Sod Repair After New irrigation System Instal (Dallas, Roma: house, buying)

[mrhotdog]

I have a St. Augustine lawn in North Dallas and am having a new irrigation system installed, the workers are tearing apart the grass just replacing without preserving the sod. they say the foot wide gaps will fill in with the adjacent lawn. Shouldn't they have preserved my the sod layer somehow? I've never had this done before, not sure what is the normal procedure. I know I've seen Kentucky Blue grass removed for reapplication with a sod cutter. Am I getting ripped off?

[Rakin]

It will grow together with a little fertilizer, water & TLC. No big deal but you can either go buy new sod or get some Burmuda seed to seed the ground. You'll need warmer weather but the grass will grow back.

[mrhotdog]

Originally Posted by Rakin

It will grow together with a little fertilizer, water & TLC. No big deal but you can either go buy new sod or get some Burmuda seed to seed the ground. You'll need warmer weather but the grass will grow back.

Thanks. All my neighbors say he should have lifted the sod and preserved it. I questioned the guy managing my installation & he swears this is how its done and like you say will fill-in in 6wks. This once/twice in a life projects are always so difficult. How was I to know I should have asked the guys who quoted about their sod policy.

Why do you recommend Bermuda over my St. Augustine?

[TheOverdog]

You can buy pads of sod St Augustine from Home Depot for less than $1 a sq ft. I don't think it would have been cost effective to save your original grass. I'm not so sure about 6 weeks to grow back in naturally, depends on how wide the cuts were and the quality of your lawn soil. I'd say the full season and next year it'll be back to normal. Or you can buy the sod, lay it down on the bare dirt and water it extra for a solid week. It'll grow back together much more quickly.

The other person said bermuda seeds because seeds are even cheaper than sod, but i'm not sure you can get good st augustine seeds.

I'd recommend bermuda over st augustine because bermuda is a much better grass for dry texas summers and especially with watering restrictions, but it's really up to you. Buying a couple of pads of st augustine sod would be much cheaper and less work. Or just letting nature take its course would be even less work.

If you need to cut the sod, remember to use some scissors, don't tear it..

[gymrat]

Make sure the dirt is smoothed back down. Existing St Augustine will fill in pretty fast. That is typically what happens when such work is done. It will be no problem. Just make sure they tamp down the dirt when done.

[ggolf]

StA is usually used in shady areas around here. Bermuda is in mostly sunny areas and will not grow well if at all in shade.

I had a house built a few years ago. Dummies put the sod down before the sprinkler. Result? Wherever they trenched there is now a depression. Cutting the grass was fun with all the dips in the yard. So before you do anything make sure the soil is level and packed down. Don't replace the open dirt with Bermuda. StA will always take over, not the other way around.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by ggolf

Don't replace the open dirt with Bermuda. StA will always take over, not the other way around.

That's why I mentioned Burmuda seed for a temprary fill. Eventually the StA will grow back together and force out the Burmuda.

Or they can just water and fertilize and a few months all will be back to mormal.

[EDS_]

OK folks. If the trenches had been hand dug conserving the old sod would have been a snap. Hand digging for sprinkler piping is a non-starter most times. Too much time = too much cost. The contractor used a Ditch Witch or similar ruining a bit of sod.

OP wait two weeks until it's just a bit warmer. Cover the dirt spots with hardwood mulch to a level just a bit above the surrounding yard. If you keep the mulch depth less than about 1.5 inches underlying grass will grow right through it. Adjacent grass will grow into it. And by Fall your trench lines will be mostly gone and totally gone next year.

I've leveled a number of low spots in my current yard this way - works great.

[mrhotdog]

The trenches were hand dug I watched them do it. It didn't look easy they used those narrow spades and chipped away at it. Good advice from everyone, so thanks. Since I have varying courses of action I am going to take the path of least resistance and do nothing initially and see what happens. For learning Here's a Pic of one of the trenches. I'll take another pic in 2 months to see how it filled in.

[mrhotdog]

Originally Posted by mrhotdog

The trenches were hand dug I watched them do it. It didn't look easy they used those narrow spades and chipped away at it. Good advice from everyone, so thanks. Since I have varying courses of action I am going to take the path of least resistance and do nothing initially and see what happens. For learning Here's a Pic of one of the trenches. I'll take another pic in 2 months to see how it filled in.

As some stated, once Summer temperatures started, the St. Augustine covered up the trenches quickly.