Several years ago I had Sod installed in my backyard. Long story short, it did not last too long with the pets we had (pot belly pig who destroyed it). So as of right now my back yard is purely wild grass and weeds. My son and I are looking into turning it over and planting seed because the money is kind of tight right now.
I do understand that all current vegetation must be killed before rototilling, so earlier I drenched it with a big bottle of round up.
So my question is where do I go from here. I have already checked rental prices on a rototiller but thats it thus far.
Here are some general questions to help guide the discussion:
1)How long do I wait before rototilling? Until completely dead from round-up?
2)After rototilling do I need to remove all of the dead grass and weeds, or does it go under the soil?
3)How do I go about testing the soil when I am done?
4) Do I also use the rototiller to mix fertilizer in the soil before laying out seed?
5)What time of year is best to plant see?
Sorry for all the dumb questions, but I am completely new at this...
Any help greatly appreciated.
-Daryl
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newsunrise
- Full Member
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Sat May 17, 2008 9:35 am
- Location: Southern Saskatchewan
hi,
unfortunatly you could of skipped the step of using round up. It is harsh on the soil. but since you already did it lets go from there. this is what I would do others may have different or better ideas......
you will need to work the ground a few times to break up all the sod. leave the dead grass.
you can testing kits from garden centers
test your ph level once you have it worked up. grass likes levels between 6.0 - 7.5 if your ground is not between those levels you need to adjust...... add lime if your ph is low or sulfure if its to high.
then you need to condition your soil with compost. then you need to work it all in again...lots of work but so worth it when your lawn comes up so healthy and full. rake the soil to level it out.
if it is very hot and dry summer is not the best time to start a lawn spring would be your best bet. spread your seeds. use a barrel or rent a roller and pack the seeds and soil water lightly you don't want to make rivers. once the grass starts to sprout water at least twice a day to keep it moist.
good luck
did I forget anything?
unfortunatly you could of skipped the step of using round up. It is harsh on the soil. but since you already did it lets go from there. this is what I would do others may have different or better ideas......
you will need to work the ground a few times to break up all the sod. leave the dead grass.
you can testing kits from garden centers
test your ph level once you have it worked up. grass likes levels between 6.0 - 7.5 if your ground is not between those levels you need to adjust...... add lime if your ph is low or sulfure if its to high.
then you need to condition your soil with compost. then you need to work it all in again...lots of work but so worth it when your lawn comes up so healthy and full. rake the soil to level it out.
if it is very hot and dry summer is not the best time to start a lawn spring would be your best bet. spread your seeds. use a barrel or rent a roller and pack the seeds and soil water lightly you don't want to make rivers. once the grass starts to sprout water at least twice a day to keep it moist.
good luck
did I forget anything?
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newsunrise
- Full Member
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Sat May 17, 2008 9:35 am
- Location: Southern Saskatchewan
yup, I would just work it up as it is. leave the dead stuff. you may have to go over it a few times to get the soil and sod worked up really well. when you rake it to level you may find you are dragging clumps so you can pull them out and dispose of them.
another thing you could do is remove the old sod completly but that would be extra work and expence if you rented a sod cutter.
another thing you could do is remove the old sod completly but that would be extra work and expence if you rented a sod cutter.
Every book I read said fall is the best time to plant grass. We re-did our front yard last fall. We actually rented I think it's called a sodder. Anyway it's something that cuts the sod so you can roll it away. We used it on our weedy areas and took up the top of the dirt and weeds as well. Then we got a truck load of compost delivered and tilled it in the ground. We went to a good garden store and bought some fertilizer safe for the new lawn seeds (regular just burns the seeds and if lawn does mamage to grow it starts to burn that). We spread that along with the grass seed. We got a seed called bonsai grass. It grows in shady or sunny areas and was told after it establishes itself, it is more drought resistant. Anyway after we spread the seed we put a layer of peat moss (1/4 to 1/2 inch) then I kept it sprayed with water 3 or 4 times a day (it ended up being a dry fall last fall). We had grass sprouting within 1 week and had an actual lawn in 3. I've just seeded a small strip in a shady spot (it's still very cool here) We'll see how it does. We're getting our back yard ready for seed this fall. It's a lot of work but well worth it and even the seed we got which was more expensive was still cheaper than sod. Oh and this year we have a beautiful green thick lush lawn. our neighbors we shocked it came from seed. But you can get really good varieties of grass with seed verses a cheaper brand of seed used to grow sod, but you really shouldnt fertilize much the first year. no weed and feed or anything. Digging out the weeds by hand can be a pain but you'll have a healthier lawn for it. Hope this helps. 
Maren
Maren