Seeding, Sodding & Hydroseeding: Lawn Renovation

To seed, hydroseed or sod? When the customer needs a lawn renovation, sometimes the only person who can select the right option is you, the lawn care contractor.

Homeowners know what they want — beautiful, manicured lawns at the lowest possible price. But most do not have the expertise, equipment or desire to do it themselves. So they turn to the lawn contractor to provide a quality lawn, often under strict budgets.

But which method is best? Sometimes, this decision can be simple. If an instant lawn is wanted, then sodding will provide immediate gratification. But even this “no-brainer” can turn sour if the homeowner doesn’t properly irrigate. Lawn contractors need to consider the pluses and minuses of each method in the context of each job to select the best alternative.

PLANTING THE RIGHT SEEDS. Everyone knows that seeding a lawn is the cheapest route. Next in expense is hydroseeding. Then comes sodding. However, technology has changed some time-honored traditions.

The potential for profit and a limited number of options used to be the reason many contractors chose seeding for small properties. Seeding new lawns and renovating older yards still remains a viable service. Several contractors offer advice on making the most of profitability and productivity.

Alex Cortez, president of Classic Lawncare Inc., Northfield, Ohio, said that his company still does several lawns each year. “We strongly recommend lawn renovation in the fall to prevent crabgrass infestation,” Cortez noted. Fall renovation provides for greater customer satisfaction.”

Glenn Scherzinger of Showcase Turf Care Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, agreed that seeding new lawns and renovating old ones can be a profitable add-on service. He noted that seed bed preparation is the key to a successful seed job. Hand labor, however, is too expensive.

“We use a rake on our loader,” noted Scherzinger. “That allows us to prepare a seed bed up to 80 percent faster than a rototiller. Sometimes, we rent a large specialty landscape rake for larger jobs, and it greatly reduces labor costs.”

Site preparation is key, said Phil Fogarty, president of Crowley’s Lawn Service Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. His company tries to stay away from traditional seeding work due to the lack of control and possible lack of customer satisfaction that is inherent in turf renovation projects.

“Customer expectation is very high, and we can’t control the weather or the customer care, so it’s very difficult to deliver a great product,” said Fogarty. “We’d rather clean up someone else’s [seeding] job by applying turf care products to a renovation than do a seeding or renovation ourselves.”

Seeding is a low-cost method of establishing a lawn, but unless a contractor watches labor costs, it may not be as profitable as it appears on the surface. Call-backs to deal with weed problems and a lack of watering can also lead to problems.

Lack of watering by lawn renovation customers can lead to a potential add-on service, however, with the rental of portable lawn sprinkler systems. The problem can be turned into an opportunity.

ON-SITE LABOR COSTS. One of the biggest problems in establishing new lawns continues to be the cost of labor involved in site preparation and subsequent call-backs involved with less-than-satisfactory turf establishment. How can a turf professional reduce these labor costs and improve turf establishment?

New, improved techniques for speeding up soil preparation call for a more mechanized approach. One example is using a special drag-behind landscape rake such as those distributed by Gary Erholm, president of KEM Enterprises Inc., Bellevue, Wash.

The rake, according to Erholm, does all of the soil preparation in one pass. It loosens the soil, pulverizes any clumps, extracts rocks and other debris and levels all at one time. Debris collects in a hopper and is retained until it can be dumped for removal. The machine can hook up to either a standard three-point hitch on a tractor or director to a skid loader for easy maneuverability.

“We’re confident,” he explained, “that this rake can eliminate up to 75 percent of the soil preparation cost by replacing four to six laborers. With the rising cost of labor and the shrinking qualified labor force, this piece of equipment really makes sense for a professional lawn care operator.”

Jim Puhalla, president of Sportscape International Inc., Boardman, Ohio, also feels that “site preparation is the most important factor to consider when establishing a new turf area.” His company’s major emphasis is on athletic fields, but his firm also installs a large number of residential lawns.

“If you don’t do a good job preparing the seed bed and getting the seed into good contact with it, you’ll have major problems with limited germination. Call-backs will kill your profits,” he added.

“We prefer either to seed conventionally or to sod our turf areas. We like to use conventional seeding techniques for new residential lawns,” Puhalla explained. “When the seed has been raked and rolled into the seed bed, there’s a better chance that it will take off and establish itself when moisture becomes available.”

