SiLOSSiLOS

Sod is a Saturday. Seed is a summer.

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1Weeds first

Anything perennial that is there now will be there under the new lawn. Quackgrass and old pasture fescue get dug, tilled out twice, or sprayed and left for the label's replant interval. By late summer most weed seed is done for the year, which is half the reason for the Labor Day window.

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2Test, then till

A soil test costs under $20 and takes weeks to come back, so send it two months ahead. Till once or twice, as deep as the tiller goes; more passes turn the soil to powder and make compaction worse, and wet soil makes clods you will meet all summer.

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3Compost, an inch

An inch over the bed is 3 cubic yards per 1,000 sq ft, mixed in, not layered. Then wait a week or two for the compost salts to wash down. Hauled-in topsoil is the classic first-yard mistake; if the grade truly needs it, 6 to 8 inches, blended into what is there.

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4Rake, roll, footprints

Rake to grade, roll, rake again. You are done when a walk across it leaves no footprints and a spreader wheel leaves no rut. Fatigue makes any grade look perfect, so check it again in the morning. Keep the soil an inch below the sidewalk so sod sits flush.

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5Sod delivery day

Ground ready and damp before the truck. Sod cut within a day, laid within a day; on a pallet in July it has under 48 hours. Start along the driveway, brick pattern, seams tight and not stretched, plywood to kneel on, a roller a third full of water, and someone watering the first section while the last one goes down.

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