How to Grow Grass Fast in Five Days

Prepare the Sod Bed

• 1

  Walk across the lawn in a zigzag pattern. Dig up 1 quart of soil each from up to 10 locations across the lawn.

• 2

  Place the soil samples in a bucket. Mix them completely and pick out any debris such as twigs, rocks or roots.

• 3

  Spread the soil samples over a newspaper in a dry sunny location and allow them to dry.

• 4

  Scoop 2 cups of soil into a sterile plastic bag and send them to a soil testing laboratory for analysis. Your nearest county extension service can recommend a good soil testing laboratory. Test results are typically returned within two weeks and will indicate the best soil amendments for your lawn.

• 5

  Select soil amendments based on the recommendations made in the soil test results. Good soil amendments include organics such as peat moss, compost and fertilizer to provide nutrients for your lawn. Organic amendments will also aerate compacted lawns and help hold moisture in sandy soils. Add sulfur to lower the pH of highly alkaline lawns or lime to raise the pH of acidic lawns. Most lawn types require a neutral pH somewhere in the range of 6.0 and 8.0.

Laying Sod

• 6

  Break up your soil to a depth of 12 inches with a lawn tractor and disk plow. If you do not own this equipment, you can rent it at a landscaping supply store. Spread a 4-inch layer of soil amendments over your soil. Mix these amendments into the soil with your plow.

• 7

  Smooth out your soil with a landscaping rake. Fill in any depressions and rake any ridges flat. Your soil should gradually slope away from your home at a rate of 1 foot of slope per 50 feet of distance. This will carry water away from the foundations of your home.

• 8

  Water the soil the day before you lay sod with a hose end sprinkler. The soil should be as damp as a wrung-out sponge.

• 9

  Lay the sod directly onto the soil as if you were laying carpet. Start at a straight edge, such as a sidewalk or driveway, and work outward from there. Lay the sod strips or squares so that their sides touch one another. Stagger each row of sod so that there is no uniform seam.

• 10

  Roll over the sod with a sod roller to force the roots of the sod into the soil. Water the sod up to four times daily with the equivalent of 1/4-inch of rain to keep the grass roots from drying out and dying. You can measure this amount by placing clear plastic containers, such as food storage containers, at various points in your lawn. Mark the containers with a marker at the 1/4-inch and 1-inch lines. Shut off your sprinkler when the containers reach the 1/4-inch mark.

• 11

  After the grass roots establish themselves in the soil, gradually taper off watering until you water your lawn with the equivalent of 1 inch of rainfall every 10 to 14 days. Different sod types take root at different rates of speed. Most sod types may take up to 10 days to do so. Bermuda or other fast-growing sods can take root as soon as three days after being placed on the soil.