Growing your own sod

[Hencackle]

Has anybody done this? Usually I do "spot repairs" by sowing grass seed and putting up a make-shift fence with poultry netting. Thanks to last year's exceptional drought, this wasn't an option. There's a bunch of dust bath holes that need fixing!

I was thinking of using the black plastic seed-starting trays and filling those with a mixture of dirt, sand, and potting soil and sowing grass seed in these. Who knows what kind of pesticides and junk is used on the sod found at Lowe's or Home Depot?

Any advice or suggestions? :happy_flower

 

[patandchickens]

Has anybody done this? Usually I do "spot repairs" by sowing grass seed and putting up a make-shift fence with poultry netting. Thanks to last year's exceptional drought, this wasn't an option. There's a bunch of dust bath holes that need fixing!

I was thinking of using the black plastic seed-starting trays and filling those with a mixture of dirt, sand, and potting soil and sowing grass seed in these. Who knows what kind of pesticides and junk is used on the sod found at Lowe's or Home Depot?

Any advice or suggestions? :happy_flower

Hmm, it's not obvious to me why that should be any faster than growing the grass in situ (doing the same patching as always, only in early spring instead of last fall)? If anything, patching oughta be faster, I think, as you would only have to wait for the grass to grow *once*, not once plus waiting for the moved sods to really take hold...?

Also I am skeptical about using a loose light mix like that for growing sod, as I strongly suspect that unless you really let the grass 'grow on' for a considerable length of time, it will tend to just fall apart when you try to move it to the ground. You might oughta use 100% real dirt from garden if you do try growing it in trays; and if it were me, I would line the bottom of the trays with scraps of landscape fabric or very thin cotton fabric (even cheesecloth), NOT sticking up at the edges just on the bottom, to make it easier to get the whole thing out in one piece when it's time to move it to the lawn. I have to say I am real skeptical about the whole thing but if you do try it I'd love to hear what happens.

OTOH... have you considered just making some new garden beds? That would hands-down be the easiest solution Either promote some of the bare patches to bed status (just loosen soil and add some compost or whatnot), or open beds elsewhere in the lawn (or enlarge existing beds), removing the sod there in intact patches that can be moved to the bare spots.

Whenever I am opening new bed area on healthy turf, I try (body and time willing) to strip off the old sod and transplant it elsewhere, such as the various dips in the backyard. If you do it in a wet time of year it works beautifully on its own, otherwise it takes watering same as any other sod, but at least you're using something you already have. And thus it will also 'match', if you care

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Hencackle]

My soil is a heavy clay that compacts easily, even watering it will compact it down. That's why I added sand and compost to my flower beds when I made them. Even this lightened mix is still "heavy" compared to soil in other parts of the country.

I enlarged the beds several years ago and I used that sod and soil to fix some low spots then. I'm a pretty good sod-stripper, if I may so ...The beds now surround the house and have a rock border and DH said I can't dig any more beds unless we get another house. This is his warning: "NO more digging, do you hear me!?!

Back to topic...my plan for using this "pseudo-wheatgrass" method is to give the grass enough of a head start so that I don't have to leave the barricades up as long. I have 23 chickens free ranging in my 3/4 acre backyard so barricades are a must!

 

[patandchickens]

The beds now surround the house and have a rock border and DH said I can't dig any more beds unless we get another house. This is his warning: "NO more digging, do you hear me!?!

Wow. *My* DH, who has no interest whatsoever in garden plants (other than those w/ripe tomatoes on them) and who just shrugs when I point out that he's just run the mulching mower over yet another unintended victim (aargh), is always like "Woo hoo, another bed! Less to mow! When are you going to expand *that* one over *there*?" lol. To the point where I actually got him to do several hours of work for me yesterday (because my back is out), moving cardboard and mulch hay to smother out grass for yet more bed area.

Your DH must sure like to mow

Good luck w/ the sod experiment,


Pat

 

[Hencackle]

DH rarely mows. I push the whole acre (sans 30x100 garden plot & foundation beds around the house). DH actually enjoys mowing but he is a roofing contractor and is way too busy estimating and overseeing 3 crews to help with the yard consistently. Before he started his company, he was very much involved in the garden.

I'll post my results of the sod experiment later, however long that might be.

 

[nightshade]

DH rarely mows. I push the whole acre (sans 30x100 garden plot & foundation beds around the house). DH actually enjoys mowing but he is a roofing contractor and is way too busy estimating and overseeing 3 crews to help with the yard consistently. Before he started his company, he was very much involved in the garden.

I'll post my results of the sod experiment later, however long that might be.

I know the feeling I push mow ours as well , around 1.5 acres. The closest thing DH does is eat the veggies, ect when they are ready.

If the sod thing works please let us know. I would like to try it for some places between paths/ flagstones. We have very little good soil to grow grass in and it always requires extra dirt first.

 

[Nifty]

I've actually thought of a similar idea a few times. I've got two lawns in front of the house, one in the main front and one off to the side. I've often thought of transplanting some of the one that isn't as noticeable into the bare spots of the one in front of the house.

I also overseeded into some areas where I didn't necessarily want lawn and they have turned into pretty nice turf. It seems much easier to seed and tend one big area and then always have that as backup sod then to spot tread a bunch of little areas from time to time.

I've not tested this, so I'd love some feedback / ideas.