Sod from seperate sources?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I just had sod installed as part of a landscaping project. The contractor told me the place he normally gets the sod from didn't have enough even for our fairly small yard so he bought all they had and got the rest needed somewhere else. I'm assuming he only told me because the sod from each place were at different heights. I didn't think anything of it, but the sod with the taller blades has been growing at a fast rate while the shorter sod has not grown or grown VERY little in 3 weeks. He had installed the two sources in a checkerboard pattern (not sure why).

I am worried that the growth pattern will continue and after every mowing, I'll have patches grow again quickly while others barely grow. It does not look good.

I am hoping this is a temporary situation that will quickly resolve itself and would like your thoughts.

I haven't contacted the contractor yet because I want to know the scoop first in case this is something that could require significant effort on his part to resolve the right way.

Featured Answer

User

8 years ago

If the grass blades look the same and are roughly the same color (the faster-growing blades may be darker green), then the situation may resolve itself. If, for instance, one is thick-bladed and the other very fine, there's definitely a problem.

Depending on the sod farm, the sod may have been fed closer to harvest than the other one was, resulting in a differing growth rate. That should settle down within six weeks or so.

Different grasses never will settle down.

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Comments (9)

aegis1000
8 years ago
I don't know why the contractor would lay a checkerboard pattern either.

I would contact him and inform him of your wishes (replace the least desirable variety of sod ... or redistribute it so that there won't be such contrast between the (2) varieties). Maybe one set in front and the other in back ? Time is of the essence because you don't want to wait until the sod roots ...
h00sierdaddy thanked aegis1000
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dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
If it was grasses that spread then the checkerboard pattern makes sense as the different grasses would mingle more quickly. If, though, he got Marathon I (a dwarf fescue hybrid) from one farm and Marathon II or III (more dwarf hybrids), those will never look good and especially not good in a checkerboard pattern.
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h00sierdaddy
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I do not recall the type of grass. Here are some pics. These are at almost 3 weeks from install. The sod from one of the sources is virtually not growing and has dead spots on the edges and within from time of install.
dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
Do you live in Indiana? If so I would apply an organic fertilizer any time now and apply a chemical fertilizer at half the bag rate after the second time you mow the tall grass this year. That is going to be a little early in the year, hence the half rate. That should give you a common starting point for the grasses to respond to. If they don't match soon after that, then you have different grasses.
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h00sierdaddy
Original Author
8 years ago
I'm in AZ and my main concern is not letting this go on to where the contractor could start blaming other factors than his selection of sod. I haven't reached out to him yet because I wanted to get opinions from 3rd parties in order to recognize if his proposed solution is not a good one for the customer.
dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
Where in AZ. If it is not Flagstaff, or elsewhere in the mountains, then you have the wrong grass altogether.
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h00sierdaddy
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Its Phoenix. Why do you say its the wrong grass?

I'm waiting for the contractor to tell me how he wants to fix this.
h00sierdaddy
Original Author
8 years ago
Just found out by calling sod companies that sod is a perennial that is only green in the summer so they over-seed the sod sold in the winter with rye. So the grass that is of different heights now, in theory, should all die when summer rolls around and the perennial grass wakes up and takes over.

So I must have two different strains of rye and will have no idea if the perennial grass is the same or healthy until warm weather.

I'm guessing the fact that the pictures are of rye is why dchall cryptically posted that its the wrong kind of grass.