WTB/Borrow Thatching Rack near Aurora
- Thread starter Heffe01
- Start date
Well I had sod put in last year but it never took hold. So I have been pulling that up...been pretty easy. The ground underneath is loose about 1" deep. I'm wanting to put down some dairy manure mix it up a little bit and then seed it. I do have a sprinkler system...so not sure if that would be a problem. What would you suggest...looking at about 1000 sf.
A major problem why the Sod did not hold is because it wasn't allowed to. Most people think they are already watering a lot but it's never too much especially when it's new sod. You have to damp it almost like a swamp and do that for at lease 2-3 weeks. You can try seeding but again you have to always keep the ground majorly wet all the time. This is the most critical stage of the process, pretty much make or brake. I would recommend roller tilling the manure into the ground, rake it evenly, apply the seed, put hay on top and cover with a fish net, then water the f@&$ out of it until you see growth then you can minimize the watering
Sounds to me like maybe the first time around with the sod you didnt have adequate soil prep (soil till and amendment) and yes maybe not keeping the soil/sod wet enough for roots to grab hold. I would say for this next time around it would depend on your budget and value of time and want for immediate grass. If it were me I would till, amend and lay new sod down again. You can get sod from any number of places for less than $.60 a sqft and if you ask me instant lawn is always much better reward than waiting for seed to germinate, fill in and be lush. Just my $.03 
Lmk if I can help with anything, I am a landscape architect and I actually work for a company who also owns a fairly large nursery and they sell sod too.
Lmk if I can help with anything, I am a landscape architect and I actually work for a company who also owns a fairly large nursery and they sell sod too.Well we had everything done to what a professional said to do. We had a sod cutter come in and remove the top 4 inches of dirt and turf. We then had about 6 cubic yards of compost/dairy manure brought in and tilled into the yard till it was mixed in. Then wetted the soil, laid the sod and watered immediatly. We watered it everyday, three times a day for about 20 mins each time using our sprinkler system. I know it was wet enough because it felt like walking on a spounge after each watering.
After speaking with several nurserys around town we decided to seed it this year. Almost every nursery we talked to agreed that Sod is a risky gamble here in colorado with the watering restrictions and extreme heat we can get. They all agreed that planting from seed was much hardier and had a much greater chance of surviving.
After speaking with several nurserys around town we decided to seed it this year. Almost every nursery we talked to agreed that Sod is a risky gamble here in colorado with the watering restrictions and extreme heat we can get. They all agreed that planting from seed was much hardier and had a much greater chance of surviving.
I honestly dont know at this point. I am just saying what I was told. Just tired of paying out a lot of money and watching it die. So this time I am going to do it with some good old fashion hard work and take my time. If it helps me save a few hundred, I dont mind breaking my back. I bought a pick axe and thatching rake yesterday to break up any packed down areas. Its still pretty loose in alot of areas though.