Posted on: Friday, April 29, 2005
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HAWAI'I'S GARDENS
A new lawn can cost relatively little or a lot
| • | Last week's column: Want to create a new lawn? The time to start is right now |
By Jay Deputy
The total cost of establishing a new lawn is always a major consideration.
However, an attractive landscape will add far more value to your property than the cost of installation. Property values have doubled in many areas over the past few years, while the cost of landscaping has remained relatively unchanged.
The method of propagation of your new lawn can be an important factor in determining the cost of installation. That, however, may be dictated by your choice of grass species. Seeding is usually the least expensive, but only a few of the warm-season grasses produce viable seed. Most of the higher-quality species are hybrids and must be established vegetatively.
Centipede grass is the only one that will reach its optimum potential from seed. Bermuda grass and zoysia have seeded varieties, but neither will produce a lawn that looks as good as their hybrid cousins.
Seeds for centipede grass, Zenith zoysia, and some of the improved common Bermuda grasses cost $15 to $30 per pound and should be sown at 1 to 2 pounds per 1,000 square feet.
The average 4,000-square-foot lawn will cost about $200 for seed. Newly sown seed should be covered with a thin layer of mulch and kept moist for several weeks. Labor costs for installation will depend upon the method of mulching.
The most common vegetative methods of propagation include stolonizing, in which short pieces of the runners (stolons) are spread over the surface of a properly prepared planting bed, rolled to ensure good contact with the soil, and covered with a thin layer of mulch to keep them moist.
New leaves and roots will quickly grow from each of the nodes on the runners. Bermuda grass, St. Augustine grass and seashore paspalum are usually planted by stolonizing. Centipede grass can also be stolonized if not seeded. Depending upon the species, seven to 10 bushels of stolons are required for every 1,000 square feet of planted surface and will cost $15 to $20 per bushel.
A 4,000-square-foot Tifway Bermuda or seashore paspalum lawn will cost around $450 for stolons.
Labor costs will again depend upon the method of mulching the freshly planted material. Pre-emergence herbicides can be used to inhibit weed invasion during the grow-in period, which may take only six weeks or so during the summer months.
Since it is more difficult to harvest good stolons from the zoysia grasses (especially emerald zoysia), they are usually planted by a method called plugging.
Small pieces of sod, which contain mature roots, stems and leaves, are planted into a properly prepared planting bed at about 12 inches apart. New runners will soon form at the edges of the plugs and begin to grow into the space between plugs. Since zoysia grasses are slow growers, it may take up to six months to get full coverage. Pre-emergence herbicides can again be used to inhibit weeds.
The grow-in time can be hastened by planting the plugs closer together, which will cost more because it requires more plugs. Plugging is usually more expensive than stolonizing. Ten square feet of sod will plant about 100 square feet of lawn. A zoysia El Toro lawn will cost around $1,400 for materials, and labor is usually more expensive with plugging.
The most expensive method of establishing new turf is by sodding. It's just like laying carpet and gives you an instant lawn. Although costing 10 to 20 times more than plugging and more than 50 times more than seeding, sodding eliminates most of the problems that come with other methods of establishment, mainly frequent watering and weed prevention during the grow-in period.
The cost of sod in Hawai'i is much higher than in Mainland locations. The same Tifway Bermuda lawn will cost $9,000 and the El Toro about $13,000 for materials. However, prices are becoming more competitive as local sod farms expand their acreage.
No matter which method of establishment you use, make sure you keep the newly planted lawn moist by frequent short waterings several times a day during the grow-in period. Mow as soon as the grass reaches its recommended mowing height.
Mowing will help the spreading process.
Jay Deputy is an education specialist in landscape horticulture and turf at the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, and state administrator for the Certified Landscape Technician Program sponsored by the Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii. Reach him at deputy@hawaii.edu.
