New Sod - Care Instructions

There is nothing like coming home from work to a new green lawn instead of a dry and dusty lot! One of the things we love about landscaping is seeing the look on your face at that instant.

A new lawn is great, but once the sod has been installed there is more to the story if you want to keep that green feeling and look. There are primarily just 3 steps:

1. Water
2. Don't Water
3. Mow

The most crucial time for new sod is the first few hours after it is laid. Where possible, we try to purchase and lay the sod all in the same day. In most cases, this means the sod was growing in a field mere hours before it is installed. Naturally, getting water to the new sod is crucial within the first few hours of being unrolled. Since we use Manderly Sod, we recommend that you follow their lawn-care instructions when watering your new lawn.

Basically it boils down to this 7 day schedule for the first week in the life of your new sod:

1. Water
2. Water
3. Water
4. Water
5. Don't Water
6. Don't Water
7. Mow then Water

Manderley suggests that starting in the third week you reduce watering to 25mm or 1inch of water per week, but what about the first couple of weeks? From our experience it is hard to over-water sod when it is first down. In fact, we'd rather see that excessive water than have it shrink and expose the seams.

As a rule of thumb we prefer that the first day of watering soaks the sod well enough that the soil underneath gets completely wet. To quickly check this, grab the corner of one of the pieces of sod and peel it back to see. Once the soil under the sod is nice and moist, it will stay that way for a long time, this will draw the roots down into the ground. One of the drawbacks of this initial period is how soft it makes the soil; so, we encourage you to tread lightly on fresh new sod by using plywood, or some other method of weight dispersal, so as not to leave unsightly and annoying depressions from walking on the soft lawn.

NOTE: Once you are satisfied that the soil beneath the sod is completely wet, there is no need to keep pulling the sod back to check, this will just prevent the roots from taking hold where you peel it back. Simply sticking to the schedule will ensure your success.

 A healthy and happy lawn doesn't require much more than water, don't water, mow; but it does require all these things. It would be good to understand that day five and six are also important steps in the process of creating your healthy lawn. In taking two days off, after the roots have just started to set, you are encouraging the roots to chase the water downward. This promotes deeper root growth and a healthier lawn.

Happy lawn care!