About Prairie Grass Sod

Prairie Grass Sod is a thriving dense root mat composed of drought-resistant prairie grasses with a long list of instant benefits vs prairie seed options.  You may be surprised to learn that one of the bonus benefits from prairie grass sod, is that it’s best when you leave it alone (or minimal help) – it knows what to do and it’s been doing it potentially thousands of years.

Father Time and Mother Nature have to allow the ecosystem balance to occur over time, a lot of time. These plant types have evolved over hundreds and thousands of years to survive whatever nature had thrown at it despite droughts, frigid winters, sizzling summers, fire, and all without pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers to flourish. It is this evolution that makes prairie sod the right answer for the best solution.

The tough prairie plants’ endurance is partly because they send roots down as deep as 6 to 12 feet encouraging infiltration of rainwater, reducing stormwater runoff and flooding. The long root system pulls nutrients from deep in the ground enhancing water quality for all while sequestering carbon. Think about this, one square foot of prairie grass can store a 1/4 pound of carbon deep in the ground annually.

Where Prairie Grass Sod Comes From

Because of South Dakota’s native grasslands’ thick mat of roots, they have become a national treasure and are protected by the “National Grasslands”. Our Prairie Grass Sod is carefully guarded for sustainability, which makes our sod some of the best shortgrass and mixed-grass prairie grass sod around. Our premium sod is sought after by single residential families, large corporations, soil-contaminated areas, and water/wind erosion locations.

The best match of our Prairie Grass Sod is an environment much like the one it comes from. Keep in mind if your environment is slightly different, don’t worry. This is one of the most amazing things about prairie sod is that it adapts to subtle changes,  which is how it’s survived for thousands of years.

Our sod is rated as a shortgrass with some mixed grasses and it comes from the midwestern plains in South Dakota.

•     Average rainfall is 10 – 12 inches a year,
•     Summers reach 100 degrees,
•     Winters can get as low as -40 degrees,
•     Growing season 100 – 175 days,
•     Soils are a light brown with decomposed organic matter,
•     Plants are tolerant to high winds, drought, heat, cold,
•     Full sun for best results

Prairie Grass Sod vs Seed

The benefits of sod vs seed are simple. The biggest advantage to prairie sod vs prairie seed is that sod has many of the ecosystems already in balance with most of them starting on the first day. Nature makes it look simple, but there are many complicated decisions and long-term efforts required to be successful. Growing native prairie grass from seed can prove to be very difficult, even to accomplished agriculturists or ranchers, but the biggest insurmountable challenge is going to be the Mother Nature and Father Time factor. Often it takes decades or hundreds of years to become a true native prairie and that’s where Prairie Grass Sod is a smart solution. 

Within a very short period of time the sod plants, and their established eco-balance, start to cleanse our air, retard stormwater and erosion, provide wildlife habitat, curb temperature, reduce CO2, and oh yes, look beautiful.

Our sod with native short and mixed grasses are drought tolerant and grazing resistant. Not many plant varieties appear in short grass prairies because of the extreme climates, changes in annual precipitation, and other variables from one year to the next.

Besides the fact that most of the sod’s benefits are instant, there is a really nice additional benefit because, with established prairie grass, the less you do the better it is. Of course, new sod may need some supplemental watering to jump-start the root growth, but that’s about it.

Prairie Sod Installation and Care

The installation of prairie grass sod is even easier than traditional lawn grass. Much like any sod you prepare the soil, roll the sod out “green side up” (smile), and if it’s extremely hot or dry, you may need to give your prairie sod a jump start and do some light watering. There are some additional helpful hints below.

About Laying Sod

1. Plan ahead and give serious thought about the areas you plan to sod. Not all areas may have the appropriate moisture and soil type. It’s a good idea to test the soil to determine the pH balance and the organic matter. Look at sun exposure and drainage.
   
2. Prepare the soil by removing any existing vegetation via a sod cutter, tiller/plow, or if time allows, use black plastic to smother out established plants.
   
3. Till the top 6 to 8-inches of soil and amending it where needed.
   
4. Level the tilled soil to create a smooth planting bed.
5. Laying the sod in the late fall or early spring for best results. This allows the root system to get established and puts less stress on the top vegetation.
6. Light irrigation is recommended in the first year to encourage root growth. Going forward, most prairie grass does better with very little help from you!

No Harmful Chemicals

The less you do to your Prairie Grass Sod, the better it is! Because your sod is Virgin Prairie Grass, it naturally doesn’t need pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizer.  In fact, those chemicals may actually hurt your sod not to mention what it does to our earth or your wallet. Once the sod is harvested and laid in its new environment, there may be some adjustments Mother Nature makes while adapting to its weather. These slight changes are very normal and are one of the more amazing things our nature does all by itself.

Minimal Mowing

You may burn your grass or mow mid-spring. Be sure to set the mower high about 6″ to 8″ high. If you have Sugar Maple trees in your area, a good rule of thumb is to mow just before the leaf buds pop open. The prairie grasses are a little slow in the spring so when you mow you won’t hurt the new plant life.

Water Conservation

Roots of our grasses can be five to 12 feet deep which is extremely significant because their roots remain throughout the seasons, acting as a sponge for water filtering down after heavy rain or spring thaws and is extremely efficient at absorbing runoff.

Some stats indicate a mature prairie plant can keep as much as 6″ to 8″ of rainfall.

Without those native plants and their deep roots, heavy rain quickly turns to run-off resulting in rapid rises in creeks, streams, and rivers. 

Deep roots of native prairie grasses also help to filter chemical impurities that would otherwise flow into our drinking water tables and rivers.

If you’re going to use prairie sod instead of a typical lawn, you are saving 50% of the usable drinking water of your community.

Our Prairie Grass Plant Types

Our Prairie Grass Sod will be a kaleidoscope of colors as both cool and warm plants and their flowers change during the seasons. The below list is nowhere near complete but covers the majority of plant species found in our native grassland pastures.

The photos are of the prairie grasses found in the heartland of the midwest prairies in South Dakota.