Prepare your Site - Sodding.com
Simple information on sodding your lawn.

Just because the sod grass you have decided to plant is alread growing on its own soil... doesn't mean that you can skip preparing the site correctly! In fact, it is just as important that your site is properly prepared for sodding a lawn as it is for seeding a  new lawn.   The contractor at right is smoothing the site with a drag for the final grade.

Many of the same issues that affect a seeded lawn, and the various preparation aspects of that lawn also apply to a sodded lawn.  The only difference is you apply a solid sod layer, instead of just planting seeds.  Be sure and look at the web sites below about the specific kind of grass you will be planting in addition to our two major web sites that discuss the aspects of selecting grasses and planting lawns from seeds.

• www.lawngrasses.com - Selecting the Right Grass.
• www.grassing.com - Preparing and planting your lawn site from seed.

Laying the foundation of a good sodded lawn starts before you ever lay your grass.  By proper preparation of you future lawn site you can avoid a lot of different problems with you lawn down the road.    Aspects like diseases, weeds, yellowing, site drainage and more can often be avoided by carefully preparing your future lawn site.

Be sure and read our section on lawn plans located at Grassing.com.   A good lawn requires a properly designed and laid out master lawn plan.  This plan will also help you to determine the problem areas in your site and corrections to improve those areas.  A plan for you lawn will also require you to measure out the areas to be sodded. You will need these measurements to order the necessary square footage of sod for your lawn. 

A good rule of thumb is to order at least 5% more than the area you need.   You will find that you have a certain amount of "shrinkage" and lower quality pieces which can be replaced with your extra 5%.  Most larger quantities of sod are sold in either a specific size roll (if in rolls) or a pallet of sod.  Most of the rectangular cut pieces of sod are sold on pallet quantities of 400 to 500 square feet of sod.  Try to order full pallets as usually you get a price break for pallet quantities.

One of the most important steps you can take before you sod your lawn is to take representative samples of your soil and conduct a professional soil test.  A good soil test can show you aspects of your lawn such as pH and organic content along with recommended rates of fertilizers and minor elements that should be applied to your site.  These are all things that you can fix prior to sodding your new lawn.

1. Take a soil sample of your lawn area and send it off for testing.  You can usually get this done at your local county extension service.  
2. Kill off existing weeds and grasses on the site prior to the planting area being tilled up.   This only applies to areas that you will start new with sod and not for overseeding / improving existing lawns.  You can use a glyphosate type of herbicide.
3. Do the first tilling of your lawn area.  You can also start working on creating a initial "slope" to your lawn.  An ideal lawn slope allows water to gently run off of the site, usually at a slope of 1-2 foot drop per 100 feet (1-2% slope).    Also at this time you can make changes in the slope and drainage of your lawn by moving the soil to improve these aspects.  If large areas must be moved, try and set aside the top 5 inches (topsoil) of your soil to replace back in the same location.   After tilling the lawn the first time you may apply organic amendments and/or top soils to change the soil composition and texture.  Your soil test should show if this is needed or not.  You can also determine this by doing the home test we describe on our soil test page.  
4. Spread any initial soil fertilizers and do the second tilling of your lawn area.  This is usually done about a week after the first tilling so as to allow for decomposition.  At this time you can install any lawn sprinkler systems you wish to have in your lawn.  Install sidewalks and other walk/patio surfaces.  Also start obtaining the finish grade by raking or dragging the lawn area smooth prior to planting.   An ideal finish is to get all of the lawn very smooth and level, resulting in the top 1-2 inches of the soil being very fine composition.  End up with the graded area approximately 1" below the final level you will want the grass to be (1" below sidewalks, sprinklers, etc.).
5. You are now ready to sod your lawn.   For information on this part of the lawn planting process proceed to Sodding