Your New Lawn – Choosing The Type of Grass You Want

When considering your new lawn there are several things you must consider. Buying the right grass that will perform best for your location is important. Some of the things to consider is where you will be planting it, how much shade you have, what kind and quality of grass you want and how cold and drought tolerant is your grass.

Measuring Your Yard For Your New Lawn

You will need to have the measurements of your yard. We can help you with this if you have a plot plan of your home. You will want to find out what the square footage of the areas where you want to plant grass.

Since most grass that is sold throughout Texas is sold by the square yard you will need to convert your square footage to square yards. This way you will know how many pallets you are going to need. We can help you with this too.

Soil Preparation For Your New Lawn

Before you plant your new lawn you should have your soil tested to determine its nutritional status.

Remove all the weeds and grasses that are on the ground. If you are in a new home it should have already been taken care of by your home builder

The Final Grade

When preparing your final grade you will need to consider whether or not your yard needs any organic matter or topsoil. If so then add this to the ground and then roto-till the ground to 4 to 5 inches. Rake it smooth and remove all rocks and large soil clods and other debris  Be sure and rake it level as possible

Keep the soil at least 1 inch below the sidewalks, driveways and curbs. Also you need to make sure your grass is 6 to 8 inches below the weep holes along the slab of your house.

Order and Schedule Delivery

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When you order your sod from Coastal Sod we will work with you. We want to help you sure you have all your preparation taken care of prior. Prior to you ordering the grass for your new lawn.

You do not want to have pallets of sod sitting in your yard before it is completely ready to plant the grass. Sod should not sit on the pallet more than thirty-six hours. Two days at the most.

This is not good for you and it is not good for us. It’s best have to have your yard completely ready “before” your grass is delivered.

Installation of Your New Lawn

Once your sod is delivered you must immediately begin installing your new lawn.

You will start by installing it along your driveway or sidewalk. Do not stretch the pieces of grass but push them tightly together.

Use a machete or sharp knife to custom cut the grass for areas around your landscape beds and other areas in the yard where it does not fit naturally.

When laying the sod it should be laid like bricks this will avoid continuous seams. When planting sod on steep slopes plant it across the slope then stake it in place.

When using small pieces do not use them on the outside of edges most likely they will dry out and die.

Begin watering immediately after the sod is planted.

Watering Your New Lawn

Once again, and I can not emphasize this enough, water your new lawn while you are installing it. Plant an area large enough to set up your sprinkler and start watering.

You will then need water it once a day for the first two weeks after installation. Be sure you soak the grown beneath the sod to a depth of at least six inches. This will take about one (1″) inch of water.

Keep your new lawn and the soil under it moist but not soaking wet. The soil and grass should be moist all day long especially during the mid day heat and sun. Hot, dry and windy conditions can quickly dry your yard out.

You should taper off on the water once you grass is rooted enough that it is difficult to pull the sod up from the ground. Now you should begin tapering off on watering. This will help your grass begin to establish a deep and healthy root system.

Important!

All grass must be watered immediately upon installation!

Give Your New Lawn the Best Chance of Survival

I can not over emphasize the need your freshly installed grass needs. One of the first things you need before you begin your grass planting project is a good water hose and a good sprinkler.

Once the sod is on the ground and you have an area large enough to cover with a sprinkler its time to start the water. Take your water hose and set it up with the sprinkler and put it in the middle of the freshly laid sod and turn it on. It sounds so easy and yet so many fail to water properly and they lose their beautiful lawn. So!

IMPORTANT!!! Water your grass thoroughly on the day of installation! Delay in doing so will result in grass loss! You must use water hoses and sprinklers only. DO NOT USE A SOAKER HOSE!!!

Once your new lawn has been installed and thoroughly watered the first time begin a daily schedule. The purchase of a $10 water timer will eliminate waste of water and of hard-earned money. It will allow you to more easily schedule your watering times.

Now it’s time to begin watering daily. Keep your yard watered like this for at least ten days. During this time your new lawn will be taking root and growing. You will have mowed it once or twice. Just be sure you thoroughly cover and saturate your complete yard at each watering.

Newly sodded yards will die if not watered within thirty-six (36) hours of installation and severe loss can occur within ten (10) hours.

By the second week, your new lawn will be regaining its strength and taking on its original green color. This does though only apply to the warm months of the year.

During the winter months most southern lawn grasses go dormant, turning brownish in color and remaining so until spring. However, you must still water your grass and keep a good scheduled watering plan.

Mowing Your New Lawn

Once your grass has a deep green healthy look and has adequately rooted, watering can be reduced to once or twice per week at a rate of one inch each watering.

Frequency of watering will depend on the weather and soil conditions. As long as you maintain your lawn in this manner it will remain vibrant and healthy through out the season.

After the first week of installation you may be able to mow your grass. If so mow it 1” to 1-1/2” in height.

FYI  Watering Trees and Shrubs

All your trees and shrubs need to be saturated. Hand water twice every week for six (6) weeks. Use at least twenty-five (25) gallons of water on each tree and five (5) gallons of water on each shrub. After the initial six (6) week period trees should be watered thoroughly at least once a week for the next twelve (12) weeks. After this time water when needed.

An excellent source of information for home owners is Texas A&M Aggie Turf. Here you will find basic lawn maintenance techniques to enhance the quality and health of your lawn.

Maintaining Your New Lawn – “Keep Off The Grass”

During the first couple of weeks after installation, keep traffic off your new lawn as much as possible. Traffic will create indentures and destroy your smooth grade. Once the grass begins growing you should mow it. This will help its establishment.

Be sure to mow with a sharp blade and mow to the height recommended for the grass you have just installed. If your lawn has some uneven areas you can fill the indentions with a good sandy loam soil.

Once Your New Lawn Is Established

Once your new lawn is established you will need to water it once a week. Be sure and use at least one (1) inch of water each time you water. You will then need to mow as needed using a mower with a sharp blade. Watch for disease and fertilize as needed.