Can Sod Grass Be Watered Too Much?

Problems with Over Watered Sod

• Sod that has been over watered share many of the same symptoms of grass that is under watered. Gardeners may notice grass discoloring, looking stressed or dying out. If the soil is over-saturated, grass has a problem absorbing nutrients. Also, over watered sod can become infected with a fungal disease especially if you are watering the sod at night. Wet grass blades combined with cool nighttime temperatures acts like an incubator for fungal diseases.

How Much to Water

• New sod needs 1 inch of water after installation, according to gardening writer Walter Reeves. To find out how long it takes for your sprinkler system to deliver and inch of water, place several cups around the lawn prior to your sod installation. Allow the sprinkler to run for and hour. Measure the amount of water in each cup and average the number. Calculate the amount of time it takes for 1 inch of water to accumulate in a cup. For example, if there is 4 inches of water after an hour then it would take you 15 minutes to apply 1 inch of water to your yard.

Watering

• Keep the first inch of top soil moist until the sod has establish or rooted in the soil, as recommended by gardening writer Walter Reeves. After the sod has rooted, cut back the amount of water to 1/4 inch every three days for nine days, as suggested by gardening writer Walter Reeves. Give your lawn 1/2 inch of water every five days for 10 days. Adopt a watering routine after the tenth day. Give your lawn one inch of water every week for the growing season.

Prevention

• You can prevent over watering your sod by placing tuna cans out in the lawn. A tuna can is 2 inches in height. If the can is halfway filled with rainwater, you do not have to irrigate that week. Make sure that your check the can every week to know how much water you need to give your lawn. Dump out the water after checking. You can stop watering the lawn once it goes dormant or at the end of its growing season.