I have always found it much easier to go to my neighbors house at night and use his lawn to get good grass plugs. That also saves me time because I don't have to repair the plugged spot.
We did this 3 years ago and now the entire lawn is fully covered with the Australia Sir Walter Buffalo Grass. We used a dog food tin as the cutter and the wife dug the holes using a small garden trowel.
A timely find for this video. I sat down this morning with intentions of finding a video on how to properly remove plugs from a zoysia patch in my yard and transplant them to a bare spot in another area. Thank you for this informative video. I now know how to proceed.
Missed comment on plugging, especially Zoysia and turfs with both stolons and rhizomes - do this when the soil is moist so it's easier to cut through these horizontal roots. Amazing that of everybody talking about plugging a lawn, 98% of them are using this exact tool. I have this tool and it's great. Since soil tests are typically taken at a 4 inch depth, I just pull a 4 inch plug, scrape out a little soil from the middle without touching the sides to mess with the iron part of the soil test, then put the plug back and you never have a dead spot. Glad to see this done with 2 inch plugs. My 10K sq. ft. back lawn is junk, and my 5K front lawn is well manicured Zoysia. Fill these in where there massive amounts of clover are (which puts a ton of nitrogen into the soil) and it should really kick start the growth. Keep these areas mowed low enough so the plugs get plenty of sunlight and in a few weeks, the plugs are taking root and need much less water.
Thank you for the helpful tip William. The naysayers obviously haven't tried or heard about this method. It's an old technique. I thought my mother was crazy when she told me about it, but I listened because her green thumb is on point. I'm doing it myself on my yard and it is working well. Thanks again.
Thank you for this Video - this is exactly what I needed!! I'm going to take the Bermuda grass from our front yard and plant it's plugs now in our back yard after watching this video... I didn't know that was possible. (our backyard was seeded with different types of grass when we bought the house which made it patchy).
William, I have no idea what I am doing with plugging, and your short and to the point video prepared me for the work this weekend plugging my Zoysia lawn, thank you!!
I personally wouldn’t use potting soil in the plugged soil. I’d use “black kow” cow manure. Potting soil will just give you weeds. Thanks for the video. Definitely buying one
I used his plugging tool for the first part of my lawn and found easier and more water efficient ways for doing the job. He makes plugging the turf look so easy but in reality plugging buffalo grass is bloody hard work.
I wish I knew about plugs before I started seeding! Ah man! The construction company installed sod in the front of our house, but did not do anything in the back besides flattening the ground, compacting it, then throwing seeds. Nothing grew whatsoever except for wild onions. A month ago I took off the netting that they put down, I tilled the ground, raked a quarry full of rocks and dirt, then spread peat moss and scotts lawn builder. I had to reseed so many times that I think I've spent almost 400 dollars or more on materials. Everything is starting to grow now and doing better, but there are areas that just won't grow and I honestly have no more patience to retill and seed. Jm gonna get zoysia plugs and just plug it all up.
Seeding's a viable option. With warm season grasses (Zoysia, Bermuda etc...) you'll need to keep the seeds watered 2-3 times daily for 10-15 days (until germination). If you let them dry out during that time, you'll see your germination rate decline very rapidly. Plugs, on the other hand, carry 2"-4" of soil with the roots and therefore require much less watering (once per morning for a week to help w/ transplant shock). Labor needed for seedbed preparation can also be avoided.
What can I say other than it works exactly as described in the information provided. It’s a great little tool, simple to use, and with a little elbow-grease (you do get an arm and shoulder workout) it cuts out the perfect plugs to fix or create your new lawn. It’s so much more convenient than dealing with unpredictable grass seed, believe me; had that problem last season, which is why I chose the Plug-route. The ProPlugger 5-in-1 is well worth the affordable $40 price tag, when you consider how much grass seed, fertilizer, top soil and of course time costs in the long run, and as I said grass seed can be unpredictable. With plugs; if some fail you can always re-plug again, without the inconvenience of reseeding. The Pro-Plugger 5-in-1 is well built, strong but not heavy, and durable, it’s easy to clean to. (Make sure to rinse off after every use). Some people complained about plugs getting stuck, I’ve cut-out almost 500 plugs so far and not one of them has caused me any problems. My grass is Zoysia and the soil is fairly easy to work with. All-in-all I’ve had a very good experience with the Pro-Plugger 5-in-1, I highly recommend it guys, you won’t be disappointed. I was not compensated for these comments, I’m just a happy customer and wanted to share my experience. Credit where credit is due. 👍🏻
Thanks for your comments and results. We've got Zenith Zoysia at our house. When we first were starting out, we tried seeding the Zoysia...TWICE... so I feel your pain on the seeding front. Glad the ProPlugger helped on your project and thanks again for your comments!
@@ProPlugger hi there, I have to fill in the front lawn of our beach house in myrtle and was wondering if their s a special technique for centipede grass which I do like…..thank you…
@@mshum538 I'm afraid that I don't have much experience with plugging Centipede grass. What little plugging (more like experimenting) I did with this variety left me with the impression that it is slightly similar to St Augustine in its structure and composition. In my side yard, I tried cutting plugs out of Centipede sod strips which I purchased from a Sod Farm. That didn't work out too well as the plugs fell apart in the plugger (similar to St Augustine). I then laid the remaining strips of sod, watered well and let them root in for a few weeks so that I could harvest plugs that also contained more soil around the roots to act as a binder of sorts. That worked much better but I still had to be very gentile when I went to empty the plugs out of the ProPlugger to keep them from crumbling. Once transplanted, as long as I watered both areas well (donor and transplant locations) on a daily basis for a couple of weeks, the plugs survived and began to spread. I hope this helps some...
