New sod care? plant ideas?

[pulkit10]

First of all, I understand that this may not be the best place to post this topic and if that is correct, then I'm sorry and would ask an admin/moderator to move this to the right place. Thanks =)

Recently, we got some sod planted in our lawns but it's isn't turning out to be great. Here are a few pictures:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x257 ... 000098.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x257 ... 000097.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x257 ... 000096.jpg

Here are a few details:
- I watered it during the afternoon (and after researching that didn't turn out to be such a good idea)
- I haven't been able to establish a proper watering schedule and don't know where to start, would dusk be ideal for new sod?
- The sprinkler I'm using is a swirly one where it spins - is it good enough?
- I haven't been able to do compress the grass using a roller as of yet - is that an issue?

So any suggestions? I think the sod has burnt a bit and dried out so how do I fix this? I've had people telling me that the brown areas is just the sod going dormant - something I don't quite believe because the sod is still new (barely a week old)

That and I'm new to this whole gardening scenario and not so great at approaching people at the local garden care centers but plants should I put in my lawn? I'm looking for something that doesn't require extra maintaince and still looks nice in a garden, any suggestions? (For Calgary, Alberta btw)

Also, what sprinklers are good at maintain lawns and still manage to conserve water? The one I'm using waters in a circle and that doesn't quite fit with the squarish garden I have.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. =)

[B_BQ]

Hi:

Unfortunately none of your links work so we can't view your pics.

When we had some sod put down at our last hour we didn't use a roller, but we did walk on it quite a bit, especially at the cut edges. We watered it every day too, but only when the sun was no longer on that part of the garden. Usually it's best to water either early in the morning or later in the evening.

I never was particularly fond of those circular watering thingies. I think a backwards and forwards arm would work better, and you can adjust them to many patterns. They're easily found at any of the regular stores, i.e. Canadian Tire, Home Depot, etc. and are not too expensive. If you have good water pressure you'll be surprised at how much lawn they actually cover. Also, be sure to give the area a very good soaking, so that the water gets right through to the ground underneath - probably a good 45 minutes or more.

Grass is very hardy, so even though it may be looking a little brown and dry, it should perk up once it gets a good watering on a regular basis.

Good luck.

~BBQ

[Smitty]

definitely you should be watering it in the evening..maybe even a slow water throughout the night would be more helpful. Watering during the heat of the day will burn your sod..
personally I'd stick with the whirly type sprinkler. I find those oscillating ones crap out way too easy and you're left watering just a we spot as the thing stands straight up. I even bought a reallllllllllllllllllllly expensive one from Lee Valley and it didn't last a season!!! my newest purchase was 20 bucks from Crap Tire.no gears or anything mess up. it is a 3 foot stake with a piece of small brass pipe on top with holes in it that spins due to the force of the water. even gets in the corners of my yard.

[Countryboy]

I can't see the pix either. Maybe yr PB account is set up to keep yr images private...

The day u put sod down u should drench it . . and then never let it start to go brown. *Tho, if it does, it will come back.*

But what base did u put the sod down on? It must have some good soil under it so that the roots have something to sink into. Sod laid on a weak base will not be able to set roots. And it will not sink roots into existing lawns or compacted soil easily. Something like that would start to go brown quickly . . no matter how much water u give it.

Watering direction or pattern has no bearing on the issue. Rolling has some bearing but not much. A heavy soaking of the sod should accomplish the same thing . . . to eliminate 'air pockets' where the roots of the new sod don't come in contact with it's base.

Best of luck!

[B_BQ]

I find those oscillating ones crap out way too easy and you're left watering just a we spot as the thing stands straight up.

Wow! You've been really unlucky. The one I'm using is 5 years old, (Canadian Tire), and it hasn't even needed a new washer! I use mine to water my raised beds every other day where I have all my tomato plants. We do have an in-ground sprinkler system, but the tomatoes need much more water than the sprinkler system gives them twice a week.

~BBQ

[Smitty]

sure have been BBQ..I've bought 5 of them on last two years..the one form Lee Valley was 50 bucks!!! at least I can return it next time I'm in the city.

but I love this new one I bought..it gets over the toms and peppers ..more like a nice rain shower than a watering.

[Eeyore]

I can't open the photos either and unfortunately can't edit the links. This forum has a habit of truncating, sometimes I can fix it but this time I can't.
Assuming the sod has been placed on a good layer of top soil, keep watering in the evenings and it should "take". If it has been burnt you can patch it later on with some topsoil and seed sporinked on in the dead areas. Grass does go dormant in hot weather. If it is just dormant it will green back up with continued watering and cooler weather.

[pulkit10]

Ah, I tried fixing them right after posting but I guess it didn't go through so here:

http://i51.tinypic.com/24zkabk.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/1wu4n.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/33y4but.jpg

@B_BQ: So would walking on the seams work as well? Because so far I have the patches going lush in the middle and drying out near the seams. I have started putting extra effort into watering the seams and the corners but lets see where this goes.

Yes, I was leaning towards that as well...the only problem with the swirly thing is that it spins and the very outer edge of the circle and the very inner edge get the most amount of water which isn't great.

45 mins? Hmm, I'll give that a try.

@smitty: Yeah...I learned that the hard way. I wasn't big on the oscillating ones when I saw them first but two of my neighbors have them and they seem to work quite well and the whirly one I have is essentially a star mounted on a circle where it spins and throws water out of each end and the top of the circle - it sure looks fun but don't think it's very effective haha

@Countryboy: I think the soil is good because it had lots of weeds on it so we just removed those and then tilled it and then planted the grass. Yeah, I didn't drench it very well because it was quite sunny then and I just let it be and came back in the evening to water it.

@Eeyore: Yeah, the links went a bit awry. As for top soil and the seed - when would it be ideal to do that?

So the thing I got from all these posts is that even if it goes brown, it is fine because it can be recovered by watering it everyday? If yes, that is some good news for me and thanks for helping out everyone =)

[B_BQ]

Thanks for reposting the links. They work just fine now.
I don't think you have anything to worry about. Yes, it looks a bit stressed, but with lots of water it will probably be just fine.
One way you can test whether you're putting enough water on it is to start with about 15 minutes, then lift up one of the corners of the sod and see if the water has penetrated into the soil below. If not, then put the sprinkler on for another 15 minutes and check again. Keep doing this in increments until the soil below the sod is quite saturated.
~BBQ

[Countryboy]

It looks to me that it was simply not watered enuf when it was first set down. No need to walk on the seams or anything else I think. Just keep it watered . . . 1 inch of water per week. All other things being equal, it will come back.

This whole idea of not watering while it's sunny is waaaaay overblown IMO. There's a minuscule chance of 'sun burning' thru left over water droplets, and a 100% chance that growing things will die if they're not watered.

I've watered gardens and lawns in the morning *or afternoon, or evening . . at my convenience* all my life and never experienced any problems.