Removing old Lawn and replaceing with new sod.?

Question

Anyone know what the best way is to remove old sod/lawn?

Answer 1

Best way to remove the sod is to use a sod cutter. That's something you have to rent.
The one we use is made by Ryan. It's gas powered, Very Heavy.
It cuts a swat 18" wide by up to 3" deep.
But why do you want to take the sod out ??
What you can do is kill the existing sod using something like Round-Up (All vegetation killer). After 10 days, "over-seed" the area using a Slit seeder. Allot cheaper to do than sod.
Remember: When planting grass seed, the seed MUST touch dirt to germinate.

DON'T till your lawn,,that's way too much work plus you that doesn't kill the existing grass roots, unless you sprayed it with Round-up,,but way to much work and it still doesn't kill the seeds that haven't germinated yet. You still have to rake out the ground up sod/roots (way too much work).
If your trying to lower the grade of your lawn, than the Sod cutter is the way to go.
If your trying to establish a new lawn,Killing with something like round up and than slit seeding (over-seeding) is the way to go.
The sod we use is 18" wide x 6' long (9 square feet) Costs here is $2.30 per roll.
The cost of seed here is $2.00/lb. and covers 200 square feet.
If you elect to seed your lawn, If your don't plan on watering it too much, use a blend that is a little heavier in Fescues, that's because they're more drought tolerant.

Remember which ever way you go, WATERING is very important. For seeded lawns, once the seed gets wet (either from you or Mother Nature) You MUST keep it wet for the 1st 30 days. Fescus & blue grasses take up to 30 days to germinate). Don't water so much that you get run-off or puddling. Also play the wind. Use a sprinkler that you can set to spray only to one side,remember you have to move the sprinkler and you don't want to walk in the mud to move it.
We use a blend of 30% blue grass,30% Fescue 20% perannual rye-grass and 20% annual rye-grass. In our climate (Wisconsin) the rye grass comes up in 5 days. the rest comes up in around 28-30 days.

If you go the sod route, You MUST water (drowned) it for around 21 days or untill you can't pull the sod up.To check if your putting on enough water, lift up a piece of the "watered" sod, it should be wet (muddy) underneath. DON'T walk on the wet sod,you'll sink in and leave holes(been there done that)

Don't cut either untill the grass is up around 5" long.

Answer 2

Mowing it won't work. If you don't kill it it will start to grow through your sod. That's not good.

Charlieb is headed in the right direction. He's telling you to use Round-up to kill the old lawn. You need to do that. But then you have to get rid of the dead grass because sod roots will have a hard time penetrating the old dead grass--leading to a weak lawn.

The best way to remove the old dead lawn is to go to a tool rental place, like Home Depot and get a sod stripper. This machine will make it fairly easy to strip off the old dead grass. Then rough up the surface a little with a garden rake and then put down your sod.

Answer 3

I guess it depends on the size you want to remove. If it is just about the whole lawn then I agree with the guy above me with the Bobcat. I have seen and used my self, a very strong form of RounUp. All you have to do is spray it on and let it work.. When it is all done, you can rotortill it up and plant new seed. IF your going this route, make sure you get the type the will kill EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES (plant wise) If the area is only several sq feet or so, then you can use the sod cutter. A shovel and rake work too.

Answer 4

Mow it down. You may have to mow it several times, lowering your mowers wheels each time. But that is the best way to get rid of your old sod. When you lay down your new sod , the old sod will die naturally, from lack of sunshine, so all you need to do is get the old growth down to almost dirt, and you are ready to sod over it. If your lawnmower isn't very tough, rent a 5-h.p. mower, it will do the job easy.

Answer 5

at the truck/equipment rental down the street they have a sod cutter that works. It gets under the sod and sliced it off then you just roll it up and toss it.

Answer 6

spray a 5-7 percent solution of glyphosphate and wait a few days. you can plant seed or sod immediately after application, the chemical is a systyemic nonselective herbicide but breaks down upon soil sontact

Answer 7

Just mow it down. you can power till it if you wish then dampen. If it is just too high, sidewalks,driveway,garden runners, you can use a tool like a Concrete Scraper or a flat shovel to remove those areas sorta grade it though becuase it is sometimes better for flooding and stuff to leave the center main area at its current level.

Answer 8

i would rototiller it up . then put down some new grass seed and cover with hay. we did that to our lawn and it worked