Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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bod120
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Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Post by bod120 » May 30th, 2020, 10:17 am

Hey everyone, new to the forum. It's so nice to see the community of landscapers sharing knowledge and advice. I grew up like many of you with my father very much into landscaping and I caught on at an early age. We did a complete backyard makeover, and I will post pictures for you to see. Laid down some sod for the first time and cared for it as best I could, watering, keeping off of it, and finally fertilizing it.

It was laid out on April 23, and I have those pictures first.
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The next set of photos is from a few weeks ago with how lush it took.
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This past weekend, like many others, we had a BBQ and I tried to keep people off the sod but was unsuccessful. Additionally, two dogs were out rolling around in it. As far as I know, no accidents on the sod, but I feel like the patchiness now and "dead looking" spots are indicative of the rolling around and twisting action of the sod and roots by the dogs. Party was Monday May 25 and photos are from today Friday May 29. I am not convinced it is dead but I am not sure where to go from here. Instead of continuing to google things I decided to meet the community here and ask for your advice.
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For your knowledge, it is tall fescue sod. We are in Delaware (Northeast US) where weather has been very wet and we’ve been good about watering the few days now it has gotten warm.


Thank you so much in advance for your help!

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andy10917
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Re: Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Post by andy10917 » May 30th, 2020, 10:58 am

The damage to the sod does not look to my eyes like the type of damage that I'd expect if the sod had become disconnected from the soil - that would typically show straight lines (along the sod edges) that are not only dead-looking but crispy. But you've got lots of questions to answer before we can answer whether it's anything more than a generalized traffic beating.

What prep work was done before the sod was laid?

Where did you get the sod from - and sod farmer or big-box store? Did you contact the grower and ask when they recommend first followup fertilization?

What was on that soil BEFORE sod was applied?

How do you decide when to water it?

What did you fertilize it with, and what was the application rate?

bod120
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Re: Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Post by bod120 » June 1st, 2020, 10:57 am

andy10917 wrote:
May 30th, 2020, 10:58 am
The damage to the sod does not look to my eyes like the type of damage that I'd expect if the sod had become disconnected from the soil - that would typically show straight lines (along the sod edges) that are not only dead-looking but crispy. But you've got lots of questions to answer before we can answer whether it's anything more than a generalized traffic beating.

What prep work was done before the sod was laid?

Where did you get the sod from - and sod farmer or big-box store? Did you contact the grower and ask when they recommend first followup fertilization?

What was on that soil BEFORE sod was applied?

How do you decide when to water it?

What did you fertilize it with, and what was the application rate?
Thank you for your help! To answer the questions

1. Not much "prep was done before, it was however a mess of weeds so weeds grew and a ton of it, we took all the weeds out and leveled it, but no chemical "prep"
2. The sod was from a sod farmer, a large acres on acres farm in South Jersey. I know its good farming because my neighbor got their sod from the same place two years ago and theirs is thriving very very full. The only differences I can think is he admittedly does not care too much and probably did nothing in terms of crazy watering and fertilizing etc and his yard has more sun than mine, though I can assure our sod gets at least 4 hours if not more of sun as the sun rotates around the house throughout the day.
3. I did not contact the grower about first followup fertilizer but i did it at ~ 4 weeks - the fertilizer I used was Scott's Turf builder lawn food
4. the first two weeks watered 4-5 times/day by hand, then the last two weeks 1x/day in the early morning by hand when it did not rain

UPDATED: are pictures after this weekend (~1 week after original post)
So we were out of town Friday-Sunday evening and only got nice warm hot sun this weekend no rain, and I did not water it. Come back Sunday evening and the patchy dead spots looks even worse. Parts of it are soggy appearing so I wonder if it was too much watering and fungus got on it. Attached are photos of the yard yesterday in the late sun at 5pm, it definitely gets at least 4 hours of sun and probably more that rotates with the sun going over the house, but clearly the parts that are getting sun are dead appearing and patchy too.

If in fact we think its fungus, how can I confirm (or what would it appear like to make me confirm its fungus that killed it), and is that from too much watering? And is there a way to revive it or should I take those patchy spots off and reseed with fescue seeds? Do I need to tend to the soil in those dead spots somehow before reseeding? Shrug! Thanks in advance!!


