Grass Installation Nightmare

turflady – posted 23 March 2005 08:52

Hello everyone. I had a fine-blade variety zoysiagrass installed in my yard last July as our newly-build home was nearing completion. This spring I’ve noticed that it is growing in “clumps” all over the yard. The yard is not even; it’s even difficult to walk on. Some places are growing vigorously while beside it other pieces are dead. You can see in some cases the grass still takes on the shape of square pieces of sod. It is NOT a uniform lawn.My builder called the company who installed it. They have agreed to come out to my house on March 31 and take a look at it. The repairs will be on their dime because the builder provides us with a warranty for one year on everything. I want to know that they are repairing it THE RIGHT WAY. Could anyone give me some pointers on the proper way that this could be fixed, or if they will need to rip it up and start over? I want to also provide them with pictures of what a zoysiagrass lawn SHOULD look like so that they know my expectations. Does anybody have any pictures you could email me? If they start over, how do I ensure that the installation is done properly this time? I live in Austin, TX and have a 5,300 sf lawn.

ted – posted 23 March 2005 19:47

the ground underneath should be smooth as glass, otherwise you’ll have problems. have you mowed it? is it hard to mow? there’s you clue- it’s not a big yard- have them redo it.

turflady – posted 24 March 2005 06:47

The grass is not too hard to mow; but the wheels can get caught into small dips in between the pieces of sod. I’m going to get some pictures of zoysiagrass lawns and let them know of my expectations. I’ll have them redo it; I do not think there is another way around it.

ted – posted 24 March 2005 16:26

you just nailed it. it there’s gaps then it wasn’t installed properly- big problem with poor sod install jobs. it’s a good place for weeds to germinate. i bet a lawn care company didn’t install it???

turflady – posted 28 March 2005 09:31

Ted:The company was Geoscapes located in Cedar Park, TX. I could not find anything online about them; there’s no website, just a phone number. They are listed under Lawn and Garden Maintenance, Landscape Designers in the Yellow Pages. I had someone else give me advice to just walk around the yard and fill in the gaps with good soil. The owner shows up Thursday to give me his ideas for fixing it. No amount of soil will fix the dead areas in the yard that died because they had to soil to attach to! Some of it will need to be replaced. I’m armed with my pictures of lawns to show them and let them know, “you either give me this, or give me my money back!”

ted – posted 28 March 2005 10:05

i haven’t seen your lawn but i know exactly what it looks like. did they use a roller after installing the sod? did they smooth out the soil prior to the installation? when did you say they installed it? i don’t buy the fill in the gaps technique because i don’t know how you’re going to fill back in with grass- maybe small strips of zoysia? you can’t seed zoysia very well, either. in 21 years of doing this, it all comes down to the original “setup” of the lawn. design and installation are the key elements. if not done properly, you’ll have problems, and it sounds like you are…there’s lots of web sites about how to install any type of sod. just google it.

turflady – posted 29 March 2005 10:28

Ted:The grass was installed in early July 2004. I was out at the homesite that day for a little while but did not pay too much attention to how they were installing. I DO NOT remember them using a roller over the grass after the installation. I remember them just “throwing” the sod down and moving quickly. Someone mentioned on the forum that the edges should be compacted tightly so as to allow the lawn to grow uniform. That also was not done, hence the pieces I STILL SEE that have holes/gaps between pieces of sod, typically one living piece beside one dead piece. I’ve made up my mind…when they show up I will tell them that it ALL needs to be reinstalled the right way or I want my money back. I will remind them of how much I paid for this…I will look it up but it was between $3K and $6K for zoysia and extra soil. I think lots of $$ for a 5,300 sf lawn!

ted – posted 29 March 2005 17:52

jeez, and in the midwest where i used to be i would have charged you about 175 dollars to seed it. and it would have worked.