Any Lawn experts care to give advice?

[Sylvanfan]

Well my back yard is fata'd with a capital F. Grass is all pretty much dead and it just looks horrible. Considering I'd like to get my house up for sale in the next 2 weeks my only real option to make the place look appealing I think is to strip the existing yard and put in new sod. In digging up a bit of ground in the backyard last night where I'm planning on removing the grass and putting rock I noticed that the soil is extremely hard.

I was planning to rent a sod cutter and cut up all the existing grass and get rid of it. Than I was going to spread on a new layer of top soil, put the fertilizer down and than lay the new sod over top. But I'm wondering if I shouldn't get an aerator or rototiller after I strip the sod and break up the base ground if it's this hard before I put the a layer of good top soil on top? The lawn was only 5 years old, but I doubt it's ever been aerated.

Any advice I can get would be mucho appreciated.

[Tron_fdc]

I wouldn't worry about tilling the soil. If you put a new layer of loam down with a bit of fertilizer on top before you lay new sod your grass should still take. Just make sure to water the hell out of it (make sure the roots get SOAKED for a few days after you lay it, or you'll likely get dead spots again.

I have about 6" of loam on top of clay, and have had no problems with my lawn.

[GrrlGoalie33]

If the "hard soil" underneath is clay, tilling it is not really going to have any effect.

Also, putting down enough top soil to get the sod to take and laying new sod is going to be an expensive endeavour...make sure you're going to get your money's worth out of it before doing it. In this current market, it likely isn't going to be a deal breaker on selling your house. If it is really a big deal to the prospective buyer, they'll likely get you to knock the purchase price down a bit.

[CaptainCrunch]

pave it over and lay down that artificial grass to give your home that Brady Bunch charm.

Its a good thing.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I was planning to rent a sod cutter and cut up all the existing grass and get rid of it.

Worst mistake I made when doing my yard was not renting a sod cutter. I used a Bobcat and that made the sod so thick it was tough to handle.

For your situation, could you not use an aerator, then go behind with seed and water the heck out of it?

[Bobblehead]

I tend to agree with Ken. As long as you don't have bare spots, aerate, put a thin layer of top dressing, fertilize, spread some filler grass seed, and water the heck out of it.

The only problem will be the new owners will need to cut the lawn 3 times a week to keep up.

[Ford Prefect]

When I resodded my yard I did take out the old sod. That's a waste of good potenial fertilizer once it breaks down. I had a guy come in and spray round up on the old lawn, then waited for it to die. Once it was dead, I put in the new top soil over the dead grass and laid the new sod. Not only does the old gtrass enrich the soil, doing it this way saves labour and money.

FWIW, I now have the best grass in the neighbourhood. Just don't skimp on the top soil. All of the worst lawns are the ones that people cut corners on and didn't put on enough top soil.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by ken0042

For your situation, could you not use an aerator, then go behind with seed and water the heck out of it?

I don't know, the grass is pretty dead all over the entire yard. I also have a couple of dogs and I'm guessing the first winter I was here where we didn't have much snow and them wreaking havoc in the yard didn't do it any favors. My concern is that I wouldn't see much for results for like 6-8 weeks, and I'd like to have the place sold by than.

It's not a huge back yard and only needs like 1000 squar feet of grass so to resod is going to cost me $300 for the sod and delivery. All in all to take out the grass, rent a sod cutter, rent a pickup truck, buy new sod and have new top soil delivered and do a few other things to enhance it is going to cost me $900 and some seriously hard labour on my own account. A painter quoted me $1100 to paint 500 square feet of ceiling that I did myself for $50. Really it's less than $1000 to really enhance the aesthetic appeal of the yard, and I think it will go a long way towards giving the house a much better impression. I don't want to be asking 450k plus on a place where the yard looks like crap and it looks like it will require $3000 worth of landscaping to fix it up. In that price range I imagine people aren't looking for a house that gives off a fixer upper vibe, which my back yard currently does.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

When I resodded my yard I did take out the old sod. That's a waste of good potenial fertilizer once it breaks down. I had a guy come in and spray round up on the old lawn, then waited for it to die. Once it was dead, I put in the new top soil over the dead grass and laid the new sod. Not only does the old gtrass enrich the soil, doing it this way saves labour and money.

