The next step in the process was getting the soil ready for the sod. I spent hours looking at the Western Sod website learning all about soil. It's quite a wealth of information if you're into that kind of thing, which I am. Anywho, the main point they, and about a gozillion other sites, try and get across is preparation is the key to a good field. Seeing as the soil in the backyard is dry, rocky, nasty stuff, I wanted as good a base as I could get. Before I even ordered the sod, I got the field ready for it.
I ended up working out a formula of 20 bags of Scott's Turf starter, 10 bags of Steep Manure, 10 bags of Peat Moss, 3 bags of gypsum, and 10 bags of some generic lawn soil. I may have used more, but definitely not less than this.
I got it all home and began the process of working it into the soil. I alternated the different amendments as I mixed them in. I started out just raking them slowly into already tilled-up soil. I slowly added more and more until I had it thoroughly mixed into the infield and out field. I used the last two bags of peat moss to finish it off.
Then came the part I really enjoyed. Leveling. Getting a good level surface was one of the most important things to me. If you've ever played baseball on a bumpy baseball field, you understand. Being level is also good for reducing water run-off, but I was mostly concerned with playability.
The whole leveling process took about a week of trial and error. At first I used the back of a small rake to get a rough grade established. I soon moved to a large field rake and this proved to be the best tool I used. I was able to borrow a sod roller from my brother-in-law and this was the second best tool I used. I say second only because the dang thing was so heavy and cumbersome. But, even after your surface is level, that roller never lies. Once you tug, push or pull that thing over your dirt, you know exactly where your high and low spots are. I spent a lot of time raking, rolling, raking and rolling, cussing, raking, rolling. But it was all worth it. The outfield is pretty level, with a few spots I could have done better at. The infield however is pancake flat. For whatever reason, it turned out much better than the outfield which is a very good thing. A bad hop in the infield can ruin your day real, real quick.
Next up....sod, sod everywhere.
I ended up working out a formula of 20 bags of Scott's Turf starter, 10 bags of Steep Manure, 10 bags of Peat Moss, 3 bags of gypsum, and 10 bags of some generic lawn soil. I may have used more, but definitely not less than this.
I got it all home and began the process of working it into the soil. I alternated the different amendments as I mixed them in. I started out just raking them slowly into already tilled-up soil. I slowly added more and more until I had it thoroughly mixed into the infield and out field. I used the last two bags of peat moss to finish it off.
Then came the part I really enjoyed. Leveling. Getting a good level surface was one of the most important things to me. If you've ever played baseball on a bumpy baseball field, you understand. Being level is also good for reducing water run-off, but I was mostly concerned with playability.
The whole leveling process took about a week of trial and error. At first I used the back of a small rake to get a rough grade established. I soon moved to a large field rake and this proved to be the best tool I used. I was able to borrow a sod roller from my brother-in-law and this was the second best tool I used. I say second only because the dang thing was so heavy and cumbersome. But, even after your surface is level, that roller never lies. Once you tug, push or pull that thing over your dirt, you know exactly where your high and low spots are. I spent a lot of time raking, rolling, raking and rolling, cussing, raking, rolling. But it was all worth it. The outfield is pretty level, with a few spots I could have done better at. The infield however is pancake flat. For whatever reason, it turned out much better than the outfield which is a very good thing. A bad hop in the infield can ruin your day real, real quick.
Next up....sod, sod everywhere.
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