Want a lush, green lawn and want it fast? Laying sod offers an immediate solution, providing instant results compared to the months of waiting required for seeded grass.
While the process may seem straightforward, successful installation requires proper planning and technique. This guide will walk you through how to install sod, from ground preparation to post-installation care, ensuring your new lawn thrives from day one.
| Project difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate Estimated time to complete: 1 to 3 days (for one person laying sod over a fifth of an acre) Project cost: $2,700 to $7,145 for a fifth of an acre (if you have all the materials) |
Step 1: Measure your space
If you know the square footage of your property and your home, you can easily estimate how much sod you’ll need. Just subtract the square footage of your home from the square footage of your property. Also subtract landscape features like flower beds and hardscape surfaces like driveways, walkways, and patios.
If you want to be more precise, use a measuring tool like a measuring wheel, measuring tape, or yardstick. Measure the perimeter of the area to be sodded.
To make it easier to calculate the area you’ll be laying sod on, you can break up your lawn into smaller, regular sections – think squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles. Then, add their areas together. Here are the basic area formulas you can use:
- Square and rectangle: length x width
- Triangle: one-half x (base x height)
- Circle: π (3.14) x radius x radius
Step 2: Prepare your soil
While you may be tempted to throw down the sod quickly and get it over with, it’s essential to prepare the ground first, much like priming a wall before painting. Sod needs loose, bare, well-aerated soil to establish a strong foundation.
Here’s what you should do:
Test the soil and add amendments if needed
Sod grows best in soil with the right pH levels and nutrients. The pH should be around 6.5 to 7 pH. “At low pHs and high pHs, nutrients are not available and germination percentage is very low,” says Richard Duble, a retired turfgrass expert.
Test the soil to determine what it needs to be in peak condition before sodding. Then, amend the soil as needed. It’s best to add them as you are loosening, leveling, and grading the soil. That way, they’re well-mixed into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil where the sod will take root.
Read more: What Are the Different Types of Soil Amendments for Your Lawn?
Remove weeds, existing grass, and debris
Newly installed sod takes best to bare soil because the sod needs to come in contact with the soil to take root.
You’ll need to remove the existing grass. You can do this with a sod cutter, flat shovel, or rototiller, with a non-selective herbicide like glyphosate, or by sheet mulching.
Sheet mulching takes time, so the first two options are quicker. Keep in mind, however, that using a non-selective herbicide can damage your new grass, so wait a month after spraying before laying sod.
Once all the yard is bare, rake out rocks and other debris from the soil.
Level and grade the soil
Sod needs to be installed flat against the soil for the roots to take hold. Leveling and grading give you a chance to loosen the soil, which provides a softer base to interact with the sod. Break up the top 6 to 8 inches of soil with a hoe or rototiller before leveling and grading.
When grading the soil, make sure to grade it an inch below paved surfaces such as driveways, walkways, and sidewalks. Your sod’s root base will fill in the missing inch.
The soil should also have a very slight slope toward the edges of the property – about a 1% to 2% grade – so that water doesn’t pool on your lawn and flood your yard.
Step 3: Purchase your sod
Have the sod delivered no later than 24 hours before you install it.
How much sod should you buy? It’s best to buy a little more sod than the square footage you’ll be laying it on – about 5% to 10% extra is a good buffer. This buffer is useful for the times you need to cut away sod for irregularly-shaped areas and around obstacles.
Where to buy sod
You can buy sod from big box stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot. However, I recommend checking for local sod producers or nurseries in your area. They tend to have better-quality sod, and you can ensure that you get fresh sod.
Fresh sod is vibrant green with moist soil. You should inspect your sod when they deliver it. Reject any sod that looks yellow, dry, or damaged.
When to schedule sod delivery
You’ll want to schedule your sod delivery the day before (or even hours before) you install it. Ideally, you should schedule the delivery in the morning, as it’s less likely to overheat and dry out while in transit. Once harvested, the sod will start to dry out.
If you can’t install sod immediately, keep it in a shaded area. Then, lightly sprinkle it with water. In the summer, sod can only survive for 24 hours; in the winter, it can last as long as three to five days when maintained this way.
