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Fescue Sod Installation

By Ben Mester

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Published: 23Nov2010
Word count: 559
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Fescue sod is the most common form of grass sod that people install in their yards, or at least it was in San Diego where I ran a landscaping business for a few years. It's in a genus of grass of about 300 different types, and it grows differently depending on which type of fescue sod you install. Naturally, some fescue varieties do better in some climates, and others do better in other climates. If you're looking to install a fescue sod, your local sod distributor should be able to tell you what kind of fescue is best for your region.

In another recent article, I wrote about the many steps, tricks, and tips involved in sod laying. But in that article, I didn't talk about what kind of sod to choose for your yard. Are some kinds of sod better for yards than others? The answer depends on a lot of things. One of those things is location. In my last hub I wrote about zoysia sod and how it grows great in warm and tropical climates. Fescue on the other hand still does well in warm climates, but is also suited for colder ones. Fescue sod can take off in many different environments.

Like I said earlier, in many of the southern states like Arizona, Texas, Southern California, etc, fescue is installed in lawns. But if you're unsure what kind of sod you might want to lay in your yard, you might consider dwarf fescue. Dwarf fescue is nice because it uses less water. In many states, there are water restrictions on lawns. Installing the old water guzzlers like regular fescue and others can sometimes get you into trouble. Dwarf fescue is nice because it still has all the benefits of your standard fescue, but doesn't grow as fast or consume as much water.

The other thing that's nice about dwarf fescue grass is that it's been engineered to have great tolerances to a lot of different types of hazards. Some grasses, like zoysia can't stand being in the shade. Dwarf fescue doesn't mind. It also has excellent tolerance to both heat and cold, to drought, to sunlight, and pretty good foot traffic tolerance.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is not adequately preparing their soil for new fescue sod, or any other type of sod for that matter. If you're looking to install sod and have settled on a type of fescue, definitely ask your sod distributor what kinds of soil amendments and conditions you'll need. But in general I can tell you that fescue likes soil that is both slightly acidic as well as slightly sandy, with good drainage. You shouldn't have any large rocks in your soil, and if you have clay in any quantity in your soil like you'll find in many of the southwestern states, you'll definitely want to add some gypsum into your soil to help break up some of the clay.

Ground should also be rototilled fairly heavily. These are pretty cheap to rent, and usually only run about $60 per 24 hours. That's not bad, especially considering the amount you're going to spend on your sod. It would be a shame to spend the money on sod and then watch it slowly thin out and grow unhealthy because your ground wasn't properly prepared. Soil preparation for fescue sod is very important.

Fescue Sod is a great way to go in the realm of sod. Of all the sod I've installed, fescue never has any problems and takes root nicely and thrives. For more on grass and sod, check out my other article on Zoysia Sod.

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