My advice for the backyard would be to cover the entire area with woodchip
mulch and wait to decide what you want to do back there. It will keep you
from loosing any dirt. It will be easy to rake up when you decide you want
to put grass somewhere. Also you will not mind having it there if you decide
to put in a deck or other hardscape later, digging up freshly laid sod to
put in a deck is a pain. This comes from my own experience putting in some
buffalo sod in the backyard in August. It was hard work. It took lots of
water, even for buffalo, to keep it alive until winter.

-mark

"gorf" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I should be a homeowner by September and I would like some advice
concerning
the lawn. At the moment, the lot is basically a bunch of reddish/brown
dirt. The soil does not appear to be rocky and I got the impression that
it
didn't have any significant rock underneath. In September the lot will
have
sod except for the backyard which will be dirt.

First, any tips for maintaining a decent look for the parts of the lot
that
will already have sod? I wish I knew what type but I won't (it's probably
the cheapest available knowing the builder). I'm concerned that starting
this late in the year might be detrimental to the grass if we have
anything
other than a mild winter.

I'm also concerned about the back yard. I don't want to lose my dirt to
my
neighbors so it is in my interest to put something down early. Is it
possible to lay down sod in September and have it turn into something
other
than dead grass once Spring arrives? Any tips for the back yard?

What about price? I read that it is around $3 to $4 for 9 square feet of
sod, is this accurate?

Thanks for any tips! I just don't want to waste money and/or do anything
to
the lawn that will cost me later on down the road. I really want
something
nice that my daughter can run around on (oh yeah, how do I discourage fire
ants and those nasty grass hornets?).

Thanks all!

--
gorf