ever since we moved here 1 year ago, this dead patch has gotten bigger due to increased shade by the dying tree limbs. apparently tree limbs should point upwards -- if they point down, they need to removed for the health of the tree.

first things first, i sourced Zoysia sod. this grass does well in high heat and does not need a ton of water. but it's also expensive, around $700 per pallet (500 sq feet).

luckily i found a local provider that sells pallets for just $300 /each, with the only catch being that you have to pick up yourself. i have a 20 feet trailer from our tractor purchase, but was smart to work with another guy whose trailer has brakes. :)

i bought 3 pallets for $900 and brought it back to our property with Billy, a local guy who works helps me out sometimes (for $75 /hour).

having never laid sod before, i wanted Billy's help on placement strategy and the inevitable batch of micro tips you always pick up from people who do this kind of work for a living.

we laid the sod at an offset per row to make it look a bit more blended prior to the natural process that takes a few weeks.

it took most of the day to lay these down, particularly due to the bit of shaping required around our pump house (the corrugated structure in the middle above) and a new island around the tree base.

after we finished i had install sprinklers, so i bought 200 feet of outdoor hoses and 2 daisy-chainable attachments with "zone" setting features to map out a spray radius.

you may notice the tree is missing a few branches and the gross stump is no longer beside the base. on a separate day we removed that with a chainsaw and i filled the base with 11 bags of black mulch ($22, bought on sale).

despite my gross miscalculation of how much grass we needed for this area, i'm hopeful the new sod will spread its wings a bit and expand at lfeast a few feet in all directions to make up some of the difference. 

increased sunlight won't hurt either, and i've been watering this area 2-3x /week to make sure it sticks. i definitely do not want to install 100s of pieces of sod again, bent over, anytime soon.