Why Does Sod Have Plastic Mesh? 5 Common Reasons

Sod is incredibly common throughout the country because of its affordability. Rather than sprouting new grass from seeds, you can have a lawn sitting in your yard within minutes. However, the netting underneath sod often causes concern for homeowners.

Sod has plastic mesh because it holds the grass and soil in place during transportation. The mesh prevents the sheets of sod from breaking apart, but it should be removed when you’re laying it down. Some people choose to leave it on the lawn to prevent weeds from coming through, though.

This article will also teach you the following info about sod plastic mesh:

• Multiple reasons why mesh can be found under your lawn
• Whether or not you should remove it
• How to remove plastic netting from your sod

Why Is There Plastic Mesh Under My Sod Lawn?

Are you puzzled about why you keep finding plastic mesh under the lawn sod? Be befuddled no more. 

Here are five reasons that the sod is there:

1. When the lawn was being planted for the first time, sod was most likely ordered from a farm. It comes in square or rectangular patches, ready to be rolled out and positioned on top of the ready soil. To help keep the rectangular shape during transportation, a fine mesh is added near the grassroots. This mesh is often left after planting the lawn. You could say it was a shoddy lawn job – but there’s a good reason for leaving it occasionally, including:
2. During the lawn installation, the mesh holds the soil, preventing it from dropping and exposing the young lawn-grass roots. The plastic mesh ensures that the soil is compact – hence the grass-root hairs do not lose moisture during and after transport.
3. The mesh also helps in protecting the young grass from the elements, especially in erosion-prone areas. Sheet erosion from heavy rains would uproot ‘unmeshed’ sod. When future seed sprouts start reproducing, the sod mesh helps to keep it in check.
4. Sod mesh is excellent for weed prevention because when the lawn has intermittent patches, opportunistic weeds can take root. If you’re worried about filling pre-existing patches, try following my guide to growing grass in potting soil.
5. The lawn netting is beneficial in sloped areas – it helps in holding the shape before the grass takes root.

Should You Remove the Lawn Netting?

Depending on the lawn maintenance history, you may want to remove the lawn netting. Perhaps the previous owners let the lawn go. If the lawn area was prepared well before planting, the mesh should have been removed in the first place.

But now that it’s there, the netting may have to be removed for a variety of reasons, including the following:

• When adding new grass to the patchy regions of the lawn – especially using a slit seeder, it is tough to make grooves on the ground if there is netting in it. The seeder will either have trouble cutting deep enough, tangling the lawn mesh.
• The mesh becomes increasingly difficult to remove as years go by. As the grass grows, the mesh shape is distorted by root growth.
• In some areas of the lawn, especially the heavily-trodden regions, the mesh may start peeking through and may even become an eyesore. Depending on the color (they mostly come in black and green), and the material it is made from (either biodegradable or non-bio-degradable plastic), it may give the lawn an unkempt appearance.
• Some long-lasting meshing can survive for over a decade, supporting generations of grass. However, this longevity is not necessarily a good thing because it would most likely have broken into uncountable, unmanageable tiny pieces spread all over the lawn area.
• The lawnmower deck may catch the misshapen plastic. Besides the annoying plastic-cutting noise and the interruption to untangle the blades, the plastic bits and pieces could be strewn around the lawn.

How to Remove Sod Plastic Mesh

Good news! Removing the mesh is an easy process. You could do it by yourself, but it would be a good idea to enlist a helper.

It’s not exactly back-breaking work.

You will need:

1. Gloves (optional)

2. Box cutter or a pair of scissors

3. Someone to lend a helping hand, holding (and pulling out) the mesh as you unroll the sod.

Before you start…

Before starting, ensure the yard area is well prepared. To ensure healthy growth of the lawn, it should have been:

1. Leveled out, and the soil well-tilled. Visualize how the lawn should look after the lush grass sprouts and takes root.
2. Applied starter fertilizer (ideally with phosphorus fertilizer). The starter fertilizer is in the middle of the NPK macro-nutrients chart. N stands for nitrogen, P stands for phosphorus, and K stands for potassium. Scotts Turf Builder Starter Food for New Grass is an excellent budget-friendly choice.
3. Well-watered before planting.

Procedure

1. Align the end of the sod roll along the edge of the yard.
2. If the sod roll came with a packaging stabilizer netting remove the whole of it. The mesh was used to bind the sod tightly while in transit and has done its job.
3. As SF Gate suggests, start with the end of the roll and loosen the mesh from under the sod. Position the roll at the starting point (the edge of the yard), ready to unroll it.
4. Your helper should clutch at a ‘fistful’ of the loosened mesh.
5. Start unrolling the sod slowly, allowing the helping hand to carefully tug out the mesh as the sod is being unspooled onto its resting place in the yard. Some care needs to be taken no to yank out the mesh so hard that it comes out with the soil or even grassroots.
6. After the whole roll is laid out, pad it firmly into its ground to merge the sod soil with the surface soil.
7. Repeat the process for the entire lawn, then fill in the blank spaces with patches of the leftover sod.

A Couple of Points for Consideration

During the transplanting, be careful not to yank out the mesh impatiently. This mistake could harm the roots. It’s a good idea to transplant during the rainy season. If you’re transplanting during the dry season, be sure to do it in the evening, or water the lawn thoroughly after a few hours.

Is the mesh biodegradable? It would be unnecessary to remove biodegradable meshing because its benefits outweigh its limitations. As the years go by, it will naturally disappear without affecting the lawn. The problem is that bio-degradable mesh is very expensive.

If there are areas of the lawn which you anticipate will see heavy traffic, it would be a good idea to leave the mesh in place. This because it helps the grass develop a dense network of roots, which prevents complete uprooting by foot traffic.

Wrapping It Up

Despite the possible frustrations presented by the plastic mesh, sod continues to be a great choice for lawns all over to place. You can remove the mesh before or after it’s laid down, though it’s much easier to get it done beforehand.

Remember that the mesh is good to hold the sod together during transportation. It’s also beneficial if your lawn is on a hill because it prevents the sod from bunching up and slouching.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the post:

• When you’re removing the mesh from sod, do it slowly to prevent breakage.
• Never try to pull the netting by pulling it roughly from your lawn.
• Always use a starter fertilizer when you’re laying sod down.
• Don’t walk on the sod until it sets its roots once the netting has been removed.