How to Install a New Lawn

How to Install a New Lawn

To maintain a lawn is mostly time consuming and tedious for most homeowners. But a beautifully manicured lawn can benefit well on adding a natural green habitat in your home. However, lawns can also be seriously damaged by such factors as drought, animal waste from pets, kids playing on the ground them, or in moving heavy equipment across them. However, damaged lawns can mostly be rehabilitated and repaired back to its beauty. Sometimes, when damaged done is so great, it might just need a new lawn.

In re-greening your new lawn, you have two options, the seed and the sod method. Seeding is requires the planting of new grass seedlings on the ground to grow and cover the entire ground. This method is less expensive and requires less physical work than the other. Laying sod on the other hand requires the home owner to purchase the grown sod, and needs physical work in laying this sod on the ground. The sod however, would look good immediately after laying and can be used immediately.

Here is a simply step by step DIY instruction for the two methods you can follow if you need to do your lawn at home:

I. Preparing the Soil and ground:

1. Pull up the old turf with a sod cutter. Remove the grass to expose the soil.

2. Try to incline the exposed subsoil with a landscaping rake so water flows in one direction. Subsequently smooth the soil by removing any large stones.

3. Mix compost and topsoil and spread a 4 to 6 inch thick layer on top of the subsoil. You can also add some sand to the mix soil to improve drainage if you are located in an area that receives a lot of rain.

4. Use a rototiller to run over the soil at a depth of 6 inches to mix the topsoil and compost with the subsoil.

5. Fill a lawn roller about one-third to its brim with water. Run the roller over the soil to compact it.

II. Planting Sod

1. For the sod method, use a high-phosphorous starter fertilizer and apply it to the soil. Follow package instructions on how to use the fertilizer. Water the fertilizer lightly.

2. Now you are ready to lay sod. Start laying the strips of sod around the perimeter of the lawn area. Water and soaked every piece of sod you have installed before installing the next one.

3. The method requires you to place more strips against the strips around the perimeter and work towards the house. You can cut the pieces of sod to fit an area in the ground if necessary to fit directly against the strips on the perimeter. Always trim away the excess with a trowel with sharpened edges or a utility knife. On installing irregularly shaped areas, always lay the sod in a straight line then cut away the excess after installing all of it. This includes flower beds, fountains, ornamental statues and even pools.

4. Cover the entire area or lawn ground with sod until you finish.

5. When done, continue to water the sod for at least twice a day for two weeks. You can reduce watering to every other day after two weeks but apply enough water each time to keep the soil moist to a depth of 1 to 2 inches. You now have your new lawn.

III. Planting Seed

1. Use a starter fertilizer and apply it to the soil with a 1-2-1 or 1-1-1 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, please read and follow instruction of the package. Follow the label directions for application rates.

2. Using a seed spreader spread a heavy layer of grass seed onto the soil. Try to make two passes when seeding the area by going side to side in the first pass and then up and down in the second pass. Do not seed your lawn on windy or rainy days, the seeds can only be blown or washed away.

3. After the seeding, cover the seeds with a 1/2-inch layer of topsoil. This will protect the seeds from birds or washed away by rain. Use your hands in sprinkling the topsoil on the ground.

4. Using a lawn roller, run over the seed. Try to make two passes.

5. Finally, water the seeded area with a fine mist. Water the soil every other day until the seed begins to germinate, and continue for two more weeks. After that, water every other day for two weeks and then just once a week onwards. While it is growing, try to stay off the grass.

6. Do not use a lawn mower on the grass until it has grown to 4 inches high. You can cut them with no more than an inch. This would allow the grass to establish deeper roots in the soil.  You now have a new lawn.