# New Sod Advice



## Nubeelawn (Jul 15, 2018)

Hello lawn experts.. Sorry for the long post, want to make sure i give out all the info. 
Im from Minneapolis, Minnesota, a new homeowner and this is the first time ever i will have a lawn (about 7000sqft)&#128578;. Im waiting for the sod and hoping to get it by August end as per builders contractor. I did ask what kind of sod, he said he has no clue and should be what others got. &#129300;. Will ask again when they put the sod.

At Present there are lot of weeds, grading is done but with the recent rain, weeds grew up again. Would the weeds be gone once they lay the sod? Also i have been reading about milorganite and the website says, for new sod, apply millorganite before the sod goes on. i already bought the milorganite(too early right? &#128513 , what i bought is 5-2-0 ratio (5 bags each36lb for 30$) and i see there is one more with 6-4-0 ratio(12$ each 36lb) is one better than the other?inground Irrigation is also planned and will be installed soon (hunter pro controller with the hunter rotary heads) and i plan on buying the HRX217vka mower once its time to mow

Would like to get your advice/recommendations. I would like to have a great looking greenish healthy lawn. This is my first ever lawn and i have no prior experience except for walking on grass &#128521;

Again sorry for the long post.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Nubeelawn said:


> At Present there are lot of weeds, grading is done but with the recent rain, weeds grew up again.


This may sound like heresy, but having some weeds in the future sodbed right now might not be such a bad thing, as they'll help hold the soil in place.



Nubeelawn said:


> Would the weeds be gone once they lay the sod?


 Most of the weeds will be smothered by the new sod, but not all of them. Plus, the weeds that do "grow through" the sod are likely to be the ones that you least want in your new lawn!

Personally, I'd suggest blanket spraying the entire sodbed with glyphosate 2 weeks prior to sod installation, and again the day before the sod installation. You should confirm with your sod installer that they are comfortable with your doing this -- although I'm 100% certain that it will be fine, you don't want to violate any sort of "warranty" you have with the sod installer.

As an aside, the most important thing for new sod is to irrigate properly after it is installed. Your sod installer should have specific recommendations for this, but there's lots of good resources on the Internet about proper watering of new sod. (e.g. https://gvt.net/turf-care/new-sod-care )



Nubeelawn said:


> Also i have been reading about milorganite and the website says, for new sod, apply millorganite before the sod goes on. i already bought the milorganite(too early right? 😁) , what i bought is 5-2-0 ratio (5 bags each36lb for 30$) and i see there is one more with 6-4-0 ratio(12$ each 36lb) is one better than the other?


In all honesty, I don't think there's likely to be a significant difference between them. As I understand it, the published N-P-K on the bag are basically minimum guaranteed requirements. In short, the fertilizer needs to contain at least that much of each nutrient. The composition of Milorganite (or any other biosolid fertilizer) can vary a fair bit from batch to batch, depending upon the composition of what it is made from. (aka "You are what you eat.")

I don't think Milorganite publishes their actual average composition for their fertilizer. However, for Bay State Fertilizer, which is a similar biosolid product (but from Boston's sewage instead of Milwaukee's), is packaged as 4-3-0 but according to the label has an average N-P-K of 5.2 - 4.5 - 0.1. Basically, the published N-P-K on the bag is guaranteed minimum - it's OK for the actual composition to be somewhat higher.

So, it's quite possible for your bags of 5-2-0 to actually contain 6-4-0 product.

I think that Milorganite may do "binning" (discussed in a different thread here somewhere) where a specific batch of product is put into different bags, depending upon the test results for that batch of Milorganite. In other words, batches that surpass the 6-4-0 threshold can go into 6-4-0 bags, and a batch that tests just below that can go into a 5-2-0 bag instead. However, this is just speculation on my part; I have no inside information on this whatsoever.

I seem to read that the Milorganite factory offers tours to the public from time to time. Anybody here gone to one of those and have firsthand insight into the Milorganite composition question?


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## Nubeelawn (Jul 15, 2018)

Thank you Ken for the quick response. Ill try to get hold of the contractor prior to install. Thank you for the watering lawn link. Will follow it religiously.


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## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

ken-n-nancy said:


> Anybody here gone to one of those and have firsthand insight into the Milorganite composition question?


It is composed of the dried, dead microbes that were used to process the wastewater. 



.


