New Bermuda Sod HELP !!!!!!!

[DeputyDawg]

Two weeks ago my entire yard was re-landscaped. Included in this was a new underground irrigation system and bermuda sod.
The landscaper did everything including programming the irrigation timers.

When installed it looked great !! The backyard and side still look amazing. The front yard is a different story. 4 days later I noticed a brown patch in the upper corner of the yard. Looks
like the irrigation wasn't reaching there. I contacted the landscaper. I was told to hand water that spot until he could come out.

A week later the entire front yard is brown. Over the weekend was in my local home improvement store for something else. I asked about this and showed pics.

He immediatley said

1) You are under watering. I told him the landscaper set up watering twice a day (6am and 2pm) both for 5 mins a piece. He said you need to increase the am time. He didn't agree with the 2pm time - suggesting more like 7-8pm.
2) he said the brown patch was likely fungus

I am waiting for the landscaper to come out and investigate this. Meantime I have changed the 5am time to be 15 mins and the 2pm to 10. This weekend our city got 2.5" of rain (I have a rain gague at my house so I know that is accurate).

Is my lawn salvagable??? If so what do I need to do? Or does the sod need to be replaced? While the yard was dug up for landscaping, I don't think it was ever tilled nor the soil tested or fertilized.

I'm also looking for the best times of the day to water and for how long. Currently the irrigation time is set for:

6am: 15 mins
2pm: 10 mins

Thanks in advance for your help,

[Begotten]

the time on the irrigation doesn't really tell much without knowing how much water it's actually putting out, but i disagree with the home depot guy too, i wouldn't water that late. 6 pm would be more ideal (assuming sunset is around 8:30)


show us the pics you have and we might be able to tell you something

[DeputyDawg]

Thanks,

I have been reading more (dangeous I know). Few articles say NOT to water in the eve since this may promote fungus (since the water can't evaporate off etc). So should I go with one GOOD watering say 7-8am?

Also how many days should I be watering? Should I stay with daily until it gets green again then cut be (if so cut back to what).

Also I forgot to point out that this yard gets FULL sun. I am located in Atlanta btw.

Attached is a pic from yesterday Aug 10th. I have others if you need it.

So will the green lawn come back????

Thanks

[DeputyDawg]

Btw should I be putting in any fertilizer. I don't think that was done at install time.

[Begotten]

since it's only been a couple weeks i wouldn't be throwing the fungus flag yet. new grass has to be kept moist for the first few weeks until it takes root and starts growing well, that's the idea behind watering twice a day. after that you will reduce watering. once established it won't need more than 1" of water/week.

[DeputyDawg]

So what are the best times to water (whether it be once or twice) and for how long?

[Begotten]

morning and late afternoon are fine. if it's still not getting enough water you could increase the durations or add a third interval during the day when it's extra hot.

[DeputyDawg]

Thanks,

Currently it is set to 6am for 15 mins and 2pm for 10 mins

Is 6am too early If so would perhaps 7-8am be better (sunrise is 7am with sunset being 8:30). Should the am time be more like 30 mins?

What about the 2pm watering - is that wrong time of day (FULL sun)? Wouldn't the water drops act as a magnifyer and burn the grass? Would
a better time like 6pm or so be better?

Will my lawn come back to life do you think?

[Alan]

Put tuna cans out so that you(and we) know how much water is going down on the lawn.

[DeputyDawg]

With the cans or cups - turn the irrigation on for say 15 mins - see how much is collected?

I keep hearing 1" of water but is that daily or weekly?

I will work on getting this done as soon as I can

In the meantime any suggestions so I don't burn the lawn any further?

Thanks

[Jayhawkmba]

Btw should I be putting in any fertilizer. I don't think that was done at install time.

You'll see it mentioned in other threads......IF they didn't put down a 'starter' fert then you should to help it grow roots. Fertilizer usually comes with 3 numbers 'x-x-x' ....the second number should be 2x larger than the others for 'Starter' solutions.

grass that is green, not getting enough water will shrivel up, slight grey? and simply look weird well before it turns tan if not getting enough water. this weekend, today/night should help any deficiencies

its Bermuda....I think your grass will recover, just solve the watering issue.

[Alan]

I like the bulkhead flower bed. Looks cool.

[texasweed]

If you are lucky, you rgrass went dormant from lack of water. Your landscaper is the one responsible for it going dormant although he will never admit it.

