The excitement of adding a new turf lawn to your home is understandable. Shortly after the work is done, a new lawn awaits, and after just a few weeks of allowing the new grass to “settle in,” a mature lawn will be well underway on your property.
While the installation of the sod itself can seem to go quickly (somewhat similar to laying tiles), great preparation in advance is crucial to assuring things go well. The following is a brief review of properly preparing your soil, which is incredibly important and an often overlooked part of installing a beautiful new lawn.
Soil Basics
For the best results, the soil should be cleared of any old or dead grass and other vegetation, including root
systems. Tilling the soil is often an important step, making sure that rocks, large clods and other debris is removed.
Grading is another situation to what for… the soil area should not have any unexpected dips or hallowed out places where a depression can occur, trapping water. Also, the soil area should gently slope away from structures, trees and the like to allow for proper drainage.
Soil amendments should be added at this stage, which can include organic material or fertilizers. A quick test of the soil will reveal any serious problems; inexpensive test kits are usually available in the garden sections of many stores.
The area should be thoroughly raked and tamped, then watered several times to help the soil settle. Fill in holes and depressions that may appear after watering.
The above steps are very general, and there is more detail to each one, but they will help to assure that your newly installed lawn is off to a great start, and has every chance of thriving.