Zoysia Sod – Raccoons

Q: We had new zoysia sod put out in September. All was fine until a few days ago when I think raccoons began pulling sod pieces up by the edges every night and making a mess.

A: One of the unspoken hazards of planting zoysia sod late in the season is that it is slow to send down roots. It just lays there, almost dormant, as roots slowly enter the soil. Raccoons have a lot of curiosity about newly-laid sod and they will readily pull it up, looking for grubs and earthworms. Try covering the sod with lightweight bird netting during the winter. Raccoons don’t like walking on it and they like being tangled in it even less.