New sod when first laid gets soaked, and must be kept moist until the roots have set. To keep it moist requires several light applications per day. Two will not cut it.

[DeputyDawg]

Hello

So I stopped by the local home improvement store near my office and showed him pics of the lawn

Initially he thought lack of water too, and recommended increasing the am timer (from 15 to maybe 25 mins) and droppign the 2pm timer.

However, the more we talked and the more he looked he did mention the F word (Fungus) which is what the person from the first home
improvment store (saturday) hinted at

Is this possible? based on the pic I sent, could it be? If so is it treatable or does the yard need to be ripped up, treated better and new
sod put down?

Thoughts??

[BfranksATX]

If I paid a landscaper to install and set up an irrigation system and the sod failed because of him I would have him out replacing all of that sod.

If you don't want to fight that fight then do what everyone has been saying. Set the timer up to water for 10-15 min four or five times a day. The sod should be staying moist all day until you can no longer lift it up from the ground.

[Spammage]

I would set your irrigation to run 8am, 11am, 3pm, and 7pm at 10 minutes per station until you start to notice the sod rooting and then slowly back off to three times/day, then two/day, once/day, once every two days, etc to slowly "harden" the new sod. When my Zoysia was installed 5 weeks ago this was how I watered (and still had some "hot" spots that had to be hand watered at times) for the first week to 10 days and then started the hardening process. My yard never browned and is growing like a beast now. Bear in mind this is through July/August in DFW so your temps are probably not quite as bad.

Browning like that could also be a product of over fertilization/scalping prior to cutting the sod. Either way I'm guessing it will come back. I wouldn't fertilize at this point until you have noticeable green coming up and then keep it moderate until the temps drop a little.

[DeputyDawg]

Thanks,

Some more research indicates possibility of grubs, which after attacking the roots will give the appearance of brown/under watering. Also normally present with grubs are birds/animals feeding on the grubs. This weekend I noticed a large presense of birds on my lawn.

This begs the question of how did they get there? Via the sod or pre-existing? I have never had this before so I would tend to say they came with the sod. HOwever, the back yard and side (seperate from front yard) are thriving and deep green.

I agre 2 weeks after a several thousand dollar landscape project, the landscaper needs to get his butt out there to look. I have since contacted them telling them they need to be out here yesterday. We shall see

Thanks everyone, I truly appreciate all the responses. This is overwhelming for me as i'm getting a crash course in bermuda grass

[Begotten]

it is armyworm season and new grass seems especially vulnerable so that's a possibility, but i would rule out fungus taking out all that grass so fast.

[BfranksATX]

Thanks,

Some more research indicates possibility of grubs, which after attacking the roots will give the appearance of brown/under watering. Also normally present with grubs are birds/animals feeding on the grubs. This weekend I noticed a large presense of birds on my lawn.

This begs the question of how did they get there? Via the sod or pre-existing? I have never had this before so I would tend to say they came with the sod. HOwever, the back yard and side (seperate from front yard) are thriving and deep green.

I agre 2 weeks after a several thousand dollar landscape project, the landscaper needs to get his butt out there to look. I have since contacted them telling them they need to be out here yesterday. We shall see

Thanks everyone, I truly appreciate all the responses. This is overwhelming for me as i'm getting a crash course in bermuda grass

Whatever you do don't give the landscaper an out by asking if it could be this or that. If it was grubs he should have noticed them and spent $20 on a bag and taken care of it.

It's been 2 weeks and you started noticing this right away. He needs to stand behind his work. That means either replace sod or manage it for you without you lifting a finger or spending a dollar until it is back to where it was when laid or better than that. Anything less would be unacceptable.

That's just me though and probably why I do all of my own work.

[DeputyDawg]

Well I got someone to look at my lawn.

1) it's OVER watered
2) the culprint is likely grubs and/or armyworms (this would explain all the birds Ive seen last few days)

Treatment optiions:

1) Nemotodes - microscopic organisms which seek out and attack grubs, worms etc (based on stocking can't get immediately)
2) Chemicals (able to buy today)

Plan, put down chemicals immediately. If no help within a week or so I should be able to order the Nemotodes (which from everything I read are very effective).

I pulled some pieces of sod up. I realize it was day time (they feed at night) but didn't see a whole lot. They also appear small, which is good. So I'm hoping I caught it early.

Attaching pics of what I found