Initial Care
the pallet. When you do, you create a microwave effect and the sod cooks from the inside out. • Water the ground before laying the sod. Begin watering your grass immediately. Do not let it sit even 1 hour. If you are laying multiple pallets, water as you go. Even letting laid grass sit for 1 hour in the Florida sun will be seriously detrimental and could even kill it. • We recommend that you have a spray service inspect new sod for fungus and other diseases within three days. IF, AT ANY TIME, YOU EXPERIENCE ANY PROBLEMS OR CONCERNS WITH YOUR NEW GRASS, YOU MUST CALL IMMEDIATELY AND WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU CALL A SPRAY COMPANY. 99.999% OF THE TIME IF SOD DIES WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH IT IS LACK OF WATER OR FUNGUS. Typically anything that is caught right away can be taken care of. When you let the damage go on for weeks, it is usually too late to save the grass. • Sod should be watered at least 1-inch per day (approximately 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening) for the first two weeks unless there is sufficient rainfall. Every irrigation system is different so this is just a general rule/ Your grass may take more or less water. A good way to measure how much water you are giving the area is to place an empty tuna fish can or anything flat that can hold water and turn your sprinkler on. When the water reaches the top of the tuna fish can or the equivalent on another container you will know how long to run your water for. Most people overestimate the amount of time they are actually watering so if your sod starts turning brown after the second day of watering, you may need to reassess your watering time. You also don't want to overwater, so cut back it you get standing water. • Sod needs to be fertilized within two weeks with a 100% organic fertilizer. The most common types of organic fertilizer are ironite and milorganite and they can be purchased at any home improvement store. Do not use a chemical fertilizer until the sod has rooted into the ground. Chemical fertilizers can burn the roots of the sod, killing it. After initial fertilization, use 16-4-8 fertilizer at recommend rate in March and September. During the summer use only an organic fertilizer such as those listed above. • During the late spring, summer and early fall we require that you put fungus control on your new St. Augustine and Zoysia grass. We can almost guarantee that it will get fungus and we feel it is better to pretreat (but this will not completely prevent) than to potentially lose your new grass because of it. As a preventative, we recommend Scotts Lawn Fungus Control because it is a granule and will stay around longer than a liquid. Once you have a fungus problem, you will need to switch to a liquid copper fungicide. • If you still experience fungus problems after repeated treatments, especially in saturated areas, you need to have a spray company come out that can use higher strength fungicide. Do not let the fungus go: you can lose your entire lawn! PLEASE NOTE that sod is an agricultural product. It is not a manufactured product in which every piece is an exact, perfect duplicate the one before. There may be differences in the soil base depending on the amount of rain we have or not had. Slight uneveness in the sod field could also cause differences in the finished product. Some pieces could break apart or possibly not be as green as the others. Rest assured that the entire pallet was cut at the same time from one strip of sod in the field. Please lay all pieces, be sure to water, fertilizer and put fungicide down if required. Follow all instructions on the back of your ticket. You may find it necessary and beneficial to the finished product to roll the sod. A small amount of settling will occur naturally. You can take your lawn mower (blade off!) and drive over the new sod to seat the pieces. If you noticed ANYTHING when laying your new grass, you must call us within 24 hours of receiving the grass. Even if we are closed, leave a message. This proves that you laid your grass in a timely manner and didn't let it sit on the pallet too long. Calling also gives us the opportunity to address and fix and problems you might have. • Long Term Care - There is a lot of information available and it would take up an enormous amount of space to list it here. Please visit the University of Florida Extension Website for detailed information or call our office and we will send you a copy of care information broken down by the seasons. • We recommend that you visit the St Johns River Water Management District website in regards to the amount of water your established grass needs BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW : |
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| Please note: Floratam, Bitter Blue,Zoysia and Bermuda Owners! The Florida Summer (Heat, Humidity, Rain) is a guaranty for Fungus. Fungus is a naturally occurring disease and can not be warranteed against. **It is CRITICAL you put granular fungicide on the grass immediately and repeat every 7-10 days |
| • Initial Care |
| • Best Management Practices |
Phone: 407.877.0709 532 North Bluford Avenue ~Ocoee, FL 34761