Best in San Diego

sdrealtor – posted 31 August 2004 16:45

I know this is similar to another post, but I still have to ask. I live in San Diego and my yard has full sun all day. 2 kids that love to play on the grass, and 2 male dogs that will also play there, but I am building a kennel for them to do their business in. I have been told that Marathon Sod is good, and I have been told that regular Home Depot Long Fescue is okay too. I know that Marathon sod is made up of Long Fescue, is there an advantage to paying the extra money for the Marathon? Can anyone recommend a better product that I may be overlooking? Should I be laying the sod now or is there a better time of year? Lastly, we had a light layer of mulch over the dirt before, do I have to remove all of the mulch or can I rototil it into the soil and plant on top?Sorry for all of the questions, but I just want to do this once though!Thanks

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 03 September 2004 11:53

If your surface is flat now, don’t till it. You’ll end up with a lumpy mess even if you flatten it somehow. The problem with tilling is you get an uneven mix underground. Then you flatten it out and the soil recompacts differently depending on how it’s mixed underground – which you cannot tell. Leave the mulch where it is and seed into it.

San Diego covers a lot of ground. Are you close enough to the coast that you’re not pushing fescues to grow? When you get inland, say to Grossmont and points east, you should be looking more at warm season grasses like bermuda or St Augustine. If you are back in the heat, you could seed heavily in October with a winter rye and do the warm season grass sod after the rye dies out. Or if you’re close to the water, you can go with sod now on top of the mulch. Be sure to roll the sod down.

Wait, is your mulch still sort of open? If you are going to have air gaps under the sod, that won’t work. You should rake that up. I still would not till it – especially if it is woody. Pile that stuff up and let it compost by itself, or reuse it as mulch in beds.

in**@pa**********.com – posted 14 September 2004 17:52

Tall Fescue, (not Long) brands are usually priced according to the market. Marathon is a well-known brand name from Southland Sod farms, & is a very reputable product. Home Depots get sod from various different sod farms. In SD, it likely comes from Am Sod or Superior Sod. 2 dogs can damage lawns easily so you need something that will repair itself. Hybrid bermudagrass is a good choice if you don’t mind winter dormancy–overseeding is an option as mentioned above.one alternative is a fescue/bluegrass blend to give the fescue some ability to repair itself from damage, although slowly…Check your yellow pages and call the advertisers under sod &sodding services adn ask the companies what they suggest for your area!good luck on the lawn!

jillmason7 – posted 22 December 2009 03:54

I saw some great turf on the lawn of the La Jolla Hotels when I went to lunch there with my husband. Check out the valencia lawn and tell me what you think.

-jill