How to prepare soil for seed or sod?


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Old 08-11-18, 12:30 PM
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How to prepare soil for seed or sod?

What are some things I can do to determine what type of soil I have? What type of soil should I have to have the best result for new seed or sod?
 
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Old 08-11-18, 12:46 PM
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Old 08-12-18, 06:43 PM
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I think proper prep is way more important than what kind of soil you have. Not to mention how you go about taking care of it after you seed or sod.
 
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Old 08-21-18, 08:14 AM
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I have some mulch from grinding my stumps. Should I get rid of it or can I just mixed/buried with those mulch and lay sods over it?
 
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Old 08-21-18, 08:25 AM
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I would get rid of as much as you can, or bury it deep. Roots cant grow in big wood chips and the wood chips take time to break down. Wood chips also attract fungus which most people dont care for in their lawns.
 
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Old 08-21-18, 08:50 AM
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I see, good to know. Thank you!
 
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Old 08-21-18, 09:19 AM
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If I'm not mistaken, the process of decomposing wood requires a lot of nitrogen, and if it's buried underground, it will remove it from the surrounding soil, thus denying its availability to the grass roots, regardless of whether those roots are from your rolls of sod or from your newly sprouted seed . . . . and can cause that spotty die off that frustrates many hard working grounds keepers.

Let the wood chips rot somewhere else.
 
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Old 08-24-18, 07:07 AM
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Vermont, thank you for the tip. I'll keep that in mind.
 
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Old 08-24-18, 07:14 AM
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Well, it may be a rotting/nitorgen issue but the real problem will be once they rot the area will create a depression and will need backfilling.
 
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Old 08-24-18, 07:51 AM
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Well, it may be a rotting/nitorgen issue but the real problem will be once they rot the area will create a depression and will need backfilling.
So, perhaps we should make that area a little higher to account for the depression in the future?
 
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Old 08-24-18, 08:07 AM
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I think I would go with prior recommendation and remove !
 
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Old 08-24-18, 06:13 PM
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It's less work, IMO, to take the mulch out now than deal with the slowly and inconsistently dropping soil level and mushrooms for a few years.
 
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Old 09-15-18, 08:30 PM
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For sod, is it necessary to add compost? Are there other alternatives? It seems compost is no cheap considering I have 6600 square feet to cover.
 
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Old 09-15-18, 09:32 PM
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It depends on what you have for soil now. Have you had a soil test done?
 
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Old 09-16-18, 06:40 AM
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No, I have not done soil test yet. But one of the reasons why I didn't have soil test done is because my soil varies a lot from one spot to the next so it'll be hard to get a accurate measure.
 
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Old 09-17-18, 05:45 AM
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Assuming I got some compost, do I wait until the day I'm going to lay sod or can I mix the compost with the topsoil I have right away?
 
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Old 09-17-18, 05:56 AM
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Your really overthinking this!

If your getting sod you really dont need any additional dirt or compost unless your entire yard is full of clay.

Take those wood chips and spread them across the yard they will decompose!

But if you do get compost thats ok but you dont want to be spreading dirt/compost at the same time sod is delivered, you want to get it down and watered ASAP.
 
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Old 09-17-18, 08:12 AM
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Thank you, Marq1! That is very helpful tip.
 
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Old 09-26-18, 07:17 PM
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Okay, I got some top soil and compost. Next, do I need some fertilizers before laying the sod? If so, what type of fertilizers do I need?
 
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Old 09-26-18, 07:26 PM
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Seriously? Unless you're pretty far south but still planting cool season grass, you've likely missed the window for this.
 
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Old 09-26-18, 07:42 PM
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I'm in Wisconsin. Our first snow usually occurs in the first or second week of November.
 
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Old 09-26-18, 07:50 PM
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I know full well when the snow starts falling but that's a long time after the growing season for grass. Good luck.
 
 

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