We had lawn installed a few weeks before Christmas. It took really well and grew very quickly.
We watered every day as that was the instructions from our landscaper and made sense when laying lawn in the middle of dry aus summer.
Eventually we changed to every second day or so.
About a week and a half ago we did the first mow and a week after that we did the second mow.
But as you can see in the pictures (current, after first mow and before being mowed) it’s turned very dry/yellow.
Landscaper used seasol new lawn fertiliser a few weeks after the lawn was laid but we haven’t fertilised since as I’m scared it will burn and ruin the grass even more.
How do we tell if the lawn needs more or less water, fertiliser or is diseased?
Any help is appreciated
by franchescaaa
4 Comments
I’m the US, but as far as watering goes my professor said it best “grass is like children, if you feed and water them everyday they’ll never put out their own roots. They need to leave home to find it.” Start doing deep but infrequent water now that it’s established it will force the roots to push deep for water which will create a healthier plant overall.
As far as the yellowing you took a pretty decent chunk out when you cut, that stresses the plant that is already stressed from being cut and laid, and obviously it’s summer for y’all. I would keep watering every other day for a bit until it greens up and start mowing more frequently to take less of a chunk out.
As far as how much water right now, you want damp but not muddy / standing water. 20-25 minute watering every other day for that yard size should be enough depending on your temperature / soil type. Also typically want to water early morning 4-6 am, you don’t want to water at night as it can promote disease being wet overnight.
I’m not super familiar with yalls grass types down there but if this was laid by a local company and you have concerns I would just give them a shout and ask the owner (or manager depending on how big of a company they are) to stop back by and check on it. As a landscape business owner myself I would have zero problem swinging by on my way home to check up on it. Offer dude a beer or some cash if he wouldn’t mind just checking on it for you and seeing what you should do.
Personally I think it’s probably fine and a bit stressed from the first cuttings and heat.
Mower scalp. Follow the 1/3 rule and increase frequently. A lot of water and fertilizer means it’s growing a lot. That means more mowing!
New sod/grass does not like a hard cut. As another said, check with your landscaper. Be easy on the mowing. Raise the deck several inches.
It’s growing.