posted on March 7, 2001 10:24:28 AM
We want to lay down a back yard lawn this spring... any experts?
When?
How?
The deal here is that we bought this house from an Indian vegetarian herbalist. Thanks to that we inherited an organic garden not to be believed, but no lawn, which is important for the kids to play.
We did as she suggested last year (first spring here) and watched her yard come to life and this included corn and tomatoes growing in the middle of the yards.
So... the main question is do we roto-till and lay the sod on top, or will encourage the vegetables?
Do we roto-till and then buy topsoil for where we want the lawn and then lay the sod on top of that?
Do we NOT roto-till, leave the soil compacted, lay topsoil on top and sod on top of that?
Some other thing.
Needless to say the dirt in the yard is superb. She had dirt trucked and then composted everybody's everything on the block for 5 years and so what we have is a farm back there. Love it, but need a patch of grass.
Kind of like the ball field in "build it and they will come."
posted on March 7, 2001 10:30:46 AM
VeryModern----first thing you do is DO NOT TEAR OUT the PLANTS and THROW THEM AWAY!!!!
Advertise in your local paper or your local gardening shop that you are dismantling an established garden and charge people to take the plants away/ you could even get them to the digging of them out.....there may be some unusal stuff in your garden--that would be very expensive to purchase.....you could end up paying for the SOD this way. Even the common stuff cost $$$$
posted on March 7, 2001 12:03:33 PM
Thanks Zazzie - I am just not so advanced a gardener, but I have a great appreciation, which is why we waited a year to see what came up. I will be a small area of grass and only covering tomatoes and corn.
Her herb garden was and will be completely preserved even though I do not know what half of it is, as well as not one, but two gigantic vegetable gardens that are contained. IOW - I am keepin' it, and we still compost!
-Roto-till just deep enough to dislodge any plant growth.
-Rake and remove all plant debris.
-Have area sprayed with herbicide that will kill all vegetation. You want the herbicide to hit the seeds as they start germinating. Commercial weed killer you buy off the counter is not as strong as what will be sprayed by a licensed company.
-Wait recommended time for total herbicide disintegration.
- Lay down a pre-emergence (grass) fertilizer.
-Go to your local tool rental and rent a gas-operated dethatcher (has multiple small swing blades.)
-Set the height of the dethatcher so that the blades will pulverize large dirt clods but not dig deep. This will provide you a fine surface.
-Rake the ground to remove any uneven spots.
-Lay your sod so that the edges and end are butted tightly with a slight raise on seam that you will tamp down.
-Water consistently until sod takes set.
-Sod can be a PIA. I prefer casting a good quality Bluegrass. Slow growth but provides a great lawn.
-Use "shade" variety in shaded areas and "hardy" variety in areas of heavy foot-traffic.
-If that does not work, lay down green sand.
Forgot to state; do not roto-till, especially deep, and then immediately lay sod or plant seed. After a rain or after watering, the ground will have low and high spots that need to be leveled. If you lay the sod before ground has resettled to a firm state, you will have depressions all over the lawn.
posted on March 7, 2001 12:43:32 PM
Thanks sgtmike - man in the know.
Question...?
There are no large trees to create shade where we want the lawn, but it is up next to the house on the N side.
We put a patio our there (the fast red brick method) because it was constant mud because of the shade, and I was pondering today if we should bother to try to grow grass up near the house (SHADE!. IOW perhaps it would be a better idea to extend the patio.
This house is not the be all end all, we will probably move and rent it in a couple years and so this is also a consideration.
Thanks VeryModern Space Junk
posted on March 7, 2001 01:05:47 PMshade loving ground cover
D'oh!
Thanks sgtmike. Great solution.
The problem here is that I am from the desert and lawn knowledge impaired, but I have a green thumb. Also very hard to come from AZ and even contemplate the concept of shade.
posted on March 7, 2001 01:38:20 PM
Excuse me VM, I just saw your question regarding PIA and sod.
Unless you pay top dollar and obtain sod from a quality supplier, the sod may be cut too thick or too thin.
Sod measured from top of soil to bottom of soil should be within the 3/4 to 1-inch range and should not break when being handled.
If too thick, it will root slowly or poorly and will die.
If too thin, it will dry out too fast, will yellow, and will die.
Most often, sod suppliers have had the sod rolled and stacked for too long a period and it is a good bet the sod will not survive once it is put down. Stores usually have a warranty period, but who wants to remove the sod and take it back for a refund?
However, make sure the base is correct, fertilized, and slightly wet. Lay the sod perpendicular to slopes and stagger pieces as a bricklayer does bricks or you will have erosion problems until sod takes.
Make sure you water the sod every day, about 1" to 1 1/2" of water, for at least 2 weeks.
If everything is in your favor, you may get a good set and only lose a few sections.
posted on March 7, 2001 02:26:28 PM
Or you can do what they do in Florida. Tear out every blade of grass of any kind, smooth the soil and spread decorative rocks over lawn area. Kewl! No grass to water or cut or dethatch or demole or deinfest etc. Rough on bare feet however.
posted on March 7, 2001 05:58:40 PM
We visited a friend who lived in the Mohave desert about 80 miles outside LA. He had a lawn in the front of the house about the same size as his living room. 15 x 25 feet. Each morning before going to work he would get the hose out and saturate the whole thing for about a half hour so it would be alive when he came home in the evening. I could not belkieve the first time I saw him do this it would not drown it, but it worked.
He was the only one on the whole street with a lawn. I don't understand the importance of haveing a lawn, but he seemed to enjoy doing it every morning and had a couple cups of coffee while doing his duty in his bare feet.
The back yard was sand with snake track through it.
