CARING FOR YOUR SOD
Caring for Your Lawn
Good turf growth starts with proper soil preparation. When the soil is taken care of, plants will thrive! Watering new turf is extremely important, along with fertilization, which acts as turf food. As your turf grows, mowing and other maintenance will also be as significant as water and fertilizer are for healthy turf growth and lifetime.
Soil Preparation
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Subsoil or rip 6–10 inches deep.
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Till 4–8 inches deep.
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Apply organic matter or compost at a minimum of 3 cubic yards per 1000 sq. ft. For optimal results, apply 6 cubic yards per 1000 sq. ft., especially for hard soils
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After ripping, amending, tilling, and grading, the soil will be ready for planting your turf
Consider Investing in an Irrigation System
Water is most accurately applied when using a quality sprinkler system with an evapotranspiration (ET) controller on well-prepared soils. ET is the rate at which plants use water. Temperature, humidity, wind, and light all influence the ET rate. When watering, you only need to replace the amount of water that has been lost due to ET.
Watering times will vary for each sprinkler zone depending on the type of sprinkler head, location, slope, and temperature. An irrigation system that is properly designed, installed, and maintained will uniformly and efficiently deliver water to your lawn and save you valuable time and money.
Fertilization
We highly recommend that you fertilize your new turf with Turf Master’s High Phosphorus fertilizer when you install your sod. Each lawn has different fertilization needs, depending on the sod type, environmental conditions, soil type, and maintenance, so be sure to read about your sod type’s needs and the conditions of your location so that you help your turf grow for a healthy, long life.
Mowing
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You can mow between 10 days and 2 weeks after laying new sod.
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Turn off your irrigation for 1 full day before mowing your new lawn.
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When mowing, make sure that you never remove more than one third of the leaf blade.
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Mowing height is recommended to be 2 ½ - 3 inches.
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A higher cut conserves more water for your lawn.
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