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What goes under the grass · Atlantic County, NJ

Good lawns start
below the grass.

From the beach blocks of Ventnor to the pine country around Mays Landing, Atlantic County yards sit on sand. So we build a real soil bed first. Here is each layer, in the order it goes down.

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The Sod Squad character giving a thumbs up
Cross-section of a Atlantic County Sod lawn installationBuilt from the bottom up: the old lawn is stripped off and the sandy ground is loosened and graded, then composted topsoil is spread, then lime, starter fertilizer and pre-emergent are worked in, then farm-grown tall fescue sod that spent nine months at the farm is laid in 300 pound rolls and rolled flat. Roots reach down through the compost into the soil below.9 MONTHS ON THE FARM. 1 DAY ON YOUR YARD.1234sodcompostsand
  1. 1
    Tear out and loosen

    First the worn lawn and weeds come up and get hauled off. Next we break up the packed sand underneath and set the grade so water drains away from the house.

  2. 2
    Composted topsoil on top

    Our topsoil is aged for 12 months before it reaches your yard. Spread over the sand, it gives roots food and holds water where plain sand lets it slip away.

  3. 3
    Lime plus a starter feed

    Pinelands ground and shore sand both lean acidic, and grass sulks in sour soil. Lime evens out the pH. A starter fertilizer gets fresh roots moving in the first days.

  4. 4
    Fescue from our own farm

    A tall fescue blend grown nine months in Tabernacle and cut the morning of your job. Big rolls with no netting go down tight, then a 300 lb roller presses them flat.

Water is part of the plan from day one

Sand lets water pass right through it. Shallow new roots need it to stay put a little longer.

Hand watering versus a zoned sprinkler system in sandy Jersey Shore soilSandy coastal soil drains fast. Hand watering soaks past the shallow roots of new sod, so the lawn browns. A zoned sprinkler system waters every morning and keeps the root zone damp while the roots grow down, so the lawn lives.Hand wateringwater sinks past the rootsRoots dry out. Lawn browns.With sprinklerswet every morningRoots stay wet. Lawn lives.
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Ready for a lawn built from the ground up?

30 daysof aftercare on every lawn we lay

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Common questions about our method

Why not lay sod right on the sand?
Sand by itself holds very little water and almost no food. New sod laid straight on it can look great for the first week or two. Once the roots push down into bare sand, they stop, and the first July heat turns the lawn brown. The topsoil layer is what the roots live in.
What does the roller do?
Our 300 lb roller presses every piece of sod down onto the soil. Air trapped under a roll dries out the roots, since they cannot reach across the gap. Rolling takes minutes, and skipping it is one of the most common reasons a new lawn fails.
How long until the roots take hold?
Two to three weeks with good watering. You get a written watering plan on install day. We come back for the first cut and the second feeding, and any piece that fails to root in the first 30 days is replaced at no cost.
Does my yard need sprinklers?
Lawns larger than about 1,500 square feet do. Whether you live on Brigantine or out in Hammonton, Atlantic County sand drains fast, and a garden hose cannot keep a big new lawn damp through a hot summer. Sod that dries out while it is rooting rarely recovers, so bigger lawns go in with irrigation.
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