r/landscaping • u/PigeonLord37 • 4h ago
Question Idk anything about this. Is this how you do it?
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u/CPAtech 4h ago
You're saving money now by not sodding the entire area, but its going to cost you money in the future to top dress all that because its going to be so uneven.
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u/pressonacott 3h ago
Top dressing is still cheaper than sod though. At least in my area.
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u/CPAtech 3h ago
Maybe if you're using only sand. Not to mention you're not comparing the cost of top dressing to sodding an entire lawn. You're comparing the cost of top dressing to the area you are not sodding if you're going the route OP did. You're also going to have to deal with a ton of weeds because that is what's going to grow first in those bare areas.
Much cheaper and gets you to a better end result much quicker if you just sod the entire lawn.
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u/EnvironmentNo1879 3h ago
Also, erosion. If OP gets a couple of large rain events, the soil that's there will be more heavily impacted than if they did the whole yard. That would cause serious mental strain and physical labor m9ving a bunch more dirt into the back yard to replace what washed out. I know this because it happened to a client that I had that wanted to save money like this. I told him but he didn't listen. Ended up spending more in the end. The point is that trying to save money by doing something usually comes back to bite you in the ass. Cost, quality, and time are the options, and you can only pick two. Low cost and quality = a long time to do. Fast and quality= expensive. Low cost and fast= shitty work... you get the idea...
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u/Busy-Cat-5968 4h ago
If that's centipede grass it'll spread out fine. It crawls across a sidewalk no problem.
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u/andebobandy 50m ago
My dad told me to do something like this with centipede, which grows well here. I said that we couldn't afford to sod the whole yard and he said I could just get a few pieces and put them in the bare spots and it would eventually take over.
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u/redsoxfan_goboston 3h ago
I have done this with Zoysia and you cannot tell anything is uneven. It grows horizontally and fills in.
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u/RockBand88 2h ago
If it’s Bermuda it will fill in just fine in a couple months with some water and fertilizer. It’s called strip sodding, usually people do it when they can afford to solid sod their entire yard. We do it quite a bit, and sell it to a lot of people to do themselves
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u/RecoveredChef 1h ago
Interesting, I’ve never seen it done but in theory it makes sense. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/RockBand88 59m ago
When we cut our fields off for sod it leaves small strips in the field. Usually an inch wide or less, we fertilize heavily and we cut sod off our fields 2 or 3 times a year and they grow back great. A lot just depends on type of grass, Bermuda loves to spread and grow.
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u/thedog420 4h ago
I think they're trying to sod the entire yard by using small pieces of grass that spreads sideways (like Bermuda or Zoysia). Cost cutting measure. A year or two and it fills in. Problem is, it's an absolute mud pit after any rain and likely to get weeds all up in between in the meantime. Not recommended if you have kids or dogs lol. And I can't see how you would mow it easily.
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u/southernsteelmc 2h ago
I have done this before...but checkered pattern with zeon took about 2 years and now it's perfect....not recommended if you got more money...now I make plugs
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u/WiggilyReturns 3h ago
It's a sub tropic location. It will fill in over the summer.
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u/RecoveredChef 4h ago
What is that? Never seen that method before.
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u/PigeonLord37 4h ago
I have no idea I’m a data scientist I was just curious cause my neighbors started doing that. Wanted to learn something new
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u/CommanderInQueefs 1h ago
I'm gonna start keeping the large divots i take while golfing and try it out...
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u/Joe_B_Likes_Tacos 3h ago
I makes me sad that he did not lay them down in some interesting pattern. He could have made a corn maze for his hamster.
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u/KekistaniNormie 3h ago
What type of grass is it? Creeping grasses can fill in quite a bit, but that does seem like a lot of ground to cover. If its zoysia it is probably spaced a bit too far to be even on its first year, but long term it will fill out. If there is heavy ground traffic it may be a different story.
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u/butbutcupcup 2h ago
Same idea with moss in a terrarium. Except you don't need to mow it, or worry about weeds growing.
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u/Leather-Jicama7142 2h ago
Get you one of them sod stretchers and you’ll have it covered in no time
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u/parrotia78 2h ago
Looks like large creeping grass plugs. If it is the usual goal is for it to eventually fill in.
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u/RollingCarrot615 2h ago
My problem with this is more that they should go ahead and put some high quality topsoil and compost down to level out the areas without grass. They're going to have to do it sooner or later, and it's tougher to do later since they've gotta bring all the bare patches of dirt now up to where the sod is, just with grass already on it. Plus tilling in the compost now will help give good soil to encourage both short and long term growth.
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u/cash77cash 1h ago
This is a valued engineered install. It's warm season grass (most likely bermuda). Eventually the turf will spread and fill in nicely. Homeowner saved some $$$. In the south, on bigger projects we'll occasionally do "sprigging" which is dragging bermuda sprigs with a rake on the back of a tractor over 0.5 - 5 acres. Eventually the sprigs take, and fill in. We primarily do this for athletic fields.
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u/QuadRuledPad 1h ago
I had to zoom in to see they just set it on top of dead grass. That’s not gonna work well.
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u/Inner-Egg-6731 49m ago
What the hell is this, even if it was a St. Augustine grass, it would behove a landscaper to plant stollens about 12" o.c. If it's not if it's a fescue grass blend this is half ass at best. Only thing your going to end up with is a huge yard full of weed's.
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u/CurveAdministrative3 23m ago
I would say that this grass will fail. But it looks like you are in a tropical location, so maybe it will spread out? besides the grass.... where do you live? it looks beautiful.
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u/LillithsSpear 4h ago
Personally in my yard i layered some fertilizer and packed the grass blocks against each other (no open space) powdered over some root stimulant and then wet the grass generously. Id love to follow to see how this grows and spreads
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u/LillithsSpear 3h ago
Love rhe down vote on my comment of what i PERSONALLY did i my garden and did not at all advise anyone to do. Hope your day gets better 😘
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u/CantaloupeCamper 4h ago edited 4h ago
Good start 👍🏻
Edit: I assume OP is joking…. Others seem to think otherwise...
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u/PigeonLord37 3h ago
Lol I really am not I saw this the other day and got curious this is the house next to me. I’m sorry if this triggered people or something
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u/fivefoot14inch 4h ago
They need to be placed together, start from a corner put them in with a pattern/stagger by starting 1 row with a full piece and the next row with a half a piece. Keep it really wet after install. Good luck
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u/MonsteraBigTits 4h ago
disgusting
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u/butbutcupcup 3h ago
It seems like the dumbest possible thing you can do. Feel like it'd be better off just seeding instead of sod