Sod turning brown

hfowle1 – posted 21 August 2012 09:35

I had new sod planted about 4-5 weeks ago in a long strip along the sidewalk at my house. It had been looking good until roughly 10 days ago when it abruptly started turning brown (with sparse green blades). The browning seemed to start on one end and has been migrating to the other and has nearly overtaken the whole stretch.

I live in New Orleans and we get pretty steady rainfall in the summer, but I’ve still been pretty vigilant about supplementing this with an oscillating sprinkler when the rain is sparse. I think I’ve been keeping the soil pretty moist and everything seems to be rooted in very well from end to end.

I have no idea what caused this sudden turn for the worse. I’ve considered overwatering as a potential answer, but the problem started on the end that drains the most quickly (on a slight incline). During really wet days, I’ve noticed swarms of winged insects on my lawn, and some of the dying sod blades do look chewed up, so that could be it.

I’m pretty stumped. I would appreciate any advice on what I may be doing wrong. Most importantly, I would very much like to know if this is a lost cause or if the sod might rebound in spring. It looks brown, but I wouldn’t call it dead yet and it is rooted well, so I’m still hopeful. Thank you very much for your assistance.

Spriteman – posted 22 August 2012 07:55

It would really help to know what kind of sod you have. Other than that the usual suspects for brown grass include: insect infestation, lack of nutrients, soil preparation (since you said you just installed your sod), grass fungus, others depending on your exact situation.

hfowle1 – posted 22 August 2012 08:00

I should have mentioned the grass type – it’s St. Augustine.

The landscaper who installed it seems to think we have a fungus and it’s being treated. I’m slacking up on the watering schedule (he recommended a day or two with no watering and 2-3 times week after that) and hopefully it will bounce back.

I guess with all of the rain we’ve been getting, this makes sense. Some of my other grass has spotty brown patches, but I guess it’s not as susceptible as the new sod. Thanks for your help and I’d still welcome other opinions.