What conditions are needed for a healthy lawn?

Creating a healthy lawn

What are the conditions my lawn needs to thrive and look green, full and healthy.

Lawns need three basic things to thrive, however how the soil is prepared i what primarily helps all these functions. Light, water, and nutrients

Light is needed to keep any sod lawn alive. When planting your lawn area, make sure you prune back any trees that shadow your lawn for more than thirty to forty percent of the day. Sod lawns require at least 60 percent of the sun's direct sunlight to assure proper photosynthesis, without at least half the day's sunlight the lawn will suffer and thin. 

Water is the fundamental need for any sod installation for proper rooting. Without a consistent amount of water keeping the roots and lawn wet, sod would perish within a couple of days. All new lawns need to be watered 3-4 times a day for 15-20 minutes for 3 weeks until established. This is a general guideline for sod installation in summer for California your area may vary. Farms may also recommend 5-6 times a day for 5-10 minutes. When watering, you can lower cycles as time goes on. After rooting about three to four weeks, you may reduce watering to every other day or as needed.

Nutrients and soil health are the biggest factors we see neglected in sod lawn installations and maintenance these days. To assure a healthy lawn, soil should always be prepared before installation. Any previous lawn should be torn out and soil should be tilled, and a topsoil compost mix be added to soil. This should then be tilled again and graded and cleaned. Compaction and grading with a rake and roller will help new lawns or old, and always roll after installation of new sod to create solid contact with soil from sod to soil on lawn area.

For detailed information on lawn health, how to grade or depths of soil, please call us at

925-435-7874