New sod burnt from not watering

Lady20456 – posted 23 July 2003 12:52

Sod was laid at my new construction in Dececmber,2002. The sod was growing great and needed to be cut weekly. I went out of town for a week and my underground water system had failure which did not turn on for 4 days in hot 85 degree weather. I have a couple of large yellow spots on my lawn. Neighbors keep telling me that it will grow back but, I’m getting real nervous that my sod is screwed-up. I live in the Michigan area and was would like a little feedback as to what others who may have experience this have to say.

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 24 July 2003 22:44

What kind of grass is it?

How often and how long do you normally let your sprinkler system water it?

How high/low is it mowed?

Have you fertilized or used any other materials on it recently?

Lady20456 – posted 31 July 2003 12:42

Sprinkler system – ran on all 8 zones for 10 minutes every other day. I have now change the sprinkler system to run everyday for 20 minutes per zone.

How high/low is it moved: twice I let the grass get approx 6 inches high. Now I cut the grass every week keeping it approx 3 inches high.

Fertilized: I have not personally used any type of fertilizer on the grass however, I have a company (True-green) that comes out monthly a treats the lawn with a substance that prevents weeds.

What kind of grass – Don’t know.Thanks

frenchman – posted 01 August 2003 18:05

Lady, why are you watering your yard everyday. That is a waste of time. You are not doing anything for your roots. Water your yard once a week or untill it start to turn blue. Water it heavy, this will allow your roots to travel downwards instead of up for water.

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 04 August 2003 14:20

I agree with frenchman about the watering. You went the right way with the 20 minutes but you went the wrong way by going to daily. The goal is to water no more than 1 time per week. I live where the soil temp is higher than your daily high temps and I only water once every 10 days. But I water for 1 hour in each zone and my zones overlap 50%. So I get some serious water down every 10 days or so.

You probably are mowing at the highest mower setting at 3 inches. If it goes up any more, raise it all the way. Then get a friend to weld it in place so you can never lower it again by mistake. Tall grass takes less water than short grass for several reasons which get botanically technical very fast, so I’ll skip them. Some riding mowers will go to 6 inches. That’s good.

If you water deeply and mow high, you can probably stop your Tru-Green service. The weeds cannot penetrate a tall grass, and the 10 day watering schedule will kill off the shallow rooted weeds.

I would suggest fertilizing a couple times a year. I like organic fertilizers, but I don’t like the price. So I use the raw ingredients from organic fertilizers. I use corn meal and alfalfa at 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet to fertilize. These fertilize by adding protein to the soil. The microbes in the soil “process” the protein, extract the nitrogen from it, and convert it directly into plant food. Mother Nature has this process perfected!

Having said all that, it really is probably that your grass just went dormant temporarily and will, as your neighbors have told you, green up again nicely. HOWEVER, you still should be watering deeply and infrequently, and mowing as tall as you can. And fertilize every now and then.

Lady20456 – posted 05 August 2003 08:40

Turfmasters,I have soaked in your advice….Thank you!!!However, I must admit, I was a little shocked by the “infrequent” need for watering.. Mum! I was told that new sod coming off from a dormant season, requires plently of water…. My good news is that my BIG yellow patch is starting to turn green again. Wow! Not only was I running the zones daily at 3:30 a.m. in the morning, I would come home and put a small spinker head rotator on the yellow patch area and run that sprinker for approx 2 hours… I’ll remember to mow high and cut back on the water.THANKS!

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 05 August 2003 11:17

You’re right about new sod. You sod stopped being new by Valentine’s Day. Now it should be treated as a maturing sod.

You might have to wean slowly off the water. If you have developed a shallow root structure, it will take a few weeks to get the roots away from the surface. My next door neighbor has not watered her St Augustine turf in 4 years worth of Central Texas droughts. It always looks good.

Lady20456 – posted 05 August 2003 13:18

Dchall_San_Antonio

You indicated that I needed to ween my grass off water.. Would you suggest me cutting back to every other day of watering for now as compared to daily watering???? Also, how can I tell if my roots are growing upwards?Thanks

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 06 August 2003 12:08

I’ll give you two ways to try to wean yourself from daily watering.

First try this. Stop watering today and see how long it takes before your grass starts to wilt. When it wilts in the afternoon, don’t water yet. If it is still wilty in the morning dew, then water it. If not, water the next day. You want to get the roots to stretch. When you water, water to the point of runoff. If you can water for an hour with no runoff, then stop. See how long it goes before wilting again. It should go a little longer. And when you water the next time, it should soak in longer before running off. Eventually you will never be able to water to the point of runoff.

Second thing to try. Try this only if you get runoff in 5 minutes. Put a soaker hose on trickle for a few days. Leave it for at least three days before moving it. The ground should be very soft before you move it. You might have to use other watering in the mean time, but eventually you want to saturate the ground everywhere in a week or two. Once you get it saturated, then go back to the top and start that regimen.

I never heard of roots growing upwards. The water source should be below them, not above.