Suppose my backyard is a dirtpatch and as hard as concrete being Arizona and all. I want to lay sod and to my non-landscape architect brain I would rototill the backyard so that the roots can grow down more easily AND water would soak in and be held better. After all, roots go to where there’s water whether shallow or deep.
Is there an advantage to rototilling the yard or will the roots grow down due to crowding and break up the soil for me?
if you have hard pan dirt then you will not likely be able to till it and it is no good for grass. you would want to put in 2 to 4 inches of topsoil for the sod roots to grow into.
but consider native vegetation that you don’t have to extensively irrigate and might fail out of its climate. sod grass is a temperate plant.
people also landscape with sand or gravel, both can be had in colors and people have painted gravel green.
I would never consider it myself because I live in the East where there is plenty of water but synthetic lawns have come a huge way in recent years. We are talking about Astroturf. It is more for applications like you are describing to have a decent looking lawn.
but there are several other companies that have similar products.
Like Johnpost says, that soil’s not good enough for grass. So if you rototill before laying sod, it will die off in about 3-4 years. If you don’t till the ground, it’ll probably only last 2 years before dying.
Southern CA Landscaper here.
Water, and lots of it, is the key. Like Johnpost said, rototillings useless because you’ll end up just bouncing around on the surface.
Level the area with a rake. Water lightly so you are not laying the sod on dry soil.
I would wait until November at the earliest. Its too hot right now.
Hand watering is not going to be enough. You have to install a sprinkler system with a good timer.
Water at least 3 times a day at first. The roots will grow several inches down if you are watering enough. When summer comes around hopefully the roots will be deep enough so that the grass doesn’t dry up.
I’m no landscaper, so I’d like to ask these follow-up questions: Are there any tests the OP should consider first? Are any, say, alkalinity problems possible, and if so, how would Saint Cad find out before spending a lot of effort on this? Try a test patch first?