Thank you. If you recognized the overwatered state early enough, and have taken steps to revivify the area, your sod will likely bounce back once it starts getting the proper amount of water and nutrients. After that you risk breaking them off in … It sounds like you’ve been diligent with your new lawn but those mistakes happen. Wait at least two to three weeks before walking on the new sod. Starter Fertilizer has been applied. It is now 13 June. Just remember to water deeply when establishing sod, in contrast to the frequent misting that grass seed requires. Sod Install: How Long Does it Take? As a general rule, keep sod and soil moist all throughout the day. Before that happens you need to worry about the sod being pulled up or drying out. Long-term results: While new sod can quickly transform your yard, reseeding can take a full growing season for new grass to appear dense, lush and green. The section of concern is now about 50% yellow and limp, and upon closer examination, some of the blades are brown/mushy, and extremely fragile. Do not overwater the area. Your email address will not be published. Due to this, I need to pay extra attention to the watering. I am distraught to hear that your new lawn is in disrepair. Hi, I have a newly sodded lawn and in my area we have had record setting rain for the month of july. That's what they did. Is my lawn going to be ok? If you start using your lawn before the roots have established, you are lessening your chances of success. This preparation will eliminate the need to tread on your grass to water it. You’ll want to ensure total water coverage especially if you get some blazing hot days in the near future. I am in the process of having installed a new 5,700 sq ft backyard of St. Augustine Palmetto sod. Mowing encourages stronger root growth and we recommend to do it right around 1 week after installation for most cases. A high traffic area will show some wear if its "new" or "old" Be sure to wait till you can reach down and try pull it up and it feels rooted in before you mow it. I live in Sacramento, California and had sod laid in my backyard on March 28th. During the first month of new lawn maintenance, you want to be very careful about watering. Pay close attention to your lawn and ensure that it is starting to develop white roots by gently lifting a corner of your new sod. We do not claim to be a landscaping or lawn care company. Try to pull up a corner of your new lawn and be sure that it is starting to root. Take care not to walk or run on new sod, as this can prevent the fragile young roots from developing properly. You can read all about rolling in this blog article. In order to establish properly, your new lawn needs the proper balance of water, sunlight, nutrients, and air. Seed. First and foremost I would confirm that your sod is rooting by lifting a corner of one of the pieces and check to see if the roots are establishing. You can fertilize your lawn anytime now! Is it over watered or under watered? HI, Your email address will not be published. Are we doing something wrong? Sod that you lay on new soil that is in good condition is almost certain to be damaged by dog urine. If you find that the ground under your new sod is still too soft, consider rolling it. Your many above answers impress me as to you’re being very well informed. It truly depends on the severity of your situation. How long must you wait to use your new sod lawn? We just laid around Augustine (here in Texas) about 11 days ago. I think it’s going to be time to mow soon. Learn something new every day. Hi there, But in some spots it’s kind of brown and wet at the base of the blades. For yards that may have a buildup of urine in the soil, applying LawnMutt before the sod is laid will help to start the detoxification process and give the new sod a better chance to grow.We recommend that you divide your lawn into two sections. I’m distraught to hear that you’re having some lawn struggles. While your new lawn needs plenty of water, it is possible to overdo it. It might look good for a couple of weeks with proper watering, but it cannot survive in these conditions! Water daily for the first week, then every other day during the second, then twice a week after that, always leaving a day between watering and your weekly mow so that it’s not soaking wet for your lawn mower. The brown spots could be issues moving forward, but check the corners of the rolls that got damaged, and look for white roots developing. Sorry for the delayed response here. Will it die? If the lawn is dormant: Once the rains return, the lawn will green up in … The new sod should feel spongy wet the first week. At what point is it ready to play football on. One can use Turf-Maize weed seed inhibitor up to 3x per year for weed prevention. It’s probably good that you haven’t mowed yet if your lawn is struggling to establish. You can easily check yourself to see if sod has taken root. It’s a new installation and had been in for 5 days. You can walk on a sod lawn immediately, but it's not rooted for at