FWIW, I now have the best grass in the neighbourhood. Just don't skimp on the top soil. All of the worst lawns are the ones that people cut corners on and didn't put on enough top soil.

How long does it take for all the grass to die off until you can put the new sod down? At this point, due to the garbage weather we've had up to now, I can afford to put extra money into the project, I can't afford to wait an extra week type of thing. Eventually people will pull their head out of their back end and realize houses around Edmonton aren't worth more than about 150k because E-Town bites!! Seriously the market here is starting to saturate as people are realizing their houses are worth crazy money and new places are coming up every week, and they're not selling as fast as they once were. Plus after about June things really slow down as buyers and realtors are all on hollidays and things tend to move really slow.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

How long does it take for all the grass to die off until you can put the new sod down? At this point, due to the garbage weather we've had up to now, I can afford to put extra money into the project, I can't afford to wait an extra week type of thing. Eventually people will pull their head out of their back end and realize houses around Edmonton aren't worth more than about 150k because E-Town bites!! Seriously the market here is starting to saturate as people are realizing their houses are worth crazy money and new places are coming up every week, and they're not selling as fast as they once were. Plus after about June things really slow down as buyers and realtors are all on hollidays and things tend to move really slow.

It takes a while ... at least a week as I recall, maybe longer. You'd have to check with someone that applies Roundup to get a definite answer. It sounds like it might take longer than you want to allot to get things done.

I've been wondering about the strength of the whole real estate market in Alberta. It's the same here in Drumheller ... people are still listing for top dollar, but they're not getting buyers. Maybe the insane prices are going to start dropping back ... I hope so. I don't plan on moving so a return to reasonable market values would help reduce the insanely high property taxes this real estate boom has brought about.

[prarieboy]

Don't forget about getting rid of the old Sod. I used a Sod cutter last year and did my back and side yards. Turned out to be 10 cubic yards. I didn't have time to haul it myself so I hired a truck and bobcat to haul it away. Te cheapest I could find was $800, the highest was $1500. All the guys said the dumps just don't want old sod so it's expensive to dump.

[CaptainCrunch]

build an authentic sod house in your backyard.

That saves the dumping charges and you can get your backyard labeled as a historical site.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by prarieboy

Don't forget about getting rid of the old Sod. I used a Sod cutter last year and did my back and side yards. Turned out to be 10 cubic yards. I didn't have time to haul it myself so I hired a truck and bobcat to haul it away. Te cheapest I could find was $800, the highest was $1500. All the guys said the dumps just don't want old sod so it's expensive to dump.

Can I not take it to a composting site? They don't really police the one where I live, theres no weigh scale and it's sort of in the middle of vacant land and open 24 hours. I'll haul it there at 3 in the morning if I have to! Although...I admit it's going to be about 6-7 yards so it will take like 10-12 trips to get it there, thankfully it's only like 5km from the house to the composting site.

Yeah, my May long weekend is going to suck, basically starting at 4:00 Friday I'm looking at 6 hours labour that night, plus 12 hour days the next three and I still won't get everything done. But my wife is working so what else am I going to do.

[prarieboy]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Can I not take it to a composting site? They don't really police the one where I live, theres no weigh scale and it's sort of in the middle of vacant land and open 24 hours. I'll haul it there at 3 in the morning if I have to! Although...I admit it's going to be about 6-7 yards so it will take like 10-12 trips to get it there, thankfully it's only like 5km from the house to the composting site.

