Searching for the Perfect Grass

Sod Solutions takes a broad approach

As with anything else in the market, when it comes to sod, customers want perfection. Whether it’s a home, a commercial landscaped area, golf course or professional playing field, whoever is paying the bill expects that grass to be beautiful, plentiful, easy to maintain and hardy. When it isn’t, then the installer or groundskeeper usually gets the blame. Fortunately, there are companies that continue to seek grasses that meet everyone’s expectations, and today’s grasses help make turf establishment easier than ever before. One such company is Sod Solutions in Charleston, S.C., which has introduced four new varieties to the market since incorporating in 1992.

“It’s a business of failure," candidly admits Tobey Wagner, president. “We have worked with 160 different types of grass in the past decade and have just released our fourth grass. We’ve been fortunate, though, because universities have been putting out grasses after 20 years’ development, yet some don’t survive.” Their advantage is that, as a private company, management, decisions can be made much more quickly. That ability may explain how one firm can find and develop four varieties in just a decade.

Wagner notes two factors why some new introductions don’t last long: “They may have failed to research how the particular variety transplants. When it’s cut and lifted from the ground, it goes through a shock and doesn’t recover; or it may have too short a pallet life. Unfortunately, the temptation is to do a beauty contest, develop what looks best in the test plot.” He then reported that his company’s focus is to research, develop and ultimately license and release varieties of warm season grasses in the U.S., Australia, Brazil and South Africa.

When asked what it takes to develop a new variety, Wagner responded, “First, it’s a huge ordeal trying to sort through material. You’ve got to test, test and retest. For example, you may have a test plot grass with beautiful color and nice texture, but it may have a disease problem, or may not transplant, or may be so slow to produce that it’s cost-prohibitive.”

The search continues

Wagner reports that Sod Solutions works with five different breeders across the world, one each in the U.S., Brazil, South Africa and two in Australia. “We work with the breeders to define what we want. They start breeding for what we’re looking for. Once we feel we have something viable, we put it in our own plots. From there, we move to a select group of producers in the southern half of the U.S., who grow anywhere from 30 to 3,000 acres of turf, to check how to adapt that variety to different climates and soil types.”

Then, Sod Solutions selects one of their best producers to supply the foundation or breeder stock. “Every other turf producer gets initial material from that grower, which keeps it genetically pure. They’re also certified and carry the proper state tags guaranteeing that variety’s identity. An initial plot of .5 acre to five acres can expand at a 20/1 ratio, so marketlevel production is relatively quick.”

Production efficiency is one of the elements to consider, whether you’re a grower, a landscaper or groundskeeper. From a technical standpoint, how does a given variety actually perform? Wagner asks, “Can you lift that grass, transport and reestablish or transplant it into the ultimate home block in time? Remember, if you’re in a hot climate, cut sod has 24 to 36 hours, tops, to be in its new home. In the southwest, for example, they have to cut turf in the evening and transport it that night so it can be planted the next morning.” Fortunately, during cooler times of the year, many varieties can handle two to four days from harvest to reestablishment.

When asked what landscapers or retailers do, he replied, “We look at this business as being in two parts: one is the technical. You have to have a grass that works in the area you service. The second challenge is you have to properly market that grass. People have to understand what they’ve bought, how to maintain it, how to use it and what its limitations are.”

He then noted how the varieties Sod Solutions has developed meet those expectations. “Our first grass, Palmetto®, is a cold-hardy St. Augustinegrass. Because it can handle near-zero temperatures, it allows southern turf producers to market into the more northern parts of the south. It allows them to expand their marketing area. Two other varieties, Empire® and Empress®, have allowed producers in Florida to offer two varieties of zoysia that are ready to market within six to nine months. Before, it took 2 to 3 years for zoysia varieties to produce one crop. If it takes two to three years to grow a crop, then sod producers have to charge two to three times as much as the competition offering varieties that take just six months. People are not going to pay that much extra, even if it looks better. Sod is a pricesensitive market.

