How to Lay Sod

In this video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shows how to create a lush, new lawn with sod.

Pro Tip: This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook explains the value of sod over seed: “You’re basically buying time. You’re paying for turf that someone else has coddled for 14 to 18 months.”

Steps for Laying Sod

1. Remove old grass from lawn with a cutter mattock.
2. Run a rotary tiller over the area to loosen up the top 6 to 8 inches of soil.
3. Spread 1-inch layer of compost over the area. One cubic yard of compost covers 300 square feet at 1 inch thick.
4. Use rake to fill low spots and smooth out high spots of compost.
5. Apply lime to the area using a walk-behind broadcast spreader.
6. Use a walk-behind spreader to apply starter fertilizer.
7. Unroll first roll of sod starting along the edge of the lawn.
8. Continue to unroll sod, making sure to press the joints tightly together.
9. Stagger the joints between courses of sod.
10. When laying sod around curves, line up the sod along inside edge of curve, then use a snap-off utility knife to cut through excess sod at inside corner.
11. Water the sod every day for the first week, every other day for the second week, and then 1 inch of water per week.

Pro Tip: Water preferably in the morning rather than later in the day. During the heat of the day, you lose a lot of water to evaporation. And if you water at night, the sod stays too wet, which can invite disease. Also try to keep foot traffic off the sod for at least the first week to give the roots time to establish.

Tools

You may choose to rent a power tiller from Home Depot.

Pro Tip: This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook stresses the importance of a power tiller: “It’s so important to loosen up that top 6 to 8 inches of soil so that the roots of the sod can get down in. So it’s a nice strong grass.”