@@ProPlugger Thank you, I appreciate the advice so I’ve just now decided to buy the sod and cut them in by hand, I only have a 15x30 section to start with….good day~~~
Hey that was a great video. Thanks for the information. Yeah spending a 1000 bucks on grass just hurts. This is a much nicer idea. I guess your final comment wasn't so encouraging? "Established in 1 one to three growing seasons". ;)
I know what you mean! Sooooo much depends on your local growing conditions (soil nutrients, amount of sun, water etc...) and turf type, that it's hard to put a "frame-rate" on the time to full coverage. Mine zoysia covered in about 1 full season, but zoysia is a slow spreader.
The "two week" period was the watering requirement after planting. "Water well (twice daily) for the first two weeks". As for how long it takes for full coverage...it's dependent on how far apart you space the plugs, the turf type and your local soil/growing conditions. If I plant my Zoysia every 6" apart in the spring, keep on top of the watering for the initial two weeks, then I generally get full coverage in one year. Others plant every 12" and it takes at least two years.
I notice on your website, a) the Pro-Plugger is currently out of stock and b) it is NOT recommended for St. Augustine. Regarding item b), why do you NOT recommend this for St. Augustine? I have a beautiful St. Augustine front yard (it's perfect) and I wanted to plug my back-yard. General Info: I live in Southern California (in a dry & windy region). My front lawn is THRIVING with 3x/week watering. I think my back-yard was originally Tall Fescue (sod) - but now it's just a mix of bare spots, weeds, and a mix of various grasses.
We hesitate to recommend the ProPlugger for St. Augustine because the plug diameter which the ProPlugger pulls is 2-1/8"" which is a little small to ensure a successful transplant with St. Augustine. It's not that the 5-IN-1 Landscape Plugger won't work for St. Augustine, it's that it won't produce the same plug transplant success rate that we see in other turf types (Zoysia, Bermuda, etc...). With those lawn types, we typically see a 98% plus rate of successful plug transplant, whereas with St. Augustine, with its' looser web structure of roots and runners, we see more like a 75% success rate. If your expectations were realistic (50% success rate) then you will probably be happy with the 5-IN-1 for your project. As with any transplant, you will want to water the plugs well...real well for the first couple of weeks following planting as this will help the plugs overcome transplant shock. You'll want to try to do you plugging a day or two after the ground has been watered (or after a good rain). The water really softens up the soil and makes it MUCH easier to work with. Hope this information helps.
Edwin Batista If your lawn grass is a creeping type, I would be temped to plug out (and discard) the damaged area and fill the hole in with a potting mix, which can be purchased at most lawn & garden centers or hardware stores. The surrounding turf will spread into the repair area and within a week or two, should give you full coverage. If your lawn grass is not a creeping variety, I would plug out damaged area but then simply seed over. Water well, regardless of which method you use.
It really depends on the condition of your existing soil. If it's heavy clay (which I doubt it would be in Florida) or mostly sand, then any composted organic material will help enhance the soil (Black Kow would work fine).You might be able to mix your current soil w/ Black Kow at a t50/50 ratio to do the job. If your soil is decent, drains well, has a good nutrient content, you might be able to swap plugs from your transplant locations to your donor area.
Try that plugger in the south where we have clay soil. It would clog up in 2 seconds and be worthless. 3 years? Sugar Brown says "Aint nobody got time fer dat!"
We manufacture and use the ProPlugger in the Carolinas with its heavy red clay. If we plug when the clay is moist, clogging isn't a big issue. Not so if the soil is saturated or bone dry...
So crazy idea, I want to buy this Buffalo hybrid that's really expensive and only comes in plugs but is supposed to completely fill up in 40 days at 1 ft apart. If I just bought enough to cover half of my back yard how long until I could make new plugs from that area?
I have a reasonably large front yard, and the 419 burmuda tiff is just not a very good grass all year in Texas, so I'm going to plug the entire front yard with St. Augustine. It's about 350 to 400 square feet. I think this tool will make it fast to transplant from purchased sod. We just put down 2.5 pallets of St. Augustine in the back yard and it's beautiful! So, my question is, can I just plug my SA into the Bermuda without having a total kill zone of dirt? Since I consider this a large area, I was going to plug 18 inches apart diagonally. Is this a good approach? I was going to wait until spring, but what's stopping us from just starting now, beginning of winter since I wasn't going to kill all the grass first.
+Mark Armstrong I may have misread the first part of your comment about transplanting from "purchased sod" for our front yard, but if your back yard is established St. Augustine, then you have your own "sod farm" from which you can transplant sod plugs to the front yard, saving time and money. The distance between plugs is tricky as soil/sun/water conditions vary so widely that there's no one good answer. I'd be tempted to plant on 12" centers w/ St Augustine as it's a pretty fast spreader and you have a good chance of full coverage in one growing season, (assuming reasonable soil, sun and water conditions). What I don't know is what you'll need to do with your existing 419 Bermuda lawn as I don't know which one would win the battle for dominance. You may want to check w/ a local sod farm or university extension department. As far as when to transplant, it's best to do it at least a month before a hard frost, giving the new plugs time to get rooted in before winter. You can also start transplanting in early spring. Hope this helps.
+William Carney ... sorry I wasn't clear, yes, our back yard was torn up from a foundation lift in addition Bermuda was a poor grower under an area covered by a large crepe myrtle. We're in north Texas, so I'll look for local opinions, but we're close to a frost now, so I'm going to wait until spring. Thank you! I did purchase the 5 in 1. Should make the job much faster.
