Now is the time of year that everyone is thinking about revamping their landscaping. It is important to think of your landscaping in two parts—softscaping and hardscaping. Softscaping is the trees, shrubs, and other plants that you incorporate into your landscape, while sod is considered hardscaping. Sod is a more permanent fixture in your yard, and it has less ability to recover.
When it comes to landscaping, it is important to plant your trees and shrubs, as well as plot your gardens, before you lay the fresh sod. There are several reasons for this. First, you don’t want to pay for more sod than you need. When sod is laid around the softscaping, it takes less sod to cover the yard, and you won’t be digging up and throwing out sod that you don’t need.
Another reason to plant your trees and shrubs first is that it can damage the sod considerably to remove portions of it to plant a tree. Think of it like a patio. You wouldn’t build a patio then cut a hole to plant a tree. You would plant the tree and build that patio around it. The same needs to be true when you lay fresh sod.
If you cut portions of your fresh sod out to make room for flower beds, trees, and shrubs, it could damage the sod around the area that you cut out. This can prevent the sod from taking root as it should. It can also cause parts of the sod to die off, requiring another round of fresh sod to take its place.
In short, it is always best to plant your trees and shrubs before laying down fresh sod. If you aren’t sure how to plan your landscaping to accommodate these elements as well as fresh sod, contact us today for guidance.
