New sod at brink of death, need help.

dangerousstart · Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:53 pm

I just built a house.
It came with a freshly sodded lawn and they had the sprinkler system set to daily watering at 2am. I kept it there waiting to see it turn from some yellow to mostly green with roots attached. It hadn't happened after 3 weeks, so I added in another watering at 7:30am. After a week of no change I did a manual run just to find out that MY SPRINKLER SYSTEM WASN'T WORKING.
I'm talking to the builder now and they will fix the sprinkler, but the lawn isn't covered under warranty. (which I understand, I should've checked it to begin with but that's my own fault)

I've scoured all over trying to find out what I can do now and the only response on any post is "how have you been watering it?" and "here's how to check it"

My question is simple:

My new lawn has not had enough water for about a month and is more yellow than green, what can I do now?

rainbowgardener · Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:12 am

Water!

Don't fertilize unless/ until it is starting to green up and grow again.

Did you not have any rain in the month your sprinkler system wasn't working? What are your temps like now?

dangerousstart · Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:15 am

Thank you so much for your reply!

I had maybe 2 rainfalls over the month, and they weren't that heavy. The temp is high 60s at night and mid to high 70s during the day.

applestar · Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:26 am

I think first thing to do is give it a good long soak -- in my garden, that would be 3-4 hrs with overhead sprinkler, but it will depend on your watering method/system. Basically the water should soak down 3-5" below the sod.

dangerousstart · Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:34 am

My arm hurts already!

Until they sort out my sprinkler I've gotta water with my hose by hand. I'll do it, I want a nice lush lawn.

Is there any benefit to getting like 10-20 pieces of sod delivered and pulling up the loose squares and putting down fresh?

applestar · Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:41 am

It's almost impossible to hand water effectively or sufficiently.

Will you be growing a garden as well? Maybe you could get a roll/length or two of sprinkler hose (the kind that has holes along the flat hose that sprays out water at intervals) or soaker hose (round hose made of black porous material that will drip to fine spray along the length depending on water pressure) and move them around the lawn.

You could use these later in a garden so it will be an investment.

dangerousstart · Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:47 am

I'll get a sprinkler head and go 70's with my lawn watering! I already have a bit of a garden section that my sprinkler system feeds into with a soaker style setup, but thanks for the suggestion!

Any suggestion as far as laying down fresh sod for the stuff that hasn't taken root yet?