D.I.Y LAWN INSTALLATION

How to properly remove your old lawn, prepare the lawn area, amend the soil and install your new lawn.

Time needed: 2 days and 6 hours

Below is a detailed description of how to remove your current lawn, prep the area, amend the soil and install your new lawn.

  1. Remove Old Lawn/Debris

    If the ground is level, cut out the previous lawn using a sod cutter including the use of herbicide if your lawn is heavy in clover, weeds, Bermuda, or crabgrass. This may take up to 2-3 weeks. If the ground is not level, use a rotor-tiller to cut out the lawn and/or roots and debris. The same recommendations apply for lawns that are ground level.
    Handpick all perimeters with mattock pick-ax to ensure no damage is made to the borders and/or concrete areas.
    Remove the waste and start breaking down the old soil by tilling the lawn both vertically and horizontally. By doing this, it will help with the majority of your grading while cleaning out waste with raking and shoveling.

  2. Trench For Sprinklers

    Trenching can be done after your major grading and should be a minimum of 12″ below the finished grade, although 18″ – 24″ is preferred. If you are trenching a mainline of pressure, a minimum of 18″ is recommended. Any other lines are recommended to be 2′ or 24″ below grade.
    Trenching can be done manually with trenching shovels and pick-axes or with a powered trenching machine.
    After all sprinkler lines are installed and test lines, turn on water valves to remove any debris and glue. Adjust as needed.
    After this, fill in all trenches with soil and rake and roll multiple times to properly pack the trenching. Walking on trench lines a couple of times after packing it in with soil will help before you rake and roll.

  3. Add Topsoil

    We recommend a bare minimum of 1 yard of topsoil/compost mix per 250 square feet area to amend the soil and neutralize Ph – this is roughly an even 1″ spread over the whole lawn area with this soil.
    If the area is heavy in clay or needs more nutrients, double the recommended soil amount to 2 yards per 250 square feet. If large plants or trees were removed or remain in the lawn area, please call us for adjusted recommendations at 925-435-7874.

  4. Rototill Soil

    Next, rototill in the new topsoil on the old soil. This will further break down any rooting or waste from your old lawn and plants and will help with surfacing any remaining waste. Proceed to rototill until all soil is broken down and you have rototilled at least 6″- 8″ deep. Level the plan out with rakes, continuing to take out any rocks, roots, waste, or debris as needed and that is observable. Ideal soil should resemble a sandy loam mix and have a soft texture.

  5. Rake, Level, and Roll Soil

    Begin setting your finish grade and cleaning out any remaining waste. At this point, 99% of the waste should have been organically removed by raking, shoveling, and taking it to dumps. Use a roller filled with water to compact the soil and then rake up any waste. Turn rake upside down, or to the flat side, to do one more grade. After that, roll the lawn once more to compact the soil again. Then, use a landscape rake to ensure the easiest grading with a wider rake. The final grade should be 5/8″-1″ under cement or borders as this will ensure there are no tripping hazards.

  6. ADD FERTILIZER

    After your topsoil is tilled in, cleaned out, and graded, the use of starter fertilizer is recommended to aid in quick rooting and deep rot growth of your lawn. Make sure to use starter fertilizer that is low in nitrogen and high in iron phosphates when installing your lawn to promote rooting.

  7. Lay Out Sod

    Start laying out your sod along the straightest and longest line in your lawn area and use a staggered brick formation when laying out sod rolls. Ensure your seams are tight and well tucked into any edging along your lawn. If the installation is taking more than 2 hrs, water the sod you have already laid out and installed. We recommend installing sod the same day it is delivered as our sod is a living product that is very delicate and continuously producing nitrogen and oxygen. Sod rolls being left out for over 24 hours will begin to yellow, although they can recover after being left out for past 48 hours. Should be unrolled and watered and blow with a leaf blower to help aid separation of blades and overall sod health.

  8. Water and Roll Lawn

    Make sure to water your lawn right after installing it. Do a final check around the seams and double-check the quality of your installation following the guidelines outlined above. Do a final roll of the lawn with a roller filled with water. Keep watering 2-3 times a day for 2-3 weeks until established. After the sod has rooted, water the lawn every day or every 3 days depending on the sod type.