least 2 weeks. you opened a landscaping and lawn care company and you can’t even lay sod. Not only can pets ruin recently laid grass seed by walking on it, but if they use it as a bathroom, they will burn the weak grass because urine contains an excessive amount of nitrogen. If this seems like a long time to wait, keep in mind you’d have to wait three to four times as long if you’d used seed instead of sod! We have let it dry out a bit, and adjusted the watering. Water the lawn to encourage fast germination, so you can walk on it sooner. If I use a blower, won't it blow the seeds off of any bare areas. I am about 5 days in and I tell the sod is rooting it’s becoming very tuff to tug. Water your new sod immediately after it’s installed. Avoid walking on the sod when it is fully wet and saturated. You can use a rain gauge or simply set a can out under your sprinkler and mark where a half inch is. Cooler ground temperatures will help prevent the roots from shock. I would recommend reaching out to your local sod supplier, sending some pictures in, and getting a more accurate diagnosis that way. As long as your sod was beginning to establish, by the 8th day your lawn guy was right to mow the lawn. After your lawn has endured four mowings and appears lush and healthy, you can apply your first weed control product. When new sod is laid down, you are not supposed to walk on it for close to a month. How this makes sense. Try to water the sod deeply, and pay close attention to the watering schedule to ensure that the new lawn is properly hydrated. . After your lawn has endured four mowings and appears lush and healthy, you can apply your first weed control product. If your lawn appears to be holding water, or if you’re seeing evidence of puddles in your lawn, you need to stop watering and give it time to dry out. Is there anything else we can do to increase the chances of the affected area recovering? Follow the “one-third rule,” never mowing off more than one-third of the lawn’s height in a single mowing. Also, if you’re planting during hot summer days, you can let your sprinklers run for more than the 3 to 5-time watering frequency recommended above. Start watering within 30 minutes after installation. Hi, I have just had new turf laid last week and yesterday I left the water on for about 1hr & 30mins – by mistake! Get Rolling! Be sure to reach out with any future concerns if your lawn starts to look worse. Proper watering, mowing and fertilization of your new sod are crucial to lawn establishment and growth. 1. It sounds like your yard guy is a little on the lazy and sloppy side. Your new sod lawn needs time to establish a firm root system before you use it as you did your old lawn. There’s a chance that it’s beyond repair, but like I said, your local sod supplier will be able to make more accurate suggestions I hope your sod is still in good enough shape to bounce back! Just always remember to check under the sod for moisture and you should be set. Proper sunlight and water are essential for a healthy lawn, so if you’re really concerned about your grass, I would be very careful as to how long you leave the trampoline out for. How can I prepare it so the sod takes root successfully? I used a hand spreader and then raked the seeds into the top soil. also, when would the new sod blend in with old lawn (color wise, edges)? The only general suggestion I would have is make sure you’ve fertilized properly, and if not, be sure to apply some well balanced fertilizer to the problem area. Choosing to install fresh sod is a great choice! Avoid ripping out those still-tender roots, so either you or your lawn care professional should make the mower turn on pavement rather than on the grass. Sod is definitely more popular in certain areas of North America, but I’m sure you could find someone local with some sod knowledge. Your new sod should root within 10-14 days of application. That is a big roller and maneuverability will be a point of contention. I’m sorry to hear that your new lawn is in rough shape. What do you think? Of course sod is more tender during the weeks after it's first installed. Re-lifting the sod could harm the delicate new root system. You should be backing off on the water (if you haven’t already) especially with so much rain. Does this cause much trouble.. if so what should I do? You don’t want the sod to slide around at all, but you still want the rolling to make a difference. Water the sod frequently for the first few weeks so that it doesn’t dry up. If you see the grass blades already long, your inner instinct will dictate it is time to mow. Many landscapers have specialties that they use to choose jobs, but I agree that sod laying is a key skill to know! Hot weather makes sod installation difficult, but it sounds like the majority of your sod established properly. I have new marathon 1 sod. Until the roots become well established into the depth of the soil with enough pro-biotic activity surrounding them, the new sod is going to continue to incur urine damage. Be sure to set your