How Long Should I Water New Sod

The Answers You Need

How oftentimes to h2o new sod?

St. Augustine and Zoysia grass both need 2 or 3 waterings per week during the summer and 1 or two waterings the rest of the year in Florida.

When to fertilize new sod?

You will want to wait 30 days after installing your new sod to utilize fertilizer, to give it time to take root and acclimate to your k.

How long should I wait before mowing new sod?

Yous should look xiv days for your commencement mow to avert any damage to the roots.

Can I walk on my new sod?

It is best to wait at to the lowest degree two weeks to walk on your new sod. That way you give your new sod roots fourth dimension to grow.

Pre-installation

preparing land for new sod

New sod care starts before it is even installed. The soil on which you are going to install the sod must be watered well prior to installation. Dry soil could remove all the wet from the sod, making it harder for it to take root. It is as well a good thought to treat the soil with a pre-plant fertilizer before the sod is installed.

Sod has a short shelf-life and cannot be stored in your side g or garage for a long time. The Florida heat would build up and damage the roots and surface of the sod. Sod should be installed as soon as it is delivered, especially in boiling subtropical regions like Florida.

Post-Installation Measures

First 24-hour interval:

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

Starting time Ii Weeks Afterwards Day One:

New sod has small roots, so it can only absorb and so much water at a time. Thus, you should irrigate the sod multiple times a mean solar day for brusk periods of fourth dimension. Schedule watering in the morning and afternoon hours. If you water information technology in the late evening or at nighttime, in that location is more than adventure of a fungus trouble arising.

Depending on the temperature, y'all should water information technology 2 to half dozen times a solar 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 2 weeks. The roots need fourth dimension to take hold and dig in. It will not be fix to mow until around the fourteen-day mark. Ease up on the watering schedule the day before you plan to mow, as this will allow the soil to firm up. Set your mower's cut level to loftier. Y'all do not want to cut more than the top one-tertiary of the blades of grass.

Troubleshooting Tips:

If the sod does not take root inside 14 days, gradually arrange the watering schedule. H2o the sod less often, just for longer periods. Keep in mind that shady areas may take longer to root.
If the sod begins to turn brown or compress to where you lot tin see gaps at the seams, it needs more water! Increase the frequency of watering cycles or the length of each bicycle. Also, make sure that the sprinklers are reaching that area. It is also a good idea to hand-water the problematic areas until its health condition improves. If any edges are raised, printing down on them with your foot after watering.

After Two Weeks

watering fresh new sod

At present that you've mowed information technology for the offset time, gradually decrease the number of times you lot h2o per day just increase the length of time for each cycle. Now that the roots are well established, they can handle larger quantities of water. Keep repeating this process of reducing the frequency of watering gradually over the adjacent few weeks until y'all are irrigating the grass in one case per day and eventually only ane to iii times per week, depending on the season.

Troubleshooting Tip:

Again, if the sod begins to turn brown or compress to where you can see gaps at the seams, it needs more than h2o! Increase the frequency of watering cycles or the length of each bicycle. Also, brand sure that the sprinklers are reaching that area. It is likewise a proficient idea to hand-water the problematic areas until its health status improves. If whatsoever edges are raised, press downwardly on them with your foot later watering.

Correct Way to Mow your Fertilized Backyard

mowing sod for the first time

If you want the turf to await healthy, to be thick to oversupply out the weeds, and to be drought-resistant, then you must empathize the right way to mow. You should not be scalping the lawn completely while mowing it as this makes the surface sparse, weak, and more than vulnerable. Remember not to mow downwardly more than than the top one-third of the grass during a mowing cycle. Thin lawns get out the soil exposed for weed seedlings to take root and for sunlight to achieve these seedlings, thus making it prone to weed infestatio

Before you start mowing, make certain that your mower bract is sharpened properly. Sharpening the blade gives the grass a clean-cutting without tearing the grass and does not get out uneven and jagged edges. If you lot use a deadening and blunt blade, your lawn may develop a dark-brown white hue, and the tears from blunt blades would create openings for diseases and pests.

In warm and sunny places like Florida, you must allow your grass to grow a little 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 better on surfaces of long grass blades, thus giving your lawn a salubrious glow.

Fertilization

fertilizing new sod

The right apply of chemicals and fertilizers is essential for healthy grass growth and to mitigate the risks of diseases past keeping insects at bay. If the sod is newly installed, you lot should look for at to the lowest degree a month after installation before you utilise any fertilizers. Lime and sulfur, along with the right liquid fertilizers, can exist added to the soil depending on the soil examination and the blazon of sod you are choosing. You lot tin determine the pH levels of the soil through a store-bought pH exam.

Strains of St. Augustine grow at a pH level of 6 to six.5. If the test outcome shows higher pH levels, then you can add together sulfur to the soil to reduce these levels. Pelletized Sulphur of upward to 5 lbs. can be used for every thou foursquare feet of turf. Keep in mind that sulfur tin merely be added when the air temperature is below 75°F.

You should also add together ane to 2 pounds of nitrogen per thousand square feet of turf to the soil 2-3 times per twelvemonth. Using a high potassium fertilizer along with the bodily nitrogen, keeps the soil good for you and vibrant. To add to this dark-green glow, you tin can also use iron sulfate or whatsoever soluble iron product between the fertilization.

Other Of import Points

You should also go on the following in heed for proper sod and lawn maintenance intendance:

Cadre-Aerification of the soil must be done for the showtime few years afterwards new sod installation. This helps in preventing the soil from getting compacted.
If you lot see some brownish material in a higher place the soil and beneath the grass blades, that could be a thatch. Thatches that are longer than three-fourths of an inch can be harmful to the lawn in the long term. Regular dethatching can help foreclose this.
Clippings are the smaller parts of the grass blade that fall on the lawn as a consequence of mowing. Unless the clippings are excessively long, practice not remove them from the lawn every bit they recycle the nutrients dorsum into the soil. Although it seems similar a lot to exercise for maintaining the sod and the lawn, if you follow the proper discipline and pay attention to the details, it will soon seem like the backyard is taking intendance of itself. Just a couple of weeks afterwards installation, you will accept a dandy place to play with your kids and pets. And with a little TLC, your beautiful lawn will final for decades to come.