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Lawn Care: General Guidelines
How to Make Your New Sod a Beautiful Lawn
The following are some rules and guidelines for all types of sod:
Installation
The most important factor in a successful sodding project is an immediate installation. The sod you receive will be fresh (harvested approximately 24 hours earlier) and the quicker you get it on the ground and watered, the better. Sod that sits on the pallets for an extra day or worse yet a few days is already behind the eight ball. That said sod is now subject to dieback and weeds. This is even more of a concern in the hot, summer months.
While you're working on your immediate install, start watering the grass as you go along. We're not saying you have to be laying grass while your sprinkler is soaking you, but, if it's a big job, go ahead and get a section done then set up the sprinklers on that section. Especially if it's a hot, sunny, summer day.
Keep watering your sod and keep it moist for a period of two weeks, or until the sod is rooted. You will have to water a lot more in July than you will in January.
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Mowing
Now, after the installation and your sod is firmly rooted to the ground, you can go ahead and mow the grass and fertilize. Set your mower blades a little higher the first time then work them down to the recommended height for your type of grass. Mowing height is more important than people think. Don't let any grass get too tall as the blades will shade each other out and subsequently the grass will get thinner (less blades per square inch). You don't want to scalp the yard either as this can cause dieback. Always avoid letting your grass get really tall, then chopping half of it's height or more in one mowing (be consistent, not lazy). Always have sharp mower blades.
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Watering
With new sod, that means you do not have regular grass yet. The rules for watering an establised lawn are totally different than new sod. New sod needs frequent, short time waterings. If it's hot (over 85 degrees) your new sod can burn up and die in 48 hours. If it's really hot (over 90 degrees) your new sod can burn up and die in 24 hours if you don't put some water on it to keep it moist and cool.
As for watering an established lawn, you might be able to stop watering your yard as long as average rainfall is occurring. Average rainfall in Georgia is about 50 inches a year, or about an inch a week. Irrigation systems should be used to supplement a lack of rainfall. Water in the morning so the water has a chance to seep into the soil and not just evaporate, then the grass has the whole afternoon to dry out a little bit and avoid getting a fungus by staying wet in the cooler night hours. Clay soils require less water than sandy soils. You may have to spot water where parts of your yard need it more than others. If your grass is a slight shade of gray, it probably needs water. Water as deep as possible without run-off. Look at more watering tips for your specific type of grass in some of the following paragraphs.
Aerate heavy soils to promote better fertilizer and water penetration.
Most soils in Georgia are very acidic. If you have a lot of pine trees on your property this is especially true. Lime will turn your soil more basic as apposed to acidic. Much lime is required to do this- one ton per acre, or 25 lbs. per pallet of sod, and it takes 6 months before the lime starts to work. A soil test can determine the PH level, and most grasses would prefer a neutral PH. In Georgia, spreading lime once a year on your lawn is probably a good idea.
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Weed/Pest Control
Grass is what you want in your lawn, weeds are everything you don't. So many weeds exist, and there are just as many herbicides! Here's our general guide to weed control:
- Spray for weeds on a dry, warm (above 60 degrees) afternoon free of wind. The goal is for the herbicide to stick to the leaf of the weed, then the weed will absorb it and die.
- Spot spraying works best, as opposed to broadcast spraying.
- Mix herbicide in a spray tank half filled with water, add herbicide, then add the other half of water.
- It's best to test the mixture on a very small part of your lawn at a non-focal point. Wait a couple of days to see if your mixture is too weak and doesn't show results, or too strong and killed everything including your grass. If it's just right, you'll see browning or yellowing out of the weeds you wanted to kill.
- Don't water for 12 hours (and avoid rain if possible) after spraying herbicide.
In late July to the first week of August, keep a close watch on your grass for armyworms. Some seasons are worse than others and they can munch through your grass turning it brown in a couple of days. They are grey looking caterpillars that generally stand upright on your blades of grass just chewing away. Call us if you suspect you have armyworms and we can give you advice to get rid of them.
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