+Mark Armstrong Okay, we may have a problem. The 5-IN-1 is not be the best tool for cutting plugs out of pieces of purchased St Augustine sod. Most every other sod is fine to work with but St Augustine has a very loose network of roots and runners and during harvesting at the sod farm, anywhere from 75% - 85% of the root system is removed leaving a fairly fragile sod piece. By the time the 5-IN-1 cuts that piece up into 2" round "cookies", it can completely denigrate and you may pour out fragments of grass and roots instead of nice, tight little plugs. Many of our customers will instead, plant the complete pieces of St Augustine sod in their yard, let it root in (2-3 weeks), then start pulling plugs from that area to transplant, back-filling the donor holes w/ a potting mix from their local hardware store. Within a few weeks, the donor holes have grown over and they can repeat the process all summer long.
Right! I'm on board with the plan. The new 2.5 pallets in back yard, I'm not going to punch out. They will have about a month to settle in before going dormant... I plan on: - Pulling plugs in late Feb or March from some of the back yard and new purchased sod, perhaps a quarter of a pallet I can squeeze in our SUV, when temps of germination start... near 60s in day. At this point I plan on killing my front 450 sqr foot yard of 419 tifway bermuda. It requires too much attention in hot days and more tlc than I care to do. Also shaded areas are nil. - I was planning on putting the coconut plug husks in the "removed" holes. While I saw some material differences, either way, the "pulled holes" will get filled with something that helps the drought and is a benefit to the turf in place. - I would add that the sod farm I got the pallets from was in excellent condition with very well formed mature runners. However, I know the "cookies" do limit the plant when using the 5in1. - Lastly, I was going to cut "2" in sod out of the back and put into 4" holes with "2" inches of high quality planting mix going forward in 2016, since I will have my own sod farm. This is what I gathered from watching your YT videos. The amount of burmuda thatch/turf I pull up, in the front yard, will go to a large compose pile I have in the backyard of the property. I hope to reuse this precious soil. However, my understanding is that I actually have to wait until the bermuda becomes active to soak up the chemical kill. Otherwise, spraying it on dormant grass is a waste of time. Hours and hours of research along with several local opinions should make for a successful new front lawn next year. I have a section of back yard (perhaps 175 sqr feet) I could practice on this spring, but why wait? Thanks for all of your help and guidance. I'm a DIY (within my bounds) and I'm confident I can change the yard over this next growing season. :)
+Mark Armstrong Sounds like a plan! Be sure to take some before and after pics :-). You probably already know this but remember to water both the donor and transplant areas daily for the first week, then a couple time a week for the next week. That should help both areas overcome transplant shock more quickly. Good luck w/ the project!
Good question. The answer is "no", not all grasses spread. While I'm not an expert, I think I can confidently say that most all warm-season grasses spread... (think Zoysia, Bermuda, St Augustine, Centipede etc...). Most cool season grasses do not spread (Fescue and fescue mixes) but some do. I think Kentucky Bluegrass is one variety that does creep or spread. Beyond that, I'm not sure. You would want to do some research on which other cool season varieties spread.
I have zoysia It is not fully established I would like to plug the areas that need it if I am taking from a existing lawn what do I need to do after I take out the good zoysia from that area should I just fill them in with dirt Thank you
RichBshine1972 I would fill the holes from which you harvested your good plugs (to be transplanted) with potting mix. Generally available at any hardware or lawn and garden center.
In my experience, no. Bermuda is the bane of my existence. It crowds out my Zoysia, then allows weeds to come up in the areas that its taken over. I've never seen anything like it. I also asked SuperSod, a large sod farm throughout the Southeast and they have the same issue with Bermuda infesting their Zoysia farms.
I'm not familiar with Carpet Grass so I had to look it up and it appears that it's classified as a warm-season creeping type of grass which means that it should be able to be planted using transplanted or purchased plugs.
I would be tempted to reverse that order. Do your plugging first, and once the new plugs are in their homes, apply the pre-em. The plugs will need watering daily which will also water in your pre-em. I've done this before with pretty good results.
Unfortunately we had to discontinue selling the cocopeat disks several years back due to rising costs. It's recommended to use potting soil or potting mix to backfill the holes.
Actually, we do know how long it would take to plant a whole yard. The average lawn in the US is 15,000 sf and if you plant your plugs every 12" apart (depending on which variety of turf you use), it would take two people at least a couple of Saturdays (7-hrs each weekend), maybe three, to cut and plant the entire yard. This assumes that you pull plugs at the pace that is shown in this video which is about 1,200 plugs per hour including time to empty.
+Ericec4126 I have clay soil and take every opportunity to amend it with composted material like potting soil so my vote is to amend. I know others who are fine with the clay soil and fill the holes with soil from the the yard.
Mr Carney, we live in Virginia Beach and use tall fescue here. I am getting tired of the maintenance and the proneness to fungi of it. I hear a few different opinions, but seeing we have a lot of clay, would I get the best results with zoysia or st augustines? I do not mind the brown in winter, but really want to go lower maintenance than fescue presently.
I'm not an expert on St Augustine but I do know that Zoysia does well in slightly acidic soil like we have in the southeastern US. With either variety you would need a good amount of sun during the growing season. I've heard of recommendations of 6 hrs or more per day. You might want to check with a sod grower in your area. Here's a good turf compairison by a grower pretty close to you. riversideturf.com/compare-turf.html
Dagnabbit, I didn't see this published on your website... until now. :( *We do not recommend using the ProPlugger 5-IN-1 for pulling St Augustine plugs or cutting St Augustine sod due to its' loose structure. Plugs do not hold together well for planting or transplanting.
