Help! New Sod Dying

taz5794 – posted 20 June 2003 10:02

Can anybody Help?????

I live in south Florida.I have a backyard that is covered by oak trees. Because I thought grass would never grow there I had mulch as ground cover. I found out about Palmetto St Augustine and how it is shade tolerant so I ordered it. I raked out most of the mulch and rented a cultivator to loosen the compacted soil.Although it was cultivated there was still mulch remaining in the soil. I layed the sod and it was beautiful. I watered it in and then watered it everyday for about 30 minutes. After a week I noticed the grass was really wet and didn’t seem to be draining well. I cut back on watering but unfortunatly we got a rain spell and it rained heavy for two weeks straight. After the two weeks I noticed black fungus and powdery mildew in the lawn. The new sod was dying off.I applied a systemic fungicide and it appeared to be clearing up but sure enough more rain. It never dried up and remained wet and soggy.We decided to rent an aerator to see if we could give some air to it and provide the oxygen it needed.The aerator ended up pulling up the sod pieces. We were suprised to find out after two months the sod never took root. The grass although looking pretty bad is still growing in sparse places. I called the sod company and they said it could have been all the water on it that caused it to not take root. They recommended we pull up all the sod and start over. Of course we should!

I was thinking,because we have already put so much time and money in to this that maybe because the sod lifts right up we could lift up the damaged sod and spread fresh topsoil and nutrients and lay the sod back down. Maybe this would give it enough fresh loose soil to take root.

Does anyone have any suggestions?????????

Thanks

Kathy C

Will-PCB – posted 20 June 2003 21:00

Personally …

1. I would not pull up the sod.2. I would mow it and catch the possible affected leaves.3. I would not fertilize it.4. I would get some good grade sand and top dress it a bit (not too much)5. I would be patient, and I would not “push” the grass so much.

Basically, whats done is done. It is not going to cause you any harm in being patient and lets see how much of the St. Augustine survives. You will find that St. Augustine is a resilent grass, and will likely survive to some degree, and eventually start taking over.

-Will