How Much Does Sod Cost?

 
According to a recent study done by Home Advisor, the average cost of having sod installed in a 2,000-square foot yard is a little over $1,000. Assuming the area is relatively flat, this price includes the sod, labor and equipment needed to have your sod installed by a professional.

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Ideally the best time to lay sod is from April to October, but sometimes waiting until those months simply isn’t an option. If you find yourself in this position, don’t panic. Although laying California sod in the winter is not ideal, it’s still possible and can have some advantages when done with care.

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We’re halfway through August and the temperatures are still soaring well into the hundreds. As I sit here ordering my ryegrass seed for the farms I figured it was a good time to put out a short blog on preparing your lawn for the fall.

The hot/humid weather is ideal for warm season grasses, especially with sod in Arizona and California. If you had any weak areas in your lawn you saw one of two things happen over the last couple weeks. You either saw the weak areas begin to grow in size or you saw your problem areas fill in as the stolons moved across the open ground.

If your weak areas are getting larger you should take a close look at your irrigation system. Sometimes it appears sprinklers are getting great coverage but when you put out bowls to check for water volume you often find that area is being missed. One of the most common areas for this is right in front of your pop up sprinklers. That triangular spot right below the sprinkler is the hardest spot to cover on the whole lawn. The easiest way to fix this issue is to put in a dual spray nozzle. These cost around $3-$4 and can be installed in under a minute. Read the rest of this entry »

With the rising temperatures we have quickly entered the best time of the year to plant sod. I’m sure a few of you just read the first sentence and thought that I was crazy since we’re hitting 105-110 degrees most days. Warm season turf is so well adapted to this type of weather that establishing a lawn during the summer is a simple process with the right prep work and follow up. I’m going to outline some simple cost effective steps for those looking to put in a lawn this summer.

Living in the desert we all know that water is scarce so we want to do our best to preserve it and not overuse it. One of the best water saving tips is putting in an automatic sprinkler system. Before I proceed I will tell you that I don’t recommend putting in a new lawn without one. A good sprinkler system will allow you to put out the correct amount of water in a given period of time and will help eliminate waste.

BOBSod does very well during the hot summers.

Setting up a manual sprinkler or hose is inefficient, time consuming, and most of all it is very tough to gauge the amount of water you actually put out. Before putting in an irrigation system you should by a small gauge to check your homes water pressure. Knowing how much water pressure you have will determine how many sprinklers can be on each valve. Depending on the area you will be watering you may need a couple to several valves to correctly operate your irrigation system. Most sprinkler systems are set up with a valve that controls the drip lines to the plants and then a valve for each section of the turf. A home with 1000 square feet of turf will typically have two valves to control the lawn. If you have very low water pressure you will probably need to add a third valve so less sprinklers are running at one time.

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In my last blog a week ago I mentioned that we were still a little warm with the nighttime temperatures to drop seed, but we are in the clear now. The month of October is a great time to drop seed and you should see your ryegrass popping out of the ground in 5-7 days. I know the temperatures will climb back up into the 90’s again during the day, but it is the nighttime temperatures that are most important at this time of the year. If you have already put down seed and are 7-10 days out, it is time to get the second application of fertilizer down. I am going to keep today simple and short, just wanted to give everyone some reminders.

Our overseeded sod will be available at the farm on October 18th.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Jay

If you are new to the southwest and have some questions regarding your lawn then you are in the right place. I try and give my readers weekly updates and a little bit of turf knowledge that can help them make an informed decision about which product to buy or how to grow your lawn properly. Believe it or not we are in the best time of the year to put sod down because you are giving your grass optimal weather and well over 100 growing days to get your lawn established.
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Have you put off installing grass over the last few seasons or has your turf become a little weak over time?  Did you know that there is not a bad time in the southwest to renovate your lawn.  We are lucky to have a year round grass season here and there are several options depending on what works best for you.  

While you often see most golf courses and landscaping jobs installing the majority of their grass in the summer months, it is attributed to a slower time of the year for them.  There is very little play on a golf course during the summer months and it allows them to tear up areas and redo them before the majority of people come back to the club for the season.  The other reason we often see summer renovations is because it is optimal bermudagrass and paspalum planting weather, and before they get golf cart traffic, players, and the everyday wear and tear it is necessary to have a nice bermudagrass or paspalum base.  Golf courses can struggle a little bit with overseeded grass because of the traffic, while homeowners don’t have to deal with these issues.  So why do I bring all that up?  My point is that when these projects are not going on in the summer it leaves many more contractors available to do good quality work at your home. Read the rest of this entry »

Many homeowners in older neighborhoods have seeded their lawns with common bermudagrass to fix areas or to establish new lawns.  Now they have realize they can’t seem to get rid of it when they want to.  This is one of the most difficult grasses to eradicate, but I am going to tell you a way that will save some of the pain and help reduce the problem.  Read the rest of this entry »

The preparation of your soil is as important as the quality of the sod you put down.  If your ground is not prepped right to begin with, you can anticipate several problems down the road.  I am going to lay out a few easy steps for you to follow to make sure that your ground is ready to go for sod. Read the rest of this entry »

We put down an acre of sod yesterday on top of a parking lot for the McDowell Mountain Music Festival.  We think lush cool grass is a a lot cleaner and more fun than a dirty parking lot!  What a great idea! Read the rest of this entry »