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Pway
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Re: Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Post by Pway » June 1st, 2020, 11:52 am

I’m not an expert in sod but will relay to you my one experience. I had unwanted zoysia invading an area on the far side of the driveway last year. I decided to have the 1000sq ft area sodded and a landscaper installed it. This was late July when it was really hot and this area is full sun. Although I watered it for about 10-15 minutes several times a day, I think I under watered it as we were away for a few days. In my effort to help it recover I believe i then overwatered it and damaged some roots. Fast forward 10 months and it is doing fine. This was KBG sod. So I’m not sure that helps at all but I guess my take away is that the sod was resilient overtime, in spite of my likely mismanaging it.

bod120
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Re: Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Post by bod120 » June 1st, 2020, 9:00 pm

Pway wrote:
June 1st, 2020, 11:52 am
I’m not an expert in sod but will relay to you my one experience. I had unwanted zoysia invading an area on the far side of the driveway last year. I decided to have the 1000sq ft area sodded and a landscaper installed it. This was late July when it was really hot and this area is full sun. Although I watered it for about 10-15 minutes several times a day, I think I under watered it as we were away for a few days. In my effort to help it recover I believe i then overwatered it and damaged some roots. Fast forward 10 months and it is doing fine. This was KBG sod. So I’m not sure that helps at all but I guess my take away is that the sod was resilient overtime, in spite of my likely mismanaging it.
appreciate it, i'm more and more convinced I just overwatered it (4-5 times per day for about 5 min each time in a small area like you see) for the first two weeks then likely everyday between natural rain or myself the last 2.5 weeks


bod120
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Re: Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Post by bod120 » June 1st, 2020, 9:19 pm

Pway wrote:
June 1st, 2020, 11:52 am
I’m not an expert in sod but will relay to you my one experience. I had unwanted zoysia invading an area on the far side of the driveway last year. I decided to have the 1000sq ft area sodded and a landscaper installed it. This was late July when it was really hot and this area is full sun. Although I watered it for about 10-15 minutes several times a day, I think I under watered it as we were away for a few days. In my effort to help it recover I believe i then overwatered it and damaged some roots. Fast forward 10 months and it is doing fine. This was KBG sod. So I’m not sure that helps at all but I guess my take away is that the sod was resilient overtime, in spite of my likely mismanaging it.
So it definitely HAS taken root (which initially I thought it never would when we laid it believe me). I can't lift it anywhere anymore (which was the corners and the seams the first 1-2 weeks). Even the "dead" and patchy areas feel tight when I pull. But i just can't believe how much worse it looks today then even from last monday (~1 week ago).

See pictures below for what was there before we laid the sod, essentially a thriving weed jungle (first photos), then we took out and sifted all the weeds and tried to level out the ground as best as we could, it was a harder more dry, maybe even clay-like soil but we did not till or aerate... this was my first time ever doing this I had no idea. And again no chemical "prep".

The more I think about it the more I am convinced we over-watered it. The first two weeks I was watering 4-5 times/day as I read some places but now it seems crazy, each time watering for about 5 min long in our small area as you can see. The last 2.5 weeks watering 1-2 times per day if it did not rain therefore ensuring it was getting a good pour everyday, hence why I am more convinced we over-watered it.

Overwatering it would cause the fungus growth and appearance we are seeing now, correct?

Is there a way to come back from this well and efficiently or would it be better to start over have someone dig this all out, learn to prep the soil appropriately and re lay new sod?

Thanks!


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Pway
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Re: Pseudo-first generation lawn guy - First time sodder need help!

Post by Pway » June 2nd, 2020, 10:32 am

Again, I’m not an expert with sod but watering 4-5 times a day for 5 minutes each time doesn’t seem excessive based on what I’ve read from sod farms and others. Maybe if the soil was compacted and you didn’t have good drainage it could have caused that. In my case, it wasn’t fungus but a certain amount of root rot, I believe. I’d probably call the sod farm in South Jersey and see what they say. You could get a fungus ID from Rutgers if you wanted. Based on what the sod farm says, and others here, I might try to overseed if you’re confident the soil was prepared adequately prior to laying the sod. Good luck!

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