New turf
Sod Installation
Graded, prepared ground and tight seamless sod for new construction, worn out turf, and the bare patches that seed never fixed.
Chapter 01
When sod is the right answer and when it is not
Sod earns its cost in four situations. New construction where there is no lawn at all and the ground is bare. High traffic areas where seed never gets the undisturbed weeks it needs. Slopes where seed and soil both wash before germination. And a lawn where seeding has already been tried and failed.
If none of those apply, overseeding into an existing lawn is usually the better value, and we will say so.
Aerial view of a large paver driveway and a circular landscape bed set into new turf
The ground under sod gets prepared like a patio base
Sod is not a covering you roll over a problem. Whatever the grade is doing under it is what the finished lawn will do, and settling shows up in turf just as fast as it does in paving.
So the ground gets cleared, graded to fall away from the house, and prepared so roots have somewhere to go. Grading is the step people are most tempted to skip because it is invisible an hour after the sod is down, and it is the step that decides whether there is a wet corner for the next ten years.
Chapter 03
Laying tight, staggering the joins
Pieces go down tight against each other with staggered end joints, in the same way brickwork is laid, so there is no continuous seam for water to run along or for edges to dry out against. Cuts are made to the bed lines rather than left to overlap and bridge.
Rolling afterwards presses the roots into contact with the soil underneath. Sod that never makes proper contact dries from below while the surface still looks green, which is why a lawn can fail a fortnight after it looked perfect.
The first three weeks decide it
New sod needs water often enough that the soil under it never dries out, then progressively less often as the roots go down. Keep traffic off it in that window, including the mower.
The first cut comes when the sod has knitted enough that a gentle tug does not lift a corner. Take the top off it rather than cutting it short. We hand over the watering schedule for your installation rather than a generic leaflet.
Site preparation, grading and aftercare guidance on every sod installation.
New turf
Sod is not always the right call, and we will say so
If the ground can be renovated with aeration and overseeding instead, that is usually better value and we would rather tell you that than sell you turf.
Call the Auburn office on (785) 256-7300, or request a consultation and someone will come and walk the property with you.