EDIT: St. Augustine sod.

I'm sure it's not the best time to do so, but it needs to be done...and soon.

The 3 ft strip of grass between my sidewalk and the driveway is all native grasses and dead thatch. I ran a pop up sprinkler system out to that area a month ago but it was too late for the grass. We moved into the house in January, and the builder basically just laid sod on top of clay and chunks of cement (literally). As I dug the lines for the sprinklers, I kept unearthing chunks of cement from the sidewalk and/or curb.

So, I've dethatched the strip and mowed it down real low and basically all that's left is the clay ground. I'm hoping to get use my little step aerator to poke holes as best I can (don't want to rent a plug aerator for just this tiny strip), lay a real nice layer of top soil tomorrow and then lay sod Saturday before Auburn.

Is there anything I need to do to the a) clay/existing ground, b) top soil, or c) sod other than water water water?

In Cypress, by the way.

You'll be fine to lay it. Just had some sod laid at my new home in Spring area a couple weeks ago and it's doing great.

If you don't already know, I suggest googling Randy Lemmon for lawn tips in Houston. Guy knows his stuff!

I know all about Randy. Problem is, the house was brand new and I didn't want to pay $2-3,000 for professional sprinklers. Problem is, I didn't install mine until too late.

Sprinklers are good to go now though.

You want the roots to be well established before the first freeze.That's probably two months off. As long as you water it correctly, they should have. Note that over-watering is not correct. You should water like heck the first week or two. After that, you want the roots to have to reach down to get water. If they can always get water for the first inch of dirt, the roots will never set.

What's ideal water scheduled first 2 weeks?

quote:

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What's ideal water scheduled first 2 weeks?

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I've been told you can't over water. I laid 5 pallets in my backyard this past spring. I watered every day for 30 minutes. Then I backed off to twice a week and then to once per week.

Water every day the first week and then 1 inch a week unless you are getting rain. On St Augustine you should be only watering early in the morning because after the end of August brown patch can arise from excessive moisture and cooler night temperatures.

Update:

Sod was laid early Saturday morning and watered 2x/day for ~18 minutes on each 'zone' for 2 days, then backed off to 1x/day until this weekend.

If it stays crazy hot, I'm assuming I should keep it at 1x/day? Everything is looking good so far and it's taking well.