anybody good with sod?

[Capt. Orygun]

so i laid my new sod over the weekend. I'm sure I did a good job but I'm still paranoid all my work will backfire on me lol. Here is what I did.

• Killed all broadleaf and grass DEAD with roundup, waited 6 days after it was dead to till

• First I tilled the entire yard, probably 4 inches or so. The tiller wouldn't get everything so I rewalked the yard and swung the pick axe as required to break up the soil

• Spent HOURS removing old grass, you could literally remove it forever and still find some. When we were done we just had the occasional wayward dead blade of grass here and there

• Mixed 12 cubic yards of seeding soil and 100 lbs of sand to the 1000 sq f backyard (the old soil was kinda clayish. then raked it all into the tilled soil

• Did a basic yard leveling to address some peaks and valleys that needed evening

• Spread starter fetilizer on soil

• Rolled soil with a push yard roller

• Laid sod as per internet instructions I found

• Ran out of time the first night so I rolled the sod I had already laid with the roller and watered it, then I watered the remaining sod on the ppallet to keep it from drying overnight

• Laid remaining Sod, rolled entire yard, watered lawn

Now I'm watering 15 min every morning like I've read. I have a couple of patches which are a little yellowish brown, maybe 5% of the yard, a spot here or there, it's not centralized. Still I'm concerned because I killed myself doing all this work. It's been 24 hours since completion, should I be at all worried?

 

[reckedracing]

I assume you researched the roundup time line.
Sounds like risky business using roundup on 1000sqft and then planting sod shortly thereafter.

 

[Capt. Orygun]

according to the lawn and garden center at home depot spray on roundup is safe to plant over after 4-6 days. I waited like 7 to 9 and it rained at one point

 

[phyregod]

Water alot more than that. Sod is water hungry for quite a while. Also, there are some root boosters you can buy that encourage root growth.. Use that, but water it way the hell down as to keep from burning your grass.

Other than that, you should be gold.

 

[D16Civic]

H2o

 

[BigJ]

Sounds good. Water it. Like a biznatch.

 

[Capt. Orygun]

I bumped my watering up to 20 min/section. Everything I've read says 15-20 min. It's not supposed to get over 80-85 this weekend and we're in the 70's now with plenty of sunshine. I did go out last evening and throw some extra water on the brown spots. They look healthier this morning and the rest of the lawn is doing dandy.

 

[BigJ]

SOD takes well if you have good soil. Since you used a push roller and started you should be gravy.


Personally I fix all my peaks and valley's with sand. Yeah sounds weird, but its money for laying sod.

 

[3roe3]

I don't see anything wrong with what you did, I don't want to kill your morale but my brother and I did almost exactly the same thing to his lawn and two months later it was all crab grass again. I'm not saying that will happen to yours, but don't be surprised if it does, I think we just got a batch of shitty sod, because we did it all again and the lawn is beautiful now. Three things: Water, water, and more water...and watch for any spots of crab grass and get rid of the problem as soon as you notice it.

 

[BigJ]

We don't have crab grass in the NW.