Snohomish is the old river town. Downtown sits above the Snohomish River, the houses have mature trees, and a lot of the gardens were planted decades ago and then left to get big. The ground near the river stays wet. The hills just south of it do not. Sod in the flood line floats, smothers, or rots. We will not lay it there.
Snohomish County · ZIP 98290 · 2020 population 10,091
Sod above the high-water stain
Above the stain, river-bottom soil can grow an excellent lawn if it is not compacted and the grade sheds. We prep and lay, and we keep the rolls off the lowest terrace. That terrace gets a wet planting or a gravel standing area.
Delivery timing matters. Sod that sits on the pallet through a warm afternoon heats up and dies in the roll. We lay what we deliver that day.
The ground in Snohomish
Historic lots come with plants nobody planned: a cedar too close to the porch, a lilac that has swallowed the walk, beds that were neat in 1998 and are roots and bindweed now. Pruning and a hard cleanup are often the whole first phase. Bark, used with a little restraint, puts a finished line back on a Victorian front without covering the problem.
Closer to the river, drains matter. Riparian edges want native plants that can take wet soil, not a sod lawn rolled to the bank. We do not haul fill into the floodplain to “raise the yard” without understanding where that water will go next. Uphill, in the newer pockets, the work looks more like the rest of the county: lawns, small patios, and moss.
How we do the work
Sod is instant cover and a slow root. It dies when it is laid on compacted clay, on a moss mat, or in a low spot that stays wet. We strip or till, we fix the grade so water leaves, and we lay tight seams on soil that has been loosened a few inches down.
The first two weeks are water and no traffic. After that we want roots chasing soil, which means less frequent watering. A sod lawn that is sprinkled every day forever is a sod lawn that peels up in August.
We lay what arrives that day. Sod that sits on the pallet through a warm afternoon cooks in the roll, and we will not install it.
What we look at first
- What is under the old lawn
- Grade and where the roof water goes
- Access for the pallets
- Sun, because sod in deep shade is an expensive way to grow moss
Seams and edges
Tight, staggered, no overlap. Edges tucked against beds so the mower does not scalpel a flap. We cut curves with a knife, not by stretching a roll around a corner until it tears.
When seed is the better buy
Large areas, deep shade, and tight budgets that would force us to skip prep. Seed costs less and roots deeper if you can wait a month. Sod is for the yard you need to use, on soil we were allowed to prepare.
The first two weeks
Water enough that you cannot peel a corner up by the end of week two. Stay off it. Mow the first time at three inches once it resists a tug. Then ease the water back so the roots leave the roll.
More from this crew
- Sod installation across the region
- Lawn seeding in Snohomish
- Lawn aeration in Snohomish
- Landscaping in Snohomish
- Lawn fertilization in Snohomish
- Sod installation in Everett
- Sod installation in Lake Stevens
Sources for the climate and the water
- USDA plant hardiness map for choosing plants that can take a Snohomish County winter.
- EPA WaterSense on watering less once a lawn or a new planting is established.
- EPA Soak Up the Rain on keeping roof and yard water from becoming someone else’s problem.
