As a first time home owner I've got tons of gardening questions, but I'll
start with the basics. The builder is putting down sod in the front lawn and a
seed blanket (?) for the rear yard. The town I will be living in has watering
restrictions. Many of my friends tell me the sod is going to die if I don't
soak it every day. The watering restrictions are, I can water every other day
from 5 PM to 8:30 PM. Won't this be enough time to water the sod and the back
yard?

In article ,
ospam (Tranch749) wrote:

As a first time home owner I've got tons of gardening questions, but I'll
start with the basics. The builder is putting down sod in the front lawn and a
seed blanket (?) for the rear yard. The town I will be living in has watering
restrictions. Many of my friends tell me the sod is going to die if I don't
soak it every day. The watering restrictions are, I can water every other day
from 5 PM to 8:30 PM. Won't this be enough time to water the sod and the back
yard?

There's also the rec.birds newsgroup.
--
8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)
~~~~~~
"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter
today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson

http://home.earthlink.net/~sme617

There's also the rec.birds newsgroup.

8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)

I ask a lawn question and I get an answer from an idiot?
I guess each NG has to have their village idiot and I've just been contacted
by the one for this group!

ospam (Tranch749) in
:

There's also the rec.birds newsgroup.

8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)

I ask a lawn question and I get an answer from an idiot?
I guess each NG has to have their village idiot and I've just been
contacted
by the one for this group!


was probably a ref to birds eating seed?

re sod:
if you're in a water rationing area, it's impied that areas of the sod
will die on alternate day irrig in mid may.

"Tranch749" wrote in message
...
As a first time home owner I've got tons of gardening questions, but I'll
start with the basics. The builder is putting down sod in the front lawn and a
seed blanket (?) for the rear yard. The town I will be living in has watering
restrictions. Many of my friends tell me the sod is going to die if I don't
soak it every day. The watering restrictions are, I can water every other day
from 5 PM to 8:30 PM. Won't this be enough time to water the sod and the back
yard?

Consider the advice of your friends and also your builder. They know your
climatic area - perhaps even what type or blend of grass is in your sod/seed
blanket. That said, let me hazard this advice:

Newly installed sod dries out fast and requires watering right away. Have it
installed the same day you can water. A new lawn has changing water
requirements according to how well it has rooted into the soil. When new, the
lawn has a shallow root system and needs the surface to stay moist, but not
soaking wet. After a couple of weeks(?) when the sod is well anchored,
deeper watering is required, but less frequently.

Regards.

Tranch749 wrote:

...I guess each NG has to have their village idiot and I've just been contacted
by the one for this group!



Not just one. There are hundreds of them.


You don't have to soak your lawn every day. A new lawn needs water, but
grass doesn't grow in wetlands. (At least the kind of grass you want on
your lawn).

New seed will need water to germinate. You will have to keep the surface
moist while the grass gets started. If you can only water during certain
hours, make sure you do that. Don't water until puddles form. You only
need to keep the surface moist.

A light cover of straw mulch will help keep the moisture in the ground
rather than evaporating. This will lower the watering requirements. The
grass will grow through the straw and the straw will decompose in place.

If you really have problems with enough water, you might consider
watering only that area you want to use (next to the house; a play area;
a place to sit) and convert the rest of the yard to shrubs or
wildflowers or xeriscape or whatever your neighborhood association will
allow. Shrubs can be watered with greywater (from bathing, dishwashing,
laundry).

Sod, being already established grass with soil attached, needs water to
put roots down into the ground, but not as much as new grass from seed.

On 16 May 2004 19:31:57 GMT, ospam (Tranch749)
wrote:

As a first time home owner I've got tons of gardening questions, but I'll
start with the basics. The builder is putting down sod in the front lawn and a
seed blanket (?) for the rear yard. The town I will be living in has watering
restrictions. Many of my friends tell me the sod is going to die if I don't
soak it every day. The watering restrictions are, I can water every other day
from 5 PM to 8:30 PM. Won't this be enough time to water the sod and the back
yard?


You may want to contact the city office about the restrictions
enforced.

In "hot" weather here - they will not charge you for watering on your
OFF day if you have new sod or seed. They allow you three weeks to
get it started without buggin' ya (if they even notice you did it to
begin with).

Might be worth a call to check on the rules.

Misstiblu