Yeah, my May long weekend is going to suck, basically starting at 4:00 Friday I'm looking at 6 hours labour that night, plus 12 hour days the next three and I still won't get everything done. But my wife is working so what else am I going to do.

Not to sure what the rules are where you live but I was shocked at the cost to get rid of it in Calgary. If I could spend the time hauling it to a composting site I would do it for sure. It sure added to the cost of replacing my lawn but it was worth it in the end. Someone mentioned sodding over the old grass, sounds like a good plan. Unless it's infested with Quack Grass I'm not sure why you'd even need to kill it first. The only thing about that approach would be raising the height of the lawn.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

build an authentic sod house in your backyard.

That saves the dumping charges and you can get your backyard labeled as a historical site.

Depending on if I do decide to haul away sod at an early morning hour, that may just well become an option. Would I get a tax break for it, property taxes in St.Albert are crazy and if I could get the taxes down, that would increase the value of the house big time!

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by prarieboy

Don't forget about getting rid of the old Sod. I used a Sod cutter last year and did my back and side yards. Turned out to be 10 cubic yards. I didn't have time to haul it myself so I hired a truck and bobcat to haul it away. Te cheapest I could find was $800, the highest was $1500. All the guys said the dumps just don't want old sod so it's expensive to dump.

Wow, that sucks to get charged to haul away old sod. Before I resodded my yard I had a guy dig out about a 2000 square foot area for a patio and flower garden. He hauled it away for nothing because he was able to resell it as clean fill to construction sites. The construction sites around Drum are always looking for good fill, but maybe that's because the majority of soil around here is nothing but bentonite due to all the clay in the hills around here. Bentonite is worse than useless for fill, so maybe that creates a higher demand for clean fill here than in Calgary. Still, it doesn't seem right to have to pay to get good fill material hauled away.

[Textcritic]

I'm pretty sure that there must be some sort of natural explanation for the difference between people with nice lawns, people who kill grass with nothing more than their presence. I have owned four homes in my lifetime, and have manged to very quickly and thoroughly deteriorate the lawn at each of them. Conversely, after having sold the first two of these homes (I haven't yet had the opportunity to drive past number 3), I have noticed a dramatic improvement in the quality of the landscaping after my departure...Perhaps you are like me, and grass will just die and generally look ty because you are there. If this is the case, there is nothing you can do.

[ken0042]

Is sod clean fill, or even good fill?

I thought clean fill couldn't contain any organic compounds. Because if I use it to back fill by my house, once it decomposes it will leave an empty space.

And Syl- do not underestimate the weight that stuff will have. The endless weeks I spent getting rid of my stuff last year- I'm pretty sure my friends were ready to kill me.

That's why I say get it greenish- then sell the place and be done with it.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I'm pretty sure that there must be some sort of natural explanation for the difference between people with nice lawns, people who kill grass with nothing more than their presence. I have owned four homes in my lifetime, and have manged to very quickly and thoroughly deteriorate the lawn at each of them. Conversely, after having sold the first two of these homes (I haven't yet had the opportunity to drive past number 3), I have noticed a dramatic improvement in the quality of the landscaping after my departure...Perhaps you are like me, and grass will just die and generally look ty because you are there. If this is the case, there is nothing you can do.

If you'd quit peeing in your backyard your grass would last longer.

Its called a toilet . . . t-o-i-l-e-t

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by ken0042

That's why I say get it greenish- then sell the place and be done with it.

Well at this point in time I think my only hope to accomplish that is spray paint! But for the most part the entire lawn is dead. Right now it is pretty dry so if I can get rid of it before our forecasted rain comes it will be much lighter.

I'm part of the problem with this lawn as I let my dogs have free reign of the yard. I should have just funnelled them off to the side of the house where it's all rock to do their bussiness, but I didn't and now I have to pay the price. Although Text, my very first house has a perfectly manicured green lawn out front, something that sure didn't exist while I lived there! I think the next place I'll go with Astroturf as grass is obviously a waste of money for me.