To Seed, or Not to Seed, That May be the Question

Sodding a lawn is often the answer to rid the property and its owner of the woes of dying, dead or ill-performing grasses. Sodding does create the instant lawn so to speak.

Of course, much of lawn health has not much to do with the grass as much it has to do with the fertility of the soil. Although they are strongly related, the egg (soil) comes before the chicken (grass) on this one - more later.

I have heard many home owners wanting to sod their lawn with new or other types of grass simply because they have experienced some bare or troubled spots and a friend or family advised them to do so.

Sodding is a wonderful idea if affordable, the reasons which caused such poor grass health (which are many) are corrected and the proper preparation, particularly of the soil, is performed.

A friend and I sodded the lawn pictured above (photo circa April 2017) back in late spring of 2014. It looked great a few weeks after as I saw it while performing two restoration projects mainly working with shrubs, trees and unwanted ground and encroaching perimeter growth - she had a regular mow, edge and blow guy so I didn't address the lawn after the sodding.

I rode by in late summer of 2016 and was astonished to find the lawn had hardly any healthy grass, if any at all, very much as pictured above.

Several weeks later I stopped in to see her and discovered that she had a near five foot diameter tree removed after the flood of October 15. Not only had this felled behemoth now completely allowed roughly ten hours of sun on the front lawn, the sprinkler system had been mostly made useless after damage from heavy equipment brought on property to remove the tree.

I proposed sodding the coming spring, but also seeding as an option as I didn't believe she wanted to bear the cost of sodding again. After I made some minor repairs to get the sprinkler system operational, we decided to seed annual winter rye grass in December of 2016 to prevent more erosion and the seed took well. Her intent was to seed with centipede the next spring.

After getting soil sample tests performed and calculating the necessary amendments (lime and fertilizer), I prepped the soil in all the necessary manners and seeded the lawn on April 21, 2016. Sprinkler times were adjusted for seed and I visited the property every week-and-a-half to check growth and adjust watering.

The photo to the left was taken just a few days ago on June 17. Yes, there are a few areas which need addressing, but with more healthy soil (due to proper amending), it won't take much to fill the gaps if it doesn't happen on its own. Oh, she saved well over $1,500.00.

I told the property owner I would gladly take over the mow and blow duties, but in the meantime I will be back taking care of all the other aspects of her property and taking advantage of that palette she lost for a few years.

Seeding may be the question and perhaps the answer. Economics and timing are usually the driving forces while other conditions (weather, temperature, slope of lawn, etc.) may be the go-don't-go factors.

Either way, seeding may be the best option for you and your property.