Sorry for the extended delay in answering you. I'm having trouble with my other computer not being recognized by Dirt Doctor, so the hour I put into a reply to you last week got dumped without warning. I was a little hacked off besides not being able to answer you.
Anyway, I'm using my wife's computer while she's busy elsewhere, heh, heh! She'll never know...
DON'T TILL!
First of all, never till. Secondly, you already have sand; what would be the point of tilling? Roots can penetrate sand whether it's tilled or not.
Prep the soil by applying compost and watering it in. That will do everything you wanted the tiller to do and then some. If you have any places that are not level, level them now. Then lay the sod and ROLL IT DOWN. You have to roll it to make sure the bottom of the sod touches the top of the soil. Grass roots cannot penetrate air.
In my previous message, the one that got away, I went into extensive detail about why not tilling, but I'm going to let you look around on Dirt Doctor for my other posts about tilling.
Before or after you lay the sod, start your watering plan. You should be watering deeply and infrequently. Deeply means about an hour at a time. Infrequently means 1 time per week or less often.
After your sod is laid, set your mower to the highest setting (I assume you're getting St Aug sod for the shade) and weld it in position. There is never any need to scalp St Aug and it loves to be long and tall.
Then fertilize with corn meal at 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. This should set you up for the rest of the year.
Best wishes to you on this project.
_________________ David Hall Moderator Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum
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