Okay, so it has come to my attention that, when laying down sod, the people who do it are supposed to "roll" the sod after they lay it down to keep from having lines and grooves and bumps in the lawn.

And it is quite apparent that the installers did not do this with my lawn when they layed down the sod. So what's the solution? short of calling them back out to fix it themselves, is there an easier fix?

The sod is Bermuda, and it's been down for about a month now. We've been watering like we should, but we have grooves and bumps all over the place, and we are starting to get brown spots. Mowing the first time was hell.


Help, please.

 

Call them and bitch is the correct solution.

You need to be careful with the roller, you don't want to compact the soil to much.

 

I'm not familiar with the 'rolling' term. It may be different for hot climates like yours vs. Midwest. Here the sod is installed and you just need to water the heck out of it for the first two weeks.

Have you been watering at least one hour every day?

Did the installers spread out adequate top soil?

Did you set your mower to the highest setting? It's imperative you not cut new sod too low until the roots grab hold.

Unfortunately the timing was not recommendable, usually sod is best laid down in spring or fall - Summer will beat the piss out of any lawn, let alone a brand spanking new one.

Good luck!

 

I always thought they "roll out" the sod as sometimes the strips come in rolled up. Other times it comes is strips lain flat.

 

Well apparently they are supposed to "roll" it after it's layed to even it out. We've been watering every section for about 45 minutes a day.

I'm not sure what all the installers did. We know they didn't do something right, because two other houses that just had saod laid are much more even than ours.

And the mower was set on the highest setting, but it's just really uneven, it looks like we cut it with a flowbee.

 

This is a lawn roller:



In the old days there were made of concrete or a steel drum filled with concrete, but nowadays they are usually plastic filled with water (or antifreeze)...

I don't have any experience with "laying" sod but maybe Scribby and some other people who have had sod put down might know...

I do know that even on established lawns, rolling in the spring will help take out the bumps that bounce you around in the tractor seat. Guy across the street rolles his lawn every year...

 

If the grade is prepared properly, there is absolutely zero need to roll the sod after it's placed down. As forementioned, rolling may bring you soil compaction issues which will lead to thatch, and poor growing grass. My lawn was not rolled after it was put in.

You can always rent a roller yourself from Home Depot. Probably the path of least resistance.

But again, if the grade was correct prior to sod, rolling is not needed.

 

If I recall correctly, Bermuda is one of the few grasses that is best cut short. 1-2".