News

Take Good Care of Your Sod

6th February 2016

As a homeowner, you want to keep your sod healthy and strong for as long as possible. To do so, there are some instructions you should follow, and points to avoid. The most common mistakes are over-watering, over-fertilizing or applying too much nitrogen or pre-emergent. Sod care is about balance. As a general rule, less is more.

Problem Areas

Sod is susceptible to disease, insects and weeds, but all of these problems are treatable. Disease is an issue in the warmer season, especially in high-humidity climates. Too much nitrogen just makes the disease spread. Watch for brown patches in the sod, and treat with fungicides to prevent continued damage.

The following insects can thrive in your sod if they go undetected:

Crickets
Leaf hoppers
Spittlebugs
Chinch bugs
Ground pearls
Fall armyworms

Inspect your grass for weakening and discoloration. If you have an infestation, or a mild insect issue, you should identify the type of bug as quickly as possible and treat it with an insecticide, such as Diazinon, Sevin or Merit.

Weeds, like insects, need to be identified before you treat them with the appropriate herbicide. However, using herbicide in the first two months after installation can damage the lawn. Act defensively, and mow your lawn regularly to keep weeds at bay.

Practice Good Habits

If you want to maintain your sod so family and friends can enjoy it, you should practice good lawn-care habits. Continue to water, mow and fertilize your sod. When you first install your sod, water it daily (between 5 and 10 a.m.). As the sod knits together, begin to water every other day, and then every third day. After the sod is established (approximately four to five mowings), further reduce the frequency of days you water. This prompts the root to search for its own water.

When you mow, take one-third of the grass at most. The more frequently you mow, the faster and thicker the grass grows.

Before fertilizing, get a free soil analysis from the NC Extension Service. Depending on the analysis results and the type of sod you’re growing, you’ll want to use a small amount of nitrogen and fertilizer with iron, to keep the grass green.

Superior Sod is available to answer your questions with situation-specific advice. Contact us to discuss sod-care and maintenance.

---