How to Lay Lawn Sods
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The quickest way to make a lawn is by laying sod, to carpet the ground completely with living turf. If you must buy the sod, it is also the most expensive method, but sometimes the sod can be taken from another part of the garden. Possibly a building, a paved terrace or a path is to be installed where lawn exists, and the grass sod can be removed and used elsewhere. New beds and borders cut in lawns also provide supplies. A lawn made of sod looks good from the beginning and is usable almost immediately. If properly installed and given adequate care, it can be put down successfully any time from spring to fall. For clothing slopes, a lawn made of sod has the advantage of checking erosion immediately. A border of turf provides excellent well-defined margins to a lawn, the major center part of which is sown from seed after the sods are laid. Cutting the Sods Turf is easy to cut and install once the best techniques are mastered. The sod should be at least three years old. Choose a time when the a plank lying flat on the turf as a guide for cutting the lines straight. If you have no edger, you can make do with a spade for slicing the sod into squares. For cutting beneath the sods so that each square may be lifted cleanly and intact, you may use a spade, too, but if you have any considerable amount to lift, it will pay to obtain a sod or turf cutter. This is a sort of long-handled spade with a sharp cutting blade and a shaft set at such an angle that the blade can be easily pushed horizontally beneath the sod by an operator who bends over and pushes the handle at about knee level or slightly higher. Before cutting, the thickness of the finished turfs should be decided upon. One-and-a-half to two inches is suitable. Cut the sods slightly-thicker than the finished dimension. As each sod is lifted, place it grass side down in a tray as deep as the finished sod is to be thick. This tray should have three sides only, the fourth being left open to permit the sod to be slipped in and out. Let the side of the tray opposite the open side rest against a "stop" of some kind to prevent the tray from slipping; then with an old scythe blade or a two-handled knife having a blade longer than the width of the tray, cut off all surplus soil and roots by standing in front of the closed end of the tray and drawing the blade toward you while it rests across the tray's edges. In this way all sods are cut to a uniform thickness, and laying them evenly is greatly facilitated. |
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