Thank you for everyone who posted their experiences with sodding their own lawns. After reading through the posts, I'm realizing that my plans may not be so easy.
We have a dog, who my FH insisted can stay on the front lawn. Now that the snow has melted, our front lawn is a disaster. All of the grass that was newly laid last spring is completely dead.
I was thinking about laying down sod, but it seems like alot of work. I know this may sound silly, but would it be easier to clean up the dead grass and put on top soil, fertilizer and grass seeds?
Thanks for your help!
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If you're going to seed, expect to get weeds too.
Well you might want to wander into a garden centre, pictures in hand and get some advice.
Typically builders do a very bad job of laying sod. You are lucky if they put down an inch of top soil and the ground under is some fill over hard packed stuff they drove their machines over while building. They usually don't drop sod fertilizer either.
I had a new build a few years ago and got the heads up from a garden centre and managed to throw down fertilizer before the builder types arrived and my lawn looked much better than others. My back lawn looked great because I did that myself and had a lot of top soil delivered.
Meanwhile, you may be able to revive your existing lawn with fertilizer and a dressing it with top soil. That is getting a load delivered and spreading an inch or so over the lawn, filling holes, fertilizing and adding some seed. There are also some patch grass products made especially for dog spots. With some good weather and water your old lawn will probalby come through and the new seed help fill in. That's a whole lot less work and less expense than ripping up and replacing.
AS for the dog's urine spots, the only thing I have found to help that is what my vet told me to do. That is keep the hose handy. The urine is nitrogen which burns the lawn as it's so concentrated. So where dog goes, water it in so it's diluted. YOu will notice those spots actually go greener after as the nitrogen is also a fertilizer, but the key is diluting it. So water those spots once a day and you won't have any new spots.
Don't lose hope. Go get some expert advice before you do anything and you may find out you are okay.
Thank you both for your help!
It's a complete mess.
The grass is ruined because of the urine, and also because of his jumping. He's a black lab, so when he gets excited, he jumps up and down. With the extra snow and rain we've been getting over the past few weeks, he jumps and ends up kicking up the grass. Our front lawn is yellow, with very few green patches.
We've solved the problem with the dog on the front lawn as of this morning. He broke his leash and now he can't be out in the front anymore. So now we're returning to two daily walks.
I think the problem is a lack of proper soil. Several of our neighbours have removed their sod (to plant gardens) and found that the soil doesn't even go a foot deep in some places. I think it could also be when the sod was laid. Everyone on our side of the street, who moved in last spring/summer, has dead looking grass. People who moved last fall, have less dead looking lawn.
Maybe I'm overreacting? I've never had a home of my own, or a dog, before.
What did the dog do? Did he rip it up or is it urine kill? I ask because niether of my dogs has killed a whole lawn before (they have killed spots which are easy enough to fix) and I wonder if something else is going on or if the lawn is just the normal dead looking stuff we all have (well those of us who aren't in BC where spring has already appeared) this time of year. Are you sure it's dead?
Meanwhile, you should have had new topsoil down before the sod so you shouldn't need more than a light dressing if you do seed. Most of the problem with seed is called birds. They tend to eat it. You may also need to use more water longer while it takes root and if you pay for water or get stuck with water restrictions that might be something to consider.
Oh yeah, and what are you going to do with the dog if you seed? it's weeks of waiting and muddy paws if they don't have grass to use.
I have done both and I really liked the results the grass seed ave, it was a very soft, very green grass. It does take longer but you probably won't have the problem of it all dying like you can with sod after it is laid. Sod needs to be encouraged to stay green and seed needs to be encouraged to grow.