Skeleton

The sawgrass is laid loosely over a structure of staggered poles. Side branches a few inches long are left sticking out of the poles to provide something for the grass to grip. As the grass is placed, part of it is oriented to lie outward from the roof to the outside (i.e.: roughly orthogonal to the poles), and then it is stomped and paddled to compact it.

Periodically, braids of sawgrass called vithior are looped around the poles like a winter scarf, with their loose ends buried by successive layers of grass. The vithior in effect "stitch" the grass to the roof's substructure, and will slide down the poles with the grass as it settles over time.