We lost our St. Augustine backyard to take all root rot and are wanting to put in Zoysia. Trying to decide if I should pay someone to do it, or just do it myself. Appreciate any advice.
Has anyone here resodded a lawn on your own?
- Thread starter DirtyJohns97
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Many years ago I re-sodded my front yard. Had the sod delivered to my house, but it was certainly a lot of work lifting/rolling it in place. Had a couple friends help…for all the beer they could drink. I was much younger, but if I had to do it over again, I would have probably paid for another crew to install it. It turned out fine, but took longer than I anticipated. In any case, after installation…need to water the heck out it for awhile to ensure a good base for growth. Also, would recommend wetting the dirt beforehand…not muddy, just somewhat wet.
We lost two large trees during derecho (think old oak and maple trees that tower over the high power lines. I have tried every summer since to get grass to regrow in those two side yards myself...seed, sod, fertilizer... never any luck, the dry summers didn't help but I was watering in morning and at night and nothing took. I'm going to call someone this up coming week to get an estimate, as I'm tired of messing with it.
I did years ago... key is in ground prep and watering after the fact. Worked like a charm. Set up your hoses/sprinklers such that you can water the entire area without walking on it because the ground will be soft from watering at first.
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Thought about doing it in our backyard and then saw the difference in price between having it installed and doing it myself. Not worth it.
I've brought yards back from death. It is a lot of work. But with the headphones on, it is a great workout
Takes a lot of aeration, seeding, pulling weeds by hand, and then constant watering. If the grass is dead, you might as well start by tearing out the old grass.
I had a garden and landscaping company in the nineties and did several striping and sod-laying jobs, though I only tackled a full yard once. I’m assuming your yard isn’t too shady. How much of it needs new sod? If you have a medium to large yard, hiring a professional might be your best bet. Ripping up and laying sod is tough, dirty work, and doing it yourself will leave you exhausted — unless it’s just a small area.
Not my own yard, but I used to work for a landscaping company and did plenty of sod work. Green side up was the punchline of a joke I can't remember now. Something about sod glue as well😄. It's tough work, the prep much more than laying the sod.
If it's an option, I would recommend seeding instead of sod. Much more resilient and full in the long run. It sounds like you're down south. With adequate water, seed should take in no time. Rent a tiller and get some good friable soil up about 3-5 inches deep. You can put down a pre-emergent and fertilizer with the seed. Will require some TLC and weeding, but once established, it's superior.
If it's an option, I would recommend seeding instead of sod. Much more resilient and full in the long run. It sounds like you're down south. With adequate water, seed should take in no time. Rent a tiller and get some good friable soil up about 3-5 inches deep. You can put down a pre-emergent and fertilizer with the seed. Will require some TLC and weeding, but once established, it's superior.
A sod cutter and flat spade goes a long way to getting up the old grass quickly.
Zoysia isn’t any better than whatever version of floratam you had. It’s just as fickle, and prone to fungal issues as well.
Prepping area for new sod:
1. Round up area. I prefer RoundUp QuickPro. Initial application of then again a week later.
2. Rent sod cutter and remove dead stuff. Will need a trailer for this. Heavy and dirty work.
3. Grade area. Possibly refrain from re-sodding extremely shady areas if you have them.
4. Check density and compaction of soil. This is important so rhizomes and stolons have optimal growing conditions
5. Lay new sod. Set sprinkler zones for early morning irrigation. Nothing worse than irrigating late morning/mid day/early evening. This is a recipe for fungus.
6. Monitor turf daily.
I recommend purchasing the Florida Lawn Handbook.
Good luck.
Prepping area for new sod:
1. Round up area. I prefer RoundUp QuickPro. Initial application of then again a week later.
2. Rent sod cutter and remove dead stuff. Will need a trailer for this. Heavy and dirty work.
3. Grade area. Possibly refrain from re-sodding extremely shady areas if you have them.
4. Check density and compaction of soil. This is important so rhizomes and stolons have optimal growing conditions
5. Lay new sod. Set sprinkler zones for early morning irrigation. Nothing worse than irrigating late morning/mid day/early evening. This is a recipe for fungus.
6. Monitor turf daily.
I recommend purchasing the Florida Lawn Handbook.
Good luck.
I know. Even running a sod cutter can be a chore depending on how thick the old stuff is
I did a large section in my front yard where I cut out a section that was probably 20 foot by 10 foot and moved that sod to the back yard where I needed it, then did landscaping in the front yard where I removed the grass. Rented a sod cutter. This was about 20 years ago when I was around 30 and in good shape. Some of the hardest work I've ever done. At almost 50 I wouldn't do it again I'd hire that shit out now.
I've sodded and resodded several lawns. I live in NW Florida and just resodded my yard, going from a yard with mostly St. Augustine and Centipede to Palisade Zoysia. I chose Zoysia because it's much lower maintenance. I chose Palisade because it's drought, shade, and salt tolerant, and I live next to a brackish bayou. Also not much thatch and no chinch bugs. I also have live oaks on my property, so I needed something shade tolerant.
The steps to resodding are:
Removing the current grass
Raking and leveling the ground, adding sand if necessary
Applying starter fertilizer to the ground
Heavy watering of the ground before laying the sod
Laying the sod.
Sod should be laid by staggering the seams, and minimizing small pieces on the ends where possible. Check with the sod provider to find out how many square feet are on the pallet. Generally speaking, a pallet of sod will dry out in about 3-4 days after being cut. I can lay a 500 Sq ft pallet in about 1.5 hours with tight seams. I probably wouldn't try more than about 20 pallets by myself at one time.
I'm a low maintenance person. I'll spend a lot of time up front to save time in the future.
I like my Palisade Zoysia. If I didn't have the live oaks, I would have gotten Emerald Zoysia, which is super low maintenance unless you want a golf course green.
