churin – posted 03 August 2010 14:04
MY Zoysia lawn is about 5 weeks since sods were installed. Now there are areas where the color is turning yellow. Is it because of the drought condition in Atlanta area or fungus infestation? The picture is shown below:http://khonjo.home.mindspring.com/pictures/IMG_4940.JPG
Bucko7 – posted 04 August 2010 06:19
Looks to me like you received a sub-standard pallet of sod from the farm. Note that the brown out follows the individual pieces of sod, straight lines. If it were drought this would not be the case.
I’d hand water those pieces and see if they don’t come around. If its going to work you should see results in less than a week.
churin – posted 04 August 2010 07:19
The area shown in the picture was once green but the color started to change in smaller area and it continued to expand. I thought it was due to lack of watering so I started hand watering the yellowed area on top of watering by sprinkler system but the yellow area kept expanding. The following is another one where yellowing process began. This area was also once looked nice and green.http://khonjo.home.mindspring.com/pictures/IMG_4944.JPG
Free Man – posted 04 August 2010 12:38
It appears that the areas in question are in the sunny areas of the newly sodded area AND some of (if not all of) pieces are dying along the sod lines. Since you have been hand watering and paying close attention in that regard, we can rule that out. And if you have not gotten enough water in your area, then most likely fungus would not be the cause (brown spot, for example).
This leads me to two possibilities. 1.) grubs or billbugs which come out the end of July and August (now) and eat for weeks – if it is grubs the grass will simply pull right out of the ground with little resistance). or 2.) you received some bad sod, in some spots it does appear to be along sod lines.
If it was billbugs or grubs, these areas are probably beyond repair anyhow as the damage is done. If I am wrong and it is fungus it would assume wet conditions (which you stated was not the case) and it is too late to address as well.
It is a pretty large area, which is unfortunate that you did not catch it well before it grew to such a size and while the sod company will be obligated to replace the pieces! Since it is 5 weeks in the sod company most likely will not replace it, since most only warranty their work for 30 days. You could try and see if they would replace it and give them some pressure. Again, it does appear to be dying along the individual sod lines.
If they won’t replace the dead pieces I would replace them myself with new pieces from Lowes (they have been carrying for many folks, if not find a place that you can buy it by the piece).
You didn’t, by any chance fertilize at any point yet, if so with what and when?
churin – posted 04 August 2010 15:27
This post is placed by mistake. Correct post follows.
[This message has been edited by churin (edited 04 August 2010).]
churin – posted 04 August 2010 16:07
There are several such problem areas and they are indeed all in full sun area and none in partial shade area. We have had drought condition in Atlanta area for the past 5 weeks since the sods were installed.
1.)I applied insecticide to control grub and other insects because I noticed grubs under the sods. I no longer see any grub in the problem area. 2) The installer brought 16 paletts of the sods,and sods amounting to one palet were discarded due to their poor condition. They found shortage of two paletts and reluctantly filled them at their expense. From half way installing the sods, sods were not installed tight together or there were gaps between them.
Because of the problem with the sod installer as above, it is highly unlikely that they respond in positive way to complaint as you suggest. Besides, I no longer want to deal with them anyway.
If it is determined that I have to replace them, then I think next March or April would be the better timing than now. I know I have to live with it until then.
Our current lawn care contractor applied fertilizer two weeks ago. It is 32-5-7. He knew what sods were installed when. Did this aggravate the problem?
[This message has been edited by churin (edited 04 August 2010).]
Free Man – posted 07 August 2010 19:14
Churin,
Okay, I can understand both not wanting to deal with the prior installer and the fact that it is outside of any warranty at this point anyhow. Most likely you got some bad sod, which was stressed by very dry conditions and then attached by grubs. Grubs and insects typically only do damage in high sun areas, whereas fungus usually attacks in areas of over-watering (which you don’t have).
In terms of the grub issue, which you mentioned and confirmed you in fact did have. Grubs will require a stronger granular and systemic (one that is sucked into the plant itself and has residual affect) product. Specifically one called merit, which can be commonly found in a product called Bayer Season Long Grub Control:
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/lawn-care/products/season-long-grub-control-plus-turf-revitalizer
This will kill most small, medium grubs and prevent new grubs for 2-3 months and around here it is best to put down in mid-late July to early August (now). Any spray insecticide you put down will most likely last a week, or two at best in the lawn and not control grubs, only kill a few. So I would get this and apply it right away to make sure it doesn’t spread to other parts of the lawn. Make sure you apply it to the entire Zoysia area!
Second, yes I would assume from your pictures and statements that the dead grass portions will need to be entirely replaced. You can wait until next season, late spring. Perhaps you will be lucky and “some” of it will come back, but I bet it will not (unfortunately).
