How Much Do I Water New Sod

The Answers You Demand

How ofttimes to water new sod?

St. Augustine and Zoysia grass both need two or 3 waterings per week during the summer and one or 2 waterings the rest of the twelvemonth in Florida.

When to fertilize new sod?

Yous volition desire to look xxx days afterwards installing your new sod to apply fertilizer, to give it fourth dimension to take root and acclimate to your chiliad.

How long should I wait before mowing new sod?

You should wait 14 days for your kickoff mow to avert any damage to the roots.

Can I walk on my new sod?

It is best to expect at least two weeks to walk on your new sod. That way you lot requite your new sod roots fourth dimension to grow.

Pre-installation

preparing land for new sod

New sod care starts earlier it is even installed. The soil on which you are going to install the sod must exist watered well prior to installation. Dry soil could remove all the moisture from the sod, making information technology harder for it to take root. Information technology is also a practiced idea to treat the soil with a pre-plant fertilizer before the sod is installed.

Sod has a brusk shelf-life and cannot be stored in your side thousand or garage for a long time. The Florida rut would build upwardly and damage the roots and surface of the sod. Sod should be installed as presently every bit information technology is delivered, especially in boiling subtropical regions like Florida.

Post-Installation Measures

Outset Mean solar day:

Immediately water your new sod later on it is installed. Liberally irrigate it until the water penetrates at least a few inches into the soil—information technology will feel soggy to walk on. Check the sod every few hours. If the ground does not yet feel soggy, water information technology once again. It is nearly impossible to overwater new sod.

First Two Weeks Subsequently Mean solar day Ane:

New sod has small roots, so it can only absorb and so much water at a time. Thus, you lot should irrigate the sod multiple times a twenty-four hour period for brusk periods of time. Schedule watering in the morning and afternoon hours. If you water it in the late evening or at nighttime, there is more adventure of a fungus problem arising.

Depending on the temperature, yous should h2o it 2 to 6 times a day for 4 to 6 minutes at a fourth dimension. The hotter it is, the more you should water information technology. The goal is to keep the sod and soil underneath moist, but no longer soggy, throughout the day.

Try to stay off the sod for the first two weeks. The roots need time to take hold and dig in. It will not exist set to mow until around the 14-day mark. Ease upward on the watering schedule the mean solar day before you plan to mow, as this will allow the soil to house upward. Set your mower's cutting level to loftier. You exercise not want to cut more than the top one-third of the blades of grass.

Troubleshooting Tips:

If the sod does not take root within 14 days, gradually adjust the watering schedule. Water the sod less ofttimes, only for longer periods. Continue in mind that shady areas may take longer to root.
If the sod begins to turn brown or shrink to where y'all tin see gaps at the seams, it needs more than water! Increase the frequency of watering cycles or the length of each cycle. As well, make sure that the sprinklers are reaching that area. It is also a skilful thought to hand-h2o the problematic areas until its health status improves. If any edges are raised, printing downwards on them with your foot later on watering.

Later Two Weeks

watering fresh new sod

Now that y'all've mowed it for the kickoff time, gradually decrease the number of times you water per day but increment the length of time for each cycle. Now that the roots are well established, they can handle larger quantities of h2o. Go on repeating this process of reducing the frequency of watering gradually over the next few weeks until yous are irrigating the grass once per day and eventually only one to three times per calendar week, depending on the flavor.

Troubleshooting Tip:

Again, if the sod begins to turn brown or compress to where y'all tin run into gaps at the seams, it needs more water! Increase the frequency of watering cycles or the length of each wheel. Also, brand sure that the sprinklers are reaching that area. It is also a good idea to hand-water the problematic areas until its health status improves. If whatsoever edges are raised, printing downwards on them with your foot afterward watering.

Correct Fashion to Mow your Fertilized Backyard

mowing sod for the first time

If you want the turf to look salubrious, to exist thick to crowd out the weeds, and to be drought-resistant, then you must understand the right way to mow. You lot should not be scalping the lawn completely while mowing information technology equally this makes the surface thin, weak, and more than vulnerable. Call up not to mow down more than than the top 1-third of the grass during a mowing cycle. Sparse lawns exit the soil exposed for weed seedlings to have root and for sunlight to attain these seedlings, thus making it prone to weed infestatio

Before you get-go mowing, make sure that your mower blade is sharpened properly. Sharpening the blade gives the grass a groomed without trigger-happy the grass and does non leave uneven and jagged edges. If yous utilize a dull and blunt blade, your backyard may develop a chocolate-brown white hue, and the tears from blunt blades would create openings for diseases and pests.

In warm and sunny places similar Florida, you must allow your grass to grow a piddling taller, equally these tall blades would create shade for the soil. This height helps reduce weed infestations and keeps the soil moist for longer. The process of photosynthesis is also meliorate on surfaces of long grass blades, thus giving your lawn a healthy glow.

Fertilization

fertilizing new sod

The right utilize of chemicals and fertilizers is essential for good for you grass growth and to mitigate the risks of diseases by keeping insects at bay. If the sod is newly installed, you should wait for at least a month after installation earlier yous use any fertilizers. Lime and sulfur, along with the correct liquid fertilizers, can be added to the soil depending on the soil test and the type of sod yous are choosing. Y'all can determine the pH levels of the soil through a shop-bought pH examination.

Strains of St. Augustine abound at a pH level of vi to 6.five. If the test consequence shows higher pH levels, then you tin add together sulfur to the soil to reduce these levels. Pelletized Sulphur of up to v lbs. tin can exist used for every thousand square feet of turf. Keep in mind that sulfur tin can only exist added when the air temperature is below 75°F.

Yous should also add together 1 to 2 pounds of nitrogen per thousand square feet of turf to the soil two-3 times per year. Using a loftier potassium fertilizer along with the actual nitrogen, keeps the soil salubrious and vibrant. To add to this greenish glow, you can too use fe sulfate or any soluble fe product betwixt the fertilization.

Other Important Points

You should also proceed the post-obit in mind for proper sod and lawn maintenance care:

Core-Aerification of the soil must be done for the first few years after new sod installation. This helps in preventing the soil from getting compacted.
If you see some chocolate-brown material in a higher place the soil and below the grass blades, that could be a thatch. Thatches that are longer than 3-fourths of an inch can be harmful to the lawn in the long term. Regular dethatching can aid prevent this.
Clippings are the smaller parts of the grass blade that fall on the lawn as a result of mowing. Unless the clippings are excessively long, practise not remove them from the backyard as they recycle the nutrients back into the soil. Although it seems like a lot to exercise for maintaining the sod and the lawn, if y'all follow the proper subject area and pay attention to the details, information technology will presently seem similar the backyard is taking care of itself. Just a couple of weeks after installation, you will accept a great place to play with your kids and pets. And with a fiddling TLC, your beautiful lawn will concluding for decades to come.