Mark, transplanting St Augustine grass works much better then cutting up pieces of sod purchased from a sod farm as the soil captured with the plug can act as a binding agent for the roots and runners. That is if your soil is not too sandy (like trying to pull plugs in a sand box).
It works okay on transplanting St Augustine from one part of your lawn to another but not so well on cutting and planting pieces of sod that have been purchased from a sod farm. It has to do with the loose structure of St Augustine grass (similar to Centipede grass). Once the sod farm removes about 80% of the root structure, and you then try to cut the sod into 2" circles, there's not enough root material remaining to hold the plug together....it just falls apart. Customers have had better success with transplanting as they are able to pull 2" or more of soil/roots with each plug which seems to hold together better.
As long as you water the donor and transplant areas well for a couple weeks after plugging, you should be fine transplanting from early spring until late summer/early fall. The key is watering.
It works pretty well on transplanting St Augustine from one area of your lawn to another. It does not work well cutting pieces of sod (purchased from a sod farm) into plugs for planting. St Augustine has too loose of a web of roots and runners to hold up after the sod farm cuts off 80% of the roots and then you try cutting that sod into 2" diameter plugs.
You would only want to plug warm season grasses (Zoysia, Bermuda, St Augustine etc...) as using seed for warm season varieties is problematic due to the extremely long germination cycle of the seed. Fescues and other cool season grasses do fine with seeding.
@@ProPlugger i can attest to the long germination. Last season I goofed and used a bit of ground clear as week killer, worked great till i wasn't paying attention to weather and did it shortly before a rain. Now I have a "racing stripe" in my lawn. It's hybrid Bermuda and I'm pushing it heavily this year, barricade DG, Humic DG, innova, Doc's "Super Juice, 10-10-10, soil test, added liquid calcium, rest of lawn is great, and filling the stripe, but it's several feet wide, by like 25 feet long. It's a slight slope and I've tried seeding twice already, once even with tacked down hay blankets, the once a week rain just keeps washing it away, it just doesn't germinate fast enough on my slope. I'm giving this a go since i have such good bermuda every where else. just bought it.
Your lawn soil is very soft and easy to plug extract. This however does not reflect reality. A normal lawn in most homes is compacted soils with rocks and other debris. I dont think this plugger will meet real life standards.
You don't make sense man.... "Seeding is a lot of hard work". And plugging 100 holes isn't"? "You have to keep up with watering with seeds". Then with plugging "water the plugs, every morning for the next ten days or two weeks". Hahahaha, nice try.
Those all white sneakers let me know that this man can indeed be trusted with when it comes to lawn information.
Gold 🤣
Especially with the double knotted laces
They aren't New Balance and not stained green, can't be trusted.
dude😂 u win gardening comments 😂😂
Don’t forget the cargo shorts
I have always found it much easier to go to my neighbors house at night and use his lawn to get good grass plugs. That also saves me time because I don't have to repair the plugged spot.
LMAO!!!!!
Free Grass Or you could ask your neighbor to pay you for aeration. Everybody wins!
I go to the local golf course.
wasn't me was those dang ocd gophers!
Isn''t that stealing?
We did this 3 years ago and now the entire lawn is fully covered with the Australia Sir Walter Buffalo Grass.
We used a dog food tin as the cutter and the wife dug the holes using a small garden trowel.
A timely find for this video. I sat down this morning with intentions of finding a video on how to properly remove plugs from a zoysia patch in my yard and transplant them to a bare spot in another area. Thank you for this informative video. I now know how to proceed.
We're happy this video was a help. Best wishes with your zoysia plugging project. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.
Missed comment on plugging, especially Zoysia and turfs with both stolons and rhizomes - do this when the soil is moist so it's easier to cut through these horizontal roots.
Amazing that of everybody talking about plugging a lawn, 98% of them are using this exact tool. I have this tool and it's great. Since soil tests are typically taken at a 4 inch depth, I just pull a 4 inch plug, scrape out a little soil from the middle without touching the sides to mess with the iron part of the soil test, then put the plug back and you never have a dead spot.
Glad to see this done with 2 inch plugs. My 10K sq. ft. back lawn is junk, and my 5K front lawn is well manicured Zoysia. Fill these in where there massive amounts of clover are (which puts a ton of nitrogen into the soil) and it should really kick start the growth. Keep these areas mowed low enough so the plugs get plenty of sunlight and in a few weeks, the plugs are taking root and need much less water.
One of the better vids out there on this topic
Thank you for the helpful tip William. The naysayers obviously haven't tried or heard about this method. It's an old technique. I thought my mother was crazy when she told me about it, but I listened because her green thumb is on point. I'm doing it myself on my yard and it is working well. Thanks again.
6ujk, l8899e
how long does it take, he says fast forward 2 weeks, then end of video says 1-3 growing seasons?
Thank you for this Video - this is exactly what I needed!! I'm going to take the Bermuda grass from our front yard and plant it's plugs now in our back yard after watching this video... I didn't know that was possible. (our backyard was seeded with different types of grass when we bought the house which made it patchy).
So glad the video was helpful. Please reach out to us if you have any questions. We're happy to help. Best wishes with your bermuda plugging project.
William, I have no idea what I am doing with plugging, and your short and to the point video prepared me for the work this weekend plugging my Zoysia lawn, thank you!!
