Sod Installation Company in Greenville, SC

As you have probably noticed, every single landscaper “does sod.”  To speak frankly, if you are trying to have someone lay sod for as cheaply as possible, then it won’t be us.  We don’t cut corners, we don’t use low quality sods, and we just aren’t going to be the low bidder.  With that said, if we are installing sod as part of a larger landscape renovation then we do price it very competitively because we already onsite doing everything else.

The sods that grow best in the Greenville area are fescue, bermuda, and zoysia.  We have a little bit about each grass below that should be a helpful guide.  But before you fall in love with a grass, be sure to check with your HOA (if applicable) to see your options.  Many home owner’s associations will have requirements on what type of grass you are allowed to have.

Here is the real talk answer about whether you should do sod or seed.  The vast majority of what you are paying for with grass installation is the prep work.  The appropriate way to prep a yard is as follows:

1. Scrape the existing yard with a skid-steer bucket.
2. Use hand tools to remove old grass at the hardscaped areas, at utilities and around irrigation heads.
3. Grade the yard and add or fix existing drainage issues.
4. Prep the yard with new top soil and hand grade the yard so it is completely level.

The last part is laying sod.  Depending on which sod you pick, the material cost is about $250 – $500 per pallet.  And a pallet covers 450-500 square feet.  If you have already invested all the time and cost to properly prepare your yard, why would you try to save 15% on the install by opting for seed over sod?  As a grass installer, we don’t make any extra money if you use sod or seed; our cost is in the labor to prepare the yard.  Sod is going to have a 99% success rate of taking and thriving.  Seed is really hit and miss and its longevity is solely dependent upon the homeowner’s monitoring and watering.  We don’t have any customers who have done sod and regretted it.  We can tell plenty of horror stories about seed.  In fact, we rarely accept seed jobs any more.

We have installed well over 100 sodded lawns in Greenville and surrounding cities.  The information below is related to that first hand experience.

Bermuda Sod Quick Facts:
-Material cost is a little cheaper than fescue, but not to a point where many people pick Bermuda because of the slightly lower expense
-Most new construction neighborhoods are Bermuda sod, so if you are in a new subdivision then Bermuda might be your only option
-In the Greenville area Bermuda goes dormant (aka brown) late fall to spring
-Bermuda grass is great for kids and high traffic area.  Most sport fields are Bermuda or a variety of it
-Is sold and can be installed no matter the time of year
-Once rooted, Bermuda is a hardy grass that is easy to maintain

Fescue Sod Quick Facts:
-Fescue is green year round
-Most of the time fescue is only installed about October to May in Greenville.  Higher altitudes would have a longer laying season
-Fescue looks great the instant it is down.  There are no seams or shrinkage like you see with Bermuda
-Is considered to be a decorative grass.  Kids and dogs can trash a fescue lawn, especially if the grass is wet
-Most fescue lawns can be a little bit temperamental and benefit from a professional maintenance schedule

We do occasionally work with zoysia sod.  We like zoysia, but it rarely lives up to the hype.  Customers do hours of research and decide that zoysia is the magic bullet to make their lawn beautiful forever.  You can spend lots of time reading about palisades, zeon, and diamond (those are the three types of zoysia marketed the most around Greenville).  A zoysia lawn can be gorgeous if you have a professional maintaining it, but most people who opt for zoysia are disappointed because it essentially looks just like Bermuda but costs more up front and can be tricky to keep up.