5 Sod Care Mistakes That Ruin a New Lawn

Why Is My New Sod Dying?

Putting in new sod feels good. Whether it’s because you’re finishing up the lawn for a new home, or because you’re covering up that dead spot that’s been bothering you, it makes your yard look nice, and that always feels nice. What doesn’t feel nice is when that new sod suddenly dies, forcing you to install it all over again. How do you avoid that? According to Jensen Turf, here are five sod care mistakes that will ruin your new lawn and how to avoid them.

Don’t Make These Sod Care Mistakes

1. Not Preparing the Soil

The first common mistake people make when laying new sod actually happens before the sod is even laid: they don’t prepare the soil for it. If the soil isn’t healthy, if it lacks nutrients, or is too tightly packed, or has rocks and weeds in it, the grass isn’t going to be able to take root properly and it will likely not survive the first summer or winter it faces.

To avoid this, you should first go over the topsoil with a rake to remove large rocks and pluck weeds that you find. Raking it will also loosen up the soil, which helps it hold more nutrients that your sod needs. If the soil is too sandy or has too much clay in it, add compost and fresh topsoil to make it suitable for grass. Once this is done, then you’re ready to add the sod.

2. Improper Watering

Grass needs water, but just saying that is tricky. A lot of people think they can just install new sod and then run some sprinklers on it, then wonder why the grass is dead again so soon. This is because while grass needs water, how much water it needs varies depending on how recently it was planted.

When the grass is first planted, people often underwater it. New grass needs a lot of water to help kickstart its growth. Jensen recommends watering for ten minutes 3-4 times a day for the first week, gradually reducing it to once per day by the end of week two. The aim is to keep the ground moist, but not soggy, so slow down if you start to see the water flowing in the grass instead of soaking the soil.

After the first two weeks, you need to slow down to avoid overwatering. Watering can be reduced to 2-3 times a week instead of every day. Through all of this, it’s important to remember not to water during the middle of the day, when the temperature is at its highest, or the water will mostly evaporate and do nothing for the grass. Instead, water early in the morning, later in the evening, and during the night. Having a timer set for your irrigation system is a great way to manage this without missing a session.

If you’re not sure how much water your lawn is getting, USU recommends pushing a screwdriver into the soil.  Once it hits dry soil, it will be harder to push the tool in. Mark how deep the screwdriver sinks to know how many inches of water your lawn is getting. This can help prevent overwatering.

3. Mowing It Wrong

Mowing the lawn is something we do to keep the grass looking nice, but remember that this isn’t actually natural to the grass. Cutting the grass shocks the plant and if its roots aren’t strong enough to survive the shock, you’re gonna need to lay sod all over again. Most people end up mowing the sod too soon.

Grass should not be cut until it reaches at least three inches tall, four to be safe. Once it reaches this height, you should be sure to mow it down to no less than two inches the first time. You also must make sure your mower blades are properly sharpened, since dull blades leave ragged cuts that grow back improperly and can hurt the grass.

4. Fertilizing It Wrong

Fertilizer is important for growing a healthy lawn, but new sod’s roots are sensitive and more susceptible to fertilizer burn than an established lawn. You need to give the grass time to establish roots before applying fertilizer. This typically takes about four weeks. A way to make sure the sod is ready for fertilizer is to give it a light tug. If the sod doesn’t seem to be lifting from the ground, that means the grass should be strong enough for fertilizer.

5. Ignoring Gaps

When you lay sod, it should not overlap and there should be no visible gaps in the grass. It will look fine when you first lay it down, but over time, you may notice gaps between sod starting to form. This is a sign that something is causing the roots to not grow properly, so the grass shrinks and leaves these lines of bare soil. Do not ignore this if you see it. Small gaps will naturally close if taken care of, but if let to grow too large, you’ll have to patch them with new sod.

This usually happens because you’ve missed, or improperly managed one of the steps. Check the soil to make sure it’s moist. This is the most common cause, as edges naturally get exposed to more sun and dry out quicker. Give it an additional deep watering if the soil seems dry. If the soil is too soaked, to the point it becomes squishy to walk on, slow down on the watering. Above all, make sure you don’t mow or fertilize new sod too soon, as this will also cause gaps to form, and that’s much harder to fix.

What do I Do if My New Sod has Yellow Patches in the Sod?

Yellow patches in your sod means you’ve done something wrong, but don’t panic, as it’s easy to fix as long as you get right on it. Yellow patches might be caused by air pockets between the sod and the oil, preventing the roots from getting nutrients. Stomp down the yellow patches to close that gap. If stomping it down doesn’t cause water to squish out from the soil, then water it to make sure it’s not too dry. If you do see water come up, that means you’re watering too much and need to slow down.

If All Else Fails, Call the Professionals

If you’ve followed these instructions, your new sod should develop strong roots and you won’t have any problems. It can be difficult to get it right if you aren’t used to taking care of new sod, though, so if something goes wrong and, despite your best efforts to fix it, it doesn’t get better within ten days, call in a professional. As long as the grass isn’t completely dead, lawn care specialists can usually fix it up for you with a repair visit. Don’t be afraid to call for help if you’re having problems, as waiting too long will mean needing to replant the sod to fix it.