[Bermuda_Newbie]

Today my back yard was sanded by my landscapers. Some background information....

Sod was laid in March. It wasn't doing well in spots about a month later and we realized the redwood trees would have to go. Too much shade for the Tifway 419 and the needles weren't doing us any favors either. We had intended these to be taken out eventually so it just moved up the time table. The subcontractor the landscapers used to remove the trees left fairly large divets on the lawn in the new sod. My landscapers were not happy with the tree people. In addition the sod they got from the farm was not level. It was so bad they took pictures of it to show the sod people and have decided to use a different farm. They told me they would bring in sand to fix it. Today was the sand day. In preparation, I've been reading through the leveling threads to make sure everything is done right. I scalped the lawn yesterday. They only used landscaping rakes and shovels to level it out. No drag mat or broom like I see people doing on here. I don't know if I should go out and sweep or just leave it. I've included pictures of the sanding below. You can tell me what you think with the pictures. The sprinklers are set to run tomorrow morning. Is it ok to water then?

I have a bunch of questions. I'll try and list them out

1) The landscaper said I needed to fertilize my lawn. He called some place to find out what type of fertilizer exactly but they weren't there. I am a complete novice. I have no idea what type of fertilizer my lawn needs. I don't know what to do to put it on my lawn (one of these hand crank kinds? Is that ok?). I'm also not sure when to do this with the sand on there. Any advice?

2) The landscaper said wait two weeks to mow. Is this correct?

3) I am going to get some PGR but I'm waiting for someone to have extra on the exchange thread. I know I need some kind of sprayer. I have read through the sprayer threads but is there one thing that I can just buy and spray my lawn with or do I need to track down all these different heads for the sprayer? Is it something I could acquire over time or do I need it before I do the PGR because it would be a waste otherwise? Do I wait until the grass is fully grown through the sand to do the PGR?

Any help would be great. Thank you!

 

[Suaverc118]

As far as fertilizer goes, I would think you can go with a balanced fertilizer since it's new sod, or even one with higher nitrogen. I honestly don't think you can go wrong. But you can fertilize on top of the sand and just water it in. Water is very important
The sprayer I use is from SiteOne, it's a galoon sprayer and has a great nozzle. I think it gets the job done

I'll let the others answer about the feag mat. I didn't use one, I used mainly my landscape rake.

 

[Tellycoleman]

ok lets start

PGR- forget about it right now. Being a novice without much equipment i would not even worry about that until your lawn is completely filled in. You might be able to use it in a month but if you just go out and spray it without the correct equipment you will damage your lawn. (Not might damage WILL damage) But that is for another conversation. l
I have some questions?

1) Are you sure you only have 2000 square feet of lawn?
2) Do you have a way to water or have irrigation? Correction I see that you do GOOD
3) Why did the landscaper say the sod farm gave you sod that wasnt level? That's not how it works. Did you misunderstand what they said? Did the landscaper or the Sod Farm lay down the sod? (That is a very important question) And who got your lawn ready for sod? Did anyone kill the grass that was there and smooth out your lawn before laying sod? if so who? (very important question.) I have a feeling your landscaper is the answer to booth of those questions and i smell bull sh** on the part of the landscaper. Did you pay for the sand? (I hope you didnt)
Sod Farms use a machine called a sod cutter to cut the grass at an even depth. So i smell a rat!!
Now to answer your questions

Yes you need to fertilize and the best thing for you in this situation is probably quick release fertilizer. But 1st you HAVE to know how many square feet you have.
You will need a spreader. Not a hand spreader but a push spreader. Since you are a newbie i would stay away from fertilizers with a big first number. like 30-0-0 or even 20-0-0. TO much fertilizer for someone who hasnt done it before can burn your lawn. To be on the safe side and make it simple you could get one bag of Milorganite. It covers 2500 square feet and put it down evenly over your entire lawn. ( the entire bag) Do not put it down when the grass is wet.
After putting it down water your grass afterwards.

Drag mat
If I could I would try and drag the sand. you could make something with a couple 2 x 4 and some weights to hold the wood down and rope to pull it. Heck if you truely only have 2000 square feet a big thick peice of cardboard with some workout weights on top would help.

Trees. You still have some trees that might give you some issues with having very thick turf around your fence line. If you get another opportunity in the future get them out.

Water - you can water your lawn right now if you want to. Alot of people do. Ideally you would put fertilizer on your yard and water in your fertilizer and sand.

SO as a recap
1) Drop down some fertilizer and drag your lawn if you can. Water everyhing. Talk about pgr in a month maybe next season

 

[Bermuda_Newbie]

1) Are you sure you only have 2000 square feet of lawn?
2) Do you have a way to water or have irrigation?
3) Why did the landscaper say the sod farm gave you sod that wasnt level? That's not how it works. Did you misunderstand what they said? Did the landscaper or the Sod Farm lay down the sod? (That is a very important question) And who got your lawn ready for sod? Did anyone kill the grass that was there and smooth out your lawn before laying sod? if so who? (very important question.) I have a feeling your landscaper is the answer to booth of those questions and i smell bull sh** on the part of the landscaper. Did you pay for the sand? (I hope you didnt)
Sod Farms use a machine called a sod cutter to cut the grass at an even depth. So i smell a rat!!

