What's the correct amount of watering I should be doing for a newly sodded St. Augustine yard? I have an automatic sprinkler system and live in Stephenville, TX. Thanks!

A lot

Continuously

Bold strategy to try to resod St Augustine in August in Texas. T&P for your water bill.

I had to re-sod the entire yard in the summer a few years back. Wife decided the house had to be presentable that summer and it couldn't wait. Those were very painful waterbills.

Be sure as soon as it is put down you water it to almost a "muddy mess". Then once a day for a week - thoroughly. Then every other day for a week. Then try to stretch it to every 3rd day the third week.
Pray for rain and cooler temps!

Not a strategy, a necessity!

I put down Tif-Tuf in May, I was told to water it enough that a catfish could live on it.

Thanks, TMfrisco! I've sodded numerous yards over the years, the last one in 1981. I just wanted to refresh my memory. At 84 my memory just ain't what it used to be, among several other things!! Thanks, again!

Bill Corbin
Class '58

What I always recommend and discuss in my classes is to start out watering daily, runtimes should be long enough for the water to penetrate the new sod and wet at least the top 2-3 inches of the native soil.An easy way to check this is to use a screwdriver, if you have a hard time pushing it through you are not watering long enough. After about 10-14 days go out and check a few random squares of sod. You should be able to observe new roots growing into the native soil. Once you observe this, cut back to watering only every other day for about 2 more weeks.

If this were the spring, I would recommend going to only 2 days a week about a month after sodding. Given this is August, you may need to keep watering every other day through early September. For sure by mid september you can cut back to 2 days a week as needed depending on rainfall.

What TMfrisco said. On the once a day for a week, what helped me was to put a rain gauge in the yard. It helped to prove I was putting at least 1" of rain per day. It took longer to put down 1" of water than I was expecting.

I would water 2X a day maybe 25-35 min per station with that sprinkler system to keep it from dying if i just sodded. Probably for the next 7-10 days until the heat wave passes. Shoot and you might have to water more. I wouldn't fertilize either. Don't want to over water and get fungus, etc. But with the current heat you shouldn't have to worry about that.

What I've done for 20+ summers installing sod late summer:

2x per day watering. First run time start around 4:00 AM. Second run time start around 4 PM.
*The key to watering new sod is keeping it from drying out. Watering it too much does no good... just wastes water. The sod has no roots at this point.

I'm not sure what type of heads you have, so my general advice is to water it long enough to soak through the sod & get the ground underneath wet. Typical run times would be around 12-15 min. in the morning & afternoon for sprays, and 20-30 min. per run time with rotors. This will vary on sun exposure, slope & soil type. There is no "one size fits all". If you sod is really struggling with the above schedule, add a 3rd run time late morning & reduce the run times a bit.

I'd keep the above schedule for 10 days.
After that, increase the run times & dial back to one start time per day, every other day for another 10.
2-3 times per week should be sufficient after 20 days.

Your general goal is to increase the duration & decrease the frequency of watering as root growth progresses. Deep, infrequent waterings are best to encourage good root growth.

Don't fertilize in this heat either! Never fertilize new sod in general for at least 60 days after installation. They are fertilizing heavily at the sod farms, so you don't want to run the risk of burning it with nitrogen.

Good luck!

What I found most effective with my yard when we sodded it was to hand water with just a hose and no nozzle. My wife and I installed 3 pallets of AmeriShade St. Augustine in May and it took me about 30-45 minutes to get the watering done. I did that twice per day for a week, once per day for a week and then once every other day for a week, after that I just watered normally and it has lasted for over 8 years.

Uggh. St Augustine.

I planted buffalo grass when I lived in Austin. A lot less to water, and was simple to maintain.

We don't have St Augustine here in TN. I'm lucky it gets warm enough for Bermuda.

If you haven't put the new sod down I would just wait until it cools down some. It's hard to keep established bermuda healthy in 100 degree weather.

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I planted buffalo grass when I lived in Austin. A lot less to water, and was simple to maintain.

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I've all but given up planting Buffalo unless someone wants it in an area that will be native.
When we get really rainy periods (like the past 9-10 months have been) the weeds really overtake it.
Combine that with little to no tolerance for shade & poor durability to wear it is a recipe for disaster when it's intended use is "lawn".

Thanks Apache! I followed your recommendations and the grass looks great after about 2 weeks. A large oak tree and the soil was removed from this area. Then it was sodded and a red bud tree was planted. The grass was watered as you suggested, and I'm very pleased with the results. I may not be as pleased with the first water bill!

I wouldn't suggest you sod in 100 degree weather. However, this area was fairly small and with close attention it went very well.

Soak until messy. Set clock to water each zone for 15 minutes at 6am, noon, 5pm, 9pm. Check sod after one week for root development and then water as needed.

AND do not mow it low when you do mow. Mow pretty high the rest of the year.

Some

Glad to help! You've made it through the toughest part now start increasing times and skipping some days.