Laying new sod

[HockeyPuck]

Need a couple of questions answered....

I just finished off putting up a detached garage, replacing an old barn style garage. However, when I dug a trench right through the middle of my backyard for electrical, I've got dirt and gravel all over the place. The dirt probably sat for about 2 or 3 weeks so it has settled and very difficult to get all of the dirt back into the trench I had dug.

So I plan to buy some sod to recover my backyard. I have a couple of questions:

Can I just lay sod right over my old ruined lawn, or do I have to prep it in some way?

Is it too late in the summer to lay sod and wait till next year, or can I do it now?

Thanks CP!

[Scoopdogg]

I would definitely prep the area you plan to sod. I don't think it would do to well if you laid it over top of the ruined area.

You can lay sod anytime of year. Just make sure to water the heck out of it for the first couple weeks after you lay it.

[HockeyPuck]

Sorry for being such a noob, but what do I have to do to prep the area?

I've got dirt all over the yard, some dead grass, gravel in other parts. Do I have to remove all this old stuff?

[Scoopdogg]

I would suggest removing the old/dead grass first then make sure you rake the area to remove any rocks. Then roll the dirt so its nice and flat and then toss the sod down.

Another suggestion would be to also remove the dead grass and prep the area the same as you would for sod. Depending on how big the area is that needs replacing I would just put some grass seed on there. I did it at my place for some patch work to my yard and it worked great. Takes about 2 weeks for the grass to come in. You just need to water the heck out of it for the first few weeks.

[ken0042]

When I did my trench the dirt had sat on top of good grass for weeks and killed it.

I filled the trench about 2 inches lower than the surrounding grass then put sod in there. Just use a dollar store kitchen knife to make the chunks the size you need. Then seed the dead area and all of the seams of the sod.

I did that the 1st week of August and it looked like crap for the rest of the year. The following spring I went out to "fix" it and couldn't see where the trench or where the dead grass was.

So in your case rake up the gravel as best you can first.