Drag mat
If I could I would try and drag the sand. you could make something with a couple 2 x 4 and some weights to hold the wood down and rope to pull it. Heck if you truely only have 2000 square feet a big thick peice of cardboard with some workout weights on top would help.

Trees. You still have some trees that might give you some issues with having very thick turf around your fence line. If you get another opportunity in the future get them out.

Thanks for the feedback

2000 square feet? I'm kind of sure...It's in a weird shape and I was told by a different landscaper for a quote that it was about 2000 sq ft. I'm not exactly sure what it is with all the curves.

I have a sprinkler system that was adjusted before and after the sod went in. The removed all the old grass with a sod cutter, it was rototilled, added soil, rototilled again, leveled, fertilizer added, and then sod went down. It also sat for about a month in between because of the weather so all the old grass was gone. I didn't pay for the sand. They came back and fixed it because of the issues. I don't know what's going on with the sod farm but they were so unhappy with them they are not using them anymore. They took pictures of the sod and took it back to the farm to prove that it was unlevel. From what I could tell, it had sort of a hump in the middle of each row and never really filled in between the sod. It was level when it went down so it doesn't make much sense. When I mowed it super short in preparation for the sand, there were definitely high spots in the middle of the sod pieces.

I'm not sure what you are referring to with the trees. My grass has about 4 feet from the fence line on all sides where there isn't concrete.

I will wait on the PGR. Where can I find Miloganite? I happen to have a lot of cardboard. I'll see what I can do. Thanks again!

 

[Tellycoleman]

No problem
i am sure more will respond as well
Milorganite can be found at Home Depot or Lowes sometimes at Walmart

As far as the trees are concerned I see shade on your pictures and thats why I asked.
The area that is under shade in the picture. How much sun per day does it get?

 

[Bermuda_Newbie]

As far as the trees are concerned I see shade on your pictures and thats why I asked.
The area that is under shade in the picture. How much sun per day does it get?

Oh yeah that's a huge linden tree. It was there before I moved in. When we removed the grass we also had them take out all of the roots from that tree that had grown into the lawn. That area gets probably about 6-8 hours of sun a day give or take a bit depending on the angle of the sun. It's also diffused so it still gets some light. What's nice about that tree is that the shade moves so that it never stays in one spot.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Welcome to TLF, glad to have you here. :thumbup: Congratulations on the new lawn. Head over to www.findlotsize.com to see if you can get a measurement on your lawn, this will at least get you in the ballpark.

Pictures are always great to have, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to start a lawn journal in the Warm Season subforum. While you're there, at the top of the forum is the Popular Threads sticky. First, you'll want to read through the Bermuda Bible: The New Testament which will give a new bermuda lawn owner a great head start on how best to maintain and care for your new lawn. Once you read through that thread, The Bermuda Triangle will help you get some insight into the bare minimum of herbicides that you'll find easiest to treat most of the common weeds that you'll face in your lawn.

I've got to stress to you how important getting your preemergent (PreM) treatment down in the Fall and Spring are in order to have as weed-free a lawn as you can get. This practice, along with proper mowing are going to be some of the best practices that you can give yourself and your lawn and give you the edge over 90% of the neighbor's yards.

To specifically answer your question about mowing frequency, you'll want to maintain a HOC (height of cut) of what you're comfortable with. Bermuda tends to grow pretty aggressively during the heat, and when it's fed. It loves Nitrogen, and don't be afraid to feed it and mow it. That being said, applications of PGR help reduce mowing frequency and can be considered another "tool" in maintenance once you decide on the HOC you want to maintain. Until you get some more equipment to take care of the new lawn, like a sprayer you can calibrate (which is basically knowing how much water you're applying over 1,000 ft²) I'd also echo what Telly said in holding off on the PGR. You will damage your lawn if you over apply this product, as well as others that you'll need to properly take care of your new lawn.

I find it plausible that there might be some issues with the sod farm, but then again, not every contractor tells the truth. I'd have to see it with my own eyes to see if they were full of poop. But hey, you've at least got a start on a level job, and that's a better start than many of us have when it comes to sanding jobs in the heat of summer.

Check on the Irrigation Subforum to get some information on how to perform an audit on your irrigation system. This thread has an example of the types of gauges that you can use to measure the output of your system per zone. You'll want to get at least 1/2" of rainfall/irrigation to your lawn during the growing period, but more while it's trying to establish. Go to a piece of sod, and pull up on a corner to see if it's rooted. If it's not, you'll want to keep it moist, not to the point of runoff, just moist. The installer might have it set to not water enough, or too much. Make sure you get instructions on how to set your schedule, and an owner's manual. When the sod has rooted, you can dial back the amount of water you're putting down, just make sure that you're getting 1/2" of water per week.

If you have further questions, feel free to ask them, and we'll try to help as we can.