Whenever you want to start new gardens or flower beds, it’s time to clean the area for new seeding. Clearing out an old lawn involves several tasks, including mowing, weed control, or removing sod. Many homeowners are afraid of cutting sod since they don’t have the right tools and know how to deal with sod on their grass lawn.
This article will provide what everyone wants to know: “Which sod cutter is best for landscaping?”. You can totally do this project by yourself with either hand tools or mechanical equipment if you’re only cutting sod out of a small garden.
In case it’s a bigger and more complicated area, you’ll need to contact a landscaping company to save your money before damaging anything.
Don’t hesitate to call Green Arbor Landscaping at (206) 265-2940 TODAY!!!
1. Why Cutting Sod? – West Seattle Landscapers
Cutting sod can enhance the quality of the soil allowing gardeners to best install patio, walkway, driveway, dog fencing, or plant new trees/grasses without removing stray roots. With sod cutters, you can have the precise cut for any walkway before relocation or expansion for flower beds or shrubs. This will help you reduce a large number of labor costs and enhance the quality of the soil.
2. Best Manual Sod Cutter to Remove Sod
There are several types of sod cutters that you can do this project by hand. The question coming to every gardener is: “What is the best manual sod cutter to remove sod?”. We have a list of three common hand tools for you to choose from. Let’s get started!
Opt 1: Sod Knife
The very first and one of the best tools for cutting sod is a utility knife with serrated edges. You cannot go wrong with this tool since it’s easy to control a precise cut towards any edge around landscape beds. Though this knife requires you a little power to cut sod, it is useful for small areas, even when there are some obstacles such as overgrown trees or shrubs.
Also, this knife stays sharp for a long time period, so don’t worry about its lifespan. In a nutshell, this is the simplest and most effective used for getting rid of sod in small areas.
Besides, you can use a sickle-shaped sod cutting when trimming and cutting invasive sod around rock patios or sprinkler systems.
Explore here: Could you install the sprinkler system yourself?
Opt 2: Half-moon Edger
Turning to shovel, the best one we can mention here is a half-moon edger. This edger provides you with precise cut and safety while using. It also contains a serrated edge which is best suited for anyone having a plan of reusing sod for somewhere else in the garden.
With edgers, you will not need to dig too deep into the soil which can damage the tree roots but cut through the turf layer. Just push it down about 6 inches in the ground along the perimeter lines of soil and cut the sod.
See more about the tree root system
Opt 3: Shovel
Many gardeners prefer a sharp shovel when having sod cutting. The shovel is used to pry up sod and slide it underneath the ground. Clipping roots by placing the shovel at one corner of the cut outlined area and sliding it to lift sod up. This will remove roots away from the soil with a flat shovel.
3. How a Manual Sod Cutter Works
A manual sod cutter is a noise-free tool used for cutting sod effectively, along with no gasoline required or engine maintenance. That’s why many people are in favor of this equipment when landscaping. In general, working with any manual sod cutter contains 5 main stages:
- Outline the area you plan to have sod cutting and water it the night before. Use a garden hose to water since it helps your soil moist but not soggy. Too wet soil will be very heavy to start cutting depth.
- Insert the sod cutters at the starting point into the soil with a depth of about 6 inches.
- Kick down the foot bar to trim the sod into 1 foot.
- Push the tool underneath to make a cut.
- Pull back slightly and roll up the piece of sod to remove.
4. Using a Motorized Sod Cutter
As we mentioned before, a motorized sod cutter is best when you need to strip large swathes more smoothly. The proper cutting depth for most sod removal projects using mechanical sod cutters is about 1 – 1.5 inches. The disadvantage of this machine is making noise during the operation and damaging your eyes if they’re not protected.
A cutting depth adjustment is available on the side of most machines, so read the instruction carefully before using it. And remember to wear ear protection and safety glasses to protect yourself.
5. All Equipment You’ll Need
- Garden hose
- Knife Edger
- Flat shovel
- Spray paint
- Bypass pruners
- Protection clothes
6. Tips & Warning – Bothell Landscaping
Remember to sharpen your tools and clean them before and after using them for sod cutting. Sharpening will ensure your cut is cleaner and more precise.
Always water your tools to remove dirt and debris, as well as wipe out the blade. If you only need to patch a particular area on your lawn, just cut a small single section of sod instead of the total area.
And finally, no matter whether you use hand tools or machines, use caution to avoid hurting yourself during the operation.
Or contact a landscaping professional company to help you cut sod!
7. Green Arbor Landscaping – Cutting Grass Service
With 30+ years of landscaping experience, Green Arbor Landscaping is proud to become one of the best choices for many homeowners choosing for their projects. Green Arbor Landscaping serves customers throughout Renton, Seattle, Issaquah, Maple Valley, Bellevue, and the surrounding area. With advanced methods and the right equipment along with skilled labor, we always focus on bringing a great experience to our clients on not only grass services but also overall landscaping to meet customer satisfaction.
Providing both commercial and residential landscaping services in Renton WA, we have become one of the most favorable landscaping companies for many clients. To contact Green Arbor Landscaping for a free quote estimate here is some information that you might need:
- Phone call: (206) 265-2940
- Email: info@greenarborlandscaping.com
- Site: https://greenarborlandscaping.com/
