sod lawn experts???

['89cab]

Didn’t want to hijack Wolf1’s lawn thread, so here’s my tale….

I hired laborers to remove and haul away my old lawn. I’m redesigning the yard and want to start fresh. The old lawn (with good sprinkler system) was sod I laid twenty years ago when my kids were young. Wiffleball, football, shade, pine and redwood trees, and dogs took their toll, and I thought it would be easier to start with a clean slate for the new landscaping. The new lawn will be about half the size of the old with the rest turned into gardens – where I definitely want to improve the soil. Incidentally, this is a house I will live in for the rest of my life.

I assumed I would place topsoil on top of my clay dirt, rototill, level, compact, (and repeat process), place edging and then lay sod. My research on gardenweb’s lawn care forum indicates rototilling is now a cardinal sin.

My dilemma is do I improve the soil while I’ve got it exposed, risking uneven leveling with much more work, or do I level a little bit, place the edging, sprinkle some fertilizer, lay the sod and have a beer?

[sluk]

Organic compost is your friend. Work a couple of inches into the soil. If you want to get more involved you can gather soil samples and send them to you local agriculture station for detailed analysis. Then you can add the appropriate amendments (to adjust phos, nitrogen, iron, trace elements and pH) to the soil as needed.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Whats the downside to rototilling?

I am planning on digging up my yard later in the fall.

[Don Ro]

Rototilling can cause the soil to settle unevenly no matter how well you level/water/roll then level/water/roll it again. It can also wake up thousands of weed seeds that will compete with the new grass. It can be a lot of unnecessary work.

[RickM]

I tilled a decent sized piece of property, pulled all the large junk grass/turf, raked, rolled, seeded and layed a layer of straw. This portion of the yard puts the rest completely to shame. Done about 2 years ago and it's still weed free and lush.

I used Pennington (w/ Penn-cote) grass seed. I also have not had any problems with settling.

[Don Ro]

Yes, you can do as "sluk" suggests. And yes, tilling/rolling/levelling can possibly create an uneven turf.

If you're committed to sod - many folks are in spite of the half price of simply overseeding - then you can forget about tilling...you won't go to hell.
This, of course, is dependent on whether or not you have construction grade hard-as-a-rock surface adobe clay.

Level it out w/loam (topsoil), water and roll the spots, spread a thin layer of chicken manure/redwood compost mix or a mushroom compost mix, lay down starter fert, proceed w/the sod, then another slight top layer of starter fert. Once the sod roots get purchase you can aerate it with a commercial grade aerator - not those silly drums w/spikes that Jose Gomez rents and "aerates" your lawn for cheap...they will just skip over the surface. Commercial grade aerators, like my Ryan LA-28 (its For Sale), have 3/4" + diameter spikes mounted on a crank shaft that will vertically drive down creating ~4" - 5" long plugs. Aerating will open (decompact) the soil and allow the roots to flourish. Allow the plugs to remain and decompose - good nutrients in them. Then later, if you're inclined, you can spread another thin layer of the above-suggested composts onto the new sod to renovate (decompact) the soil even more.

Or, just have it overseeded using a commercial grade machine like my Ryan Mataway/Overseeder.
I've done it both ways w/great success. In the past, I would talk discriminating clients out of tilling/laying sod and would suggest overseeding instead. Not immediate lawn like sod, but after the first few mowings they were pleased w/the professional job and the big $$$$$ savings.

I dislike laying sod, BTW. Too labor-intensive > costly.
My suggestion, if your soil is not compacted adobe clay and reasonably flat, spot-level it and go w/overseeding.
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Here's my Ryan Mataway/Overseeder.
This is the E-ticket for overseeding/de-thatching/renovating turf.
One bad-ass mosheen (and it's For Sale, $3k, mint - come get it).
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http://www.rsbird.com/ryan/ryan_mataway_overseeder.htm
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If you have someone aerate your turf, the Ryan LA-28 is tits.
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http://www.ryanturf.com/products/lawn_aerators/lawnaire_28/