Landscape Sodding and Seeding Archive

Using Sod on Your Lawn

January 23, 2019 by

When you’re ready to create the lawn of your dreams, you’ll have many important decisions to make. One of those decisions will be whether using sod or seed is the right choice for you. Both sod and grass seed are viable options for creating a healthy lawn, but they have different costs and benefits.

Read on for more information about using sod for your lawn.

About Sod

Sod, also known as turf grass, is commonly used in residential and commercial areas because it establishes a lawn quickly and improves the look and feel of a landscape.

Sod is made of sections of grass that are tied together, either by a root system or a thin layer of biodegradable material. You may commonly see sod on golf courses, recreational fields, or on the lawns of homes, schools, and businesses. It is visually appealing, provides erosion control and prevention, and enhances air and water quality. It also improves drainage, which helps prevent flooding.

Advantages of Using Sod

  • Sod provides immediate cover of exposed soil. And, in doing so, it prevents erosion and provides stabilization. For this reason, sod is commonly used on hillsides and new construction sites.
  • You can plant sod at any time of year, provided the ground is not frozen. Seed, however, can only be planted at moderate temperatures (when it is not too hot or cold).
  • A sod installation is reliable and stable. Sod cannot dry out, blow, or wash away like grass seed can.
  • After laying the sod down and watering it for two weeks, you and your family are free to walk, run, and play on your new lawn.
  • Sod is fairly hardy and takes root quickly.
  • It requires daily watering in the summer but is a good choice for those looking for a more low maintenance option.
  • Sod is the cleaner choice, leaving less dust or mud than seed.

With so many advantages to using sod, it’s easy to see why so many property owners choose it. But, it does have a few drawbacks.

Disadvantages of Sod

  • Sod is quite a bit more expensive than seed, and it may be too costly for large areas of land.
  • Proper installation is important. Most professionals recommend that you hire a professional to install your sod.
  • There are limited options for sod. Grass seed, however, comes in many more varieties.
  • If some sections of sod do not take root, removal and replacement of these sections is necessary.

Learn More

If you would like to learn more about caring for your lawn and landscaping, check out these articles on how often to mow your lawn, the best time for lawn aeration, and the best grass for Wisconsin lawns.

Remember: Whether created with sod or seed grass, the health of your lawn makes a huge difference in your yard’s look and feel. Central Services recognizes this, and we can help you make the difficult decisions when it comes to your lawn’s health and aesthetics. Call us today to schedule a consultation for your Milwaukee- or Waukesha-area property.

Filed Under: Landscape Sodding and Seeding

How to Revive Grass After a Long, Hard Winter

June 6, 2018 by

There are over 40 million acres of lawns across the U.S. That’s because homeowners love their lawns, and for good reason: Having a healthy, vibrant lawn can not only add to your home’s property value but also help cut pollution.

Following a long winter, you may be wondering how to make grass green again or how to revive dead grass fast. Not to worry: Those brown spots can be repaired!

Try these tips for reviving grass after winter and making your grass green again.

damaged, dead grass

Knowing How to Revive Grass

There are several steps you need to follow to bring back dead grass. These include:

Cleaning Up the Yard

The first step is to remove any leaves, dirt, or debris covering your lawn. This makes it easier to revive brown grass and allows you to find any areas which need extra care.

Aerating the Soil

Soil gets packed down with time and can choke off the flow of nutrients to your grass. Loosening up the soil helps the grass get the nutrients your lawn needs to grow. That’s why aerating, which loosens your soil, is great for bringing back dead grass.

Removing Dead Grass

After a long winter, it’s possible that some of the grass in your lawn is dead. You’ll want to dethatch the lawn to help remove any dead grass.

Using a rake to dethatch the lawn allows the soil and living grass to breathe and get the necessary nutrients they need to stay healthy.

Taking Care of Weeds

As your lawn begins to revive, so will the weeds that try to take over your lawn. It is important to quickly remove any emerging weeds before they have time to spread.

Preventative weed treatments can also help stop weeds before they can grow and become a problem for your lawn.

Dealing with Bare Patches

If you find dead spots in your lawn and are unable to bring back dead grass there, you’ll need to regrow the grass. This means either using grass seeds to regrow grass in the dead spots or using sod to quickly cover the bare patches.

With seeds, you’ll need to find grass seed suitable for your soil type and climate. You’ll also need to plant the seeds early in the season. It’s important to regularly water the area to make sure the seeds take root and grow properly.

