Start with the ground
Sod laid on hard, uneven or weedy ground struggles. Before new grass goes down, the old turf and weeds need to come out, low spots need to be leveled, and the surface should slope gently away from the house so water drains. In Abilene’s clay soils, loosening the top few inches gives new roots somewhere to go.
Choosing a grass for Abilene
Most lawns here are one of a few warm-season grasses, and the right one depends mostly on how much sun the area gets:
- Bermudagrass is the most common choice in West Texas. It loves full sun, handles heat and drought, and recovers quickly from wear, but it thins out in shade.
- St. Augustine tolerates more shade than Bermuda but needs more water and is less cold-hardy.
- Zoysia sits in between: dense, slow-growing and moderately shade-tolerant.
Watering new sod
New sod needs frequent, light watering until its roots knit into the soil, usually the first couple of weeks, then less often and more deeply to push roots down. In a West Texas summer that can mean watering more than once a day at first. Check the City of Abilene’s current watering rules before you schedule installation.
Best time to lay sod
Warm-season grasses root fastest when they’re actively growing, from late spring through summer. Sod can go down at other times of year, but it establishes more slowly and needs more care through its first winter.