Most homeowners crave a lush, green lawn. But can you get a thick carpet of grass without laying down expensive sod?

There are many ways to improve the density and appearance of your grass. Using grass plugs is an ideal way to patch up sparse areas or develop a whole new lawn from scratch.

What Are Grass Plugs?

If you’ve never heard of grass plugs before, you’re not alone.

Plugs are small sections of live plug grass that come with the roots and soil attached.
They are typically about 2 to 3 inches in diameter.
Grass plugs are generally spaced about 12 to 18 inches apart.
As they grow, the grass spreads out and fills in the empty area between the plugs.
Before the plugs arrive to you, they’re either grown separately, in trays, or as carpets of sod. Sometimes clumps of sod are broken off and used as plugs.

Warm Weather Grass

Zoysia Grass Plugs

Zoysia grass yields deep rooting systems that requiring less water than other types of grass, and is more resistant to pests and disease.

The main benefit to plugging Zoysia grass, or many types of grass lawns, is its deep root system. Grass plugs help fill in, and maintain a thick, lustrous lawn. The deep roots help choke out weeds, another benefit to planting Zoysia grass.

Zoysia grass plugs also tends to grow slower over time than most other grasses, which means less mowing for the homeowner.

Some proponents of seeding will argue that the process of planting Zoysia grass plugs is time-consuming, tough physical labor with an extended period of time required for the grass plugs to fill in the areas.

However, if you only have a few areas where the grass need be replaced, Zoysia grass plugs are an easy fix.

St Augustine Grass Plugs

St. Augustine grass produces a green to blue-green, thick lawn which is often seen down in the Florida area. Plugging St. Augustine grass in to areas that easily brown or lack thickness, is a popular option.

Centipede Grass Plugs

Centipede grass has a creeping look, thriving in sandy areas with less soil and low acidity. It spreads by stolons, is rough to the touch and also requires less mowing.

Bermuda Grass Plugs

Bermuda grass is often seen in warm weather areas. Bermuda grass yields durable grass lawns, golf greens, and sports turfs. The Bermuda is a perennial often grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas.

Buffalo Grass Plugs

Buffalo grass thrives in low rainfall areas required little water to live. Buffalo Grass tolerates lack of water and wavering temperatures, making it a versatile choice for your lawn.

Cool Weather Grass

Fescue Grass

Although an ideal option for cool climate lawns, Fescue sod is a lot more expensive than grass seed. If you opt for sod, it must be laid out throughout the entire area of the lawn. To be clear fescue grass does not spread well, so do no attempt to plug it.

Kentucky Bluegrass

Kentucky Bluegrass is know for its thick, lush and durable lawn product. Don’t be fooled, this breed of grass requires a high level of maintenance for peak conditioning. But the finished product is worth the hard work. Bella bluegrass plugs are a great option to help keep your lawn looking sharp season after season.

Perennial Ryegrass

Perennial ryegrass is frequently used for home lawns and other areas requiring attractive turf such as golf course fairways and tees or baseball fields. It wears well, germinates rapidly and maintains a lush look.

How Many Grass Plugs Do You Need?

The number of plugs that you need depends on the size of your yard as well as the spacing. If you plant your plugs close together, you’ll build a new lawn more quickly than if you plant them far apart. But if you have the time, you’ll save money by purchasing fewer plugs and planting them at greater intervals.

• For 64 square feet of lawn – 36 plugs spaced 15 inches apart from the center of the plug

• For 80 square feet of lawn – 36 plugs spaced 18 inches apart from the center of the plug

• For 112 square feet of lawn – 36 plug spaced 21 inches apart from the center of the plug

Pros and Cons of Using Plugs

Pros

• Plugs are cheaper than sod

• Plugs are ideal for filling in patchy areas

• You don’t have to use as much water for plugs as you do for sod

• Plugs are easier to establish and less fragile than grass grown from seed

• It might be easier to find some species of grass as plugs than sod in your area

• Plugs are easy to purchase online

Cons

• The lawn will look patchy until the grass fills in

• You have to maintain the weeds between the plugs as the grass grows

• Clumping grass doesn’t spread well if it’s planted in plug form

How to Grow Your Own Grass Plugs

If you’re on a budget, you can save additional money by growing plugs from seed. To do this, purchase enough plug trays to grow the required number of plugs for your property size.

