I laid zeon zoysia sod four weeks ago and was able to get it down within 48 hours of having received it. Watered liberally for the first week to make sure the dirt layer was constantly moist. From there, we’ve had a good bit of rain, so I’m sure any water requirements have been met. As seen in the pictures, there’s just a lot of dead grass that I felt was there when it was delivered but wanted to lay it anyways to see if it would rebound.
It’s definitely not the worst sod I’ve ever seen. There are really good pieces sprinkled in there, so I know what good looks like, and yet, the quality just doesn’t seem like it’s there for most of the lawn. Based on the pictures, is there a case to be made that I didn’t receive good quality sod? If so, what’s going to be needed to fix and take care of it moving forward?
by null_user_617
31 Comments
New sod needs to be kept wet for two weeks. Those edges look dry.
Water like crazy and you will be fine. Multiple times a day.
I have seen much worse sod bounce back and look fantastic in only a couple weeks. Be diligent with watering now and you won’t have to worry later.
Water it even if it rains. Literally drown it. It looks dry af
There will always be some less than choice pieces on a pallet of sod. It doesn’t look like you got robbed. There will also be a certain level of failure with new sod, always. Keep the soil wet. Probe around with a screwdriver to find excessively dry or rocky soil. If small sections of sod fail, it’s likely to fill in over time with the surrounding grass. It usually takes a full season for new grass to show you its long term prognosis.
More water and fert.
Looks so dry. Should be watering it every day till there’s no question it’s in the clear
In pic 1 you can see the line where your house is blocking the sun and it didn’t dry out…more high quality h20 is needed.
Another way to look at this – You are buying and installing potential. Cutting sod, rolling it, transporting it, installing it is all quite a shock. It takes time to recover. Only you know if it’s too dry or two wet. Both are problems. And then there’s the soil beneath your new sod. What do you know about it? What could go wrong here?
Ammonium sulfate, kelp, iron, and little more water
Sod is good, zoysia is a slow grower.
It takes a full month or so to see good results , water a lot but definitely during the hot sun too . And fertilize
Looks like you didn’t water enough, which is why the edges dried out first.
It enough water. Sod requires way more water than people think. Double the water amounts you were doing regardless of if it rains or not.
Also it would not hurt to use some liquid fertilizer to help it out. Get some with a lot of P and K and some micronutrients for the roots to really develop. Put some down once a week for 4 weeks or so. The constant watering washes away a lot of nutrients so your sod will be nutrient poor for a while hence the repeated applications.
Then once you stop the constant watering fertilize with a high N fertilizer. Can be slow release granular. That way you feed the blades and help it fill in.
After that you should be good to go.
It rained at least twice a day, every day, during that second week? I’d be surprised, looks like not enough water
Looks good just keep wet to take hold
You’re still good. Laid down some celebration Bermuda, and watered appropriately. Looked way worse than this for first two weeks, started to progress over week 3. And now it’s filled in and looks almost 100%. That was 8 weeks ago. Yours will do great, just keep watering 2 times a day. I had to do so for 4 weeks. Other times I’ve laid sod I could stop earlier than that but this was different.
You get this appearance if you your watering appropriately, but the pieces in general aren’t great. Condition of the original product makes a huge difference in early establishment and water frequency/duration.
Did you do anything to the soil before laying
That is some thirsty looking sod
Woof
Water. Water. Water. Water.
WATER 💦 WATER 💦 WATER 💦 and then more WATER 💦
That sod is drier than a popcorn fart!
You didn’t water enough.
Far too little water. 3x a day for 30 minutes each for 2 weeks.
No. You need to keep the sod soaked.
I don’t see a single hose or sprinkler head in any photo. Have you watered *at all*?
You literally cannot water too much. Once it starts actively growing you’ll know it’s rooted and can back off the water.
It tends to do that sometimes but it will come out of it. You can seed over bare spots next year when you know if any was damaged
15 minutes two or three times a day is not enough. It needs more water.
No just not watered enough by the looks of it.
No, you just didn’t water it enough.
Loose like a skill issue.
The edges of sod tend to dry out. Zoysia is particularly bad at this because it’s a slow grower and it’s takes longer for the roots to tack down, which means more time for the edges to dry out, shrink, and kinda fold up away from the soil. I normally suggest hand watering the edges in situations like these. Rolling the lawn can help or simply walking along the edges and making sure they are tacked down.
You have no case based on these photos. Sod should go down the same day delivered and if there was a problem with quality (which does happen) you’d need to document that on day one, as your installing it.
But really, the lawn will be fine. Add a very small amount of nitrogen and water it. A couple of those pieces near the sidewalk may not make it but the rest will be okay.
Please be mindful that zeon is highly prone to large patch disease, esp in a low light, low air flow lawn like this. So, if you start watering it a lot again, just watch out for that. r/LawnAnswers