Lawn maintenance is a year-round activity. If you don’t keep up with it, you’ll have dead grass and a patchy lawn. To avoid this, many homeowners put sod on top of the existing grass on their property. Here’s what you should know about this common practice.

What You Should Know About Laying Sod Over Grass

When you put sod directly on your grass, the roots don’t attach to the dead lawn underneath. Instead, it creates an acid or a slime from the decomposing grass. The air trapped beneath the ground eventually dries the roots, causing them to die.

What to do Instead

Before laying the sod, rake as much of the dead grass as you can. Uproot all weeds, and start your yard from scratch. This will allow your lawn to breathe once the sod is put on top of it, and it will give the sod room to hook its roots onto the ground.

Once the lawn is prepped, add a nutrient-dense soil on top of your yard. Putting sod over the soiled lawn will allow soil-to-soil contact, which makes it easier for the roots to latch onto the ground while maintaining enough nutrients to grow.

Even after prepping the lawn appropriately, it’s possible for your grass to have a difficult time growing. A lawn maintenance specialist can check the acidity of your lawn, ensure there’s no trapped water between the sod and the ground, and ready the soil for when the sod is laid. 

To prepare your lawn for sod laying or for regular lawn maintenance, the experts at Metro Sod & Seeding in Lincoln, NE, will use their expertise to give you the service you need. For over 25 years, they’ve made gardens, public spaces, and lawns look beautiful and stunning. Their specialized team works on small and large lawns by renovating, excavating, sodding, and grading the area. Visit them online to see pictures of their past work, or call them today at (402) 730-4421 to discuss your lawn care needs.