Once we removed the shed and concrete from the backyard, we were left with a whole lot of dirt and no grass. And since it’s as dry as a piece of burnt toast here in Colorado it’s not really dirt, it’s hard as a rock clay.
As a reminder, here’s where we started:
We went the sod route as we want to enjoy our outdoor space now, without worrying about not yet fully matured and grown in grass from seed.
We bought our sod at Home Depot, which they source from a local company. It was about $6 per piece, so not cheap. It came with instructions for prepping, laying and caring for so we followed those closely. It took us three or four trips to the Depot and a total of about 85 pieces of sod.
We prepped by tilling the dirt and then filling the whole space with a mixture of soil and manure. That smelled lovely. We then laid each piece one by one, staggering the joints, the same way you would lay bricks. We pushed all the edges together tightly to eliminate any gaps or overlapping pieces.
Most important is that it stays hydrated, especially in the first two weeks. So that time, the day after we laid it out, when I forgot to water it and it was 90 degrees out, yes that was a problem. A few random sections of it browned pretty darn quickly. (By the way, would you LOOK at the disaster going on here. It’s amazing what it looks like now, can’t wait to show you guys!)
We’ve worked hard to care for those brown grass areas and they’re slowly coming back to life. It’s really quite a time-consuming activity since you’re basically babysitting grass for a few weeks. But, it’s totally worth it because we now have a lawn in three different shades of green. I think I’m a helicopter parent to grass because now I’m kind of obsessed with making sure it’s staying hydrated. Luckily, we have water rights to the local ditch so our water bill isn’t sky rocketing.
It was an expensive solution, coming in around $650 for the sod and other supplies needed, but in my opinion it was worth it since we can now actually enjoy our outdoor space this summer. It’s been about four weeks and it’s really thriving, though I’m still nervous to mow it. Am I babying this grass or what? Actually, I think we both are, I do recall saying to Al at one point, “I hope you raise your kids as well as you’re raising your grass.” So maybe we just love grass, or feared wasting $650? Either way, it’s awesome and I recommend the sod route if you have the time and energy to care for it initially.
Right now my wife and I are in the process of figuring out our yard. It’s all dirt right now, so naturally the first thing we want to put in is grass. This has some great points on sod that I think can help my wife and I see if that’s the route we want to go or not.
My one recommendation would be to ensure the dirt is level! A few spots of ours have sunken in so we plan to fill them in with more soil this summer and throw a little seed down. We don’t have any complaints though, it was still the best way to go. Good luck!