I just bought my first house a couple months ago, and I'm looking to
hire someone to lay some new sod (something I've never done before), and
was wondering if it's ok to just lay sod over a layer of topsoil. My
house sits on a hill with an ~20% grade, and a lot of the soil seems to
be eroding, so I want to try to stop the problem by laying new sod. The
contractor I talked to today said that because there will need to be new
topsoil thrown down (~4 inches), tearing up the old sod is a waste of
time, and money. He said that if they just throw the new sod on top of
the new topsoil, that will work fine. Does this sound right, or should I
find someone else to do the job? Will this be enough room for the roots
to grow? Thanks.

I would say you need to have the existing lawn tilled, then add topsoil and
till again before installing new sod.

Otherwise, you run a real risk of creating soil layers which will impede
root growth.


"YT" wrote in message
...
I just bought my first house a couple months ago, and I'm looking to hire
someone to lay some new sod (something I've never done before), and was
wondering if it's ok to just lay sod over a layer of topsoil. My house sits
on a hill with an ~20% grade, and a lot of the soil seems to be eroding, so
I want to try to stop the problem by laying new sod. The contractor I
talked to today said that because there will need to be new topsoil thrown
down (~4 inches), tearing up the old sod is a waste of time, and money. He
said that if they just throw the new sod on top of the new topsoil, that
will work fine. Does this sound right, or should I find someone else to do
the job? Will this be enough room for the roots to grow? Thanks.

Kyle Boatright said:

I would say you need to have the existing lawn tilled, then add topsoil and
till again before installing new sod.

Why till? That's one of the worst things you can do to the soil, and you
wanna do it twice.


Otherwise, you run a real risk of creating soil layers which will impede
root growth.

Agreed the old turf has to be removed first, but not at the cost of the
soil's structure. Renting a sod cutter rather than a tiller is a much
better option, imo.

--
Eggs

-Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist
change places.

"YT" wrote in message
...
I just bought my first house a couple months ago, and I'm looking to hire
someone to lay some new sod (something I've never done before), and was
wondering if it's ok to just lay sod over a layer of topsoil. My house sits
on a hill with an ~20% grade, and a lot of the soil seems to be eroding, so
I want to try to stop the problem by laying new sod. The contractor I
talked to today said that because there will need to be new topsoil thrown
down (~4 inches), tearing up the old sod is a waste of time, and money. He
said that if they just throw the new sod on top of the new topsoil, that
will work fine. Does this sound right, or should I find someone else to do
the job? Will this be enough room for the roots to grow? Thanks.

You might get away with soil adding in 1" steps, allowing the sod beneath to
take hold each step. Do use a row of sod perpendicular to the elevation to
help retain the soil every 4 feet or so. Or, 1" gravel as an alternative.
The last 1" of soil don't add any retention material. However, this is
prohibitively expensive on the hired labor end. You'd probably have to do
it yourself.
--
Jonny

"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
Kyle Boatright said:

I would say you need to have the existing lawn tilled, then add topsoil
and
till again before installing new sod.

Why till? That's one of the worst things you can do to the soil, and you
wanna do it twice.


Otherwise, you run a real risk of creating soil layers which will impede
root growth.

Agreed the old turf has to be removed first, but not at the cost of the
soil's structure. Renting a sod cutter rather than a tiller is a much
better option, imo.

--
Eggs


As I wrote earlier, not tilling creates the risk of stratified soil layers.
You need to blend the new and old soil. Otherwise, the OP may be putting
your topsoil down on a packed layer of soil. If that happens, the roots
grow well for a couple of inches, then hit the proverbial wall. Same thing
for water absorption.