Thinking about sod and sprinkler systems.... any thoughts?

[tRidiot]

Well, our problem is twofold.

First, we just took out a 50-foot oak tree in our front yard. It shaded the house on the west from the sun as well as our front plant beds. Around and under it we had put in fescue, since it was full shade all day long. It developed canker and started dying and dropping big limbs on our house, so we just had it taken out a couple weeks ago - now all that fescue is going to die for sure in the sun. It will be full sun from late morning through sunset every day from now on.

Secondly, we've been having Lawn America come out for a couple of years to try to get our lawn looking better. When we moved in (6 years ago) it was the ugliest lawn on the block by a huge margin. It got a little better for a while, but this year, the front is absolutely horrible and it looks like a crack-house lawn again. It got overtaken by some kind of spreading weed that was all matted and thick ground-cover, Lawn America came out 3-4 extra times and has never been able to get it under control in the least. Now, with the tree gone, it's just that much more accentuated as there's nothing to really distract the eye from ground level. Interestingly, our side yard and back yard look the best they've ever been and are thick and lush, mostly Bermuda. We're very happy with those sections.

We've tried a couple of times to do zoysia patches and plugs in several areas, but it never took at all. So I'm considering next spring either hiring someone or renting a sodcutter and taking it all out, laying down some good topsoil mixed with fertilizer or manure, then laying full sod over the top - I'd like to do zoysia. It's thick, lush and very heat-resistant, right? I'm thinking golf course fairway-style grass. That would be awesome. This is just the front yard, not the side or back. If I do so, I've thought that would be the most obvious time to cut some trenches and put in a sprinkler system. I'd obviously buy a controller that could handle multiple other zones so we could expand it to the side and back later if we wanted to.

Any of you guys ever done your own sod and/or sprinkler systems? Any ideas? Is my reasoning sound, or am I way off base and need to do something totally different?

The two guys across the street have lawns to be proud of - but they're both retired, cut about 1/4-1/2" weekly and are out there on their hands and knees pulling weeds that you can't even see from their lawns. I don't think we have that kind of dedication or time to mess with it.

Suggestions?

 

[druryj]

About 2 months ago, I bought a bunch of nice sod from Bob Scott Nursery in north OKC to re-do several "bad" areas in both my front and back lawn. I already have a sprinkler system in place. The good folks there told me I didn't need to cut the old grass out, to either just scalp the lawn down really close, or use a garden tiller to prepare the ground for the new grass. So depending on the places I was going to lay the new sod, I did a little of both techniques. Next, I rolled the new sod out and then as I was instructed, watered it in twice a day for a couple of weeks. After 2 weeks, I fertilized it lightly. Bob Scott told me to be carefull with the fertilizer at first or risk burning the new grass up until it had established a root system on its own. It worked out fairly well, and now I have just set the sprinkler system to water the new areas a bit heavier than the rest of the lawn. I have a pretty nice yard now, and I plan to put down a good winterizer type fertilizer, probbbaly Scotts, here in the next week few week so when the lawn comes back in next spring, it is healthy and green. There is one small brown patch in the second pic near the front of the beds closest to the house that I need to repair or maybe seed a bit. You can see some places in the first pic around the tree ring where the guys cut the grass out to pour the concrete borders but that grass will come back fine in time. I despise yardwork, it ranks right up there with helping the wife dust the furniture. I hire a guy to do the mowing, weedeating and edging. I don't mind adjusting the sprinkler system depending on how hot it is and how windy it gets, but that's about as far as I want to go to have a nice lawn.

 

[tRidiot]

Well, that would be nice... not to have to cut the old sod out. My neighbor has a pretty heavy rear-tine rototiller I could borrow and probably till that whole front yard under in a day or so. Interesting thought...

What kind of sod did you use?

 

[druryj]

Well, that would be nice... not to have to cut the old sod out. My neighbor has a pretty heavy rear-tine rototiller I could borrow and probably till that whole front yard under in a day or so. Interesting thought...

What kind of sod did you use?

Runnning that tiller goes fast! you don't have to get a totally clean patch of dirt, just rough it up some so the new sod can get its roots down easier. I just used regular old Bermuda. The Zoysia would look good though I bet.

 

[Viper16]

Go to Rain Bird sprinkler website, and print out there free layout form, you will need to plot out your lawn on it, and send it to them. They will run the layout for you and give you a shopping list if you so choose to use it. There is a large online retailer for sprinkler gear. I looked at this a few years ago.

I see a lot of Hunter controllers and of course Rain-Bird. I would stick with Rain-Bird sprinkler heads. Split your zones out accordingly...and make sure your water service can handle the zones and any other water you may require in the home at the time you plan on running the sprinkler zones.

 

[cody6766]

If your lawn is pretty small, a DIY system is really easy. I dug in 2 heads into my front yard (probably should have 3, but 2 works) using PVC as the piping. I have a PVC standpipe with a garden hose adapter on the top near my faucet. I put a splitter on the faucet and a Rainbird single zone controller on the end. I just leave the faucet cranked on and the timer runs the system.

In the back I did something similar. I have a 4 zone controller back there, rigged up the same way, to run 3 zones and a garden hose. I have those little mister systems taking care of the gardens near the house, the second zone is a set of long distance sprinklers to hit the bulk of the yard and another zone of misters to hit the shrubs at back of my yard. To do it right, I'd need at least 2 more zones back there...and a more complicated controller.

DIY systems aren't really hard, but they take some planning and the install is work. They sure do help your yard and reduce your efforts with regard to dragging hoses