Compare · Sod vs. seed
For most DFW yards the choice is made before you get to cost, because the grasses that do well here cannot be grown from seed. Here is the honest comparison, including the case where seed wins.
Price my lawn
Finished today.
Or maybe
next year.
Warm-season turf in North Texas is mostly propagated vegetatively, not from seed. St. Augustine has no commercial seed. The hybrid Bermudas are sterile, so Tifway 419, TifTuf, Celebration, and the rest exist only as sod, sprigs, or plugs. Zoysia seed exists but it is a different, coarser grass from the Palisades and Emerald people actually want, and it takes a full season to fill in.
So if you want any grass on our sod page, seed is not an option. The real comparison is seeded common Bermuda against sod, and that is the table below.
Our numbers are the ones published on this site. Seed cost is a range you can check at any DFW supplier, not a figure we are asking you to take on faith.
| Seeded common Bermuda | Sod, delivery only | Sod, installed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per sq ft | Roughly 5 to 15 cents in seed, plus soil prep | From $0.60 for Bermuda, $0.59 for St. Augustine, $0.81 for Zoysia | $800-1,000 / pallet installed, $800-1,000 / pallet installed, $800-1,000 / pallet installed by family |
| Time to a usable lawn | One to three weeks to germinate, a full season to fill in, often two | Rooted in 10 to 14 days on prepped soil | Rooted in 10 to 14 days, finished look the day it goes down |
| Grasses available | Common Bermuda only | All 15 varieties we carry | All 15 varieties we carry |
| Shade tolerance | None worth having. Common Bermuda needs full sun | St. Augustine handles four to six hours | St. Augustine handles four to six hours |
| Weeds while it establishes | Open soil for months, so weed pressure is constant and pre-emergent is off the table | Closed canopy immediately, very little weed pressure | Closed canopy immediately, very little weed pressure |
| Erosion and slopes | Seed washes off any grade in a North Texas storm without netting | Holds a slope the day it is laid, staked at the top course | Holds a slope the day it is laid, staked at the top course |
| Watering burden | Keep the surface damp for weeks; miss two hot days and you reseed | Daily for 10 days, then taper | Daily for 10 days, then taper |
| Best season | Late spring only, once soil is reliably warm | Any month the ground is not frozen | Any month the ground is not frozen |
One pallet of sod covers 450 square feet. Installed ranges cover sod, laying, rolling, and the first watering; lawn prep is quoted separately when the yard needs it.
We do not sell seed, and we will still tell you when you are in this case.
No. There is no viable St. Augustine seed sold in North Texas. It is grown vegetatively, which means sod or plugs. If your yard is shaded enough to need St. Augustine, the sod-or-seed question is already answered.
Common Bermuda, yes. The hybrid Bermudas we sell, Tifway 419, TifTuf, Celebration, Latitude 36, and the rest, are sterile and propagated vegetatively, so they are not sold as seed at all. Seeded common Bermuda is a coarser, less dense lawn than any hybrid on our list.
Per square foot on day one, yes, by a wide margin. Over the first year the gap narrows: seeded lawns need repeat seeding on thin spots, more weed control while the ground is open, and topsoil or erosion netting on any slope. Sod costs more up front and is finished the day it goes down.
Sod roots in about 10 to 14 days on prepped soil and takes normal use in three to four weeks. Seed germinates in one to three weeks, needs to stay wet the whole time, and is not a lawn you use until the second season.
A large, flat, full-sun lot where you want common Bermuda, you are not in a hurry, and the budget matters more than the finish. That is a real case and we will tell you when you are in it. We do not sell seed.
Tell us the sun hours, the square footage, and your timeline. We will say which way we would go on your yard.
Written by the Sod Friend crew. Delivery and installs are done by the crew at Loera’s Landscaping, who have laid sod across Dallas-Fort Worth since 2010.
Tell us the square footage and the sun, and a real person gets back to you with a straight number.
St. Augustine has no seed.