Sodding a New Lawn

You may have heard the term “instant lawn” and that’s what sodding a lawn is all about. Sod gives you a quick, yet more costly way to install a lawn, than seeding. Most sod farms in the central to northeastern US grow Kentucky Bluegrass sod.

Sod is sold by the square yard, and the descriptive term is usually shortened to a “yard” of sod. One square yard of sod is 6-feet long by 18-inches wide, totaling 9 square feet. To calculate how many yards of sod needed for a given area, take the square footage and divide by nine.

Calculating how much sod you need
Example: Area to be sodded is 9′ x 10′ = 90 sq ft.
90 square feet ÷ 9 = 10 yards of sod

Sod shipment
A pallet of sod usually contains 50 yards. Sod dealers will charge you a deposit on their pallets since they must be returned to the sod farm for future use.

Don’t leave sod stacked on pallets for more than 24 to 48 hours at the most, since the sod will “heat up” and become damaged. Therefore, have your lawn area ready to sod before your shipment arrives.

Sod pieces should be laid close together to avoid any gaps — the edges should be pushed together. Don’t stretch the sod — stretched out sod pieces will shrink and create gaps between pieces of sod. Exposed edges, especially if there are any gaps, should be covered with topsoil to prevent drying-out.

Beginning row of sod has been laid

Freshly laid sod should be thoroughly watered-in shortly after it’s installed. Continue watering frequently for the first weeks while the sod knits down. Some recommendations call for rolling newly laid sod a few days after it’s installed, with a lawn roller, to remove any air pockets.

Northern sod consists mostly of Kentucky Bluegrass, which is a thatch producer. Therefore, core aerate the sod once or twice a year once it is rooted-in and well established. Dethatch as needed when thatch levels are ½-inch or more. Bluegrass sod should be mowed at a 2-½” height.

Sod laying tips for beginners:

• Leave the soil grade one-inch lower along sidewalks and pavement to allow for the thickness of the sod piece.
• Sod is “graded” so buy the best grade available (#1). When your sod arrives piled-up on a pallet, lay it as soon as you can.  Keep palletized sod covered with a lightweight perforated tarp — to help keep the wind and sun off — until you get it installed.
• Don’t stretch sod while laying it – push it together – keeping the seams butted together as tightly as possible. Fill any edge gaps with screened topsoil to prevent the edges from drying. Exposed edges will dry out and brown.
• Cut sod with a sharp knife, hatchet or gardening spade, but watch your fingers!
• Watering is very important — begin right away by watering sod thoroughly. Water often (every day or two) to encourage rooting. Pay close attention to watering pavement edges since they will dry out first.

Instant lawn!

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Maintaining A Compost Heap

Many people who maintain gardens have a large amount of organic waste, from grass clippings to leaves and dead plants. Unfortunately, many waste money and time having these wastes transported to a landfill. It isn’t just a waste of good compost; it’s a waste of everything that goes into the process of transporting it (the garbage man’s time, the money you pay for the removal, etc). It is truly a travesty.

All this garbage that people are trying to get rid of can be a better supplement for your garden than any fertilizer or chemical. If you properly facilitate the decomposition of all of the garbage, it will alter chemically until it is in such a state that it can be nothing but beneficial nutrition for other plants. Therefore you can turn all the stuff you would have thrown away into top grade fertilizer for your garden.

Usually compost is maintained in a pile somewhere in your backyard. Usually the thought of a compost heap brings disturbing images to ones mind; heaps of rotten garbage emitting a horrid odor. However, if you maintain it correctly you’ll be able to produce great compost without producing an offensive odor. When I first began my compost pile in an effort to improve environmental health, I made several major errors. These included preventing the pile from the oxygen it truly needed, and keeping it to dry. It ended up decomposing in a very non-beneficial way, and producing an odor so foul that I had government agents knocking at my door.

When you are choosing your spot where you will be putting all of these materials, you should aim for a higher square footage. Having a really deep pile of compost is not a good idea, because generally the deeper sections won’t be exposed to anything that is required for the process to work. It is better to spread it all out over a large area. If you have a shed or a tool shack of some sort, it is a possibility to spread it over the roof (with boards to keep it from falling off, of course). I have seen this done several times, and it helps keep the pile out of the way while still maintaining a large square footage.

A compost heap can consist of any organic garbage from your yard, garden or kitchen. This includes leaves, grass, any leftover food that won’t be eaten, or newspaper (no more than a fifth of your pile should consist of newspaper, due to it having a harder time composting with the rest of the materials). Usually if you have a barrel devoted to storing all of these things, it will fill up within several weeks. It is quite easy to obtain compost, but the hard part truly comes in getting it to compost.

After you have begun to get a large assortment of materials in your compost heap, you should moisten the whole pile. This encourages the process of composting. Also chop every element of the pile into the smallest pieces possible. As the materials start to compress and meld together as they decompose, frequently head outside and aerate the pile. You can use a shovel to mix it all up, or an aeration tool to poke dozens of tiny holes into it. Doing this will increase the oxygen flow to each part of the pile, and oxygen is required for any decomposition to take place.

If maintaining a compost pile sounds like something that would interest you, start considering the different placement options. The hardest part about maintaining a pile is choosing a spot that provides enough square footage without intruding on the rest of your yard or garden. While usually you can prevent the horrible odors that most people associate with compost heaps, it’s still not a pleasant thing to have to look at whenever you go for a walk in your garden.

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