Add Photo to Journal

Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Reed Estabrook

Where soil has a good workable texture, a mini-tiller is sufficient to prepare the soil for installing seed, turf, plugs or sprigs.

Looking for a different way to install Southern (warm-season) grasses? Consider planting plugs or sprigs instead of sod or seed. Plugs are 2- to 4-inch circular or square chunks of sod planted at regular intervals from one another, while sprigs are tiny, complete plants scattered across the lawn bed. Either method will grow a lush lawn as the plants send out underground roots and stolons that merge together to form a grassy field.

Why plugs or sprigs? They’re cheaper that sod, and they give you a mature lawn faster than sowing seed can. The trade-off is that installation is time- and labor-intensive, and plugs and sprigs require care to achieve even coverage. The other downside is that the gaps between plugs and sprigs are prey to weed colonization before the turfgrass fills in (so be sure to mulch or topcoat to keep weeds at bay).

You can plant plugs in one of two forms: You can buy them precut, or you can buy sod and cut your own plugs with a steel plug-cutting tool. Some grasses also come in trays of plugs, which tend to have well-formed root structures encased in soil. These survive better at transplanting than plugs just cut from sod. Whatever your planting preference, avoid buying your stock until your soil is perfectly prepared for planting or it’s sure to dry out and be useless.

Planting plugs is a little like planting flowering bulbs, except that you plant in spring rather than fall. Begin the planting as early on a spring morning as you can, preferably on a cool, overcast day. Keep your sod or plugs in the shade under a damp cloth or towel. If you’re cutting your own plugs, cut only enough for a row or two at a time. As you press each plug into its hole, give it a good dousing of water to keep it hydrated until the final watering.