Leveling ground for sod

[cruiseroutfit]

Seeking the collective brainpower of RME

My wife and I are deleting a flower bed in our front year and picked up some rolls of sod this afternoon to patch it in. Its a pretty big area, ~10x15' surrounded by grass on two sides and the street and driveway on the others. We got it looking reasonably level and flat, but as soon as I lay down the roll of sod you can see all the small bumps and high spots. I can fill them one by one until I get it close enough, but that will take way too long. Thoughts? Rake and a straight edge? Water it down? Roller?

 

[Chevycrew]

Lay the sod, wet the hell out of it, then roller it. It should help it smooth out.

But that being said, it would be best to get the ground raked flat first. Use a 2x4 for a drag/straight edge?


Just my opinion...

 

[chadschoon]

yes use a grading rake. been doing this for the past few days

 

[Meat_]

yes use a grading rake. been doing this for the past few days

Did I loan you my roller?

 

[Spork]

Water it down. Give it time, once it starts growing and you get a couple mowings things will even out.

 

[Mug]

Once it's laid down, you can use regular sand to fill the holes. The grass will shoot up right through it, yet it will be solid enough to walk and mow over. After a couple of mowings you won't even notice where the low spots were. Good Luck.

 

[DaveB]

When we leveled our yard for sod we dragged a 5 foot section of chain link fence with a railroad tie on the end of it around with a small tractor it worked well and even broke up any dirt clods.

 

[Cody]

Once it's laid down, you can use regular sand to fill the holes. The grass will shoot up right through it, yet it will be solid enough to walk and mow over. After a couple of mowings you won't even notice where the low spots were. Good Luck.

what is the limit to this? how many inches of sand can you put down to fill in low spots?

I have one big low area that collects water when it rains really hard. It would be cool if I could fill this in without tearing up the grass.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

We've done the sand in other low spots in our yard, I imagine that would work fine here too. Its just so discouraging to get it as flat as possible and the to lay down the sod and you can see all the bumps

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[bryson]

what is the limit to this? how many inches of sand can you put down to fill in low spots?

I have one big low area that collects water when it rains really hard. It would be cool if I could fill this in without tearing up the grass.

Had a few of those in my yard a couple years ago... I just cut around the edges of the hole (giving myself a bit of extra around the hole) and pulled up the sod, filled in the hole with topsoil, and then laid the sod down again... Worked great!

 

[chadschoon]

Did I loan you my roller?

How is a grading rake a roller? And why would you even have a roller? Roll your fields???

 

[rholbrook]

What Spork said.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Done and looking much better. We got it as close as we could right off the bat and then spot filled under the sod in a couple minor spots.

 

[Meat_]

How is a grading rake a roller? And why would you even have a roller? Roll your fields???

Someone has it It was my grandpa's

 

[bobmed]

I had a roller 15 years ago, It's the only thing I've had stolen from my back yard

 

[Mug]

Done and looking much better. We got it as close as we could right off the bat and then spot filled under the sod in a couple minor spots.

After all the anticipation...Not even a cell phone pic...