If you choose to go with sod, you’ll need to select a species of grass that matches your existing lawn. As with seeds, you’ll need to water daily to make sure the sod takes.

Fertilizing

For your lawn to grow properly, it needs the proper nutrients. Using an appropriate lawn fertilizer in the spring helps provide the necessary nutrients. And, depending on the type of fertilizer you use, it may even also kill weeds.

There are many different types of fertilizer to choose from, including nontoxic and organic fertilizers, so it’s important to research before making a choice.

Knowing How to Make Grass Green

Here in Milwaukee, knowing how to revive grass after winter is a must have. Ithelps keep your lawn healthy in the spring. But remember: You’ll still need to take care of your lawn in the spring to get it ready for summer!

Whether you’re interested in learning about how to care for your lawn or deciding between seed and sod, we have the information you need. We can also help you with all your landscaping and grounds maintenance needs. Contact us today to find out more about our services.

Filed Under: Landscape Sodding and Seeding, Lawn Care, Winter Lawn Care

Sodding vs Seeding: Which is Better for Your Milwaukee Property?

February 17, 2018 by

The grass doesn’t always have to be greener on the other side, especially when seeding and sodding can help you to have the lushest yard on the block. The question is, which option is better for your Milwaukee property?

Using sod refers to transplanting turf that is already mature, essentially rolling it out as you would a rug. Meanwhile, using seed involves planting seeds to grow new grass. Neither method is necessarily right or wrong, as they both have their unique advantages and disadvantages.

So, which option will get you on track to having your dream yard? Here’s a rundown of the differences between sodding and seeding. That way you can determine which one is best for you.

Let’s Talk Money

If cost is one of the biggest factors in your choice of seed versus sod, you’re in good company. Here’s a look at what to expect on the financial front with these options.

Seed

For the budget-conscious, seeding is your best bet. Even the highest-quality seed mix costs less than a sod product does, so seed wins hands down.

Sod

a roll of sod being installedWithout a doubt, using sod is a costlier option when compared with using grass seed. Why? Because you’re basically paying somebody else for the materials and time required to grow your new, ready-to-roll-out turf.

However, using sod is clearly much more convenient than using seed is. So, if cost isn’t as important, sod is the best choice.

Sodding vs. Seeding Quality

The quantity of money you’re spending isn’t the only important factor when deciding to seed or sod. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll get with both options in the way of quality.

Seed

Establishing a lawn that is dense may take longer with seed. But over time, you may experience a bit more quality with seed than you would with sod. Here’s why:

A wide range of grass varieties and types are available for the choosing, so you can easily find one that grows well in the Milwaukee area. These include the following:

Also, you’ll likely have a healthier lawn in the next few years due to having a strong root system from the start. On top of that, your grass will sprout in the exact same environment where it will live long term, so you don’t have to worry about transplant sensitivities and issues.

Still, getting seed to grow can be a muddy and frustrating process at first. In other words, it’s not a bed of roses.

Sod

Sod might look as though it is free of weeds. However, this is not always the case. Other things to know about sod include:

  • Sod can be an excellent choice in areas where seed would have a hard time surviving, such as in areas that are erosion-prone or sloped.
  • You don’t have as many grass-type choices with sod as you do with seed.
  • Sod is not very shade tolerant.
  • The fact that you don’t have as much mud or dust with sodding as you do with seeding may make it your first choice.

How We Can Help

We offer a number of landscaping services, including both seeding and sodding. Warning: We can’t guarantee we won’t leave your next-door neighbor green with envy after seeing the results of our work!

Contact us to find out more about how we can transform your Milwaukee lawn into the envy of the neighborhood with our top-of-the-line lawn care services.

Filed Under: Landscape Sodding and Seeding

Fox Point Landscape Renovation

June 25, 2015 by

Landscape Update for a home in the Fox Point area in Milwaukee County.  Updating planter beds, reconstructing a lannon stone walkway, and installing new steps using natural lannon stone. The project was finished with sodding the entire front yard.

Landscape Renovation

 

Filed Under: Landscape Sodding and Seeding, Landscaping Brookfield, Landscaping Delafield, Landscaping New Berlin, Landscaping Waukesha, Landscaping Wauwatosa Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Lawn Winter Damage Waukesha Milwaukee

March 31, 2015 by

Winter Lawn Damage Repairs

As the temperatures start to rise, you may notice your lawn is not looking as well as it did in fall. Most lawns experience winter damage in one way or another, some worse than others.  The good news is most damage is easily rectified.  The first step is for you or a lawn specialist to determine the cause and then come up with the appropriate solution. Over the years we have noticed the top three concerns and causes of winter damage are salt, voles and snow mold.

