Usually, when you think about landscaping, you think about adding plants and other things to your property that will improve the way that it looks. However, sometimes landscaping requires you to remove things as well. This often occurs when you are dealing with dead plants or you need to create more space on your property. What happens when you need to remove grass that is already planted on your landscape? This is a great question that we will be addressing in the article below.

One of the most common instances of removing plants from your landscaping occurs when you are looking to remove sod from the equation. Removing sod is actually not too difficult if you know the right way to approach things. People remove sod for a variety of different reasons. It might be that they are planning to add new grass to their property and need to get rid of the old sod. Others remove sod to put in a flower bed or create a new area in their landscaping.

The last thing you want to do is kill your live grass when you are removing it, which is why we’ve prepared the following article for you. Below, we are going to walk you through a few of our smart tips for removing sod on your landscape. After reading this article, you should be ready to dig up sod and repurpose it in another area of your property. Reach out to Cal Blend Soils if you have any questions about removing sod or if you are interested in purchasing the best landscaping supplies on the market.

Gather The Tools

The first thing you should do before you start removing sod from your landscaping is to make sure that you have the right tools. A landscaper will only go as far as their tools take them, so keep that in mind before you begin any new landscaping project. Some of the common tools that you will need to remove sod include a spade, a hose or sprinkler, and an edger. When you have the tools ready, you can move forward with the actual process of removing your sod.

Start Watering

It might seem counterintuitive to water grass that you will soon be removed from your landscape, but the truth is that this will help you dig up the sod. Start watering the area around the sod that you plan to remove a few days before you actually plan on digging it up. The key concept here is that with water, you can get your soil in a state that makes it much easier to work with. Your ultimate goal with watering sod that you plan to remove is getting moist soil that sticks together but doesn’t weigh too much. Loosening the soil with watering is one of the key tips for removing sod in your landscape.

Cut the Sod

Now that you’ve loosened up the soil of the sod you plan on removing, you can move forward with cutting into it. Pick up your sharp spade or edger and cut all around the area of the section of sod that you want to remove. Take it slow at first to ensure that you are cutting clean lines and only in the area that you want to remove sod from. The goal is to cut the sod into square pieces that are about 1 square foot in size. Don’t spend too much time trying to dig as deep as possible, since you really only need to make it through the top layer of the sod’s soil to get the job done.

Lift Up the Sod

So you’ve prepared the soil for sod removal and cut the squares of sod that you plan to remove. That means the next tip is to start lifting up the sod. Use either your spade or pitchfork to lift out the pieces that you previously cut. Try to get any loose soil that is sticking to the squares of sod to fall off back onto your property. If you are dealing with deep taproots that are making it difficult for you to lift up the squares of sod, you can use your spade or pitchfork to cut through them.

Organize Your Sod

Now that you have several squares of sod, you might be wondering what to do with it. If you cut them into longer squares, you might want to roll them up. On the other hand, smaller square pieces of sod should be stacked up on top of each other close to their final destination. Make sure you keep things ready to lay down the sod in its new home to avoid letting the grass die. Grass will live around 5 days before it dies, so it’s always a good idea to replant the sod sooner rather than later. If you are going to let your sod sit outside for more than one day, make sure you are keeping them in a shady area so that they don’t dry out from sunlight exposure.

Putting it All Together

Removing sod is great because it allows you to flexibly create new areas of grass without having to buy new grass. Although it can be fairly labor-intensive to remove sod on your own, with the tips above in mind you should be able to achieve success with ease. Make sure you spend enough time planning things out before you get started and always keep the tips mentioned above in mind. Remember that you can always get landscaping tips and the best landscaping supplies on the market from Cal Blend Soils. Reach out to our team today if you have any questions about removing your sod or landscaping in general.