If you want an instantly beautiful, green lawn on your property in Michigan, installing sod is the most efficient way to achieve that. Sod is pre-grown grass that will look like your dream lawn right after installation, but it's still fragile and will need a lot of TLC to help it establish. The perfect maintenance schedule for your new sod starts on day 1. As soon as it is installed, you'll want to water it deeply to prevent it from drying up. For the next two weeks, you must water it frequently to keep it moist and avoid walking on it, but you can mow it on day 14. You can adjust your watering schedule for the third and fourth weeks and fertilize it after one month. You can also start using it like normal from then on, provided you check if the roots are established!

Water your sod immediately after installation.

While sod will instantly look beautiful after installation, it will still be weak because it hasn't had the chance to grow its roots and establish itself in the soil. Once it has been installed, the most crucial thing you need to do is to water your new grass immediately. You need to water it heavily, making sure the soil is well-saturated and reaches up to 6 inches deep. Doing this will encourage it to start developing roots, but skipping it will cause the sod to dry and shrivel up, resulting in gaps between the layers.

Sod Care For The Next 2 Weeks After Installation

Sod care does not end after the first day of installation. For the next 2 weeks, your sod will focus on developing roots and settling in on your property. During this time, you need to ensure your grass receives lots of TLC to take root successfully! Here's how you can care for your sod for the next two weeks:

  • Water your sod frequently and heavily. You'll want to water it about 2 to 4 times a day to ensure it stays moist to encourage deep root growth.
  • Avoid walking on your sod. Your new lawn is still vulnerable, so you need to stay off it while it develops. This will keep from putting additional stress on it and disrupting the developing roots!
  • Mow your sod on day 14. When mowing your sod for the first time, the general rule of thumb is to mow high. You'll want to follow the 1/3 lawn mowing rule, which means you should never cut more than 1/3 of the grass blades to prevent stressing it out.

Make sure you don't water your sod the day before you mow it for the first time to give the soil a chance to firm up!

Caring For Your Sod During Weeks 3 & 4

During weeks 3 and 4, you need to adjust the watering schedule of your sod. Water it less frequently but deeply, which means you can cut back to once a day but for an extended amount of time. Doing this will keep the soil from drowning and allow it to dry up while still encouraging the growth of deep roots, which will help your lawn grow healthy and resilient!

You can start fertilizing your sod after a month to give it much-needed nutrients that bolster new, verdant growth! You can also start walking on your sod and use it like normal. However, before you do, gently pull up on it to see if it has taken root. If it does not lift, that means the roots are well-established!

Call us today to sign up for our sod installation service.

Our team at Outdoor Expressions Landscaping offers a sod installation service to commercial and residential properties, as well as HOAs, in East Lansing, Okemos, Haslett, MI, and nearby areas. We follow a thorough process to ensure proper installation and use cool-season sod that thrives in our area. Give us a call today at (517) 333-7999 to sign up!