Sod facts for kids
Sod is turf and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of this material. Some sod is grown agriculturally, and is sold to landscapers who use it to quickly get a lawn. Sod was used for building of fortifications in former times.
In British English, such material is more usually known as turf, and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultural senses.
Contents
Uses
Sod is typically used for lawns, golf courses, and sports stadiums around the world. In residential construction, it is sold to landscapers, home builders or home owners who use it to establish a lawn quickly and avoid soil erosion. Sod can be used to repair a small area of lawn, golf course, or athletic field that has died. Sod is also effective in increasing cooling, improving air and water quality, and assisting in flood prevention by draining water.
Scandinavia has a long history of employing sod roofing and a traditional house type is the Icelandic turf house.
Cultivation
Sod is grown on specialist farms. For 2009, the United States Department of Agriculture reported 1,412 farms had 368,188 acres (149,000.4 ha) of sod in production.
It is usually grown locally (within 100 miles of the target market) to minimize both the cost of transport and also the risk of damage to the product. The farms that produce this grass may have many varieties of grass grown in one location to best suit the consumer's use and preference of appearance.
Images for kids
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Golf course sod
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Harvesting sod
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A typical roller mower operating on a sod grass farm.
See also
In Spanish: Tepe para niños
