Best/Worst Months to Lay Sod (Dirt question)

Oct would be fine.

I had to lay a 1/2 pallet of centipede sod where I had a tree removed last Oct, maybe it was early Nov, and it established fine and looks great - and that was with the record freeze we had earlier this year. Oct is historically a dry month in south LA so it would still need lots of watering.

But in south Louisiana you can lay sod all year round, if and when required, though laying it during periods of active growth are ideal.

That's kind of what I was hoping. It's also not miserable hot and would make doing that work much more bearable.

My current yard is a mix of centipede, wild bermuda and assorted weeds including some spots of doveweed. Here is my initial plans.

1- Nuke the yard with a mix of roundup and sedgehammer to kill everything. (Will this kill the doveweed or do I need to do celcius as well?)
2- Wait 2 weeks, and nuke it again.
3- Get the dirt work done.
** - Any tips on what kind of bulk material I want to request? Straight topsoil?
4- Lay sod
5- Water the buhjesus out of it for a few weeks.

Is there some sort of soil test I need to do? If so, when would that fit into the timeline? What would I do with that info if I'm laying sod?

I wasn't sure if the roundup would knock out the nut on my nutgrass, or if I needed something specific to really kill it.

I'm hoping to get my dirt guy in the yard in a week or two to discuss. I'm not wanting to do anything too drastic but it feels like I have so many low spots that I'm sure they will want to bring in fill.

overall I'm hoping to mostly get it tilled and grated nice and flat keeping the natural subtle slope towards the rear where there is a drainage ditch behind.

As far as sod, I haven't made up my mind nor discussed prices. I have mostly centipede in the front yard and I'm really fine with it. My backyard has a few moderately sized pear trees and crape myrtles, but mostly full sun since it's a 1/2 acre lot.

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RaginCajunz

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Best I can suggest is to contact Dr. Ron Strahan rstrahan@agcenter.lsu.edu, turf and weed specialist with the LSU AgCenter and provide him details, etc in your last post and ask for his opinion/suggestions/recommendations. With potential for introducing torpedo grass from batture dirt I’d be very leery. Pre-emergents can help with many weeds, but not torpedo grass and sedges (nutgrass). No sure capping batture soil with top soil is adequate - Ron Strahan can answer that.

Dr. Strahan responded. He advised no use of pre-emergent if laying sod, and unless they can guarantee the soil is free from torpedo seed, use some sort of topsoil.

So I talked to my dirt guy and he gave me the following options for bringing in dirt to re-grade my backyard.

- Clay
- River Silt (aka Batture dirt)
- Unsifted Topsoil (sticks and some debris but true top)
- Amite River Sand
- Mississippi River Pump Sand

It seems like the unsifted topsoil is the no-brainer here.

Sandy loam. Tell your dirt guy to find it.

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Topsoil loads I have to go into Livingston to get topsoil. Also it won’t be available for another few weeks which I think for you we are ok on that. Also please note this won’t be sifted so it will have sticks and small debris in it. But, it is true topsoil.

Amite River Sand (off white)
I have to get this off Arnold Rd in Walker.

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Who’s your guy? If he’s getting top soil out of LP, I’m interested.

Ultimately, if you’re planting grass on top/in, go with the top soil. If you need to build up significantly, you can get fill/clay and then top with the top soil. I’d recommend against batture or river silt/sand due to weeds, unless you’re pouring concrete on top.

Another thing to consider, if you’re going with Bermuda or Zoysia, you can at least control torpedo or other weeds in those grasses. So while they are a pain in the arse, they won’t necessarily ruin a lawn. I had some torpedo come in with some river silt and was able to knock it out with localized roundup and Quinclorac. The river silt worked pretty well for what I was doing, so it really sucks it has so many weeds.

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A followup on this tread. Between Ida throwing a wrench in my plans, (tractor guy spending his time moving debris and my dirt guy had lots of damage to his home and his parent's home), and the potential monsoon of rain we may experience. I'm not sure I can hit my target for early October sod laying. I am leaning towards zoysia sod. How late is too late to put it down and have success? Is there an option of having the dirt work completed and tossing out rye seed so my fresh soil doesn't wash away all winter?

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I’m of the understanding you lay sod year round in south LA with success and certainly one sees it all the time with new house construction in the area. But that said, since you shelling out significant $ for this, I’d get back in touch with Dr. Ron Strahan with the LSU AgCenter on your two options and follow his advice.

Certainly there is greater risk the later one lays sod into the year. I will say this I laid 1/2 a pallet of centipede sod in mid-Oct last year where I had a tree removed, a it took beautifully - I had some concern that the extended hard freeze in Feb might damage not yet fully developed root system but it didn’t. I realize you have no guarantees as to when you are going to have your lawn graded and ready for sod.

Certainly planting rye grass is a viable option with you laying sod next spring summer. Either annual rye or perennial rye (more expensive but doesn’t grow as fast/tall) will die out naturally in the heat of summer, and as I recall correctly that’s going to occur by May. But nothing will reclude you of killing the rye earlier, say March, with a non-selective herbicide, slightly disking the area, and then laying sod in spring. There nothing complicated about planting and growing rye - it is an annual and I’m told even perennial rye can not survive the heat of our summers so you are not going to have a re-occurring issue with rye after you lay sod.