Patching Grass With Sod

You can fix bare patches in your lawn with sod.

When winter is over and you look over your yard, you may see patches of dead grass. You can patch those areas of grass with sod. This will help restore the dead patches of your lawn. Unlike reseeding the area, you will be putting down sod, which consists of grass that is already established and growing. Sod doesn't take long to blend in with the rest of your lawn.

Things You'll Need

• Sod
• Paint or string
• Spade or tiller
• Rake
• Utility knife
• Boards or weighted lawn roller
• Water

Instructions

1. Identify the type of grass you have in your lawn. You will want to get the same kind of sod to patch the area. Also find out why the grass died. Check to see if your lawn has bugs, a disease, too much traffic, dog problems or if you spilled something in that area. If the dead areas were caused by bugs or disease, it would be a good idea to fix that problem before you replace the grass.

2. Measure the amount of replacement sod you will need to repair your lawn. After you measure the four sides of the area that you will need to sod, convert the number to square feet.

3. Mark the area of dead grass that you want to remove with paint or string, making the edges straight. This will make it easier to cut the new sod to fit the area without trimming or leaving any holes or gaps.

4. Remove the grass in the area you have marked. If it is a small area, you can simply dig the grass out with a spade. If you have a large area, use a tiller. When you have the grass removed, rake the area smooth. Remove any roots, rocks or other debris you find.

5. Measure the area of bare earth. Cut out the amount of sod you need with the edge of a sharp spade or a utility knife.

6. Lay down the new sod into the prepared place. Do not stretch the sod or overlap it when installing. When you lay the new sod into the hole, make sure the edges fit tightly against one another. If you have any small gaps, fill in the area with soil.

7. Lay several boards over the new sod and walk across the boards. This will ensure that the new sod has good contact with the soil beneath. If you have a large area of new sod, you can use a weighted lawn roller.

8. Water the new sod until the soil beneath it is wet but not soggy. Water every day for one week, unless it rains. Lift up a corner of the new sod so you can check to make sure that the water is going down to the original soil below. Reduce watering the next week and reduce it further on the third week.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep people from walking on the new sod for two weeks. It takes three weeks before the sod becomes established.

• You can mow the new sod grass when tightly rooted.

• You can purchase sod from a turfgrass sod farm, or at a home and garden center.

References

• Louisiana State University Ag Center: Use Sod for Quick Repair of Damaged Lawns
• Home Improvement Time: Quick Lawn Repairs Using Turfgrass Sod
• University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources: Replant With Seed, Sod, Sprigs, Stolons, Plugs
• All About Lawns: Renovating Your Old Lawn
• Reader's Digest: Resod a Patch of Dead Grass