- 1). Plunge the shaft of a soil core sampler into your soil up to the handle. Twist the shaft and pull the core sampler from the soil to pull a sample out of the soil. Place this sample in a bucket. Repeat this process in 10 random locations across your lawn.
- 2). Mix the samples in the bucket with a trowel and pick out any debris, grass roots, sticks or rocks in the samples.
- 3). Spread the samples over a newspaper to dry.
- 4). Collect a cup of soil in a plastic sandwich bag and take the sample to your county extension service. An agent with the service can recommend the nearest university-run soil laboratory for testing and may help you in submitting your sample. A test will reveal the soil's structure and recommend amendments that will improve the soil so that grass will grow well in it.
- 5). Purchase soil amendments as recommended by the soil test. Recommended soil amendments for most soils include compost and peat moss to improve the soil's structure and fertilizer to add nutrients. You can also add lime to raise the soil's pH or sulfur to lower the pH.
- 6). Use your ATV and a disk plow attachment to break up your soil to a depth of 12 inches.
- 7). Spread your soil amendments in a 4-inch layer over the soil with a shovel. Mix the amendments into the soil with the plow.
- 8). Smooth your soil with a landscaping rake. Fill in divots and flatten bumps with your rake. Slope the soil gradually so that it carries water away from the foundations of a home. A healthy slope for your landscape falls 6 inches every 10 feet.
- 9). Water your soil with a garden hose and hose end sprinkler the day before laying the sod. Ensure that the soil receives at least 1/4 inch of water, leaving your soil as damp as a wrung-out sponge.
- 10
Lay the sod like a carpet over your soil. Start along a straight edge, such as the foundation of your home, a sidewalk or driveway, and work outward. Lay the sod so that the ends of each strip or square touches. Each row should be offset so that there is no uniform seam in the sod. Cut pieces as necessary to curve around flower beds, posts, water main covers or other obstructions. - 11
Water your sod with the equivalent of ¼ inch of rainfall up to four times daily to prevent the sod from drying for the first 10 days. Gradually decrease watering until you use only the equivalent of 1 inch of rainfall every 10 to 14 days. Use a rain gauge to determine when you have applied enough water.
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