Hey, have any of you gals placed sod or seeded your yard by YOURSELF in the southeast? If so, what kind of sod/seed! Thank you!

I love having a yard, but the grass problem makes me want to get a condo. My grass is terrible and I'm in the process of trying to patch.

Good luck!
Daisygirl

Hey Mustang--I've done seed and sod myself--but I think I'm too far north--I'm a different planting region than you.

Here are my tips: If sodding, make sure you have cleaned off the old ground of sticks, stones, weeds and even old grass. Wet ground before laying sod. Laying sod is a lot like painting a floor--remember where you are or you may sod yourself into a corner! You can walk very carefully of fresh laid sod--only to exit the area. Within just a few days you can lift a corner of sod and see that fines rots are taking hold. Water generously daily.

Seed: Prepare ground, rake gently and scatter seed, rerake gently. Up north we then put a layer of hay on top to hold seed down, confused birds and help hold seeded young grass in place during downpours. I guess you could use it in the south as well.

Hope this helps! PS Personally, if you can afford it--go with sod. You'll have a beautiful lawn in no time!

starting over has the right idea but one additional thing I learned from my landscaper is to put down some light fertilizer/grass food under the sod after you've cleaned the dirt well of leaves, sticks and stones etc. then wet it well and roll out your sod. A light sprinkling of water on top, not too much and you should be good to go.

Starting over I've seen this being done in the south too! We are doing seed because our yard is too big. The sod would cost a fortune. We're using fescue seed (I think). It's different grass here then we had in NY.
Good luck with your lawn Mustanggirl!

Thank you gals! The sod is way expensive! I walked through the neighborhood and asked others who have used seed and what type, thus I shall purchase enought top soil, appropriate fertilizer and centipede seed to cover 2,000 feet and "experiment".

It's just too expensive and I think I "bit" off too much - not in purchase a home, but purchasing one in which a lot of lawn maintenance is required!

I purchased the home 6 mths after divorce as an investment b/c I did not want to throw money away into rent, thus my house payment equals rent and a good tax write off. My plan is to sell it in 5 years (and am 1/2 way) and look for a patio home, buy a horse, board the horse, and have the time to travel and ride w/out being tied to much maintenance!

Thanks gals!

mustang, you are one perfect planner. All sounds great to me. The most important part of seeding is preparing the soil before you seed.

Mustang maybe a desert motiff would be beneficial to you, certainly you'd only have to purchase the gravel once and maybe a couple of sturdy plants. You'd also save money on water as gravel doesn't need water. Is what we have here in the western states because of water shortages. But its neat and tidy and looks very nice when done right.

Well, I laid 2500 sf of sod along with top soil. I hired a neighbor to help with tilling and helping with 3 of the 5 pallets of sod. It was a job, but worth it! I have grass (centipede) and hope that next year it will spread to out to the other areas of my yard w/out sod. Last year I placed plugs on the sides of my house where not sod and it is doing well and should grow further by August. It took 5 pallets @ 504 sf each and 14 cubic yards of special mix top soil -- and I'm running those sprinklers and tripping on hoses! But, its all good! Have plenty of top soil left (they gave me a couple cubic yards in addition to the 14 for free!) for other outdoor plantings and a few more trees! Thanks for the advice gals!