New sod against a patio and a fence that were staying put

01 / What was there

Make her lawn look like a million dollars.

What the customer asked for

The dark paver patio was in good condition. The fence was old but sound. Between them was a lawn that had gone over to moss, low weeds and bare soil, which is what happens in a shaded, enclosed back yard where water sits.

Sodding a yard like this is mostly about the two edges nobody looks at: where the turf meets the patio, and where it meets the fence line. Get those wrong and the new lawn announces itself as a patch job from the first day.

02 / How it was done

1. 01

   Strip rather than overseed

   Once a shaded lawn has gone to moss and weed, seed into it just feeds the competition. The old surface came off.

2. 02

   Fix the fall before the turf goes down

   An enclosed yard has nowhere to shed water except where you send it. Grading is the part of a sod job that decides whether it still looks like this in two years.

3. 03

   Lay tight, stagger the seams

   Rolls butted tight and offset so no seam runs the length of the yard. Gapped seams dry out at the edges and stay visible all season.

4. 04

   Cut to the stone, not near it

   The turf is cut to sit flush against the patio edge, so the mower can run over it and the line stays crisp.

03 / What changed

• Continuous green from the patio edge to the fence line with no visible seams.
• The patio reads as part of a finished yard instead of an island in a bare one.
• Water leaves the lawn instead of sitting in the low corner.