New Lawn OptionsOnce you’ve decided to plant a new lawn, you’ll choose between three options: sod, seeds, or plugs. Your choice should be driven by a combination of how much you’re willing to spend, the specific conditions of your yard, and how quickly you want to see the results of your efforts. Balance the relative importance of each to determine which method is right for you, your budget, and your yard.
Expense is, as always, a crucial factor. The larger the lawn, the more you’ll feel the difference when you write the check. Laying a lawn of sod is about 20 times more expensive than growing that same lawn from seed, and about 10 times more expensive than planting plugs. You can expect sod costs to average around 25 cents per square foot. This cost will vary depending on a number of factors, including what grass species you’re buying and how far you are from the sod farm. But that extra money buys you a couple of key advantages. The first is flexible timing. Sod can be laid at just about any time of the year, although the hotter it is, the more of a challenge you’ll face in getting the sod safely laid, rooted, and established. In contrast, seeded or plugged lawns are only planted in early fall for cold-season varieties, and mid to late spring for warm-season grasses. If you absolutely have to have a lawn in the middle of summer for your daughter’s wedding reception, sod would be the way to go.
The other major benefit to sod is instant gratification. A lawn of reasonable size can be laid with sod in less than a day. In a week, you’ll be able to walk on it, and in two weeks it will be hard to tell the difference from a year-old lawn. Lawns grown from seed, on the other hand, will take weeks to establish and a month or more to become as lush and verdant as a sodded lawn is the day after it’s laid. Plugs are an odd man out, because they look lush where there’s grass, but it may take two full growing seasons to fully fill in the entire lawn area.
The terrain of your yard may also play a part in your decision. For instance if your lawn will be situated on a steep slope, you’d be wise to consider sod or plugs because seeds are likely to wash away during watering or rain. Laying sod is more work than spreading seed, and plugging a lawn is more laborious still. There are, however, many more species available in seed form than in sod.
Sometimes, the only remedy for a failing lawn is to replace it. Whether you choose seeds, sod, or plugs to create your new lawn, the key to success is in the preparation of the soil base and, in three simple words: water, water, water.