Hi all,

We moved into a new home last November and the builder sodded the front
for us around October. With Spring fast approaching in Wisconsin, I'm
wondering how frequently I will need to water now 4-5 month old sod.
Same goes for fertilizing--how soon is too soon?

Thanks for any advice!

be sure a mulching mower is used to cut the grass. this will put the nutrients back
into the sod. I wouldnt do the fertilizer until much later in spring after the first
flush of growth is done. You could call a sod farm and ask about apply some potassium
to help build root growth.
as for watering. I have found that yellow sunglasses show water stressed grass as a
darker color than healthy grass.
one of the things we did to rehabilitate a badly managed lawn was put the sprinklers
on a timer. now this lawn was on a steep slope so all the excess ran down hill and
watered a valuable, large tree.
and watering depends on what kind of soil you have... the sand of middle and northern
wisconsin is going to need more water than the clay southern Wisconsin.
Ingrid

d wrote:
We moved into a new home last November and the builder sodded the front
for us around October. With Spring fast approaching in Wisconsin, I'm
wondering how frequently I will need to water now 4-5 month old sod.
Same goes for fertilizing--how soon is too soon?

Thanks for any advice!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:42:26 -0600, d wrote:
Hi all,

We moved into a new home last November and the builder sodded the front
for us around October. With Spring fast approaching in Wisconsin, I'm
wondering how frequently I will need to water now 4-5 month old sod.

Go out and try to lift some of the sod. If it doesn't lift easily, cut
a plug and see how far the roots have reached into the soil. If it's not
much more than an inch into your soil, I'd figure on applying an average
of an inch a water a week all summer. (that's exclusive of rain... so
if you get half an inch of rain in a week, put half an inch of water on
with sprinklers). If roots are 2-3" down, skipping a week now and then
won't be too tough on it most likely, but you don't want it to go dormant.

If the sod lifts easily, I'd figure on babying it all summer long, and
well into next fall.

Remember to water deeply, soaking the root zone and down a bit further,
instead of just moistening the top bit of soil.

Same goes for fertilizing--how soon is too soon?

Did you have a soil test done before sodding? If so, I'd look at those
recommendations, and follow them up -- though I'd throttle way back on the
nitrogen. If you didn't do a soils test, I'd be inclined to give it
a very light feeding of something like 10-10-10 or 10-15-15 now, and
watch the response. I'd save the high N stuff till next year. This year,
you're looking for good roots, not grass blades leaping upwards in height.
I prefer multiple light feedings of commercial fertilizer to occasional
heavy fertilizations. With organic fertilizers, that's less of an issue.

My personal rule for fertilizer applications: 1/4 as much at a time,
2-3x more often than recommended... has always worked well for me.

Mulch the clippings back onto the lawn, and mow often with a sharp blade.
Mark a couple of lines on a wooden stake: one at 3.5" and one at 4" above
soil level. Set the mower blade to 3". When the grass is up to the 3.5"
mark, you should mow. At 4", you must mow -- do it religiously this year.
If the blades of the grass start looking chewed at the tip instead of cut,
sharpen the blade again.

Kay, who's either going to have to drive a mower over 2 acres of
last-fall-seeded-grass on heavy, wet clay soil soon, or rent a sheep...
or trim it by hand.
--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

and in wisconsin you can get milorganite. perfect for the lawn. Ingrid

Kay Lancaster wrote:

On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:42:26 -0600, d wrote:
Hi all,

We moved into a new home last November and the builder sodded the front
for us around October. With Spring fast approaching in Wisconsin, I'm
wondering how frequently I will need to water now 4-5 month old sod.

Go out and try to lift some of the sod. If it doesn't lift easily, cut
a plug and see how far the roots have reached into the soil. If it's not
much more than an inch into your soil, I'd figure on applying an average
of an inch a water a week all summer. (that's exclusive of rain... so
if you get half an inch of rain in a week, put half an inch of water on
with sprinklers). If roots are 2-3" down, skipping a week now and then
won't be too tough on it most likely, but you don't want it to go dormant.

If the sod lifts easily, I'd figure on babying it all summer long, and
well into next fall.

Remember to water deeply, soaking the root zone and down a bit further,
instead of just moistening the top bit of soil.

Same goes for fertilizing--how soon is too soon?

Did you have a soil test done before sodding? If so, I'd look at those
recommendations, and follow them up -- though I'd throttle way back on the
nitrogen. If you didn't do a soils test, I'd be inclined to give it
a very light feeding of something like 10-10-10 or 10-15-15 now, and
watch the response. I'd save the high N stuff till next year. This year,
you're looking for good roots, not grass blades leaping upwards in height.
I prefer multiple light feedings of commercial fertilizer to occasional
heavy fertilizations. With organic fertilizers, that's less of an issue.

My personal rule for fertilizer applications: 1/4 as much at a time,
2-3x more often than recommended... has always worked well for me.

Mulch the clippings back onto the lawn, and mow often with a sharp blade.
Mark a couple of lines on a wooden stake: one at 3.5" and one at 4" above
soil level. Set the mower blade to 3". When the grass is up to the 3.5"
mark, you should mow. At 4", you must mow -- do it religiously this year.
If the blades of the grass start looking chewed at the tip instead of cut,
sharpen the blade again.

Kay, who's either going to have to drive a mower over 2 acres of
last-fall-seeded-grass on heavy, wet clay soil soon, or rent a sheep...
or trim it by hand.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:42:26 -0600, d wrote:
Hi all,

We moved into a new home last November and the builder sodded the front
for us around October. With Spring fast approaching in Wisconsin, I'm
wondering how frequently I will need to water now 4-5 month old sod.

Go out and try to lift some of the sod. If it doesn't lift easily, cut
a plug and see how far the roots have reached into the soil. If it's not
much more than an inch into your soil, I'd figure on applying an average
of an inch a water a week all summer. (that's exclusive of rain... so
if you get half an inch of rain in a week, put half an inch of water on
with sprinklers). If roots are 2-3" down, skipping a week now and then
won't be too tough on it most likely, but you don't want it to go dormant.

If the sod lifts easily, I'd figure on babying it all summer long, and
well into next fall.

Remember to water deeply, soaking the root zone and down a bit further,
instead of just moistening the top bit of soil.

a very handy home made device for deeper watering can be found here,
especially in waxy soild that resist surface penetration
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/200...deep_watering3

rob