New Sod Was Fine, Now It's Dying!?
Question:We followed the steps, dug up and tilled the area, laid the sod and watered the heck out of it for a couple months. It was ok, but after the first mowing (at a high level) the grass underneath looked a little brown, then after a couple more mowings, it is obvious there is a huge area of dead or dying sod. We have a huge front yard and spent a lot of money and energy on this, what could be wrong? We are in zone 9b, the grass used was St Augustine, irrigation is in place, but we also supplemented with an oscillating sprinkler almost every day...it's now rainy season and the grass is getting worse!
Answers:
the lawn could be a fungus or grub damage. dig up a small place and look for little white worms. Mach2 will kill grubs. If no grubs try a fungicide.If you do not know what kind of fungus or do not know much about it try using a chemical spray brand name 3336f it kills a wide range of lawn funguses. if you could put up a picture that would be most helpful.
Have you sprayed it for bugs? Also where are you? If you are in any of those areas that have been under drought conditions, even daily watering may not be enough.
On the good side, St Augustine is very hearty grass, so it could look like it's dead and still come back. A guy across the street built a new house on a vacant lot and sodded it last year, for a long time it looked like he was going to loose his lawn, but this year it looks great.
Have you fertilized? We bought a new house in Louisiana and put in St. Aug and it is doing great. We did fertilize in the spring.
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