Aside from Home depot- anyone know the best place to buy sod? Is there sod that can do ok in a shady backyard? Also is ok to plant it now (in the beginning of August)?

need help! Questions about sod

newbrook

in Garden 12 years and 10 months ago

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stevecym | 12 years and 10 months ago

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When I was in high school we laid a big sod lawn for someone in the middle of the summer and that lawn is still there and doing fine.  It was hot as hell when we did that – I remember the heat.  Now, we did work under the direction of the homeowner so I am not sure what special knowledge he may have had or care he gave it in the stifling heat, but he was very confident about what we were doing and had no problems.  I would not hesitate to put that stuff down now so long as I would be around to care for it.  Find a nursery – and btw they will not have it in stock now and will have to order it – and ask them what kind of care it may need.    Steve

Bond | 12 years and 10 months ago

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There are sod mixtures that can take moderate shade.  If it’s heavy shade, it might linger for a season or two, but it will never be happy and will eventually die out.   Greenwoodger is right, it’s a little hot to place right now.  While you can, you’ll have to water like crazy and that opens the door to root rot, pythium blight, all kinds of bad things.  If you’re going to go through the expense of sod, do yourself a favor and have a soil test done, it’s cheap and you’ll know whether you need to amend your soil before proceeding.  Also, what’s causing the shade in the backyard?  If it’s a large tree(s), you need to figure out which kind of tree and if it’s a surface root feeder like a maple.  You’re not going to get sod to grow under a maple, they steal all the available water. Instead of planting now, I’d use August to prep the area, putting down black plastic to kill existing vegetation (especially weeds) and then amend, till, roll, and place in Sept.  I’ve never found there to be much of a difference between sod suppliers in the area, they almost all buy it from growers on Long Island.  You can buy direct from a grower, I used DeLea (Northport, L.I.) with good results not too long ago, I’m pretty sure they are still around.  They’ll try to work with you on delivery so that they have several drop offs to keep costs on the low end (it’s still not cheap though). Then you’ll also have the advantage of knowing what sod mix you are getting instead of whatever the installer has on hand. You’ll probably want something that has more fescue (shape tolerant) than bluegrass (sun loving) but the grower will advise on that. Good luck.

greenwoodgeneral | 12 years and 10 months ago

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too hot to plant it now- but a good place to get it is shannon’s nursery across from greenwood cemetary. They will also deliver and prep and plant it for you.