He explained that he prefers the direct seed-to-soil contact that seeding promotes.

ECONOMICS OF HYDROSEEDING. Hydroseeding is still very popular in many areas of the country.

“Where cost is the major concern, we hydroseed residential lawns,” said Dwane Smith of Thomas Brothers Grass Co., Granbury, Texas. “Hydroseeding may have some drawbacks, such as rain washing it away before it has time to germinate and get established, but there are real price advantages.”

Rich Campobello of Campobello Landscape, Woodstock, Ill., renovates a lot of lawns with hydroseeding. He uses a 1,000-gallon hydroseeder and likes both the equipment and the product.

“There’s not a lot of new technology involved in hydroseeding, aside from new tackifiers and mulches,” he reported. “But I really like the wood mulches, since I have the best results with them.

“Site preparation is still the key,” he continued. “Homeowners must understand how important their role is. We always leave a brochure spelling out exactly what they need to do, as well as give verbal instructions when we leave a job.”

Campobello explained his preferred renovation timing. “Early fall is still the best time to start a new yard. We put in yards in the spring when necessary, but heavy rains can ruin the job. If the seed germinates well with lots of rain, a hot, dry summer can play havoc with it.”

COSTS OF SODDING. An increasingly cost-efficient method in the lawn establishment picture is sodding. While sod has always been the choice when an “instant” lawn was required, labor cost made it the most expensive choice.

That may no longer hold true, said John Noe of Cygnet Turf, North Baltimore, Ohio. “Labor has always been the factor that ran the cost of sod up so high,” but a recent innovation has knocked down those costs.

He predicted that big rolls of sod promise to dramatically reduce the costs of laying sod and will also improve the speed with which the sod knits because there are fewer seams to dry out.

Traditionally, sod came in either a16- by 24-inch block or an 18- by 72-inch roll. It took a crew of four to 10 people to lay the sod, trim it and make certain it was placed correctly. New equipment produces sod in sizes of 24-, 30-, 42- and 48-inches wide with lengths of up to 100 feet. A crew of two to three workers can lay sod two to four times faster than with traditional sizes.

“We used to figure one man could lay 50 square yards of sod an hour or up to 400 square yards a day, and he really had to work to do that,” Noe suggested. With the new equipment, two people can now lay 200 to 400 square yards an hour. “We feel that with mechanization, big sod rolls are the future for residential areas, as well as athletic fields, playgrounds and rights-of-way. We use 30-inch rolls for residential work and the larger sizes for other uses.”

Cygnet rents application equipment to applicators with rates running from 15 to 25 cents per square yard, depending on the amount of sod purchased.

“Big rolls — that’s the good news in the sod industry at the moment,” agreed Randy Tischer of Green Velvet Sod Farms, Bellbrook, Ohio. “What used to be accomplished with 10 to 15 people can now be done with three people who don’t have to get on their hands and knees and who don’t have to lift the sod.

“The more mechanical business,” Tischer added, “is where the profit is. This equipment is less reliant on labor. The only problem is that the big sod rolls don’t work for small areas — patch jobs or areas of less than 3,000 square feet.”

Doug Fender, executive director of Turf Producers International said the big roll technology has been around for about 30 years as an innovation from the sod farms. Its popularity has grown tremendously in the last few years, and it is now receiving good market acceptance.

“The big rolls are manpower efficient, both in the farm and lawn installation areas. The only limitations are the size of the area, the maneuverability of the equipment and the need to use a mechanical laying device. And, of course, you can’t get into back yards,” he said of the larger units.

THE RIGHT CHOICE. Lawn renovation and establishment are still viable add-on services. After all, if you’re installing it, you’ll have the inside track on maintenance.

The big changes occurring seem to be in seed bed preparation and laying sod. Both areas are labor intensive operations, or at least have been in the past. Those two renovation options now offer the biggest opportunity for improved productivity and profitability for your company.

Mechanization can allow you to eliminate hours of labor or a considerable number of hard-to-find employees. These factors should allow considerable savings to be passed along to the homeowner while providing more dollars in your pocket.

Finally, the use of sod can help eliminate anxiety about seed germination, weed infestation, rainfall wash-out and other potential call-back problems.

The author is an industry consultant with Key Solutions, a division of Iris Sales & Solutions Inc., Rocky River, Ohio.