mower to the highest setting possible in order to avoid cutting it too close to the root. to compact and level the SOD. This is a very important step in the sod process so, again, be sure to walk softly when mowing for the first time, and follow any directions you were given by the installer. Be aware that placing the play structure at any time will likely kill the underlying grass. For a spring sowing, I recommend waiting 8-12 weeks before walking on the grass. In the vent you have no option but walk on the lawn, ensure you walk lightly to avoid damage of the young shoots of grass. It can take roughly 3 months for your lawn to grow enough to mow several times and walk on it. You do not want your sod sitting on the skid for long at all. Sod typically takes around 2 weeks to establish a decent root base, however we recommend keeping traffic off your fresh sod for about a month after laying it to ensure proper establishment! This is the ideal way to establish new sod , Hi, we’ve had our lawn down now for 7 weeks. It probably will within two weeks, but it is best to be sure before using your lawn. Because sod is made from living grass, it will die quickly if not cared for properly. It generally takes 30 minutes or longer to accomplish this. You don’t want to drown your lawn, so just monitor soil moisture and allow things to dry up a bit before watering again! This waiting time is to allow the roots to grow and become strong in the ground. The crew laying the sod did NOT do it correctly (no staggered rows). A proper root system can take anywhere from 10 days onward to establish. We just laid sod (5 days ago) in a big chunk of our yard due to draining issues. Is it ok to sod during the summer when we have hot temperatures? I’m sure there are some, but they are few and far between, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find my local nursery had no experience installing one! Also, the ground was spongy. We are getting sod laid this weekend. More water in summer. As a rule of thumb, water until you can lift a corner of your sod and see that water has penetrated to the soil layer. Prior to sodding should the ground be wet first? My parents just got a new house and are thinking about laying down grass sod instead of growing a lawn. contains a greater variety of grass species than sod; initially needs to be watered more and for a longer time than sod; Grass started from seed can be more vulnerable to competition from other plants in its first year than at any other time. Is there anything we should do at the moment for those sunken areas or should we just wait and be patient to see if it fills in on its own. The general recommendation is to wait two weeks – but the number of days you wait is really dependent on determining that the lawn has, indeed, taken root. Oct 20, 2012. Is not that tough. You can use sod anytime during the growing season between the last frost in the spring and the first hard frost in the fall, but the cool temperatures of spring and early fall paired with rain give sod the best environment for taking root. Thanks for clarifying Willie! You have to improve the overall health of the lawn and soil before we can address the urine spots. Is the root system fully complete at this point or is it worth leaving it a bit longer. Using Your Freshly Sodded Lawn: How Long Must You Wait? Hi, Water up to 4 times a day especially in the middle of the day, if it is hot and sunny. A few questions. As for timing to roll, I would wait until the ground is somewhat firmer and your sod has had a bit of a chance to establish. That all sounds like proper installation procedure! You can either spread it on the underlying soil, or you can spread it after you have laid your sod. How long can I safely walk on my fresh grass before I start causing damage. I truly appreciate your comprehensive comment Richard and I hope I provided even just a little bit of insight! I am so confused and don’t want all this money on sod to go to waste. The new sod should feel spongy wet the first week. After 2 to 3 weeks, if you have been watering properly, the sod should have a well-established root system. Or should I anticipate having to re-sod the damaged area? With careful walking, your new sod should only take a month to firm up and be ready for average, light foot traffic. The perfect time to lay a new lawn from scratch is early autumn, when the grass can root easily. Walk on the new lawn and inspect it. Have a close look at your new lawn and readjust any pieces of sod that were displaced. If you are having an irrigation system installed, that is ultimately the best. You can also read about watering here: https://ordersodnow.com/blog/2019/06/27/watering-sod/ Allow your lawn a little more time to start to establish. Perhaps the mower just pushed some pieces of sod around leaving gaps? Feel free to read through and let me know if you have any further concerns! The lawn service company came today and cut the grass (I had told them to wait until next week). 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