Glenn, glad it helped. Hope your project turns out well. Remember to water well for the first week or two after plugging. Makes all the difference.
Anxious to try this on a few of my client's yard that need some rescuing. Thank you!
Let us know if you have any questions we can answer for you.
I personally wouldn’t use potting soil in the plugged soil. I’d use “black kow” cow manure. Potting soil will just give you weeds.
Thanks for the video. Definitely buying one
I used his plugging tool for the first part of my lawn and found easier and more water efficient ways for doing the job.
He makes plugging the turf look so easy but in reality plugging buffalo grass is bloody hard work.
Good point! I've plugged buffalo on a neighbors yard one time and was amazed at how tough/tight it was to get through.
I wish I knew about plugs before I started seeding! Ah man! The construction company installed sod in the front of our house, but did not do anything in the back besides flattening the ground, compacting it, then throwing seeds. Nothing grew whatsoever except for wild onions. A month ago I took off the netting that they put down, I tilled the ground, raked a quarry full of rocks and dirt, then spread peat moss and scotts lawn builder. I had to reseed so many times that I think I've spent almost 400 dollars or more on materials. Everything is starting to grow now and doing better, but there are areas that just won't grow and I honestly have no more patience to retill and seed. Jm gonna get zoysia plugs and just plug it all up.
Excellent. Clear, quick and informative. Thanks!
I cut plugs from Zoysia sod, by cutting it into squares with a machete. It worked great.
Seeding's a viable option. With warm season grasses (Zoysia, Bermuda etc...) you'll need to keep the seeds watered 2-3 times daily for 10-15 days (until germination). If you let them dry out during that time, you'll see your germination rate decline very rapidly. Plugs, on the other hand, carry 2"-4" of soil with the roots and therefore require much less watering (once per morning for a week to help w/ transplant shock). Labor needed for seedbed preparation can also be avoided.
What can I say other than it works exactly as described in the information provided.
It’s a great little tool, simple to use, and with a little elbow-grease (you do get an arm and shoulder workout) it cuts out the perfect plugs to fix or create your new lawn.
It’s so much more convenient than dealing with unpredictable grass seed, believe me; had that problem
last season, which is why I chose the Plug-route.
The ProPlugger 5-in-1 is well worth the affordable $40 price tag, when you consider how much grass seed, fertilizer, top soil and of course time costs in the long run, and as I said grass seed can be unpredictable.
With plugs; if some fail you can always re-plug again, without the inconvenience of reseeding.
The Pro-Plugger 5-in-1 is well built, strong but not heavy, and durable, it’s easy to clean to. (Make sure to rinse off after every use).
Some people complained about plugs getting stuck, I’ve cut-out almost 500 plugs so far and not one of them has caused me any problems.
My grass is Zoysia and the soil is fairly easy to work with.
All-in-all I’ve had a very good experience with the Pro-Plugger 5-in-1, I highly recommend it guys, you won’t be disappointed.
I was not compensated for these comments, I’m just a happy customer and wanted to share my experience.
Credit where credit is due. 👍🏻
Thanks for your comments and results. We've got Zenith Zoysia at our house. When we first were starting out, we tried seeding the Zoysia...TWICE... so I feel your pain on the seeding front. Glad the ProPlugger helped on your project and thanks again for your comments!
@@ProPlugger hi there, I have to fill in the front lawn of our beach house in myrtle and was wondering if their s a special technique for centipede grass which I do like…..thank you…
@@mshum538 I'm afraid that I don't have much experience with plugging Centipede grass. What little plugging (more like experimenting) I did with this variety left me with the impression that it is slightly similar to St Augustine in its structure and composition. In my side yard, I tried cutting plugs out of Centipede sod strips which I purchased from a Sod Farm. That didn't work out too well as the plugs fell apart in the plugger (similar to St Augustine). I then laid the remaining strips of sod, watered well and let them root in for a few weeks so that I could harvest plugs that also contained more soil around the roots to act as a binder of sorts. That worked much better but I still had to be very gentile when I went to empty the plugs out of the ProPlugger to keep them from crumbling. Once transplanted, as long as I watered both areas well (donor and transplant locations) on a daily basis for a couple of weeks, the plugs survived and began to spread.
I hope this helps some...
@@ProPlugger Thank you, I appreciate the advice so I’ve just now decided to buy the sod and cut them in by hand, I only have a 15x30 section to start with….good day~~~
this is what we are doing!! thanks for the knowledge!
This is a great tool I have been using it to upgrade parts of our lawn.
Philip, glad it's working out with your lawn. What type of grass are you working with?
I've never heard of this plugging and now that we know I'll do this with the Buffalo turf in the shady areas.
Hey that was a great video. Thanks for the information. Yeah spending a 1000 bucks on grass just hurts. This is a much nicer idea. I guess your final comment wasn't so encouraging? "Established in 1 one to three growing seasons". ;)
I know what you mean! Sooooo much depends on your local growing conditions (soil nutrients, amount of sun, water etc...) and turf type, that it's hard to put a "frame-rate" on the time to full coverage. Mine zoysia covered in about 1 full season, but zoysia is a slow spreader.
Excellent tool & advice. Thank you!!!
Very welcome!
Great information thank you
Perfect! Thank you.
what a peaceful bird chirping.....no voice
Takes 1-3 years to completely fill in the lawn! Wow! What are the neighbors going to think? This is a crazy idea!
If what your neighbors think of your yard is an issue, you can always sod the yard. Much quicker.
I am sure he is joking
Great tips!
Thank you!
Why should you turn the sod over 2:12 as shown here?
