Anyone with landscape experience?
 

I just moved into my new place and the epic project of getting the backyard together is upon me. I have some really great ideas, but I don't know shit about planting grass. Is it worth paying the extra for sod or can a successful yard come from seeds?

I did it with seeds.. took some time but it was worth the effort. :thumbsup

sod is cheap isnt it?

I thought sod was much more expensive than just picking up the seeds, not to mention it usually requires people to put in it for you. I'm looking to do it myself, makes me appreciate it more. I'm hoping it tricks me into not being pissed off everytime I have to mow it.

sod is the only way to go if you have any sort of shade in the yard. Otherwise your grass see will have a helluva time getting started.

Doing it by seeds takes a lot of looking after initially i think. Needs to be constantly kept moist for the first few weeks. I would just buy it grown and save the headaches. How big is your cage? :)

Tratch, airate, fertilize, "Quality Seed", water, sun......

There you go my friend!

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...187-303-232187

http://www.penningtonseed.com/sectio...?type=products



That is what you need!

Seeds, eh..?

You being where You are, I'm wondering exactly HOW nice Your garden may be.. lol

Well, I've been reading up a little bit about it and it seems like AZ pretty much sucks for grass. Bermuda and a few others do well in the summer, but not in the winter. So I have to reseed the winter grass every year, what a pain in the ass.

Awesome link, thanks. :thumbsup

clean everything out, lay down some good top soil and then sod or seed. We did sod at the beginning of last summer without much top soil, and some people a block away put more topsoil and seeded it, and their gras isn't as thick as ours, but looks very very nice. Water it on a regular basis as well.

What type of grass and where do you live? You can seed but it will likely be hell to keep the weeds out and grow good grass. I'd sod if I was you.

Well, it's a new build, so the backyard is just dirt right now. When I till the dirt, I was planning on putting in a good fertilizer and weed neutralizer before I spread the grass out.

I'm putting in sprinklers first, so I just need to make sure it properly waters all areas of the yard.

I'm hesitating on putting Bermuda in just because I've heard the horror stories of trying to get rid of it, but it does grow great in the summer months here, which are pretty brutal.

Your welcome... With alot of them kind of products you do not need to do anything on new construction but put it down and water...

Well, because it's a new build, the backyard is actually pretty fucked. There are all kinds of broken bottles, trash, concrete chunks and rocks that I have to get up before I can do anything with it.

Fucking dirty ass construction guys.

That shit wouldn't fly around here...

The site has to be clean fill before they will let you build...

And you will never pass final inspection if you have chunks of concrete laying around and broken bottles, ect.

Shit, I wish that was the case for here. It will probably take me all weekend to rake up the top layer of the yard for all that nonsense.

Record the time and money you spend cleaning up after them.

Invoice them at $30 per hour plus expenses.

They probably won't pay, but it'll send your message pretty clear, I think... and give you a basis to pursue it further if you wish to.


In regards to the sod - like was said, I think it mostly depends on sun levels and how much you're gonna be around... if the yard gets plenty of direct sunlight over its entirety, and you'll be around to keep the ground wet for the next few weeks go from seeds, I say - I think it'd be more rewarding that way.

Well, they explained that the backyard would be unfinished and require me to do the work, but I didn't think they would actually cause me more. At least they got the grade in there right. Nothing worse than a flat yard when monsoons come back around and flood the yard because it doesn't drain properly.

I'll check into that with the builder though, thanks for the suggestion. :thumbsup

Seeding will give you a better final product but sod is easier.

Proper preparation is super important -- and sounds like the first thing you need to do is get rid of the construction waste!

The easiest thing to do would be to rake it and then sod it.

The hardest, but best result would be:

1. Rake and clean off all construction waste.
2. Roto till to 9" - 12" depth with a self-propelled tiller
3. Rake and clean out the waste tilling uncovers
4. Cover with 6" of pure mulch. In AZ, mulch is often mixed with sand; you want pure mulch. Add a stabilizer
5. Roto till the mulch into the soil
6. Dig trenches for irrigation and install irrigation system. Whatever number of zones you think you need, double that. You cannot go wrong by having too many zones, but if you have too few then you won't have enough pressure to adequately cover the lawn.
6.5 While you have the trenches in place, set in pipe and put a garden spigot in each corner of your lawn. Connect this directly to the water source for the irrigation system but isolate each line with its own valve. I did this and having those spigots in the corners of the yard is worth the extra $50 of pipe and spigots.
6.8 Add an extra trench or two and run electrical lines so you can have outdoor outlets at the corners of the yard. These are perfect for setting up a temporary cabana with a radio, outdoor lighting, or running an electric trimmer. If the yard is already torn up, put in these extras now when it is easy.
7. Seed with bermuda seeds
8. Rake in the seeds. Birds, especially doves, love grass seed and will clean you out if they are not raked in right away
9. Water profusely

The tilling and then tilling in the mulch will be worth all the effort when it is done. You can get day laborers to do this if you don't want to do it yourself, and get a self-propelled Ditch Witch to dig the trenches. The extra time and effort is well worth it.

Jesus dude, I'm going to just print that off to keep. Thanks.

I did this all myself in my yard, which is just under 1/4 acre and I have the blisters and calluses to prove it.

The first trenching machine I rented was a small one that was not self-propelled. They are basically a big chain saw for dirt. The first one was not up to the task and it threw the chain off after about 25 feet of digging, so I went back and got the bigger, self-propelled model. That worked much better, but after about 50 feet it blew out a hydraulic line. Third time is a charm! They gave me a new one that had never been used before and I dug enough trenches to stop a Panzer division.
My yard now has a soft feel to it like a midwestern yard , not that hard-as-a-parking lot feel like most Arizona lawns. The trees I planted (holes had to be dug with a pick axe) have spread roots under the grassy areas, so they no longer need separate drip watering and everything gets watered when the grass is watered.

In the end you will have a lot of extra dirt after leveling, which I piled in a corner and planted some lantana on it which grew down and covered the pile.

One more thing -- if you have plans to install a hot tub or even think you might want to some day, run the electrical lines when the yard is torn up and dead-end the line in a box where you would put a hot tub. The line will cost about $4 a foot, but again it is a hell of a lot easier to put this in now; when you put the hot tub in the 40 AMP lines will already be in the ground.

Well, I'm planning on putting in a raised bed across the back of the yard that will incorporate a fountain, or some kind of water feature, and a fire pit. So I'll need all the dirt I can get.

That raised bed is something I'm not looking forward to building, but worth it in the end if it actually turns out the way I see it in my head.

Good idea about running power out there while I'm laying the sprinkler lines, that's gold dude. :thumbsup

Yep same as here my dad has a construction company and that's one of the things they do. The clean ups. Hell the builders wont even accept that around here much less the inspectors.

I ran my electrical lines by laying outdoor-grade electrical wiring inside outdoor-grade electrical PVC. It is doubling up, but even outdoor grade electrical wire will start to rot in 10 years if it is buried, so enclosing it in the PVC only added about $1.10 a foot but it will last longer than my lifetime, and in 10 years I will be too damn old to be digging trenches in my yard to replace electrical lines!