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| Photo Credit: Donna W. Moramarco |
| You think you need a lot of water for your lawn…? Sod farms are big business! |
Does seeding a new lawn sound like just too much work? Not only do you have to tear up your old lawn and properly prepare the soil (which means doing a soil pH test, adding starter fertilizer and, if needed, mixing in soil amendments), you have to grade the area and sow the seed and water, water, water – and don’t forget wait, wait, wait. If all goes well, you’ll be rewarded with a sea of green in about a month. Can you spell p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e?
Well, if waiting that long for your soft, lush, green reward is simply too much, you’re the perfect candidate for the instant green gratification of a sod lawn. Yes, you still have to do the work to prepare your yard for that healthy, green grass, but you don’t have to wait a month afterward. And sod sure makes some areas of your yard easier to get green. (It’s not simple to seed and water a sloped area, for example.) What’s more is you can sod just about anytime of the year – as long as the soil’s not frozen. If sod’s so great, why doesn’t everyone use it? Well, these strips of grass do have their downside. First, sod’s more expensive than seeding a lawn. Sod farms are big business, and it costs a lot of money to grow and water the grass on large swaths of land. Those extra costs are passed along to you, the consumer. Another downside to sod is that you won’t have the variety of grasses to choose from. Most cool-season sod contains high percentages of Kentucky bluegrasses, which need a lot of sun. So if you’re looking for shade-loving sod, you’d be much wiser to seed with a shady mixture. If you even think about putting sun-loving sod in shade, you’re only setting yourself up for failure.
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