“They told me my backyard was too shady for Bermuda and put in St. Augustine instead. It filled in over the summer and the dog hasn't killed it yet.”
Dustin W.Back yard, Woodway
Sod and warm-season lawns · Waco, Texas
Sod that fits your yard, laid by the crew that measured it
Bermuda, zoysia or St. Augustine, chosen for your sun and shade, then rolled out, pressed down and watered in. We serve Waco and McLennan County.
Grass chooser
Which grass for your yard?
Start with how much direct sun the spot gets in summer. Most Waco yards land in one of these four.
Bermuda
Sun all day
Eight or more hours of direct sun. Bermuda is the grass for this spot: it loves the heat, comes through dry stretches and holds up under kids and dogs.
Fills in fast and mends its own bare spots
Mow low, about 1 to 2 inches
Turns tan in winter, then wakes up in spring
Thins out in shade
Zoysia
Sun and some shade
Four to six hours of sun, with a tree or a fence taking the rest. Zoysia is a steady choice: dense, soft underfoot and happier in light shade than Bermuda.
Thick and soft, slower to fill in
Plan on a patient first season while it roots
Mow about 1½ to 2½ inches
Also turns tan in winter
St. Augustine
Mostly shade
Fewer than four hours of direct sun. St. Augustine takes shade better than the other two, but it still needs some light, and it drinks more water.
Wide blades and a deep green color
Mow high, about 3 to 4 inches
Not the grass for heavy foot traffic
A hard freeze can set it back
None of the three
Deep shade
Under two or three hours of sun, none of the three will thrive, and we would rather say so than sell you sod that thins out. We will talk about mulch, a groundcover or a smaller lawn.
We check the light at the walk-through
A tree trimmed up can change the answer
Sun hours and mowing heights are typical for Central Texas. Soil, water and trees can change the answer, and we check all three at the walk-through.
How it goes
From pallet to first mow
Most yards follow the same six steps. The written estimate puts the dates beside them.
- 01
Step 1: Walk and measure
One of the Cuellars walks the yard with you, checks the sun, the slope and the soil, and measures what the sod will cover.
- 02
Step 2: Pick the grass, count the pallets
You choose from the chooser above. We count pallets and add a little extra for cuts around beds, trees and walks.
- 03
Step 3: Prep the ground
Old grass and weeds come out, the soil is loosened and graded so water runs away from the house, and rocks and roots are raked off.
- 04
Step 4: Pallets arrive
Sod comes on pallets and it is alive, so it does not wait well in a Texas sun. We lay what comes the same day.
- 05
Step 5: Lay and roll
Rows go down with the seams staggered like brick and the edges tight. A roller presses the roots to the soil, and cuts around beds are done by hand.
- 06
Step 6: Water in, then wait
We soak the sod before we leave and hand you a written watering schedule. Mow after the roots take hold: tug a corner, and if it resists, you are ready.
What we do
Sod, start to finish
Five jobs, all with grass that suits your light and your soil.
Sod installation
Bermuda, zoysia or St. Augustine, laid on ground we prepare. Front yards, back yards and the strip by the curb.
How we lay sod
New-build lawns
The yard after the builder leaves: rough grade, topsoil and the first lawn, timed with your sprinklers.
New-build lawns
Strip and replace
The old lawn comes out, the soil is fixed, and new sod goes in. For yards where weeds have won.
Sod installation
Patch and repair
A dead patch, a trench line or a spot where the dog dug: cut out, leveled and filled with matching sod.
First-year care
A written watering and mowing plan for the first months, and a check on the sod once it has rooted.
Who comes to your yard
Urbano and his sons do the work you see
Cuellar & Sons is Urbano Cuellar and his sons Leonardo, Gabriel and Mauricio, with Amparo in the office and a crew of five.
Whoever walks your yard is one of the family, and the people who roll out your sod are the people you met. When something looks wrong in the first weeks, you call the same number and the same people come back.
Urbano, Gabriel and Amparo speak Spanish; so does part of the crew
One of the family walks every yard before we write the estimate
The written watering schedule comes with the sod
Urbano Cuellar
Owner
Pricing
How pricing works
We don't price a yard from a photo. Here is what the number depends on, in the order people ask.
What decides the price
Mostly square feet and how much has to be done before the sod goes down.
Square feet of sod, plus cuts and waste
Old grass to remove and soil to fix
Slope, gates and how close the truck can get
Which grass you pick
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
A written scope you can read line by line.
Included: sod, delivery, prep, laying, rolling, haul-off and a watering schedule
Not included: sprinkler repair, drainage work, trees or fence changes unless the estimate lists them
What happens at the walk-through
One of us walks the yard with you, checks the light, measures, and looks at where the water goes. Plan on about half an hour.
When you get the number
After the walk-through, in writing: one price for the scope on the page, with the dates we propose. If the scope changes, the estimate changes, and we say so before we start.
Lawns around Waco
The kind of yard we lay
Brick ranches, two-story builds and big back lawns, from the Brazos to the county line.
Sample photos.
Customers
What neighbors say after the first mow
“The builder left us a lot of dirt. Leonardo measured, and the front and back were rolled out in a day. He taped the watering schedule to the meter box.”
Latoya M.New build, Hewitt
“I called about a dead patch and got a straight answer on why it died before anyone talked about a price.”
Aileen D.Front yard, Robinson
Sample reviews.
Where we work
Waco and the towns around it
Most of our yards are inside McLennan County. If you are on the list, we come to you.
McLennan County
- Waco
- Woodway
- Hewitt
- Bellmead
- Robinson
- Lacy Lakewood
- Beverly Hills
- Lorena
- McGregor
- China Spring
- Riesel
- Moody
- Crawford
Bosque County
- Valley Mills
We don't lay sod in Temple, Killeen or Dallas–Fort Worth.
Questions
Before you call
Which grass should I pick?
Count the hours of direct summer sun. Eight or more points to Bermuda, four to six to zoysia, and under four to St. Augustine. The chooser above says more, and we check the light at the walk-through.
When can you lay sod?
Warm-season sod likes warm soil, so spring through early fall is the easy stretch in Central Texas. We can lay in cooler months, but sod roots slowly then, and we will tell you what to expect.
How long until I can walk on it?
Light walking after the first few days is fine. Keep kids, dogs and mowers off for about two weeks, until the roots take hold.
How much do I water?
Every day at first, enough to keep the soil under the sod wet, then less often as the roots go down. You get a written schedule the day we lay the sod. Check your city's watering rules before you set it.
Do you install sprinklers?
No. If your yard needs sprinkler work, a licensed irrigator does it first and we lay the sod once the zones are tested.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Urbano, Gabriel and Amparo speak Spanish, and every page of this site is in Spanish too. Use the language button at the top.
Tell us about the yard
Give us a rough size and how much sun the spot gets. We write back during business hours to set up the walk-through.
Phone(254) 555-0100
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- 7 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- SundayToday
- Closed