Huge Yard, Want Sod... Help?! (how much, landscaping, contractor)

[KPopi]

Hi, we have a huge yard, almost 1 acre, and have expanded beds and natural areas so as to not have to care for the lawn so much. When we built, the builder put in Fescue sod in the front yard, but without irrigation, we couldn't manage to water it enough to keep it alive, and now we have a mix of some Fescue and a ton of weeds. The backyard never really took off from the seed, and is mostly clay, so also a ton of weeds.

We have some areas that get direct sun most of the day, and others that get mostly indirect sun & shade. We'd like to get grass to cover most areas, and are wanting to sod. Most of the estimates we've gotten are through the roof, and I could get a really nice car or have our yard sodded for the price.

We're planning to get irrigation first, but was hoping for some recommendations on type of sod, as well as maybe some wholesale sod places, and laborers or a contractor to help us install ourselves. Any help is greatly appreciated, we're tired of being embarrassed of our lawn amid our retired neighbors award winning yard!

Thank you!

[wheelsup]

It might be much more beneficial to bring in quality soil and have it layered down. Then come fall reseed. Sod on top of bad soil really won't last very long.

How many sq ft does your yard cover? An acre of land isn't an acre of grass. 15 cubic yards of decent soil is around $250.

Here is a calculator once you figure out how much sq ft you have, you can then estimate the depth, say 3", etc.

http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com...alculator.html

[KPopi]

From the estimates we've gotten, we will need 25,000 square feet of sod.

[KPopi]

And we were definitely planning to prep the soil either way, along with some minor regrading.

[mocharoman]

Call supersod for prices. You might have to do a different sod in the front and back if you want it to successfully grow.

[KPopi]

We did call supersod... they were the most expensive

[luv4horses]

My suggestion is to find a company who will drill-seed the seed for you. You will need a soil analysis then possibly some soil correction. Lightly till and cultivate. Add additional organic matter and cultivate again. Then drill seed, or at least hydroseed.
Drilling is much better. If you want bermuda grass then it will need to be sprigged in with a sprig planter instead. I am not an expert, but it makes sense to do this for most grasses in the early fall and for bermuda in late spring. Either one will need plenty of irrigation to get started. If you cannot find someone, ask at your local landscape equipment supplier.

These processes work well because the seed is put in the soil at the correct depth so there is good soil contact, the right amount of light, no birds feasting on the seed. Plus the moisture will not automatically wash the seed away.

[NRaleigh Mom]

Not sure if you plan to put Fescue back in or not but I would highly discourage it if you have a larger area of grass to maintain. It will require way too much water and fertilizer and constant mowing.

We have been thinking of Tifblair Centipede for our country property due to it's low maintenance factor (we have Fescue at our suburban home). I also like Zoysia (more maintenance than Centipede but less than Fescue) however if you have a lot of planting beds around the grass (which I do) it is very invasive so you will need to put up a really good barrier or else you will be spending a lot of time getting it out of your beds.

We've always done lawns ourselves (including putting in irrigation) so unfortunately I don't have any recommendations on that. Just wanted to point out that there may be some other grasses that would make maintenance easier for people that have acreage.

[KPopi]

Ideally, we'd love zoysia, but also don't want to spend $20k+ to get it. We're fairly set against the fescue because of all of the maintenance.

We've even been thinking of putting sod down a little at a time so that it's not all one big hit to the budget.

[nc99]

Originally Posted by KPopi

Hi, we have a huge yard, almost 1 acre, and have expanded beds and natural areas so as to not have to care for the lawn so much. When we built, the builder put in Fescue sod in the front yard, but without irrigation, we couldn't manage to water it enough to keep it alive, and now we have a mix of some Fescue and a ton of weeds. The backyard never really took off from the seed, and is mostly clay, so also a ton of weeds.

We have some areas that get direct sun most of the day, and others that get mostly indirect sun & shade. We'd like to get grass to cover most areas, and are wanting to sod. Most of the estimates we've gotten are through the roof, and I could get a really nice car or have our yard sodded for the price.

We're planning to get irrigation first, but was hoping for some recommendations on type of sod, as well as maybe some wholesale sod places, and laborers or a contractor to help us install ourselves. Any help is greatly appreciated, we're tired of being embarrassed of our lawn amid our retired neighbors award winning yard!

Thank you!

call this guy Adrian - 9196509460. He did some landscaping work for us and he was good and honest.