TURFGRASS SOD CAN PROVIDE `INSTANT LAWN'

A sod cutter cuts 1-square-yard pieces of grass that run up a conveyer to a pallet.

Grass, as many frustrated homeowners know, doesn't grow overnight. But it can!

Turfgrass sod can provide an "instant lawn" of healthy-looking, green grass.

Turfgrass sod is simply strips of mature grasses, with active growing roots in a thin layer of soil.

New home construction and subdivision developments have increased the demands for turf sod. In Florida sod farms account for more than 76,000 acres.

Sod strips and sod plugs have become a big business throughout the United States as sod strips are used for home lawns, recreation fields and landscaping for a number of projects.

Sods strips are available in sizes of one square yard to more than 40 square yards, say John Edwards and Gary Michie, two sod farmers in the immediate Southeast Missouri area.

"Our most popular size is 20-x-40," said Michie, who operates the 28-acre Greenfield Turf Farm along Highway Z south of Chaffee.

"We provide strips up to 100 feet long," said Edwards, operator of Mid-America Sod Farm north of Chaffee.

More than 50 truckloads of zoysia grass sod have been sent from the Mid-America farm to Waterloo, Ill., in recent weeks.

"We still have about 50 truckloads to go," said Edwards.

The zoysia sod is in rolls 104 feet long and 42 inches wide and are being used to sod fairways of a new golf course at Waterloo.

Mid-America Sod Farm, which consists of more than 150 acres of various grasses -- zoysia, fescue, bluegrass, bermuda and others -- and seven employees, provides tons of grasses for golf courses, football fields and other grassy spots each year.

"We specialize in golf courses and football fields," said Edwards. "We have provided sods for four or five golf courses in the St. Louis area, and a number of the local courses."

The company also provides sod -- mostly Westwood Bermuda -- for many area football fields and other grasses for landscaping purposes.

"We recently provided sod for Southeast Missouri State and Southern Illinois University football fields," said Edwards, who founded Mid-America more than a decade ago.

"I used to play a lot of golf," said Edwards, a native of Cape Girardean who worked more than 24 years at World Color Press at Sparta, Ill. "Courses had to go out of the area to get sod."

Edwards decided to start his own sod farm.

"We keep busy," said Edwards, who sells to landscaping companies throughout a wide Midwest area.

Edwards' farm revived the sod operation in the Chaffee area. A sod farm had been in that area more than 20 years ago.

Through the summer months, Mid-America Sod Farm, located on County Road 250, utilizes four or five sod cutters, which can cut strips from 18-x-40 to the 41-by-100-foot strips being hauled to Waterloo.

In between cutting sod strips, Mid-America workers prepare to seed grasses on the farm.

Greenfield Turf Farm, founded about a year ago, concentrates primarily on two grasses for its sod -- fescue and blue grass.

Michie owns Greenfield. He also owns a landscape company, Trim-A-Lawn, at Gordonville.

"We sell wholesale and retail and are looking to expand," said Michie.

Most homeowners, said Michie, like bluegrass, but fescue is popular, too.

Both are cool-season grasses and feature dark green colors. "They thrive in cool weather and can tolerate very cold winters," said Michie.

Michie has been in the landscape business for 10 years.

"I started the business when I was in college," he said. "I studied horticulture at Southeast Missouri State University, and stayed in the landscape business after leaving school.

Michie specializes in 20-x-40 sod strips.

Sod strips, say Michie and Edwards, usually require transplanting within 12 to 48 hours, depending on heat and humidity.

Although a couple of months may be required for the sod to establish itself to take wear and tear, the sod will look like mature lawn the day it is installed.

Soil preparation is a major factor in the success of sodding.

"The ground should be leveled," said Claude Foeste, of Foeste Nursery Inc.

The Foeste company installs a lot of sod, including recent projects at Southeast Missouri Hospital and Southeast Missouri State University.

There is no significant difference in soil preparation for sod and seed.

The soil is tilled to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. All debris and rocks are removed. In the case of the hospital project, Foeste placed nitrogen fertilizer on the soil and laid the sod.

Water is important to sodding, said Michie.

"New turf sodding should be watered heavily at installation but then only lightly for two to three weeks," he said.