My dad did not fall down THE stairs. Lol
Where did you get that plug. Also can I buy st Augustine sod from a big box and cut plugs from it. Maybe they don’t have good sod
how long does it take, you mention fast forward 2 weeks, then end of video says full coverage in 1-3 growing seasons?
The "two week" period was the watering requirement after planting. "Water well (twice daily) for the first two weeks". As for how long it takes for full coverage...it's dependent on how far apart you space the plugs, the turf type and your local soil/growing conditions. If I plant my Zoysia every 6" apart in the spring, keep on top of the watering for the initial two weeks, then I generally get full coverage in one year. Others plant every 12" and it takes at least two years.
I notice on your website, a) the Pro-Plugger is currently out of stock and b) it is NOT recommended for St. Augustine.
Regarding item b), why do you NOT recommend this for St. Augustine? I have a beautiful St. Augustine front yard (it's perfect) and I wanted to plug my back-yard.
General Info: I live in Southern California (in a dry & windy region). My front lawn is THRIVING with 3x/week watering. I think my back-yard was originally Tall Fescue (sod) - but now it's just a mix of bare spots, weeds, and a mix of various grasses.
We hesitate to recommend the ProPlugger for St. Augustine because the plug diameter which the ProPlugger pulls is 2-1/8"" which is a little small to ensure a successful transplant with St. Augustine. It's not that the 5-IN-1 Landscape Plugger won't work for St. Augustine, it's that it won't produce the same plug transplant success rate that we see in other turf types (Zoysia, Bermuda, etc...). With those lawn types, we typically see a 98% plus rate of successful plug transplant, whereas with St. Augustine, with its' looser web structure of roots and runners, we see more like a 75% success rate.
If your expectations were realistic (50% success rate) then you will probably be happy with the 5-IN-1 for your project.
As with any transplant, you will want to water the plugs well...real well for the first couple of weeks following planting as this will help the plugs overcome transplant shock. You'll want to try to do you plugging a day or two after the ground has been watered (or after a good rain). The water really softens up the soil and makes it MUCH easier to work with.
Hope this information helps.
Thanks for posting this video. How would you recommend handling plugging grass with a pet? We have a limited space to sod so I can't block it off.
Edwin Batista If your lawn grass is a creeping type, I would be temped to plug out (and discard) the damaged area and fill the hole in with a potting mix, which can be purchased at most lawn & garden centers or hardware stores. The surrounding turf will spread into the repair area and within a week or two, should give you full coverage. If your lawn grass is not a creeping variety, I would plug out damaged area but then simply seed over. Water well, regardless of which method you use.
Best video, thanks
What is good to "fill in" bare spots on my zoysia in Bay County Fla?
Black Kow??!pls advise
It really depends on the condition of your existing soil. If it's heavy clay (which I doubt it would be in Florida) or mostly sand, then any composted organic material will help enhance the soil (Black Kow would work fine).You might be able to mix your current soil w/ Black Kow at a t50/50 ratio to do the job. If your soil is decent, drains well, has a good nutrient content, you might be able to swap plugs from your transplant locations to your donor area.
Try that plugger in the south where we have clay soil. It would clog up in 2 seconds and be worthless. 3 years? Sugar Brown says "Aint nobody got time fer dat!"
We manufacture and use the ProPlugger in the Carolinas with its heavy red clay. If we plug when the clay is moist, clogging isn't a big issue. Not so if the soil is saturated or bone dry...
How do you get Palmetto Buffalo to grow and naturally spread across the lawn?
Question: After plugging, the adapter plate is jammed on to the plugger. What is the best way to remove it?
This short video shows how we remove a depth ring that's a bit stuck. ruclips.net/video/G_fMJG-Xv2Y/видео.html
Good info
So, what do you do with the new holes you just created in your lawn? Would I need to fill them in with top soil or will they just "heal" on their own?
+5bythebay Oops! Look like someone already asked (and you answered) that question. Thanks!
Thank for the great tips :)
So crazy idea, I want to buy this Buffalo hybrid that's really expensive and only comes in plugs but is supposed to completely fill up in 40 days at 1 ft apart. If I just bought enough to cover half of my back yard how long until I could make new plugs from that area?
Jordan Young As soon as it's rooted in good. A month or so should do the trick.
What type of plugger should I buy for St. Augustine?
Also, how long does it take for the grass to fill in the entire long?
St. Augustine would need a larger plugger...one that pulls at least a 3" x 3" plug. I think Yard Butler sells one that size.
White sneakers does not means he is not dealing with dirt, it means he is cautious.
like BMW or Volvo mechanics, they wear white over all.
I have a reasonably large front yard, and the 419 burmuda tiff is just not a very good grass all year in Texas, so I'm going to plug the entire front yard with St. Augustine. It's about 350 to 400 square feet. I think this tool will make it fast to transplant from purchased sod. We just put down 2.5 pallets of St. Augustine in the back yard and it's beautiful! So, my question is, can I just plug my SA into the Bermuda without having a total kill zone of dirt? Since I consider this a large area, I was going to plug 18 inches apart diagonally. Is this a good approach? I was going to wait until spring, but what's stopping us from just starting now, beginning of winter since I wasn't going to kill all the grass first.
+Mark Armstrong I may have misread the first part of your comment about transplanting from "purchased sod" for our front yard, but if your back yard is established St. Augustine, then you have your own "sod farm" from which you can transplant sod plugs to the front yard, saving time and money.
The distance between plugs is tricky as soil/sun/water conditions vary so widely that there's no one good answer. I'd be tempted to plant on 12" centers w/ St Augustine as it's a pretty fast spreader and you have a good chance of full coverage in one growing season, (assuming reasonable soil, sun and water conditions).
