How to take care of new sod in winter/spring?

Question

I live in SE PA and installed sod in September. It is well established and looks good. I have mowed it several times, gradually reducing the height to the middle setting on my lower. I haven't applied anything to it yet. What do I need to do now, and in the Spring, to make sure it continues doing well?

Yes, it is blue grass.

"middle setting on my mower", that is.

Answer 1

The first and most important thing you want to do is to give it a good fertilizer in the fall. You want to help establish the roots of the grass. All major fertilizers have three main ingredients to them:

Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium

They should be listed on the packaging for the fertilizer in that order. So if it says 22-5-7, it means:

By weight the fertilizer is composed of 22% Nitrogen (N), 5% Phosphorous (P), and 7% Potassium (K).

Phosporous and Potassium are what help the roots of the grass grow well, especially Potassium. Nitrogen helps the leaves of your grass grow. During the fall you want to put on a fertilizer that has a pretty even percentage distribution of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium. This will give your grass more Phosphorous and Potassium and help it develop roots over fall and winter so it can take off well in the spring.

Come spring you want to give it a fertilizer that is more heavy in Nitrogen to get the grass blades growing up.

During summer only lightly fertilize your yard. Most people make a huge mistake and apply most of their fertilizer come summer when it is hot. That is the worst time to apply a large portion of fertilizer because it will burn your grass and dry it out. Grass needs fertilizer in the spring and fall because that is when grass grows the best.

Let your grass grow a little long come fall. That will provide extra shade on the ground below the grass. The more shade that you have under the grass, the less of a likelihood there will be of weeds next spring. Come spring let the grass grow out and then give it a nice short chopping come about the first or second mowing. This helps get all of the old dead grass out of the way from winter and allows the new spring grass to come up well.

Normally fall is the time that you treat for weeds because when you treat for weeds in the fall the weed killer weakens the weeds and the coldness of winter helps kill the weeds off if the weed killer doesn't fully do its job. However, since this is the first year for your grass I don't recommend applying any weed killer this fall. Wait until next year before you start applying any weed killers.

One other thing you will probably find out. Sown grass stays green better than sod grass, especially if a good layer of rich loose topsoil wasn't put under the grass. So watch out for your sod come summer. Don't water too often come summer. Water only about once a week with about 1" of water per week. That 1" includes rain water. So if you got 1" of rain that week then you don't need to water that week. If you water a little every day the roots won't go deep for water and will instead stay shallow. When your grass has shallow roots it is less drought resistant. Also watering too much can cause the grass roots to drown and rot, reducing their ability to take up water.

Since you live in PA, I don't think you really have to worry about having warm season grasses and not fertilizing come winter.

Answer 2

You don't need to do anything at the moment. In the early spring you can fertilize it, mow it and water it as needed.

If the lawn is blue grass you will need to water and fertilize reguarly to keep it looking good and healthy. You will need to fertilize it three or four times per year. There is no need for an expensive 4-step program for weed control, fungus control etc. as you turf is new.

If you keep the lawn thick and healthy it will be hard for weeds to get a foothold.

Mow at a height of 2".

Water long and deep. 1" once per week should be fine. This will encourage deep roots.

Answer 3

Good...Now make it look spectacular year round.

You should apply a "winterizer" during...hmm lets see...winter! Yes apply it now. Use it on all types of grasses.
This will help in root development. It is NOT a fertilizer. If you have cold winter grass (all grasses that stay green year round) you can fertilize once or twice during the cold weather.

If you have warm season grass (grasses that go dormant in winter) do NOT fertilize during winter.

You should water cold weather grass once per week about 15 minutes on a water sprinkler.

Warm weather grass (should be dormant now) water about twice per month.

Make sure water drains well this prevents fungus and diseases.

Apply a pre-emergent weed control in late winter or even now to keep weeds from sprouting out in spring. Ask for it at your local Nursery.

The biggest problem with all grasses are grubs and fungus.
Both will usually appear in spring and they both appear as large brown spots. Grubs will eat the root system thus grass will look brownish at top, ask for "grub control" at your local nursery. Fungus is usually too much or standing water. Cut down on water and apply fungus control.

Once spring time arrives I would fertilize once per month...that is the secret to a spectacular looking lawn.

Hoped this helped.

Answer 4

Caring For New Sod

Answer 5

Generally really good advice. If you've got turf that's well established it shouldn't need anything at this point in time, but the advice given won't hurt. Be aware that when you mow you should mow it to about 3" in height - that will keep it healthy, and allow it to elbow out weeds more successfully and with fewer chemicals.