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doni55_gw

Help my new sod is dying

Doni55
12 years ago

My new sod is dying. I have brown spots from my dogs and other large patches of dead grass. I also get mushrooms growing. I have pictures but I didn't see a way to attach them.

Comments (18)

  • dchall_san_antonio
    12 years ago

    To post a picture you first have to post it to an Internet account somewhere. Once you get it posted at a host, you can right click on the photo online and select Copy Image Location from the context menu. Then come back here and use the following code format...

    [img src="http://www.yourhostURLhere/whateverElse/picturename.jpg";]

    That is the format but the brackets must be replaced with the characters. The quotes are necessary. The last characters in the URL must be .bmp or .jpg.

    Did you roll the sod down with a roller after you laid it?
    How often are you watering and for how long?

  • Doni55
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    A local landscaper put in the sprinkler system and sod. They did not use a roller and set the sprinkler to 5 minutes 5 days a week. The landscaper business is for sale. I am going to try Turf Pro on my brown spots. I have been watering for 10 minutes everyday @ 4:00 am. I am cutting down on the watering to 3 times a week.

  • nearandwest
    12 years ago

    You have not been applying enough water to your new sod. At the beginning, it should have been 10 minutes per station, every 3 hours, 4 times per day. After a couple of days you should have gone out and looked under some pieces of sod to see if it was wet under the sod. If it was, then you should have continued that watering schedule until rooting was initiated. Once you couldn't pull up pieces of sod any longer, that is when you back off on the frequency of watering, and start watering for longer run times.

    Can you still pull up pieces of sod, or are they rooted already?

    When was the sod installed?

    Have you gone out and manually run your system to ensure that all sprinklers are popping up and running correctly?

  • Doni55
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    We cannot pull up the sod, it is already rooted. Ths sod was installed in March. All the sprinklers are popping up and running correctly.

  • nearandwest
    12 years ago

    Other than water, have you applied anything to the sod since it was installed...fertilizer, herbicide, weed and feed, etc.?

    And yes, a picture would be helpful.

  • mail_eddygarcia_com
    12 years ago

    Just last Friday ( June 24th) I installed about 900 Sq. feet of "new" sod (& fetilizer). It wasn't at all that great looking Green, it had some brown mixed in it here & there. Over all... ok. But now a week later I'm seeing more brown areas. I've been watering it 2 times a day. Is there something I could do to stop the brown from over powering the green? Short of spending more $$ on re doing it. Again, it's not too bad yet... but would be great to catch it before it's too late.

    Thank you for your time!

    P.S. How can I post photos of this?

  • dchall_san_antonio
    12 years ago

    Eddie, the answer to all your questions is posted in the replies above. If you still have a question after reading through it, you can start a new topic and post your pictures.

  • e_geribo781
    8 years ago

    Actually mushrooms are a good sign. They pop up seemingly over night. They are a sign of a good pH level and plenty of moisture. Once you cut the lawn you wont see them anymore.

  • jberger914
    8 years ago

    We just layed sod down, and we have areas that are dying. I am watering 3 times a day for about 10minuted each time. The area is only about 540 sq feet, so we don't have a sprinkler system, but I am careful to make sure it stays wet.

    We were first going to do seed, but after talking to a person at Home Depot we decided to do sod. We should have research on how to install it, but we didn't. The person at Home Depot told us just to make sure the ground was wet, and lay it down. So we did that.

    After doing some reading, I realize I should have tilled it first and fertilized the ground as well, however this is something we didn't do.

    So my question is how can I keep my sod from dying?



  • PRO
    J Gil Organic
    8 years ago

    re-seed a little on top of the sod. Rye grass and fescue. Water just once a day instead of three times a day. You need to water deeply so the grass can develop a deep root sytem. Sod is good way to have instant gratification, but the sod will end up dying within a couple of years. Wait until the grass grows to 4" tall. Also use liquid fertilizer instead of granular. Don't bag the clippings

  • Cathy McPherson
    7 years ago

    Hi there - between the squirrels, a maple tree and severe drought the sod I had put in in May is dead in some places despite regular watering. Could you explain how to seed over top sod?

  • PRO
    J Gil Organic
    7 years ago

    I also installed an area of sod in Massachusetts but in mid June. Watered every other day for 2 weeks and then once a week after the sod grew deep roots. I just reseeded the lawn at a rate of 4lbs/1000 sf with a blend of Kentucky blue grass, fine rescue and perennial rye. In small areas I spread the seed by hand. Larger areas I use a spreader.

  • PRO
    J Gil Organic
    7 years ago

    @Cathy . And do not bag the grass clippings. By doing it you will also bag the grass seed. Ideally grass seed needs to be in contact with the soil, but you can just spread it on top of the sod. Water the lawn daily so the grass seed germinates. It will take sometime between 1 week to 21 days for all the seeds to germinate.

  • dreabird
    7 years ago

    I have Marathon Ii sod that was installed 8 weeks ago. It is watered by an in-line subsurface drip irrigation hidden beneath the grass which emits .40 gallons per hour. We have clay soil that was amended prior to installation. It is well rooted. We mow to 2-2 1/2" height and it grows like a weed. Currently it is watered daily for 6 minutes. I am seeing yellowish color near root area. Am I watering too much? How much water does it need each week? We are in coastal Los Angeles 2.5 miles from the beach. Summer temps have been in the upper 70s to 80s and it gets full sun.

  • PRO
    J Gil Organic
    7 years ago

    @dreabird A customer of mine had a system similar to yours installed 8 years ago. He found out the grass started dying back because apparently the soil was too wet all the time. Overtime, they system stopped working because the lines got clogged. Try pulling a little bit of sod and see if the sub-surface is too wet, and also look if the roots of the sod are reaching down in the soil.

    I generally like to water deeply and infrequent to promote deeper roots.

    I think overhead watering works better to irrigate the lawn.

    I recommend 1-2" of water per week.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    7 years ago

    WAIT A MINUTE.

    Okay y'all, if you think you have an addition question that will help you improve your lawn PLEASE start a new topic if you have ANY question related to new sod.

    dreabird I would love to interact with you on your issue, but I'm holding back. Here's why...

    jberger went the wrong direction and while he did get good advice, it did not go far enough or get the normal attention his question deserved simply because this was not his topic.

    I am not the forum police or even the moderator. I happen to be a moderator on other lawn forums, and have had to deal with this issue. I am just trying to get the best information out to the people who need it. Tacking questions on to other people's topics is not the best way to do that.

    J GIL, good advice, but you're only encouraging them. This topic should have died 5 years ago.

  • dreabird
    7 years ago

    My apologies, I am new here and this seemed like a similar topic to me. I will repost. J Gil thanks for the comments. Obviously it is a brand new system so redoing it at this point isn't an option. We were told the technology is much improved in terms of clogging. I am going to try watering less frequently so it dries out more between. And maybe do two successive watering so in that day when I water so it goes deep.