What I don't know is what you'll need to do with your existing 419 Bermuda lawn as I don't know which one would win the battle for dominance. You may want to check w/ a local sod farm or university extension department. As far as when to transplant, it's best to do it at least a month before a hard frost, giving the new plugs time to get rooted in before winter. You can also start transplanting in early spring.
Hope this helps.
+William Carney ... sorry I wasn't clear, yes, our back yard was torn up from a foundation lift in addition Bermuda was a poor grower under an area covered by a large crepe myrtle. We're in north Texas, so I'll look for local opinions, but we're close to a frost now, so I'm going to wait until spring. Thank you! I did purchase the 5 in 1. Should make the job much faster.
+Mark Armstrong Okay, we may have a problem. The 5-IN-1 is not be the best tool for cutting plugs out of pieces of purchased St Augustine sod. Most every other sod is fine to work with but St Augustine has a very loose network of roots and runners and during harvesting at the sod farm, anywhere from 75% - 85% of the root system is removed leaving a fairly fragile sod piece. By the time the 5-IN-1 cuts that piece up into 2" round "cookies", it can completely denigrate and you may pour out fragments of grass and roots instead of nice, tight little plugs. Many of our customers will instead, plant the complete pieces of St Augustine sod in their yard, let it root in (2-3 weeks), then start pulling plugs from that area to transplant, back-filling the donor holes w/ a potting mix from their local hardware store. Within a few weeks, the donor holes have grown over and they can repeat the process all summer long.
Right! I'm on board with the plan. The new 2.5 pallets in back yard, I'm not going to punch out. They will have about a month to settle in before going dormant... I plan on:
- Pulling plugs in late Feb or March from some of the back yard and new purchased sod, perhaps a quarter of a pallet I can squeeze in our SUV, when temps of germination start... near 60s in day. At this point I plan on killing my front 450 sqr foot yard of 419 tifway bermuda. It requires too much attention in hot days and more tlc than I care to do. Also shaded areas are nil.
- I was planning on putting the coconut plug husks in the "removed" holes. While I saw some material differences, either way, the "pulled holes" will get filled with something that helps the drought and is a benefit to the turf in place.
- I would add that the sod farm I got the pallets from was in excellent condition with very well formed mature runners. However, I know the "cookies" do limit the plant when using the 5in1.
- Lastly, I was going to cut "2" in sod out of the back and put into 4" holes with "2" inches of high quality planting mix going forward in 2016, since I will have my own sod farm. This is what I gathered from watching your YT videos.
The amount of burmuda thatch/turf I pull up, in the front yard, will go to a large compose pile I have in the backyard of the property. I hope to reuse this precious soil. However, my understanding is that I actually have to wait until the bermuda becomes active to soak up the chemical kill. Otherwise, spraying it on dormant grass is a waste of time.
Hours and hours of research along with several local opinions should make for a successful new front lawn next year.
I have a section of back yard (perhaps 175 sqr feet) I could practice on this spring, but why wait?
Thanks for all of your help and guidance. I'm a DIY (within my bounds) and I'm confident I can change the yard over this next growing season.
:)
+Mark Armstrong Sounds like a plan! Be sure to take some before and after pics :-). You probably already know this but remember to water both the donor and transplant areas daily for the first week, then a couple time a week for the next week. That should help both areas overcome transplant shock more quickly. Good luck w/ the project!
I'm getting this on Amazon same brand.
Thank you! We sell the ProPlugger on Amazon. Best wishes with your planting projects!
This may sound stupid but are all types of grass able to spread?
Good question. The answer is "no", not all grasses spread. While I'm not an expert, I think I can confidently say that most all warm-season grasses spread... (think Zoysia, Bermuda, St Augustine, Centipede etc...). Most cool season grasses do not spread (Fescue and fescue mixes) but some do. I think Kentucky Bluegrass is one variety that does creep or spread. Beyond that, I'm not sure. You would want to do some research on which other cool season varieties spread.
I have zoysia It is not fully established I would like to plug the areas that need it if I am taking from a existing lawn what do I need to do after I take out the good zoysia from that area should I just fill them in with dirt
Thank you
RichBshine1972 I would fill the holes from which you harvested your good plugs (to be transplanted) with potting mix. Generally available at any hardware or lawn and garden center.
Thank you !! one more thing should I wet the zoysia before plugging thanks
So if I plug a small section of my Bermuda lawn with zoysia will it take over the whole lawn in a couple seasons?
In my experience, no. Bermuda is the bane of my existence. It crowds out my Zoysia, then allows weeds to come up in the areas that its taken over. I've never seen anything like it. I also asked SuperSod, a large sod farm throughout the Southeast and they have the same issue with Bermuda infesting their Zoysia farms.
ProPlugger oh wow. Well thanks for the feedback, great video
I plug checkerboard...not rows
will this method work if you have carpet grass? thanks
I'm not familiar with Carpet Grass so I had to look it up and it appears that it's classified as a warm-season creeping type of grass which means that it should be able to be planted using transplanted or purchased plugs.
Can I use a pre emergent for weeds and then do the plugging a week or so later?
I would be tempted to reverse that order. Do your plugging first, and once the new plugs are in their homes, apply the pre-em. The plugs will need watering daily which will also water in your pre-em. I've done this before with pretty good results.
@@ProPlugger Thanks! I just hope the preemergent doesn’t stunt the plug growth
I don’t see the hole fillers on the website.