 

Salt damage: Salt damages your grass because the salt draws the moisture away from the roots and dries out the turf area. Salt damage is typically on the edges of the road, driveway and sidewalks.

salt damage

 

What can be done: A professional can apply a organic Gypsum product to the salt damage areas. It should be applied only when the area has dried out and temps are averaging around 40-50 degrees. Gypsum is a calcium sulfate that replaces the salt with calcium and sulfur to help heal the damaged grass. It will then help retain the moisture in the soil to promote healthy grass. Once applied it should be watered in well.  If the lawn has been severely damaged by salt, shoveling and plowing damage, a top soil and seeding is recommended. If you are looking to prevent the damage from returning every year in areas that are prone to salt damage, a salt tolerant seed can be applied. A salt tolerant seed is a wider blade grass and can withstand the salt.

 

Voles: Voles are small rodents with short tails and legs. They like to feast on lush grass under the snow.  They can leave tunnels of dead grass in their path’s and this is typically what we see when the snow cover melts. When the voles chew on the grass leaves they typically leave the root system in tack.
Voles Smaller file

What can be done: Once the grass and soil dries out from the melting snow, rake away the dead grass and you can let nature take its course. The grass will grow back in, filling in the tunneled areas. If the damage is significant a spot seeding can be done to promote more grass growth. Voles can become a nuisance and a consistent problem, a professional can help with safely applying repellents to remedy the problem.

 

 

Snow Mold: Snow mold is a fungus that appears on the lawn area after the snow has melted. Snow mold appears in circular, matted down patches that can be gray or pink in color. A lawn specialist from Central Services can help identify your snow mold. Gray snow mold can be rectified on its own, however pink snow mold is harder to treat.

Snow mold 1

What can be done:  Gray snow mold will typically clear up on its own once the weather starts to warm up. It is only active up to temperatures that reach approximately 45 degrees. Pink Snow Mold can interfere with the root system of your grass and do permanent damage if not treated. The best solution for pink mold is to have a professional treat the areas with a fungicide. Pink mold is active when temps are between freezing and 60 degrees.

 

 

Spring is also a great time to have a lawn specialist from Central Services to evaluate your lawn condition for weeds and fertilizing needs. The sooner a yard is treated the better the outcome. Spring is a good time to put down a pre-emergent so that you can prevent any new weeds from seeding in. A spring application must be done in early spring before the temperatures start to rise. Here at Central Services we recommend having our horticulturists meet with you at your property and go over your concerns, and they can recommend solutions for you landscape maintenance needs.

 

4 Poplar building 010

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Filed Under: Landscape Sodding and Seeding, Landscaping Brookfield, Landscaping Delafield, Landscaping New Berlin, Landscaping Waukesha, Landscaping Wauwatosa, Lawn Care Brookfield, Lawn Care Delafield, Lawn Care New Berlin, Lawn Care Waukesha, Lawn Care Wauwatosa, Lawn Mowing Milwaukee, Organic Lawn Care Options Waukesha, Spring Clean Up Waukesha Tagged With: , , , ,

Landscape Sodding and Seeding

June 1, 2012 by

Central Services can help you add beauty and functionality to your lawn with our professional landscaping services. With over 30 years of experience, we are experts at sodding and seeding, both of which will greatly improve the appearance and value of your landscape.

Sod, otherwise known as turf, is grass and the soil underneath it used to create a lawn quickly without soil erosion. Sodding can provide a fully functional lawn within 30 days! Central Services cares for and maintains high quality sod rolled up and ready to plant. If you are eager to have your lawn and landscape completed sooner rather than later, sodding may be the best option for you.

On the other hand, seeding is a more cost effective option to create a beautiful lawn and needs less water than sod. However, it takes significantly longer for a completed landscape. Seeding also demands more care upfront. Central Services can help identify which seed makes the most sense for your lawn and offer suggestions so that you can successfully seed your yard.

Central Services is an expert at both sodding and seeding and can help you make the right decision for your landscape. We are here for your home or commercial property with all the information you need in order to create the landscape of your dreams. Also, we are passionate about creating and maintaining spectacular landscapes and work with low maintenance plants, materials that come from recyclable, renewable or sustainable resources and we are environmentally conscious.

To learn more about sodding and seeding please contact us at (262) 548-0005 or click here for more information.

Filed Under: Landscape Sodding and Seeding Tagged With:
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