Raccoons have been known to cause a lot of trouble to newly installed lawns. We offer a simple solution to keep raccoons OFF your freshly installed sod.
When sod is laid, the fresh soil underneath coupled with high levels of moisture (new sod needs to be watered 2-3 times a day during the first weeks) attracts worms and grubs (delicacy for Raccoons) to the top of the surface – right under the sod.
Raccoons are very clever, and are very quick to discover when there is food to be had. Blessed with remarkable dexterity, they can actually roll-up large chunks of sod in order to eat the worms and the grubs. What makes things even worse is that once they discover a source of food – they keep coming back, and bring their friends along for the feast.
Racoon Protective Net
We first came across Raccoons when sodding in Toronto – urban areas bring out the worst out of wild animals, as they struggle for food. Freshly installed sod is an easy target for Raccoons, and so most we always recommend our lawn-installation clients to protect their lawn in the first weeks.
While Toronto has the worst Raccoon problem, we have identified the need for new lawn to be protected in suburban areas as well, like Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Maple, Markham, and other areas across the Greater Toronto Area.
Over the years, we have experimented with various methods on keeping Raccoons OFF our freshly installed lawns, and finally, we came to a simple and inexpensive solution – protective net. Raccoon Net should be installed on the day the Sod is laid, or whenever a Raccoon problem seems to appear.
Temporary Installation
Usually, Raccoon Net is required only for the first two to three weeks after new lawn installation. Once watering levels are reduced to 2-3 times a week, Raccoons will lose interest in your lawn, and the protective net may be safely removed.
However over the years we found that sometimes raccoons do come back after the initial 2-3 weeks and it is homeowner responsibility to store and reinstall the netting as needed.
We roll out the net, and pin it down to be strong enough on one hand, but easy and quick to remove on the other.
It is a common practice for us to install Raccoon protection together with new lawn installation – on the same day.
