MikeR – posted 13 May 2001 22:11
We are preparing our yard to lay Midlawn Sod in a Southern exposure front lawn with an automated sprinkler system. Our only tree is a new 2″ diameter Chinese Pistache. From the research I’ve conducted, this is one of the best turfgrass performers for Oklahoma–even out performing Meyers Z-52 Zoyzia. I’ve read some sites that recommend rolling over the sod once it is laid–other sites say rolling tje sod is not neccessary. What do you recommend?
seed – posted 14 May 2001 16:05
MikeR, I agree on both points. Rolling of new sod is preferable, but is not necessary, especially not necessary for the typical lawn.
What you get from rolling is flatness and a tighter fit between sod and soil. If you must have a very flat surface, such as a bowling green or croquet green or golf green, or maybe even a sports field, rolling the new sod will be worth the effort, by stretching and crushing the sod into a tight brick-like pattern. Also, if the sod had been cut at irregular thicknesses, rolling may be of some small value to level things out. But this effort only works to the degree that there is some instability of the soil, some degree of shiftiness. To visualize the small effect, if you tried to squeeze a tube of toothpaste that was filled with dirt, how much would come out? Not much. There are probably better ways to spend your time than rolling the lawn.
The potential degree of improvement in flatness must also be small compared with the irregularity of the underlying soil before sod is installed. That might be something for you to deal with first.
Go visit the lawn area at night with a flashlight, and hold the flashlight near the ground, and rotate it around horizontally. You may be amazed at the degree of irregularity in the underlying surface, and the need for some additional raking.
Phil