New sod turning brown

[BMD]

We just moved into a new house (Mpls area) and had sod installed on Monday. After one week of watering (twice daily 45 minutes per section), we are seeing a lot of brown -- especially in one section of the back yard. I don't believe we have under-watered, but we are new at this. Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think.

[Dirty Water]

Do you have a proper irrigation system installed? I see lots of water puddled outside your yard.

What sort of soil prep was done before the sod was laid?

[steve in Pa.]

looks like it might be getting too much water. We had a job where the guy was soaking the hell out of it, so we had him back off on the watering a little and started greening up in the area's where the sod was brown.

[The Ripper]

That is way too much water. You are rotting the roots of the sod and you are going to lose your entire lawn if don't cut that watering down by at least half if not 1/3.

[MMLawn]

Dude, you are killing it yourself with all that water! With the proper irrigation system you should only be watering each Zone 15 minutes a day for a total coverage of 1-2 inches of water a WEEK and all watering should be done between 5AM-10AM for ideal results, but NEVER in the late afternoon, day or early evening.....NEVER as it sets the lawn up for all kinds of disease

[JB1]

If you inspect it close and look under it you might see that its Bush's fault somehow.

[SodKing]

While water may be excessive it is not killing the lawn. I would advise treating for Pythium blight and Dollar spot. More than likely the fungus is pythium which is a root rot type of fungus. The excessive amount of water is transporting the fungus and creating ideal conditions for fungal activity.

[Brianslawn]

youre all wrong. its just turning dormat wile the roots develop. we lay sod over the winter here and the whole yard turns brown until spring. what kind of grass is that? almost looks like bermuda, but didnt think that was too common back up north

[Dirty Water]

Eh, its not winter yet, it shouldn't go dormant.

Also, all that excessive puddling around the yard shows serious overwatering, or drainage problems.

[MMLawn]

we lay sod over the winter here and the whole yard turns brown until spring.


:laugh: DUH!! In the Winter it SHOULD turn brown.....a little thing called dormancy.... :laugh:

Again, dude it is too much water causing root rot.....

[Brianslawn]

tell me what kind of grass it is and ill tell you the problem.

yes its probably getting over watered a bit....

sod that weve laid in summer has started to turn brown and go dormat, too. the roots have to grow into the topsoil to acquire nutrients and it takes time. you can speed up this process by loosely raking dirt and spreading fertilizer prior to laying the sod. then roll it afterwards. oh, and the high heat has also helped the dormacy.

DUH!

[AWJ Services]

How long was it on the pallets before it was installed and what was the temp?

[Runner]

That's what I was going to ask...Also, was it prepped properly? Loosened up underneath? Any ferts used? I asked these because (no offense) this sod was CERTAINLY laid poorly. There are gaps in it big enough to fall into. The edges don't look tucked, either. Now, I don;t mean this to be some jackass ctitic...as a matter of fact, it is irrelevent to the condition that is occuring. However, it could also lead to speculation of improper prep. The overwatering thing, without question is a hands down MAJOR contributor to this problem. Grass will not grow in a lake. It has to have proper drainage. Proper drainage does not occur when this much water is being dumped on it. Do NOT let it go dry for a few days! Just back off the watering significantly and give it short waterings, so the top doesn't dry out...then go to regular watering times (about 1/3 - 1/2 of what you are putting on now.

[olderthandirt]

I don't believe the its being over watered per say, I believe improper prep has left the soil underneath hard as a rock an unable to absorb the needed water, thus the puddling. And the turning brown in areas is caused by lack of absorbtion

[NickN]

Looks like it wasn't rolled after installation,IMO.This means it probably doesn't have proper soil contact,so the water is basically running through the sod into the soil below.
See if you can still lift the pieces.You shouldn't be able to after one week.

[Brianslawn]

thanks mac, joe, and nick

[MMLawn]

thanks mac, joe, and nick


For what? Disagreeing with your "dormat" post also?

THEY SAID, which I agree tiotally, it was a poor installation job, in addition to water issues.


YOU said it was only "dormat while the roots developed".....no where did you mention a poor installation as they all did dude.

brainslawn: youre all wrong. its just turning dormat wile the roots develop. we lay sod over the winter here and the whole yard turns brown until spring. what kind of grass is that? almost looks like bermuda, but didnt think that was too common back up north

[AWJ Services]

I lay alot of Bermuda.
We water a ton the first week.Actually till we see standing water under the sod.
It will grow without rolling.Same with Zoysia.

I however have seen similar appearance when it has been left on the pallet too long especially if it is already damp.

I am sure my experiences are much different than those of installers in cooler climates.

[DBL]

when we lay sod we use a skid loader to loosen up the ground and if its really bad we lay some good topsoil and always peat moss then water it like hell if im doing wrong someone help

[Chris Wagner]

Even if the soil beneath was poor, a fair amount of water would keep the sod green. I've kept sod on top of concrete until it was time to be laid for a few days kept moist. No problems.

Speculating here, but without the details provided I'd say the sod was underwatered or was left out in the sun or left to dry out before it was laid. My one other speculation... too much fertilization especially high in nitrogen! Looks like the sod is burning out.

We can leave out underwatered, so I'd say poor sod or a crazy amount of fertilizer.

[SodKing]

I'll go with it wasn't laid out in time and this led to increased fungal activity.

[sheshovel]

I think you all are right in your own ways.#1-watering the sod for long periods of time and doing that twice a day is way too much water,if the company who installed it told you to water it like that they were wrong and it is on them to replace it.I can't tell you how to water it without knowing your irrigation set up,but keep the top of the sod moist not wet for the 1st week .
#2The water you are putting on is not getting to the roots because no root soil contact,bad prep.
#3 leave out the dormant odds are that's not it or it would all do it at the same time.
Same with the overwater,this lawn had only been in less than a week and not all is turning brown at the same time
#4 most of this sod was dead or dieing when laid.
Died on the pallets,roots cooked on the inner pallet sod and dried out on the outer.

My vote is-Bad sod/bad installation and bad advice on watering it. get um out now to have replaced.
and check the soil prep too.

[theturfsurfer]

In you post you said that you have been watering for 45 minutes, twice a day. Do you have a sprinkler system? If yes than I don't think you have been over watering enough to cause damage and the sod was probably allowed to sit on pallet to long before installation. If you have been watering without a system and watering the whole area for 45 minutes than that is not enough. I do agree that the prep work before the installation of the sod is suspect.

[Green Pastures]

If you inspect it close and look under it you might see that its Bush's fault somehow.

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