The clients recently bought a ground level loft co-op in a building that had once manufactured ping-pongs. Their courtyard had been a brick patio with a planter running the length of the back wall. The previous owners, in a moment of do-it-yourself zest, ripped out the bricks and tore down the planter, exposing a ridge of crumbling cement a bare ground.

They decided to lay sod. A little research would have served them well here and they may have refrained from this folly. The backyard is partial sun to full shade and has very poor drainage--bad conditions for a lawn. As well, a drain pipe that handles rain off from a large part of the building was positioned to send a small river of water off the roof, over the sod and to the drain--then covered by sod and dirt.

We found remnants of the sod, which resembled carpet swaths from a sunken ship.