Sod: Difference between revisions

Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.

The term "sod" may be used to mean grass grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns. In British English and in Irish English such material is more usually known as turf, and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultural senses (for example for turf when ploughed).

Sod is typically used for lawns, golf courses, and sports stadiums around the world.

Scandinavia has a long history of employing a sod roof.

Following passage of the Homestead Act by the US Congress in 1862, settlers in the Great Plains used sod bricks to build entire houses.^[1]

Sod is grown on specialist farms. For 2009, the United States Department of Agriculture reported 1,412 farms had 368,188 acres of sod in production.^[2]

It is usually grown locally to avoid long transport and drying out and heat buildup of the product. It is sold to landscapers, home builders or home owners who use it to establish a lawn quickly and avoid soil erosion. The farms that produce this grass may have many varieties of grass grown in one location to best suit the consumer's use and preference of appearance. It is usually harvested 10 to 18 months after planting, depending on the growing climate. On the farm it undergoes fertilization, frequent watering, frequent mowing and subsequent vacuuming to remove the clippings. It is harvested using specialized equipment, precision cut to standardized sizes. Sod is typically harvested in small square slabs, rolled rectangles, or large 4-foot-wide (1.2 m) rolls. Some large sod farms may export internationally. Because of the product's short life after harvest, the sod may be washed clean of the soil down to the bare roots (or sprigs) which makes shipping lighter and cheaper. Sod can be used to repair a small area of lawn that has died.^[3]

Seed may be blown about by the wind, eaten by birds, or fail because of drought. It takes some weeks to form a visually appealing lawn and further time before it is robust enough for use.

Turf largely avoids these problems, and with proper care, newly laid sod is usually fully functional within 30 days of installation and its root system is comparable to that of a seeding lawn two or three years older.^[4]

However, turf is more expensive^[5] and requires considerably more water for its establishment. Erosion after seeding may be a concern in some areas near water. Sod reduces erosion by stabilizing the soil in these type of areas.^[6]

Bermudagrass is quite commonly used for golf courses and sports fields across the southern portions of the United States. It tolerates a range of climates in the US, from hot and humid in the Gulf Coast to arid in the southwest and lower Midwest. "Established bermudagrass is a network of shoots, rhizomes, stolons, and crown tissue together that usually form a dense plant canopy. This dense plant canopy can be used to propagate clonal varieties by sod, sprigs, or plugs."^[7]

"‘Celebration’ is a dark green, fine textured, aggressive, traffic-tolerant cultivar with high recuperative potential and drought tolerance."^[8] The cultivar is a breed of Cynodon dactylon from Australia developed by turfgrass breeder Rod Riley^[9]. The grass has a distinctive deep blue-green color which makes it popular on golf courses and for private home lawns throughout the southern United States. A researcher at the University of Florida report noted this cultivar's "good wear tolerance, good quality and color ratings" in the Central Florida environment.^[10] Celebration was the overall best-performing turf grass in a 2-year drought resistance study commissioned by the San Antonio Water System and performed by Texas A & M extension serrvice.^[11] The cultivar was also the top-rated Bermudagrass for drought resistance in a test conducted in South Carolina.^[12]

Along with many golf courses across the southern United States, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers elected to install Celebration bermudagrass in their stadium. ^[13]

Discovery is a bermudagrass that has an exceptional dark blue-green color. It also has extremely slow vertical growth which means that it only needs to be mowed once a month. Discovery has the drought toughness of a bermuda, but does not need to be maintained as much as other varieties. It was developed in Europe. It was made available in the United States in 2011 by Sod Solutions which owns the right to market it in the United States. ^[14] It grows well in all of the southern United States.

Bella Bluegrass was developed by the University of Nebraska as a drought resistant grass that would help states conserve water. It was immediately embraced by schools and homeowners in the state of Utah who are voluntarily trying to conserve water. ^[15]. Bella is the world’s first dwarf, vegetative Bluegrass. It is sold only as sod, not as seed. Bella is a quick grower laterally, but has very minimal vertical growth. Because it only grows to about 4" in height, it requires less mowing. It grows in sand, clay, muck and peat, and is currently being adopted across the northern United States.^[16]

Developed by the University of Florida in 2007 ^[17], Captiva is a chinch bug resistant St. Augustine cultivar. It has a lush, dark green color with a dense canopy and a massive root system. Because it has a slow leaf blade growth and lateral spread, the requirement for mowing is reduced. Captiva has good-excellent shade tolerance and has excellent pest resistance which means there is less need to use pesticides.

Centipedegrass was introduced into the United States from southeastern Asia in 1916. It does well in the climate and soils of central and northern Florida and is the most common home lawn grass in the Florida Panhandle. ^[18]

Covington is a proprietary cultivar of centipede grass from Sod Solutions, Inc. that grows in the southeast United States, from the west half of Texas to all of Louisiana, and most of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. It is the only uniformly green centipede grass on the market. It is a low maintenance grass, which retains its color in the fall and greens quickly in the spring. This variety is currently being evaluated by the University of Florida. ^[19]

Santee' is another new proprietary selection from Sod Solutions, Inc., also being evaluated by the University of Florida for adaptation to Florida use. ^[20]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rolled sod.

• Cob (building)
• Divot
• Groundbreaking (cut or turn the first sod)
• Peat
• Sod house