Your yard. We'll figure it out.
Most people only do this once, so there's no reason you'd already know where to start. That's what we're here for. Bring in a piece of your lawn and we'll work out together what you've got, what will do well there, and how much you need. No order minimums, no appointment, and we don't charge for the advice.
Four things worth sorting out before you buy.
What you already have
Most people don't, and there's no reason you would. Bring in a plug and we'll name the species, tell you whether it's healthy, and say whether the problem is the grass or the conditions it's sitting in.
What will actually thrive
Not the best grass. The right one for your sun, your soil and how the lawn gets used. Those three things narrow the list right down before price even comes up.
How much you really need
It's easy to under-order, because people measure the lawn and forget the offcuts. We'll check your figure against the actual shape of the yard before anything is cut.
Whether now is the right time
Sometimes the honest answer is to wait six weeks. Laying warm-season sod at the wrong end of the year is a good way to pay twice.
Not sure what you already have? Bring us a piece of it.
Cut a plug about the size of your palm, bag it, and bring it by. We'll tell you what species it is, whether it's healthy, and what will blend with it. Matching an existing lawn is the most common reason a patch job looks wrong a year later.
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Cut a plug
Palm-sized, an inch or two deep so the roots come with it. From the middle of the lawn, not the edge.
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Bring it by
No appointment needed. It takes a couple of minutes and it costs nothing.
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Leave knowing
What you've got, what will match it, and whether the problem is the grass or the conditions it's sitting in.
The questions we'll ask.
Nothing mysterious about it, these are just what we need to know. Come with rough answers and we can usually settle the variety in one conversation.
- How much direct sun does it get?
- Count the hours at the shadiest point, not the sunniest. That number alone eliminates or selects half the varieties.
- What is growing there now, and how is it doing?
- A lawn that thinned out has a reason. Replacing it with the same grass and no change in conditions gets the same result.
- Who uses it, and how hard?
- Dogs, children and a worn path to the gate are wear problems. Some grasses recover from that on their own and some never do.
- Do you have irrigation?
- Not required, but it changes the recommendation. Without it, the drought-tolerant options move up the list considerably.
- How much upkeep do you actually want?
- Answered honestly, this is the most useful question of the lot. The finest-bladed grass is the wrong buy if nobody is going to cut it weekly.
- What is under it?
- Sand, heavy clay, builders rubble a foot down. What is beneath the sod decides more than the sod does.
What we'll steer you away from.
We'd rather lose the sale than sell you turf that fails. A lawn that dies costs you the money twice, and it costs us the recommendation.
Buying the grass off the picture
The dark, fine-bladed lawn in the photograph is usually bermuda cut low and fed hard. It looks like that because of the mowing regime, not because of what was bought.
Sod as a fix for a drainage problem
If the old lawn drowned, new turf will drown too. We would rather tell you to fix the grade than sell you a pallet that dies the same way.
Over-feeding centipede
It is the most common lawn in the CSRA and the easiest to kill with kindness. Treating it like bermuda causes decline, and the instinct to add more when it looks pale makes it worse.
Ordering before the ground is ready
Sod cut and waiting is sod dying. We will happily hold a date rather than deliver into a yard that is not graded yet.
Bring us a rough number and we'll check it.
Multiply length by width in feet for each section of lawn and add them together. This gives you something to bring us, not an order. We will sanity-check it against the actual shape of the yard, because beds, curves and awkward corners are where the measurement usually goes wrong.
Under-ordering is the more painful mistake. Running a pallet short on a Saturday afternoon is a genuinely annoying way to lose a weekend, and the second delivery rarely arrives the same day.
Rough pallet estimate
Assumes about 450 sq ft to a pallet. Treat it as a conversation starter. We will confirm the real figure before anything is cut.
The advice doesn't stop at the sale.
The first month decides whether a new lawn takes. This is roughly what we'll tell you on the day, and you're welcome to call us during it.
- First two weeks
- Water daily, deeply enough that the soil under the sod is damp. Lift a corner and check. This fortnight decides whether it takes.
- Weeks three and four
- Back off to every other day. Tug a corner; you should feel the roots resisting by now.
- First mow
- Once it resists that tug, usually two to three weeks in. Take the top third only, with a sharp blade.
- From then on
- Less often, for longer. Shallow daily watering for months is the single most common way a good new lawn is quietly ruined.
Come and ask us.
Bring a sample, bring a measurement, or bring both. No minimum order, no appointment, and no charge for working it out with you.