• Fill the grass plug trays with potting soil

• Dampen the soil with water, and tamp down the surface gently

• Sprinkle 10 to 15 seeds into each cell in the plug tray

• Place the trays in a sunny spot

• Mist the soil twice a day, keeping it moist but not sopping wet

• Water the soil once a day once you begin seeing sprouts.

• Use scissors to clip the grass to 2 inches tall when each plant has more than one blade.

The plugs are ready to plant when they have established roots. Test this by tugging on the blades. If the plants pull out of the soil, they’re not ready. If the grass pulls the soil up with it, it’s ready to go in the ground.

Using Donor Plugs From Healthy Grass

You can also remove plugs from the healthy grass in your yard and transplant it in patchy areas. The best way to do this is with a plugger, which is a tool that’s used to create holes in the soil.

Use this tool to carve out holes in which to plant the plugs. The same tool can be used to remove healthy sections of grass from your existing lawn so that you can transplant them using the instructions below.

How to Plant and Maintain Plugs

The best time to plant plugs is in late spring or early summer.

If you plant in the spring, do it after the last frost. If you plant in the fall, do so a few months before the first winter frost. Otherwise, you might not get enough warm weather to establish the lawn.

Prepare Your Lawn

If you’re planting in bare soil, water the area with a gentle spray. Watering the dirt will soften it and make planting easier.

If you’re repairing a patch in your turf, you might want to pull any weeds in the area first. If the weeds grow faster than the grass, they could interfere with plug growth.

You can also apply a weed-killing product or spray. If you do that, wait a week or two after you’ve sprayed the weed killer before planting grass.

You should also till the soil in the patchy area before planting. That will help break up existing rhizomes and stolons and make room for you to plant the plugs.

Space Out and Dig the Holes

Once you’re ready to install the plugs, you’ll need to dig small holes for them. You can use a plugging tool for this. However, if all you have is a small shovel, you can use that. The holes should be slightly larger than the plug’s root ball.

You might want to arrange the plugs in a checkerboard pattern. In other words, create rows of holes, but stagger them from one row to the next. To keep the row straight, consider pulling a string across the area as a guideline.

The closer together you plant your plugs, the more quickly your lawn will fill in. Common recommendations are to plant plugs between 12 and 15 inches apart. If you’re trying to save money, you can plant fewer plugs and place them 18 inches apart. However, it will take longer for thick turf to develop this way.

The type of grass influences the distance of the plugs too. Zoysia grass plugs, which grow slowly and take longer to establish than some other species, are often planted at 6-inch intervals.

Feel free to add some starter fertilizer to each hole. Make sure that you use a fertilizer that’s specifically designed for starting grass. Otherwise, you might over-fertilize the lawn. Too much fertilizer can damage the plugs’ roots and prevent them from growing properly.

Plant the Plugs

Once you have created holes, you can plant the plugs. Situate each one in a hole. Then, tamp them down gently using the edge of your foot, hand or shovel.

Doing this removes air pockets and creates a solid connection between the plug and the surrounding soil. Use the soil that you removed from the holes that you dug if you need to pack the plug in further.

Watering newly planted zoysia grass plugs

Water the Plugs

Water the plugs thoroughly after you have planted them. You’ll need to continue to water them for the next few weeks so that they don’t dry out.

Misting them with water a few times a day is appropriate. However, monitor the plugs closely during the warmer months of the year. You may have to water them several times a day.

Continue to water the plugs daily for 10 days. After that, water them as you would an established lawn.

When Can You Mow Your New Grass?

You should avoid mowing the plugs for the first two weeks. After that, the roots will be more established, and the plugs should withstand mowing. Mowing will help encourage the plugs to grow and spread. Just don’t cut the grass too short.

If you’re plugging St Augustine grass plugs or another creeping species, you should keep the yard as free of weeds as possible. Weeds compete with the grass for nutrients and could impede its ability to spread into a lush lawn.

Cost to Buy Grass Plugs

You can purchase plugs at home and garden stores as well as sod farms. However, you can also buy them at many online retailers.

A tray of 36 plugs typically costs between $30 and $50.

My Zoysia Grass Plugs Bring All The Boys To The Yard