With how expensive sod can be, avoiding sod laying mistakes can not only save you time and money, but it can ensure that your sod installation goes as smoothly as possible.
(If you make a purchase using the links in this post, we may earn a commission.)
To help you avoid making mistakes laying sod, here are the most common mistakes to watch out for:
Poor Soil Preparation
One of the biggest mistakes when installing sod is to lay sod on top of compacted soil. When the soil is hard and compacted, it makes it extremely difficult for the new sod to develop roots below the cut sod layer, which can lead to poor sod health, and even dead grass.
Make sure that you lay sod on top of leveled, loose soil. This will help your sod with root development, which is crucial to having a lush, green lawn.
Having Sod Delivered Too Early
It can be a little tricky to manage all of the moving pieces when it comes to putting a yard in. Having your sod delivered too early and having it sit on pallets for too long is another huge mistake to try to avoid at all costs.
When sod is harvested, it starts to dry out quickly. This means that you should ideally have your sod delivered the day you are planning on laying it down.
If your sod arrives several days or weeks before the installation date, you’ll be left with pallets full of crunchy, dead grass that will be ultimately useless and that should be thrown in the trash.
Bad Watering Technique
Once your sod has been installed, watering it correctly is paramount to giving your sod the best chance at thriving. Too many people either overwater, or underwater their sod, which can lead to diseased or dead grass.
The general rule is that sod needs .5 to .75 inches of water each day for a few weeks. After about four weeks, turn the watering down and check for good root development.
To check for root development, simply tug gently on the turf to see if it easily pulls away from the soil below the sod layer or not. If it resists, you are watering correctly as root development is happening.
Pro Tip: Use rain gauges to know how much water your grass is getting to ensure you aren’t over or under watering your new sod.
Mowing Shortly After Install
Another huge mistake to avoid is mowing too soon after laying down your sod. It can be super tempting to mow your sod within a week of installing, but resist this urge at all costs!
When you cut your grass, the grass diverts energy away from root development to blade regrowth. Mowing too soon can stunt your grass from developing a deep root system, which it desperately needs in order to thrive and grow for seasons to come.
The longer you can wait the better, but we’d recommend NOT mowing your new sod until it’s been down for at least 3-4 weeks. Once you do mow, make sure to keep the grass cut to 3-4 inches in length.
Fertilizing Too Soon
Similar to mowing, if you fertilize your grass too soon after install, you can trick your grass into thinking that it doesn’t need to develop deep roots. When you fertilize, you give your grass essential nutrients, but if the grass can find it without having to develop deep roots, then you will end up with sod with a shallow root system which can lead to a whole bunch of problems down the road.
We would recommend NOT fertilizing your need sod until it has been 8+ weeks since the time of install. This will give your new sod enough time to lay down a deep root system in order to combat weed and disease pressure.
Knowing The Common Sod Laying Mistakes Is Key
Now that you know what NOT to do, you can maximize the results of your sod investment by giving it everything it needs to grow and thrive. Avoiding these big mistakes will also help you to avoid costly turf repair problems in the future.