Care of a new sod lawn

[defranks]

Greetings all.

A little over three weeks ago I had a new sod lawn installed in the front yard of my house in east-central TN. A week later the back yard was installed for a total of about 12,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass / fescue mix. I lost confidence in the guy who installed the grass, he turned out to be dishonest, so I'm turning to those with experience here for some advice on caring for my new yard.

The installer told me to water the heck out of it twice a day for the first two weeks, which I've done. After two and half weeks I mowed the front lawn with the mower set to 4", and will likely mow the back yard this weekend, though I may wait another week.

The installer told me to use ONLY Milorganite fertilizer, and to apply it at two weeks and then every four weeks thereafter. I've never had a lawn before, so I'm fairly ignorant of the subject, but I've been doing a fair amount of research and am finding a lot of conflicting information. Some sites (fertilizer and sod suppliers) say to use a four-times a year fertilization schedule, some recommend iron treatments.... etc. I don't see any reason to use ONLY Milorganite, nor any reason not to use it.

The front lawn is well established and growing nicely now. The rear not so much. I think the sod applied in the back yard was older and some was dried out. Perhaps the installer used a pallet of sod he'd kept for a day, as there were individual squares of sod that were straw colored and looked dead. I've watered heavily and even used some Miracle Grow on the straw-colored patches, and now I can see green shoots coming through all but a couple of squares. Most of the back yard is green and growing, but doesn't seem as lush as the front.

So.....

How often should I fertilize? Anyone have experience the Scott program where you just pay a yearly fee and they ship fertilizer four times a year? Is a heavy watering once or twice a week better than a lighter watering every day? How often have you applied Milorganite? And any other advice, please.

Thanks!

 

[mikester]

Good info right from the horses mouth
Homeowners - Greenhorizons Sod Farms

 

[the old grind]

Heavier and less frequent watering is advised for all plants to help roots go deeper. They 'follow' moisture downward as surface soil dries.

Milorganite is slow release and pretty much burn proof, can be applied in a broad range of seasonal conditions. Understand that the NPK #s are for the 1st year after application.

Many such organics have more nitrogen o'all than the N # indicates, which means they don't release it all right away but can carry over to next season.

A 10-6-4 chemical fertilizer is ~80% filler, usually a chloride (salt) that can build up in soil. Milorganite is a lot cheaper than fish emulsion or blood meal. Once you appreciate the benefits of organics you'll like the cost comparison. Don't feel a need to apply any fert at a recommended rate if your 'method' is working.

Keep mowing 'tall' (4" really isn't) to shade the ground, choke out weeds, and let the Sun 'feed' your lawn naturally. :2cents:

 

[defranks]

Thanks. The tallest setting on my mower is 4.5", I suppose I'll try that next mowing.

 

[newbury]

Greetings all.

A little over three weeks ago I had a new sod lawn installed in the front yard of my house in east-central TN. A week later the back yard was installed for a total of about 12,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass / fescue mix. I lost confidence in the guy who installed the grass, he turned out to be dishonest, so I'm turning to those with experience here for some advice on caring for my new yard.

The installer told me to water the heck out of it twice a day for the first two weeks, which I've done. After two and half weeks I mowed the front lawn with the mower set to 4", and will likely mow the back yard this weekend, though I may wait another week.

The installer told me to use ONLY Milorganite fertilizer, and to apply it at two weeks and then every four weeks thereafter. I've never had a lawn before, so I'm fairly ignorant of the subject, but I've been doing a fair amount of research and am finding a lot of conflicting information. Some sites (fertilizer and sod suppliers) say to use a four-times a year fertilization schedule, some recommend iron treatments.... etc. I don't see any reason to use ONLY Milorganite, nor any reason not to use it.

The front lawn is well established and growing nicely now. The rear not so much. I think the sod applied in the back yard was older and some was dried out. Perhaps the installer used a pallet of sod he'd kept for a day, as there were individual squares of sod that were straw colored and looked dead. I've watered heavily and even used some Miracle Grow on the straw-colored patches, and now I can see green shoots coming through all but a couple of squares. Most of the back yard is green and growing, but doesn't seem as lush as the front.

So.....

How often should I fertilize? Anyone have experience the Scott program where you just pay a yearly fee and they ship fertilizer four times a year? Is a heavy watering once or twice a week better than a lighter watering every day? How often have you applied Milorganite? And any other advice, please.

Thanks!

Never trust anything SCOTTS says or writes. I used to attend their sales meetings, they would tell you fertilize daily just to sell more fertilizer.

About 1 June I seeded an area of lawn with Centipede grass. I've been watering it about 5 times a day, just past damp, and it seems to be coming along just fine, even though we've gotten hardly any rain.

 

[John Skull]

Last year I fired my lawn sprayer guy (and the bug sprayer guy). Got a soil test done by the county extension, and now I apply my own chemicals using mainly DoMyOwn.com -- they have great prices on a lot of professional grade stuff, and also have extensive technical information on lawn and pest control.

 

[RalphVa]

I'm a master gardener for 16 years now and grew grass from sod before that.

Milorganite is good stuff. Has heavy metals in it but won't harm the grass. Just don't use on veggie plots.

Try not to use the chemical ferts. They have salts in them that kill the organisms in the soil keeping it alive. Use them, and you're stuck with them because they'll be the only thing keeping the grass alive. If you use, apply in the fall.

Best to use is nothing (generally what I did for years) to to apply compost, anywhere from 1/2 inch to 3 inches. Three inches is a challenge, but other master gardeners have done it. You'll need a lot of levelling with those springy rakes to get the top grass leaves all popping out of the compost.

Ralph

 

[defranks]

12000 square feet of compost spreading would be a bit much for me, I think.

So far my efforts on the brown patches seem to be paying off, mainly just making sure they get a lot of water.

Funny, a few months ago I was wondering if the rain was ever going to stop around here, now I'm doing a little happy-dance when it rains, as it did today.

 

[kthompson]

Follow John Skull recommendation and get soil samples done (would do one on back and one on front lawn) and begin there. You need to know how to get a good sample, you need small soil amount for about 6 inches depth.

As to the height you need to mow your grass, the species of grass will make a big difference on that. Centipede is the lawn of choice here and when seeded is very slow to sprout and spread but a two inch tall lawn of that is tall. Be sure you use sharp blades and no they are not sharpen like a knife, Properly the cutting edge is a thin squared should edge. Look at the edge on a new blade.