeds, but also any weed seeds that are present in the soil and could germinate once you begin a heavy watering schedule for your new sod.
Add some new soil to the remaining area if you want to build the area back up, otherwise, you can leave the soil profile lower to provide space for your new lawn's height. Lawn sod can add at least a couple inches to your soil, so if you want your sod to sit well within any surrounding pavement you don't need to add new soil. However, it is a good idea to add some organic compost or manure to enrich the soil. This will greatly boost your lawn's chance of thriving in its new location.
Consider the Time of Year
You can install sod at most times throughout the year, even in the winter, unless there is snow on the ground. As long as you have prepared the ground prior to its installation, the sod will be able to take root with the right watering schedule. So, for example, if you are installing sod in the winter when the ground is hard from low temperatures, the soil should already be prepared.
Installing sod in the fall can be ideal because you don't have to worry about high heat that can dry out your sod. You will still need to keep your sod wet continually for the first couple of weeks by watering a couple of times each day. And don't worry if lower temperatures freeze your sod . The moisture held within the layers will thaw out and provide needed moisture to the sod when the weather warms up.
Contact a sod installation company for more information.
