1. When prepping for Sod be sure and mix in slow release fertilizer, lime if needed and Sides Black Wonder 5000 composted manure. Add sand if the soil is heavy clay. Mix all the right nutrients in to a depth of 6 inches level and lay your sod.

2. Lay the sod as quickly as possible. Sod on a pallet or in a roll begins to Heat Up real fast, ferment and turn to silage. If you cannot lay it quickly, put it in the shade.

3. As you lay it, have someone hand watering it to cool it back down from being heated in a stack or in a roll.

4. When you finish laying it, take a bucket full of Fescue seed and fill in the cracks by hand; then put some in a spreader and put a light coat over the entire job. All the water you will put on it in the next 2 weeks will make all of the seed 100% germinate & if there is any trouble spots the seed will fix it. A light topdressing of Sides Black Wonder 5000 composted manure over the top of your seeds will guarantee germination to repair cracks or weak spots.

5. Drown the sod one good time to settle it into the seedbed. PS: Sod laid on hard soil will not do good. Make a good loose seedbed so the roots can take hold. Mix SLOW release fertilizer, lime and Black Wonder 5000 in the seedbed. Do not put out much fertilizer or you will cause brown patch fungus to start. Do not put any fertilizer on top because of fungus problems in the heat.

6. Week one: Make sure the sod gets watered 3 times a day. Water it mid-morning; mid-afternoon and dusk. Apply a dry fungicide before you begin watering. Keep it damp, but not sloppy to prevent fungus.

7. Week two: Water at mid-morning and about dark.

8. Week three: Water once a day, right before daylight. Keep this up for the entire summer. Spray the sod With Daconil fungicide and skip the next day of watering to keep from washing it off. Repeat the fungicide every 2-3 weeks for the rest of the summer. You can spray less often if you mix in some “Abound” systemic fungicide. Read labels.

9. Keep it mowed: Tall grass gets more brown patch. Keep an automatic rain sensor engaged at all times. You do not want to water sod when it is raining. You are begging for brown patch.

In the fall, put it on a regular maintenance program of fertilizer, lime, herbicides, etc. along with overseeding and aerating. See our Maintenance sheet.