Pictured above: Disease taking over a piece of establishing sod.
Days 13–15:
This range of days is when your first mow should take place. Read more about this in When to Mow Newly Installed Sod. Continue to keep the soil moist and keep your watering schedule at once a day.
Days 16–20:
Continue to monitor for dry spots in your newly installed sod and begin transitioning to watering your lawn with one inch of water per week. If you aren’t sure how much water your lawn is receiving, read our Irrigation Audit blog. Go ahead and make an application of the third bottle in your New Lawn Starter Box, Maintain, as well. This bottle of Maintain will provide your lawn with all the nutrition it will need for the next 30 days.
Days 20–30:
Continue watering at one inch per week total by providing a good, long soak in the early morning. Take rainfall into consideration.
When can I begin to transition my lawn to a regular watering schedule?
After the first 30 days of establishment are up, your lawn has properly established itself. The next step is to perform proper maintenance practices to ensure long term success of your lawn. Be sure to refer to our Homeowner Maintenance Guides for bermudagrass, bluegrass, centipedegrass, fescue, St. Augustine and zoysia. Each of the guides lay out maintenance tips for spring, summer and fall.
Why is the schedule for watering for new sod different than a regular watering schedule?
Newly laid sod has really shallow roots right now because it doesn’t have soil to grow into. Now that you have installed your sod, it can begin growing into the soil beneath it. In order for it to do this, you will need to water your sod more frequently until it establishes. Once it is established, roots can grow down several inches (or even several feet) into your soil. Depending on the soil type you have, you won’t need to water as often. For example, a sandy soil usually needs more water whereas a loamy or clay type of soil will need less water. You can read more about this in our Soil Management for Lawns and Gardens blog. New sod roots are barely an inch long upon installation, so they need more water to become more robust. As they grow, the need to water decreases.
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