I learned a few things this past weekend.
- Our lawn measures precisely 10 feet by 17 feet. Larger than I actually thought.
- Digging up said 170 sf of lawn is very tiring.
- Landscapers have a tough job.
Have you figured out what we did yet? Here's a hint.
Remember when we removed a big bush from the front yard and left a big patch of dirt?
Well, we never planted grass since it was in the heat of the summer. And then the weeds took over. Instead of mowing the lawn, we were mowing the weeds. They were green, but not exactly the effect we were going for. Hubby and I agreed that if we were going to plant more grass, we might as well get a fresh start and plant sod. You don't get lawns much smaller than ours, so sod was a great way to get instant gratification grassification.
Before we could get to the fun part (the results obviously), we had to do the hard work- digging up the existing lawn. And all the rocks that were in our way.
I neglected to get a picture of the rock pile before we moved it, but there were approximately a dozen football-sized rocks that I pulled out of the lawn this weekend alone (I had pulled out more rocks during the bush removal earlier in the summer).
So we started digging and raking up all that was green.
I raked the dirt to smooth it out and eliminate the hump where the rocks used to party, then Hubby spread some of the starter fertilizer.
The easiest and most rewarding part was putting down the sod itself. Hubby watched a how to video on youtube in preparation. What did we do before the internet??
After we rolled it all out, we trimmed the edges where our yard wasn't perfectly square and around the rock wall. Instant yard, just add sod!
I love it even more when I look back to a year and a half ago when the front yard looked like this.
Now the lawn looks like it's about twice the size as it used to be! Considering how small our yard actually is, making it look as large as possible maximizes the space. Hubby's in love with the new lush green lawn. Mother nature is even on our side right now and has rained every day since we planted, ensuring that we don't kill it right away.
So here are the logistics. We got the sod at Home Depot surprisingly. In early fall, they get sod deliveries on select Saturday mornings. (Call ahead to check) They only get a limited supply, so going early was key. We went at 7am and were told that normally they're out before noon. Since the pieces are 2'x5', we needed 17 pieces to cover our 170sf dirt pile. At $5 a piece, the sod cost us less than $90. If you include the starter fertilizer and the lawn bags, our brand new lawn cost $120. Not too shabby!