Plant a new lawn for your home with real sod that suits your property and looks great year round.
Breathe easy with real turf, knowing you’re making an environmentally-friendly choice. Using real, natural turfgrass for your lawn has a variety of benefits. Not only does turf help fight erosion with its root system, sod also absorbs as much as 7 inches of water per hour, helping to reduce stormwater runoff and flooding. Natural turfgrass produces oxygen, cools temperatures and effectively reduces noise pollution.
Selecting a turfgrass variety for your specific location is a crucial step in the process of any new residential sod installation or renovation. Understanding your soil, amount of sun and shade, and proximity to ocean spray and salty air helps determine the best variety of turfgrass to improve the long-term health and aesthetics of your lawn.
Prepare
Do a soil test to determine what preparation your soil may need before planting sod. For weed control, spray non-selective herbicide (glyphosate). Wait 10 – 14 days. Repeat herbicide application. Remove dead plant material, spread 1-2” of soil conditioner, and rototill the soil conditioner into the rootzone. Rake tilled soil smooth with a water filled roller.
Install
Fertilize with starter fertilizer such as 10-30-10. Sod should be laid over the fertilized soil beginning with the longest straight edges working out to areas that require cutting and trimming. Water after completing all sod is laid. The first day of watering may take several applications to push the water down into the soil, to a depth of 2”.
Grow
Daily watering of sod for the first two weeks is required for successful installation and growth of your new lawn. Reduce water frequency after two weeks. Tapering off on watering encourages grass roots to sink deeper into soil. Gradually reduce until watering 2-3 times per week, as necessary. After two weeks, apply a good slow release turf fertilizer every three months.
Maintain
Hawaii has an extensive number of soil types and each will have different requirements. Once a year, or as needed, de-thatch the lawn to remove excess dead material above the soil surface and aerate to let oxygen and important nutrients reach the roots. This will improve water infiltration and limit disease susceptibility.
