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How to Kill the Grass & Lay Sod
How to Kill the Grass & Lay Sod. Landscapers are paid thousands of dollars to replace lawns where the grass is overrun by weeds or dead spots. What most homeowners don't realize is that they can perform the same quality job as a professional with many common weed killers found at hardware stores or home supply superstores. Killing the grass you...
Landscapers are paid thousands of dollars to replace lawns where the grass is overrun by weeds or dead spots. What most homeowners don't realize is that they can perform the same quality job as a professional with many common weed killers found at hardware stores or home supply superstores. Killing the grass you want to replace with sod simply takes time and a little patience.
Things You'll Need
Grass killer
Grass sod
Rake
Long garden shears
Soil tiller
Determine how much grass killer you will need for your yard. About one gallon of weed killer will kill 300 square feet of grass. Measure the length and width of your yard and multiply the two measurements to get the square footage of your yard.
Estimate how much sod you will need by the same method for the fertilizer. Take the square footage of your yard and order the appropriate amount of sod. Add about two or three extra sod rolls just in case some of the grass sod you purchase is brown or not usable.
Spray the grass killer on the grass. Allow to sit on the grass for two days to thoroughly kill all the grass. Reapply the killer on spots that haven't been killed.
Rake the dead grass away and throw out.
Till the soil so the soil is aerated and ready for the new sod. Fertilize the soil with a fertilizer high in phosphorous.
Rake the soil to infuse the soil with the fertilizer and to smooth the soil flat.
Start laying your sod from one corner of your yard. If you start on the left hand side, start by butting up the corner of the sod on the upper left hand corner and roll the sod down to the end. Butt up the next sod roll to the end of the first roll and roll down till it is flat.
Keep rolling the sod till you reach the end of your lawn. If there is extra sod on one roll, cut with long garden shears.
Water the new sod right away to encourage root growth. Water the sod every day for two weeks. After two weeks, you can water the sod three times a week to continue healthy root growth.
Tips & Warnings
Spray grass killer on a day that doesn't have strong winds.Wait to mow your new sod until the roots have taken hold and the grass has grown a couple of inches.
Mowing your new sod too early can kill the new grass.
