Sod delivery & installation services (San Antonio, Mesquite: how much, buy, maintenance)

[Joka84]

Im looking for a good sod delivery & installation company in San Antonio I figured what better place to ask for recommendations than this forum. Also I haven't really nailed down the type of grass to use we have two kids and a dog so I'm leaning towards something that can handle heavy traffic. So any tips?

Thanks

[TrapperL]

Try Dels and Grass to Go. Both have worked well for me over the years. I'll let them recommend the type of grass you need.

[Joka84]

Thx

Originally Posted by TrapperL

Try Dels and Grass to Go. Both have worked well for me over the years. I'll let them recommend the type of grass you need.

[Cuero]

No matter what type of grass you buy make sure you are putting it on at least six inches of top soil. It will cost you a few bucks now but will save you a lot more in water down the road. The Texas AG extensions and Texas A&M have a lot of good information online to help you make an informed decision about your new lawn. One of the things they found was for drought tolerance the type of grass you have doesn't matter nearly as much as the amount of topsoil.

[Readerfeeder]

Not sure I would even buy sod these days...aren't they going to soon stop us from watering much at all? Cuero gives good advice, though. We discovered upon doing other projects that our builder put no topsoil under the sod. We've since found out from friends this is pretty common unless you are watching them closely.

[ardamir]

Cuero is 100% right about the soil. There is a stuff SAWS and Texas A&M did a study on on sod survivability:
http://www.sodsolutions.com/pdf/saws...port_final.pdf

I doubt that the results would be the same if they did the study in Stone Oak because the test site had some very thick soils that the sod was able to draw moisture from.

I have Buffalo Grass/Curly Mesquite which we started from seed (I do not recommend doing this). It looks great and requires minimal maintenance. However, Buffalo would probably not work for you as it does not tolerate traffic.

Another thing to consider is how much sun will the grass be exposed to. Some hybrid Bermudas will be able to handle two dogs and children just great but will need at least 6 hours of sun. IF you have deep soils then Floratam may also be an option but it does not like freezing temperatures so if you live on north side of town you may have a problem.

Finally, I would strongly recommend putting of installing sod this year as San Antonio will most likely be going into Stage 3 and Stage 4.

[kevcrawford]

Jamur Zoysia is what you're looking for. Great for high traffic and drought tolerant. Pretty much perfect for Texas.

[Joka84]

This is why I enjoy hese forums great information from several directions. After looking at the cost,forum recommendations, and the chance of water restrictions this summer we decided to start from seed. That way if it dies I've only lost about $50 bucks instead of $850 lol. Thanks everybody

Originally Posted by ardamir

Cuero is 100% right about the soil. There is a stuff SAWS and Texas A&M did a study on on sod survivability:
http://www.sodsolutions.com/pdf/saws...port_final.pdf

I doubt that the results would be the same if they did the study in Stone Oak because the test site had some very thick soils that the sod was able to draw moisture from.

I have Buffalo Grass/Curly Mesquite which we started from seed (I do not recommend doing this). It looks great and requires minimal maintenance. However, Buffalo would probably not work for you as it does not tolerate traffic.

Another thing to consider is how much sun will the grass be exposed to. Some hybrid Bermudas will be able to handle two dogs and children just great but will need at least 6 hours of sun. IF you have deep soils then Floratam may also be an option but it does not like freezing temperatures so if you live on north side of town you may have a problem.

Finally, I would strongly recommend putting of installing sod this year as San Antonio will most likely be going into Stage 3 and Stage 4.

[goodmanm]

Originally Posted by TrapperL

Try Dels and Grass to Go. Both have worked well for me over the years. I'll let them recommend the type of grass you need.

I like them as well.

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

Jamur Zoysia is what you're looking for. Great for high traffic and drought tolerant. Pretty much perfect for Texas.

I have a couple of different varieties of grass in my yard and this is by far the best. The only drawback with it is that it doesn't go dormant when not watered like Bermuda does, it dies.

Originally Posted by Joka84

This is why I enjoy hese forums great information from several directions. After looking at the cost,forum recommendations, and the chance of water restrictions this summer we decided to start from seed. That way if it dies I've only lost about $50 bucks instead of $850 lol. Thanks everybody

I tried seeding an area last year and it didn't work out so well. I would highly recommend that if you're going this route to get the seed in the ground now and water the hell out of it for the next two weeks or so.

Good Luck!

[ardamir]

Originally Posted by Joka84

This is why I enjoy hese forums great information from several directions. After looking at the cost,forum recommendations, and the chance of water restrictions this summer we decided to start from seed. That way if it dies I've only lost about $50 bucks instead of $850 lol. Thanks everybody

It takes about a year for a grass to establish itself so you will need to water what you plant a lot. I would suggest doing only a portion of the yard that will be small enough to water easily and wont be destroyed by your dogs.

Dont forget about the soil depth. It is REALLY important.

For those interested here is some info on Habiturf.
Native Lawns - Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

It is only available in seed but it should be available in sod in a year or two.