When planning your home landscape design, turfgrass of some type will probably make up at least some portion of your yard. One of the fastest ways to immediately make your yard look better, control soil erosion, keep your soil from turning into mud or dust, and controlling weeds is to properly install new turfgrass from sod. Although several types of turfgrass can be installed as seed, by choosing sod, you’ve let the sod grower do the hardest and most important task of establishing the turfgrass.

Turfgrass Characteristics
The main characteristics that we will look at for each type of turfgrass are shade tolerance, water requirement, traffic tolerance, fertilization requirement, mowing frequency, disease potential, and drought tolerance. By choosing the type of turfgrass that best matches your specific needs, you can ensure the most attractive and healthy lawn possible.

St Augustine
St Augustine is a course textured grass that has high shade tolerance, medium water requirements, low tolerance for traffic, requires a medium amount of fertilization, requires mowing every five to seven days, has high disease potential, and drought tolerance. St. Augustine grass is installed as sod in our area.

Bermuda Grass
Bermuda grass is a dense, fine textured turfgrass that has very low shade tolerance, has a medium to low watering requirement, high traffic tolerance, requires a high amount of fertilization, requires mowing every three to seven days, has medium to low disease potential, and very good to excellent drought tolerance. Bermuda grass can be installed as sod, plugs, or seed.

Buffalo grass
Buffalo grass is a fine textured turfgrass that has medium shade tolerance, has a very low watering requirement, medium traffic tolerance, requires a low amount of fertilization, requires mowing every seven to fourteen days, has low disease potential, and excellent drought tolerance. Buffalo grass can be installed as sod, plugs, or seed.

Zoysia
Zoysia is a medium textured grass that has medium to high shade tolerance, medium water requirements, high tolerance for traffic, requires a medium to low amount of fertilization, requires mowing every seven to ten days, has medium to low disease potential, and very good drought tolerance. Zoysia grass can be installed as sod, plugs, or seed.

How Much
Choose the turfgrass variety that best meets your needs, fits your landscape plan and your budget, is appropriate for the amount of sun and shade available in your yard, and looks best to you. Once you’ve chosen the type of turfgrass, you will need to determine how much you will need by calculating the size of the area to be covered in square feet. Pull out that old high school geometry book, get out in your yard with a tape measure and just break down the area to be covered into a series of squares, rectangles, and triangles, then add the areas together. Sod is typically sold by the pallet, which will cover 450 square feet. If choosing seed, check the bag to see how square feet it will cover. Divide your total square feet to be covered by 450 for sod, or by the coverage amount per bag of seed, and you will know how many pallets of sod, or bags of seed you will need.

Preliminary Steps
Before hopping in your car to rush out and pick up a few pallets of sod, there are several preliminary steps you should take. First off, although you can probably pick up your own seed in your car, sod will need to be delivered. A pallet of sod is big, it weighs a lot, and it would have a decidedly negative effect on your family vehicle. Call several local sod vendors to check their prices, availability, and how much advance notice they will need from the time you place your order until it can be delivered.

Whether installing sod, seed, or mulched beds, you will need to remove all of the dead grass, weeds, and rocks from your yard. Rototill your soil to a depth of four inches, being careful not to injure any tree roots, and establish the final grade. You may want to submit a soil sample to the Texas AgriLife Extension office for analysis. This will give you a detailed analysis of the types and amounts of soil amendments your soil may need.

Installation
Install mulched beds and pathways prior to installing your sod or seed. You can plant flowers and shrubs in the beds at any time. Lightly rake your soil just prior to installing your sod or seed. Spread seed evenly at the spreader setting recommended by the seed vendor. For sod, lay it in straight lines, starting along a driveway or sidewalk, and stagger the seams. Cut any odd size pieces need to fill in the gaps.

Care
Immediately water your seed or sod once installed, and every day until the roots are established when you see the grass start to grow. Once established, water every two to three days in the early morning hours, local restrictions permitting, moistening the soil to a depth of three to four inches. Mow your lawn with a sharp mower blade, often enough so that no more than one-third of the leaf blade is removed at any one time.

Now grab a cold drink and a chair on the front porch and enjoy your handy work. Remember, when designing and installing your home landscape, just take it one piece at a time, get help when needed, and have fun.

The post Southern Turfgrass Choices, Installation, and Care first appeared on The How Do Gardener.

Lawn: Should you sod or seed your lawn?

“Lush green grass will always add to a home’s appeal,” says John W. Shields, certified landscape irrigation auditor, production manager for the landscape architecture department at Lose & Associates in Nashville, Tenn.  In this job, Shields has been the principal designer for most Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations for over 10 years. He says, “The decision to grow your lawn by using seed or pre-grown sod is based on many factors, primarily the cost and climate of where you live.”

Cost comparisons: Pricing is approximate and varies from region to region.

* Dry seeding averages 10 cents to 12 cents per square foot
* Hydro seeding (typically a mixture of seed, mulch and water) averages 16 cents to 17 cents per square foot
* Sod averages 45 cents to 50 cents per square foot

Timing considerations:
When to seed or lay sod varies from region to region. You can find out more about your area by accessing the Plant Hardiness Zone Map in our Tool Shed section.

“The grass you select and the region you live in will dictate when to plant,” says Shields. “If you plant fescue grass, fall is the best time for planting because it’s cooler. Soil temperature should be around 50 to 60 degrees F with air temperatures around 60 to 75 degrees. Temperature above 90 degrees and below 50 degrees will cause your fescue to go into dormancy. If you plant Bermuda grass, be sure to plant in the summer when the soil temperature reaches above 60 degrees at night. Always remember the grass must have moisture for one to three weeks after planting.”

Remember to be patient when growing grass. Seeds can take weeks to grow and not every seed will germinate. The rate can be as low as 60 percent, but the end results are well worth it.

Garden: What’s the best way to organize plants?

As you plan a garden, keep an eye out for inspiration in daily life. Look through magazine pictures and gardens at your favorite local restaurants for ideas.

For example, Cracker Barrel restaurants tier their front gardens, a strategy you can easily duplicate at home by planting from largest to smallest. Start with large foundation trees such as evergreens in the back. Then move to the medium level tier and install shrubbery. Finally, think about the lowest level for ground cover. Cracker Barrel uses Liriope, commonly called monkey grass, for ground cover. It is a hardy plant that thrives in many hardiness zones – from Georgia up to Maine.

“Adding mulch around trees and in a garden makes for a nice clean look in your landscaping,” adds Shields. “Remember not to pile mulch too high – 3 to 4 inches should be plenty.  Mulching increases moisture retention and will actually reduce weeds in your garden.”

Care: How much should you water?

Plants need sun and water to survive, and while you can’t control the sun, you do have more control over water.

“If you want to water correctly, you must know the zone you’re located in,” says Shields. “For example, if you’re watering grass seed in zone six – which goes across the center of the U.S. from coast to coast, you would water fescue 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches a week. You would water Bermuda grass seed 3/4 to 1 inch per week.”

If you need additional guidance, ask your local gardening center, nursery, or cooperative extension. Also, remember to follow your city’s watering regulations since most areas have specific rules for residents on days and times to water.

With these tips you can revamp your landscaping to add value to your home and increase your personal enjoyment as you pull proudly into the driveway every day.

The post Top Things to Consider for Great Landscaping Results first appeared on The How Do Gardener.