You can put sod down just about any day of the year unless the soil is covered in snow.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I decided to have the sod pushed back a week but I'm still curious on any input. The above comment I would say is incorrect. Placing fescue sod down say in the summer in NC is a horrible idea. Even with irrigation it'll die in a couple days. Now Bermuda grass is another story, that should do fine in the summer. Next week it's looking like mid 80s around here.

Dc is correct. He is one the most senior/knowledgeable contributors to the forum. You can lay sod anytime, even if it is dormant.

The bigger issue is your location and sod choice. If you think your sod will die in the summer heat, why would your "grass" be any different? There are people on the forum all the time fighting to have their sod choice in an location that is not ideal.

I'll admit that NC is on the ragged edge of allowing fescue, but many of my neighbors have successfully kept fescue lawns for years. I think the difference here between an existing lawn and new sod is the lack of an established root system to get it through the heat.

Personally I'd go with St. Augustine in an area like that, but as far as fescue is concerned, the less heat the better. How long will they let you delay it?

I installed my fescue sod when it was about 100. It was around August 11th it's doing great and rooted well.

That's encouraging to hear, Gomez, I'm shocked it has done so well, you must have been diligent with the watering and had great soil to begin with. I could probably delay longer than the week I already have if I really wanted to and if it was necessary. But I'm not looking to make a hassle if it's not needed, which is why I originally created this thread. The landscapers concern with waiting is a hard rain will hit and make a mess of the site since it's just dirt now. So they'd rather do this sooner than later.

Thanks everyone.

Oh and I don't know how common st Augustine is around here. Everything seems to be either fescue or Bermuda. And I really don't like Bermuda, seems more like a weed to me than grass and goes dormant in the winter. But it is pretty maintenance free in this area.

Yeah yeah I live in southern Utah. We have crazy weather. Hot summers, cold mild winter and short spring and fall. We hardly never get water restriction so it wasn't to bad to keep it healthy. Here was my lawn at 4 weeks the shade you see is the only shade it gets.

Nice work, that's beautiful! I get about as much shade as you. I can get an extended watering permit so I should be ok on water (although it will be $$!) and we're heading into our rainy season anyway. Your results are encouraging.

Good luck man. I'm sure it will turn out great

And I really don't like Bermuda, seems more like a weed to me

Agree 100%...until a few months ago. I was struggling every year with my TTTF lawn. Started a full reno this Spring and came here for advice on making my upcoming TTTF lawn great. Reeljake was 1st to suggest a conversion to bermuda, dc came in with suggestions for St Augustine which I jumped on after researching it. Long story short, I could not source SA or bermuda sod and had to seed bermuda. My lawn has never looked better. I did not choose bermuda, it chose me and I am so thankful. With increasing water restriction I am not worried about the future of my lawn, it will be just fine.

I completely get that and have thought at times of just letting the couple spots of Bermuda I had pop up before just take over but instead I round up'd the areas and will reseed. My back lawn is fescue and is doing ok so I want to try to keep it going. Only the front is being sodded due to some unrelated repair work. What area are you in, hawksster?

Anybody trying to keep fescue alive in full sun will be back next summer asking why they've lost huge patches of grass. There's a reason most northern blends include KBG, fescue is only reliable in shade.

@todd I'm in CA, just south of Stockton. We are "fescue country" around here, which is crazy because it's hot and never rains. We don't even get clouds, but fescue is the top selling grass followed by KBG. You can't even reliably source bermuda sod. But if you look around you can see bermuda everywhere. The native species is taking over lawns left and right. People just dig in and keep fighting. I know a guy a block away that re-sods his lawn every Spring because he refuses to water "because of the drought." I really don't understand his thinking at all, but it's been his thing for the past 4 yrs.

We also have bermuda bushes:

3 ft tall bermuda "bush"

bermuda crossing the driveway

6 ft tall bermuda "bush" sucked the life right out of it's host.

After host died lawn service started spraying "weed killers" every 3 months but it lives on.

People have just given up in my opinion. Almost everyone here has a lawn service. So people are actually paid and these are the common results. Sadly, the top picture is one of the better looking lawns around here. Others have resorted to converting their lawns to rock gardens, concrete slabs, or artificial turf. Some city programs pay homeowners up to $4k for lawn conversions. I can imagine this happening more across the country when hearing about so many restrictive water bans.

Astonishing. All because sod farms won't sell them the proper grass type.