Sod Installation in New Shoreham, RI

New Shoreham is Block Island, a small island sitting out in the Atlantic off the Rhode Island coast, reached by ferry across open water. It is a landscape of open moors, wind-swept bluffs, stone walls, and ponds, with the village clustered near the harbor and homes scattered across rolling, treeless ground that takes the full force of the wind and salt off the sea. The soil is sandy coastal ground, fast-draining and salt-touched, with heavier pockets in the sheltered hollows. There is very little that shelters a Block Island lawn from the elements, so the variety choice and the watering discipline matter even more than they do on the mainland shore. And the island itself shapes every job: nothing gets here casually, because everything crosses on a boat.

CT Sod delivers and installs sod with the same fresh-cut product and install standard we run in our home market, backed by 30 years of sod industry experience. On Block Island that standard holds, but the logistics are different and we are honest about it: an island install takes planning, because the sod, the equipment, and the crew all move across the water by ferry, and that has to be scheduled around the boat rather than a quick run down the road. Pallets are cut to order at the farm — never stockpiled — and once on the island they are set exactly where the crew is working by all-terrain forklift, out across the open ground where a truck would otherwise strand a load in the wind. On the exposed moorland lots we lead with tall fescue or RTF for the deep roots and drought and salt tolerance an island lawn needs; the sheltered hollows do better under a bluegrass-fescue blend. Go install-only if you or your landscaper handle the prep, or full-service for prep and install in one scope.

Here is what an install looks like on Block Island. Because everything crosses by boat, we plan the ferry logistics and the timing with you before anything is scheduled — this is not a job we improvise on the day. Once the plan is set, your sod is cut fresh at the farm so it travels cool and ready to lay. On a full-service job the crew strips the old turf, grades, and works in topsoil first, giving the sandy island ground body to hold moisture; on install-only that prep is already done. The all-terrain forklift carries pallets out across the open lot to where the crew is laying rather than leaving them to bake in the wind. A sod-only crew rolls it out, cuts it tight to beds, walks, and stone walls, and rolls the seams. Before we leave, you get a watering handoff built for the fast-draining, salt-exposed island ground.