“Our newest, CelebrationTM Bermuda, is just being released. Compared to the industry standard 419 Bermuda, it requires just half the mowing, but can be produced in 90 to 120 days, plus it’s the first Bermuda with a degree of shade tolerance.”

Price sensitivity is one reason Sod Solutions sells sprigs or foundation stock to growers, but doesn’t grow and sell sod directly to the general market. “We’re not in competition with our customers.We want them to look to us as a resource for new, improved patented varieties, not as their competition. We also look for producers who are progressive, who market and advertise their products and have good customer service.”

Wagner adds that his company’s efforts in promoting their products to the end user include TV shows and radio ads, as well as a Web site, sodsolutions.com, which gets 10,000 hits a month. He reports that every show or ad really brings on the traffic. As a result, the firm, which had $1.2 million in sales to turf farms in 2001, is introducing a new company, VersaScapes, which will focus on nursery and ornamental products.

Producer care

Speaking of sod producers, he notes, “As far as production, you have to have the right grasses for your marketing area. As far as marketing, you have to offer grasses that are more environmentally friendly and require less maintenance than older varieties. Those grasses have to take less mowing, less water and cover the land faster, whether on the farm or in their final home. Turfgrass produces more oxygen than trees do, so it’s an excellent environmental filter, and we need to get that message out to the public.”

At the same time, he warns that variety developers need to avoid over-saturating the grower market. “Our goal with our producers is to have competition without saturation. If an architect wants to specify our grass, we want to be sure he has multiple sources in his region. If there are too many growers in a given market, then prices go down. The goal is to keep the price reasonable and be competitive in the marketplace, which is much easier to say than it is to do.” Healthy competition makes for better companies, whether landscaper, grower or variety producer. Ultimately, the customer using the product is the winner, and winners tend to look first to their supplier when they need more product.

User logic

So, how is a landscaper or groundskeeper to determine whether they really want to deal with a new grass? Wagner recommends anyone interested in a new variety should start with a demonstration area, and make sure he has all the facts for that grass. “The first thing to consider is whether it has been tested in just one research station or whether it has been tested in a wide geographic area. Also look to comparative data. If you’re using 419 on a golf course, then check the data of the new variety against 419. Do a tee box first, or one hole in a new grass before you change the whole course.”

The goal is to provide a real-life situation, yet keep risk to a minimum. A particular variety may do well when produced with fresh water, but can’t produce with salt water—unless it’s well established first. “A superintendent may see that factor, yet think he can establish it with salt water, when that just isn’t possible. It takes accurate testing to get the truth on just how the new-to-you variety will work.”

Wagner says that users also need to know how the variety will compete with weeds and how to best control the weeds. “Can the variety handle the chemicals used in your weed control program, or will you need to change your program when you change grasses?”

Also, look to the source of the material. “Is the company putting out the grass a professor, an individual or a company with a tradition of high quality products that work? What is the track record of that individual or company? Check the track record and the integrity of the company or organization putting out new grass. Are they going to back it up, are they going to service your needs after you’ve paid the bill?”

The best way to do this, Wagner says, is to check with the producers growing the grasses. Are the producers satisfied with the product and the follow-up of whomever supplied the sprigs or foundation stock? “If you’re checking on the quality of an individual producer with his own turf farm, then check with landscaping companies and others actually using the grass.”

Wagner emphasized that part of this developer’s goal is to get the information to the landscaper, the turf installer, on how to handle the grass properly so they have a successful project. “We get e-mails, and we get phone calls, and we try to answer all of them. I do shows where they can ask me directly. It’s up to us to make sure we have educated producers, who can educate their landscapers or retailers who then can educate the customers that will be caring for the grass after it’s installed.” In the long run, the need is to ensure residential or commercial customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers assure future success, whether one is a landscaper, a supplier, a grower—or even a developer of new varieties.

by Lynn Tilton for Turf South Magazine, March 2002