Like with any type of living plant, there are good and bad times to plant sod. If you have a shady area in your yard, the summer months are the worst time to plant sod. There are several reasons you do not want to plant sod in shady areas during the summer months. For the health of your yard and your pocketbook, it is important that you wait until fall to plant sod in these areas.
Disease Lurks in Shade
While you can plant sod in slightly shaded areas most of the year, you are inviting disease into your sod when you plant it in the shade during the summer months. The combination of the heat, humidity, and shade invites disease into your freshly planted sod. The disease will not only affect the shaded areas of your lawn, but it will spread to the healthy, sunny areas of your yard as well.
How Much Shade is Too Much?
When planting sod in the summertime, it is important that you plant sod only in areas that get at least six hours of filtered sunlight per day. If you have an area that gets less than six hours of sunlight, you should hold off on planting sod until the fall. If most of your lawn gets adequate sun and you just have one small area that gets less than six hours of sunlight, you could opt to plant sod in the majority of your yard and hold off on planting in the shaded area. However, if you want your lawn to appear uniform and healthy, it is a good idea to simply wait for fall before planting any sod.
What You Can Do
If your lawn is in real trouble and you have shaded areas that shouldn’t have sod planted in the summer, you do have some options. You can trim trees or bushes to eliminate the shade so that you can go ahead and plant the sod. If you do need to wait until fall to plant the sod, frequent watering and appropriate lawn care can help maintain your yard until it is a more appropriate time to plant new sod.
If you need more information or want advice about the best time to plant sod in your lawn, contact us today for more information.