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## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

In addition to what Ken said, while I am a big Milorganite fan, it may not be the best product for the results you want in the timeframe you need them by. Milorganite works by being broken down by the soil microbiology. You likely have very little microbiology living in your bare topsoil that was screened and trucked in from somewhere else so the nutrients in Milorganite will not be plant available to your sod when it is installed. I would use Scotts Turf Builder Starter Food For New Grass Plus Weed Preventer before the sod is laid and synthetic fertilizers for the rest of this year. While Milorganite now won't hurt anything, I don't think it will actually help much (other than organic matter) until next year.

The Milorganite production has not changed, the finished product just has more average nitrogen than it used to so they changed the label to reflect that. If you have a Fleet Farm or Menards near you in Minneapolis, check the prices there. It is likely $7.49/bag rather than $12 found at HD/Lowes. Good luck and get your watering game on point before the sod goes down.


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## Nubeelawn (Jul 15, 2018)

Thanks Miggity. Will look at the options you mentioned. I infact bought the milorganite from Menards which was 5-2-0 ratio(got 5-36lb bags for 30$).the one in lowes which shows 12$ was the 6-4-0 ratio.. Since its gonna be the same will take the ones from Menards.


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## zeus201 (Aug 30, 2017)

Surely the builder knows where they buy sod from. If they can provide that info, you can call the sod farm directly. Will the irrigation system be installed before sod as that would be ideal.

Has the final grade been done yet? In my area, final grade and sod happen pretty close to each other towards closing. Either way, I'd go out there with some round-up and nuke everything down and repeat several days before sod placement. Make sure you get the basic version, not the extended control round-up.

I also agree with use of Scott w/weed preventer (Mesotrione A.I.), but milo won't hurt anything and can be applied to help build OM and micro heard.


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## Nubeelawn (Jul 15, 2018)

Final grade isn't done yet. They made the yard flat and removed the excess soil . Last week rain washed out everything, will call them and ask where they buy the sod from. I doubt if they would be willing to provide that information. Will give it try though. And yes the irrigation will go in before the sod. Irrigation guy asked to call him once the final grade is done. He hasnt provided the irrigation diagram yet, should we suppose to ask for it? Since i know nothing abt it, i didnt really stress on the diagram. As per the propsoal, it will be 5zones, the controller with rain/freeze sensor and 24-26 rotarry sprinklers and the backflow preventer.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Nubeelawn said:


> Final grade isn't done yet. They made the yard flat and removed the excess soil . Last week rain washed out everything, will call them and ask where they buy the sod from. I doubt if they would be willing to provide that information.


Danger Will Robinson, Danger! That would really worry me if the builder was unwilling to provide the name of the sod installation company. Why would he try to hide that? You'd think it would be in his best interest to have you be satisfied!?!



Nubeelawn said:


> He hasn't provided the irrigation diagram yet, should we suppose to ask for it?


 Yes. Then share it here in the irrigation forum to be able to leverage advice from folks here. The proposal should also include information on the make/model of the controller, make/model of irrigation heads, design parameters for the system (how many gpm the design presumes), etc.


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## Nubeelawn (Jul 15, 2018)

Thank you Ken. I spoke to my irrigation guy in the afternoon and he dropped by in the evening and gave me the plan.. Attached for reference. The sprinklers towards either side of the house will be pop up spray head, the rest are Hunter PGP. We have three huge evergreen trees towards the end of our yard.. I guess it will be a problem area for the grass to grow.. Will hav to wait and see.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Nubeelawn said:


> Hello lawn experts..


Well, I'm out of the discussion.


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## Nubeelawn (Jul 15, 2018)

Lol...Hawkeye &#128513;. Im a newbie and an amateur so everyone is an Lawn Expert from my standpoint &#128513;&#128513;


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## zeus201 (Aug 30, 2017)

Did they state how many zones will be used? Be firm on placement of zone boxes and install them where they are out of the way instead of the middle of the lawn.

Ideal is head to head coverage, but at times that is not possible. However, looking at the bottom left corner of the house, coverage look questionable. I'd ask for more coverage there, but not through increased watering time. Also I would not hesitate putting heads near the driveway corners. The comment on 2x coverage makes no sense to me.

Here are couple graphics from Hunters design & installation guide on head placement / design:





Check out irrigationtutorials.com if you'd like to learn more about irrigation.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

^+1


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## Nubeelawn (Jul 15, 2018)

Thank you Zeus. Will go through the website for more knowledge. No. Of zones will be 6


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