Soil Preparation for St Augustine Sod

Let's face it; soil preparation is the most important step in building a good lawn. Good soil makes healthy, deep rooted lawns that need less water. Soil is the foundation that is laid for building your dream lawn from the ground up.

For the sake of this article, you have decided to go with laying St Augustine sod because it provides an instant lawn, most often weed free, and it's great for slopes where seed washes away.

The first step to take is get your soil tested. This will take the guess work out of preparation. You can contact your local extension office to find out about getting your soil tested professionally. Professional soil testing is the recommended route to take and usually only costs a minimal fee.

Rough Graded Site

Soil consists of four basic ingredients: minerals, organic matter, water and air. Our goal is to achieve a good balance of these ingredients and produce what is called a healthy loam in our soil. The testing phase will help us achieve this result.

The next step is to rough grade your site. During this phase you need to remove unwanted debris such as stones and wood. Keep in mind the level that you desire your lawn to be while rough grading. Soil should be higher at the base of your house foundation and gradually slope down away from the house for proper drainage.

The next step is to add amendments to your soil based upon the test results you received. This is really where you save time, money and create less work for future lawn care.

St Augustine grass is sensitive to iron deficiency and readily develops chlorotic symptoms in alkaline or iron deficient soils. This deficiency can be corrected with foliar applications, iron sulfate or iron chelate.

Newly planted St Augustine sod will respond to phosphorous fertilizers in terms of an increased rate of spread. Potassium has been shown to increase root growth, cold tolerance and drought tolerance in St Augustine grass.

So long as fertility and drainage are adequate, St Augustine grass tolerates a wide range of soil types. St Augustine grass grows satisfactorily at a pH range from 5.0 to 8.5, but develops a chlorotic appearance in highly alkaline soils (above pH 7.5). It does not tolerate compacted or waterlogged soil conditions.

The next step is to cultivate your soil. It's important that you cultivate the soil deep and develop soil that has desired drainage properties. It is recommended that you cultivate a depth of 6 to 12 inches.

St. Augustine grass is highly tolerant of soil salinity, producing satisfactory growth at salt levels as high as 16 mmhos. This means it's a great grass for coastal lawns.

If you are planning on installing any sort of underground irrigation system, a great time to complete this step would be after the cultivation of your soil.

Final Grading

Final grading is the last step before planting. Rake the area and make sure it is free of rocks and leveled out as much as possible. You should aim for a smooth surface to lay the sod. Sod requires the final grade to be lower than a seeded lawn so that the sod will fit flush with sprinklers and sidewalks.

Because St. Augustine grass is sensitive to the cold, it is imperative that installation - when the sod needs to catch on to your soil - not take place when temperatures risk getting low. Now, plant your grass!