Read More: The Best Types of Sod
Step 4: Lay sod
Now that all the prep work is finished, it’s time to install your sod. Here is the step-by-step process:
- Water your soil. Get it damp but not soaking wet to prevent your sod from drying out.
- Start with the longest straight edge in your yard. The first row of sod should ideally be along the longest straight edge in your yard. Typically, this is along a paved surface or your fence. This row will be a neat boundary for the rest of the lawn.
- Lay your sod. Make sure that each piece is flat against the ground. If it’s bunched up, the roots won’t contact the soil.
My tip: As you work, kneel or stand on a piece of plywood atop the newly laid sod. This distributes your weight across a larger area and prevents damage to the sod.
- Rake the soil as you go. As you step on the soil, you may unintentionally make indents in the soil. Raking the soil where you’ve stepped before laying sod will smoothen it out.
- Install the next rows in a staggered manner. Imagine a brick wall. That is how you should lay the next row of sod. It will look more appealing and encourages root growth.
- Butt the edges against each other. Place the sod pieces snugly against each other, but don’t overlap them. Just make sure there aren’t any gaps between the rows, if possible.
My tip: Don’t stretch your sod out to make it fit. Stretching can lead to gaps.
Step 5: Fill in gaps and trim the edges
Gaps in your newly sodded lawn can cause the edges of the sod to dry out. Fill in the gaps with sod. Ideally, you shouldn’t need to fill in the gaps if you’ve pressed the sod rows against each other.
Next, trim the edges to create a seamless look. Fold back the excess sod and trim it. Make sure not to leave gaps when trimming your sod.
Step 6: Press the sod down
Pressing the sod allows for good sod-to-soil contact. Use a lawn roller for best results.
You’ll want to pass the lawn roller over your newly sodded lawn twice in a bi-directional fashion — east to west, then north to south, or vice versa.
Note: Be careful not to press the sod – or even walk over it – when the soil is really wet. Doing so may cause dips and divots in your yard and undo the hard work of leveling and grading the lawn.
Step 7: Water your sod
Finally, you should water your newly installed sod immediately after you finish laying it. Irrigation helps the sod settle into place and gives it the moisture it needs while it’s taking root.
Let your sprinklers run for about 45 minutes, then lift one of the edges of your sod and check the soil underneath. It should be moist, but not waterlogged. Don’t overwater.
Read More: How to Care for New Sod
Important sod installation tips
Tip 1: To sod a curved area, overlap the pieces of sod. Then, cut through the sod underneath using the overlapping edge as a guide.
Tip 2: If there are sprinklers or other obstacles in the way, use a sharp blade to trim sod so it fits around the sprinklers or other obstacles.
Tip 3: To lay sod on a slope, place the sod down horizontally. The University of Maryland Extension also recommends staking or using landscape pins to keep the sod in place as it roots.
FAQ about installing sod
The best time of year to lay new sod is spring and fall when the temperatures aren’t scorching hot. The exact season will vary on the type of sod and its growing season.
If your newly installed sod is turning yellow, then it’s likely that you are watering it wrong. Both overwatering and underwatering can cause yellowing sod.
Professional sod installation costs $0.86 to $1.75 per square foot — between $7,492 to $15,246 to install sod over ⅕-acre.
If you do it yourself, you can save a little on sodding especially if you already have the tools needed. The larger the area to be sodded, the more cost-effective it is to DIY.
The best fertilizer for new sod is whatever fertilizer your soil test results recommend. Otherwise, a balanced fertilizer (such as one with a 10-10-10 N-P-K ratio) is a good one to set down.
Contact a pro to install your sod
Do you find sod installation intimidating? Maybe you’re worried about installing it wrong. Consider hiring a local pro to install sod in your yard instead. Sure, it’ll cost more — but you’re paying for quality and peace of mind.
And when your sod finally needs mowing and fertilizing, Lawn Love’s pros can help you out. Hire a pro in your area today.
Main Photo Credit: sandsun | Adobe Stock Free | License