Unfortunately we had to discontinue selling the cocopeat disks several years back due to rising costs. It's recommended to use potting soil or potting mix to backfill the holes.
Actually, we do know how long it would take to plant a whole yard. The average lawn in the US is 15,000 sf and if you plant your plugs every 12" apart (depending on which variety of turf you use), it would take two people at least a couple of Saturdays (7-hrs each weekend), maybe three, to cut and plant the entire yard. This assumes that you pull plugs at the pace that is shown in this video which is about 1,200 plugs per hour including time to empty.
yeah...and this isn't labor intensive?
how and where can I get the plugger
I have clay soil, should I fill the holes with clay or potting soil?
+Ericec4126 I have clay soil and take every opportunity to amend it with composted material like potting soil so my vote is to amend. I know others who are fine with the clay soil and fill the holes with soil from the the yard.
I have clay, and like ProPlugger mentioned, anytime I do any work in the yard I try to use fresh topsoil.
If you have Bermuda you can also overseed in the fall to speed things up
Mr Carney, we live in Virginia Beach and use tall fescue here. I am getting tired of the maintenance and the proneness to fungi of it. I hear a few different opinions, but seeing we have a lot of clay, would I get the best results with zoysia or st augustines? I do not mind the brown in winter, but really want to go lower maintenance than fescue presently.
I'm not an expert on St Augustine but I do know that Zoysia does well in slightly acidic soil like we have in the southeastern US. With either variety you would need a good amount of sun during the growing season. I've heard of recommendations of 6 hrs or more per day. You might want to check with a sod grower in your area. Here's a good turf compairison by a grower pretty close to you. riversideturf.com/compare-turf.html
William Carney Thank you, will do.
Sound jacked up
What exactly is 1-3 growing seasons ?
1 to 3 years depending on how fast it spreads.
Dagnabbit, I didn't see this published on your website... until now. :(
*We do not recommend using the ProPlugger 5-IN-1 for pulling St Augustine plugs or cutting St Augustine sod due to its' loose structure. Plugs do not hold together well for planting or transplanting.
Mark, transplanting St Augustine grass works much better then cutting up pieces of sod purchased from a sod farm as the soil captured with the plug can act as a binding agent for the roots and runners. That is if your soil is not too sandy (like trying to pull plugs in a sand box).
Ok, I'll give it a try. The st Augustine I'm moving was planted last year, so it's now bright green and growing. I'm optimistically cautious. :)
Why can’t you use this with St. Augustine ?
It works okay on transplanting St Augustine from one part of your lawn to another but not so well on cutting and planting pieces of sod that have been purchased from a sod farm. It has to do with the loose structure of St Augustine grass (similar to Centipede grass). Once the sod farm removes about 80% of the root structure, and you then try to cut the sod into 2" circles, there's not enough root material remaining to hold the plug together....it just falls apart. Customers have had better success with transplanting as they are able to pull 2" or more of soil/roots with each plug which seems to hold together better.
What is the best time of year, if any, to grab and transplant plugs for Bermuda grass?!?!?
As long as you water the donor and transplant areas well for a couple weeks after plugging, you should be fine transplanting from early spring until late summer/early fall. The key is watering.
Will the device work on St. Augustine? I noticed that it says that it won’t on your website
It works pretty well on transplanting St Augustine from one area of your lawn to another. It does not work well cutting pieces of sod (purchased from a sod farm) into plugs for planting. St Augustine has too loose of a web of roots and runners to hold up after the sod farm cuts off 80% of the roots and then you try cutting that sod into 2" diameter plugs.
full coverage not for 1-3 years? LOL....That's why people use seed. It's 60 days.
You would only want to plug warm season grasses (Zoysia, Bermuda, St Augustine etc...) as using seed for warm season varieties is problematic due to the extremely long germination cycle of the seed. Fescues and other cool season grasses do fine with seeding.
@@ProPlugger i can attest to the long germination. Last season I goofed and used a bit of ground clear as week killer, worked great till i wasn't paying attention to weather and did it shortly before a rain. Now I have a "racing stripe" in my lawn. It's hybrid Bermuda and I'm pushing it heavily this year, barricade DG, Humic DG, innova, Doc's "Super Juice, 10-10-10, soil test, added liquid calcium, rest of lawn is great, and filling the stripe, but it's several feet wide, by like 25 feet long. It's a slight slope and I've tried seeding twice already, once even with tacked down hay blankets, the once a week rain just keeps washing it away, it just doesn't germinate fast enough on my slope. I'm giving this a go since i have such good bermuda every where else. just bought it.
👌👌👌
Someone dub this shit with funny audio
Audio? All I hear are birds chirping
You couldn't just take the plugs from elsewhere in your lawn?
Certainly could. That method of transplanting is covered in this video at around minute 3:30
Gosh the audio...
Your lawn soil is very soft and easy to plug extract. This however does not reflect reality. A normal lawn in most homes is compacted soils with rocks and other debris. I dont think this plugger will meet real life standards.
If your yard is full of rocks and other debris, you'll have a hard time. Like most other yard tools, it won't cut rocks or large roots.
...no
sr please the is such a crazy idea
Na... I'd rather save money and make it easier on myself just getting a pallet of 500sq ft pallet of Raleigh, lay out and just water away. Lmfao
You don't make sense man.... "Seeding is a lot of hard work". And plugging 100 holes isn't"? "You have to keep up with watering with seeds". Then with plugging "water the plugs, every morning for the next ten days or two weeks". Hahahaha, nice try.
You are fucking crazy, Do you have any idea how long it would take to do whole Yard