Sod is browning

Rentals – posted 01 July 2009 10:18

After reading all post about watereing during summer months I thought I knew what I was doing. My yard (Meyer) has been green from the start of the season but is now browning from the hot days we have in Georgia. High 90’s and very humid. My yard gets sun on it all day and I think it’s burning it up. How many times should I water and how much? When I do water the lawn, it looks better, but it always turns brown again. I’ve been watering twice a week with 1″ of water each time. Any thoughts?

tommy – posted 01 July 2009 15:38

Do a soil probe! Take a shovel full of turf out (6 inches deep or so) and see whats up. You may not be getting wet as deeply as you think!

Turfguy_UF – posted 02 July 2009 12:06

1″ two times a week seems a little on the low side. You might be applying only enough to keep the sod out of dormancy, but not green. This is not really horrible, but for aesthetics, not what you want. Zoysia can handle drought very well, so dont be concerned if it browns up.

I would switch to watering three times a week at one inch each, and once a month water to 2-3″ to help flush the soil and move the water down through the profile.

Also water early in the morning. Watering late in the evening does not give time for the water to evaporate and can lead to disease. If you know when your dew point starts (normally 2 or 3 in the morning) I would water around then. That way the water has time to infiltrate into the soil profile, not be evaporated, and wind is normally very calm during these times.

Also raise your mowing height to allow for deeper root growth, and decreases mowings to reduce stress on the grass during hot months.

Good luck,TurfGuy