A new sod lawn is an exciting thing—instant perfect yard! Be careful, though—a new sod lawn requires a bit of care to ensure beauty for years to come.  Follow a few simple tips from Tier One Landscape to keep your lawn healthy.

After your sod is installed, begin watering immediately. For the first two weeks, new sod requires twice-daily waterings. During that initial two-week period, water each time for about 20 minutes (or 1 inch of water). After the first two weeks, you can cut back to one watering per day about about 20 minutes (or 1 inch of water). During these first weeks, be sure that the soil never dries out. Dry soil prevents your sod from taking root in the soil.

After the first three weeks, you may decrease your waterings to every-other-day, then three times per week, then twice per week. At the same time, increase the length of time that you water. Increase to at least 45 minutes.

As with all grass lawns and landscape plants, Tier One Landscape recommend that sod lawns be watered in the late night or early morning waters. Avoid watering during the day; under a hot sun, most water evaporates before it can make its way to your plants’ roots. In addition, keep a weather eye on the horizon—decrease your watering in an amount appropriate for the amount of rainfall you’ve had.

You may begin mowing your sod lawn after 3 weeks on average. At the 3 week mark, give your sod a gentle tug. If it appears to be tightly attached to the soil, you may mow it. Mow carefully, being sure not to tear up the sod with the wheels of your mower. The first few times you mow, take off only an inch or so at a time. As the sod matures, you may take off more, but do not cut the sod shorter than 3 inches in the first year. In addition, be careful not to mow recently-watered sod. Sod should not be wet when mowed.

Finally, don’t get overexcited about fertilizing. If your sod lawn was installed in the summer or fall, we recommend that you avoid fertilizing until the following spring. You can fertilize sod that was installed in the spring when the fall months arrive.

Tier One Landscape hopes you find this information helpful. Tier One Landscape does, however, recommend that you consult with a landscape professional. Though Tier One Landscape provides this information for your use in good faith, this information is offered as-is, without warranty of any kind; please use at your own discretion. If you have any questions about these or other landscape topics, please contact Tier One Landscape.