Yard Re-Do, Part 3: Sod

After all of our hardwork this summer, the time had finally come for sod! The old weeds and grass were dead and cleared away, topsoil was brought in, sprinkler lines were adjusted for hopefully optimum coverage, new curbing was in place, weeds that grew back were pulled out, and the ground was level, or as level as we, the non-professional diy-ers, could make it. 

It. Was. Time. FINALLY! 

We had 5 pallets of sod delivered to our home. Never in my life had I ever been so happy to see grass!

 

Kyle came home early from work that day to get started. It was Friday, and we knew we had to get started right away or sod laying would spill over into Saturday. 

Kyle laid an entire pallet on his own before I had the chance to come help him. My mom came over around dinner time and helped watch the girls. Then I put my work gloves on and joined him. Laying sod isn't hard to do, but all of the bending and lifting makes it physically exhausting! Thank goodness we have some good friends (and my dad) who came out and saved the day. Just the addition of a few extra bodies dramatically sped up the process. We are so grateful to them for helping us! Seriously, by ourselves, Kyle and I would have been at it clear into Saturday afternoon had we not received some help. We are extra grateful for the help knowing it was a bit of a sacrifice. Isn't laying sod on everyone's list of favorite Friday evening activities? :) 

  

There it is all done and green. Kyle and I couldn't believe our eyes the next day when we saw it in full sunlight. Green grass in our backyard! It really looks like a different place. I really nearly cried. Now our girls have a space at our home where they can run around and play!

The grass is in and green as ever. In fact, Kyle is out mowing as I type. But... there is still a lot of work to be done to completely finish our backyard transformation. I don't want to post a full before and after picture yet, I want to wait until it really is finished. For now, here is a pre-sod and post sod.

The girls and I have been able to enjoy the new yard already. We have picnicked, read books, and brought out the soccer ball. Now I can actually spend a little time in the garden (which is a total mess this year, but full of tomatoes, grapes, and peaches) without worrying what those two are getting into. I never realized how important a good backyard would be to me, until we really didn't have one. Hurray for one more step towards completion!

If you missed out on all of the work we've done see our yard clean up, new patio, adding topsoil, and new deck.