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Old 08-08-2014, 08:52 PM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
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Default Coping with sod?

[I've never dealt with sod before]

The city just sodded the strip between our front sidewalk and the curb
and the part of our front lawn that they destroyed while working on our
street.

They're coming by twice a day to water the sod, but I suppose they'll
stop doing that in a while.

Once the city stops, how often and for how long should I be watering?

It appears that the strip between the sidewalk and curb was too narrow
for the roller that they used on the rest of the sod.

OK to walk on it, or terrible mistake to do so?

Anything I can or must do to have a chance of this stuff taking?

--
St. Paul, MN
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Old 11-08-2014, 10:27 PM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
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Default Coping with sod?

On 8/8/2014 1:52 PM, Bert wrote:
[I've never dealt with sod before]

The city just sodded the strip between our front sidewalk and the curb
and the part of our front lawn that they destroyed while working on our
street.

They're coming by twice a day to water the sod, but I suppose they'll
stop doing that in a while.

Once the city stops, how often and for how long should I be watering?


Rule of thumb is an inch of water a week. Subtract any rainfall from
that amount, and you then know how much to add on a weekly basis. How
often depends on the weather. If it stays cooler than normal, probably
watering every 4-5 days will do. If it gets warm and/or windy, you
will have to water more often. Until the grass roots grow and knit
down into the soil, it will dry out easily. As for how long, I'd check
on the root growth after 2-3 weeks and see how it's going. Just grab a
section and pull. If it lifts up easily, it hasn't knit down into the
soil yet. Once it has, you can taper the frequency of watering to one
good watering a week as needed (when rainfall isn't sufficient).

In a normal year, we'd be almost in our meteorological autumn here in
Minnesota. By mid-August, average temperatures decrease and the
regular rainfalls return. It has run cooler than average so far this
year, but we'll have to wait and see if the rains come, or if we'll
end up with another long dry autumn. If we do, keep watering regularly
all the way to frost.

OK to walk on it, or terrible mistake to do so?


Do you mean: walk on it to flatten it like the roller would have, or
simply, can you walk on it at all? It's best not to walk on newly-laid
sod if you can avoid it.
It doesn't have to be rolled.


Anything I can or must do to have a chance of this stuff taking?


The very best time to fertilize it was just before it was laid. Had a
new lawn fertilizer been applied to the soil prior to the sod going
down, it would have significantly shortened the time needed for the
sod to establish. Phosphorus does not move downward into the soil very
quickly, so applying a starter fertilizer to the sod now won't do much
for the roots. Can't hurt, just won't help all that much. The best
thing you can do is not let it dry out.
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Old 12-08-2014, 12:04 AM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
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Default Coping with sod?

On Monday, August 11, 2014 4:27:39 PM UTC-4, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 8/8/2014 1:52 PM, Bert wrote:

[I've never dealt with sod before]




The city just sodded the strip between our front sidewalk and the curb


and the part of our front lawn that they destroyed while working on our


street.




They're coming by twice a day to water the sod, but I suppose they'll


stop doing that in a while.




Once the city stops, how often and for how long should I be watering?




Rule of thumb is an inch of water a week. Subtract any rainfall from

that amount, and you then know how much to add on a weekly basis. How

often depends on the weather. If it stays cooler than normal, probably

watering every 4-5 days will do. If it gets warm and/or windy, you

will have to water more often. Until the grass roots grow and knit

down into the soil, it will dry out easily. As for how long, I'd check

on the root growth after 2-3 weeks and see how it's going. Just grab a

section and pull. If it lifts up easily, it hasn't knit down into the

soil yet. Once it has, you can taper the frequency of watering to one

good watering a week as needed (when rainfall isn't sufficient).



Agree the key is you want to taper down the watering over a couple months.
The 1" a week is a general guideline, obviously what's good in Oct may
not be enough for July. I would say applying the 1" a week in two 1/2"
waterings is probably better for more soils than just once a week. Here,
NJ, typical lawn won't make it a week in hot summer with one watering
and in hottest periods, probably need more than 1" to keep it looking real
good. But it also depends on soil, type of grass, etc.




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Old 12-08-2014, 04:31 PM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
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Default Coping with sod?

In Moe DeLoughan
wrote:

... The best
thing you can do is not let it dry out.


Thanks for the info. I'm watering twice a day right now, and I think the
city is still coming by from time to time, so it's probably getting more
than your suggested 1" a week right now. Other than sending a lot of
that water down the newly refurbished sewer system, I don't think I'm
doing any harm, and looking at the state of the sod on some of the
neighbors' yards, I think I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

--
St. Paul, MN
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Old 12-08-2014, 05:26 PM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
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Default Coping with sod?

On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 10:31:52 AM UTC-4, Bert wrote:
In Moe DeLoughan

wrote:



... The best


thing you can do is not let it dry out.




Thanks for the info. I'm watering twice a day right now, and I think the

city is still coming by from time to time, so it's probably getting more

than your suggested 1" a week right now.


The 1" a week guideline is for *established lawns* and average conditions,
not summer high heat/sun. New sod is going to need more.



Other than sending a lot of

that water down the newly refurbished sewer system, I don't think I'm

doing any harm, and looking at the state of the sod on some of the

neighbors' yards, I think I'll keep doing what I'm doing.




Sounds right. There is some potential harm to over watering though.
If you keep turf constantly wet, especially overnight, it creates
an ideal environment for fungus and disease. So, ideally you should
water an established lawn in the early AM hours, starting whatever
time allows for it to be watered and done by 6AM or so. Even with new
sod, I'd avoid watering at like 8PM, when it would stay real wet all
night.
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