Third, the fertilizer you put down two weeks ago, would have meant it was put down on approximately week three of a brand new sod installation. You never want to fertilize new sod with any nitrogen (the 32 in your case) until at least 4-6 weeks after it was installed. In addition, for new sod of any time, a 32 in N is fairly high. I would recommend a slow release N that is around 20 and only after 6 weeks. The 7 in your fertilizer makeup is the Potash (potassium) and you can jack this up pretty high. Potash is used to stimulate root growth and development and will not encourage top growth, which is exactly what you want for a new grass to establish itself so that it can take more dry conditions! When I did my Zoysia back in June I bought a bag of just Potash (20) 0-0-20. I put this down by itself with none of the other components. The high and early application of nitrogen on your new lawn, combined with the high heat and little rain could definitely have killed those sections in question. And grass that has little roots and is stressed is a great target for grubs, which is most likely why you had the infestation as well.
So for now, put the granular grub killer down all over the Zoysia at the highest recommended rate, make sure you water it at least 2-3 times a week for long periods rather than every day for shorter periods. Infrequent deep watering will be much better to encourage the live roots to grow. After doing the above, if any of the apparent dead sod is actually still alive you will see it green up in 4-6 weeks. Otherwise it is most likely dead.
I hope this will help to save the rest of your grass, so that you don’t lose any further sod and end up costing yourself more next spring.
churin – posted 07 August 2010 21:11
Free Man,The insecticide I applied was a granular type of Spectracide brand:http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=200943-316-HG-73961-8&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3020070&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=sim&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1Bayer brand insecticide you referred to is also available at Lowe’s. So, I am going to apply this.Regarding the fertilizer, it appears that my lawncare company ignored my calling to their attention that my entire lawn was re-sodded. Maybe I should consider switching the lawncare company. I will get and apply potash(20) only fertilizer.I am now watering every other day. There are 6 zones and watering is done for 20 min per zone beginning at 2AM and at 4:30AM.
Free Man – posted 08 August 2010 10:37
Yes, I have used that as well but the active content is not as good for residual kill of grubs, the Bayer is better and since you had an outbreak it is a good idea to make sure you get most of them before they eat around to other areas.
The Potash by itself can be picked up at a John Deere landscape or LESCO center, for reference. You can apply regular full spectrum fertilizer this fall.
Your watering for 20 minutes per zone sounds very short. Are these spray heads or rotors? If they are rotors I would increase it to maybe 30-40 minutes. For spray heads I would double that to 60-80 minutes and perhaps only water every third day. You want deep, infrequent watering as opposed to short frequent watering. Hopefully you are no on city watering, but either way it is the cost of keeping good grass.
churin – posted 08 August 2010 15:40
With regard to watering, I am effectively watering for 40 minutes per zone but not continuously. That is two times of waterings for 20 minutes each with about two hours interval. I thought this strategy would prevent possible water run-off at certain areas in my yard. There is watering restriction in my county area but it’s between 10AM to 10PM.
Free Man – posted 08 August 2010 18:02
Churin, ahhhh that sounds much better. Are those spray heads or rotors then?
churin – posted 08 August 2010 20:33
They are either spray heads or rotors depending on zone or area within a zone.
ken4255 – posted 09 August 2010 06:55
Looks to me like most of the brown pieces have at least some green in them. I would give them a good intial soaking and then water every day for at least couple of weeks. I think you just have to ignore the watering restrictions if you have new sod down. At least in Marietta, GA, you can get a 30-day exemption from the restrictions for new sod.
Free Man – posted 09 August 2010 14:20
As far as the difference between watering with rotors versus spray heads goes, you need to double the run time on the zones with all spray heads. So if you are running the rotors two 20 minute intervals each day that you water, you would need two 40 minute runs that same day on the spray head zones. Spray heads put out about half the water, and a bit of it is blown away in the wind.
The problem with Zoysia is that it is slow to recover if you outright kill it. In your case, you have brand new sod with no root system, which is not hard to kill. But again, keep sufficient water, use that grub control and you should salvage whatever is possible.
churin – posted 10 August 2010 18:53
ken4255,I kept watering every day for two weeks after installing the sods. Since I noticed patches of yellow/brown in color I began hand watering those area on top of watering by sprinkler system.Free Man,There is one zone where only spray heads are used and no problem in this zone. In another zone three rotors and one spray head are used but there is no problem in this zone either. Those yellow/brown patches are only in zones with all rotors in front yard.
Today I compared the size of brown area as shown in the picture posted earlier and the present size. It appears that the size is practically unchanged in the past 7 days.