I stripped and replanted the grass in my front yard over the last few weeks. I finally sowed the grass seed and threw down straw last night.
What a big job that was! First I sprayed the grass with Roundup and then about 10 days later I started stripping off the sod. I went out and bought this thing called an Italian Grape Hoe, that is like a regular hoe on steroids. It has a large heavy head and works great to slice off a layer of sod. That took several evenings and a couple of weekend days, and filled up about 30 yard waste bags (halfway so they weren't too heavy).
Next I had to regrade the yard, as there was a real high spot and several dips. I borrowed my neighbor's rototiller which made it a lot easier to bust up the dirt under the sod. I moved a lot of dirt around, building up the area nearer to the house and trying to add a gentle slope toward the street. This was probably the hardest part, trying to get the grade right.
Next I used an ancient concrete roller to compact the soil, and kept going over it with a yard rake to get a nice looking grade.
Next I got 3 yards of screened topsoil (and a bale of straw) delivered and spent a couple hours spreading the soil around on top of the grade. Having the yard graded out made that a lot easier, I just had to rake out the soil evenly.
The I added some hydrated lime, starter fertilizer, and then the seed. I used a sun/shade mix from a local garden center. Then I added a thin layer of ground peat moss, and ran a leaf rake across the whole mix to get the seed mixed in with the soil. I followed that with a thin layer of straw, which I then secured down with several lengths of twine, to keep it from blowing away.
Finally I put up some posts and tied more string between them and tied lengths of rags all the way around to keep people off the new lawn. Then I turned the sprinkler on and watered for about 30 minutes, which I will do twice a day until the seeds sprout.
One smart thing I did was save about 10% of the grass seed so I could fill in any thin areas later on this fall or in the spring if I need to.
Several people walking and driving by stopped by to comment on what a great amount of work it was and how good it was looking.
Hope I can say the same thing in a few weeks when the grass is nice and green!
It probably cost me about $250 in materials (hoe, fertilizer, seed, lime). The hoe was $45, but I can definitely reuse that thing, anytime I need to do some serious sod busting. I have no idea how much it would have cost to have a professional landscaper do it, or if they would have taken as much care in re-grading the yard.
Removing the sod was really hard, especially after the one full day I spent on it. The next day I felt like I had been in a car accident; all my muscles and joints hurt. I still have a huge bruise on my right arm, but I do not know how it happened.
