Sod installation includes the watering instructions. It does not include a technician who stays at the house and runs the clock. Before the crew leaves, we walk you through how to water for the first two to three weeks so the roots take. After that, the zones, the hose, or the rain are yours. This page is those steps, taken from the way the job is already sold. It is not a minute-by-minute recipe, because the site does not publish one and the sand, the shade, and the irrigation on your lot are not the same as the lot next door.
The failure mode is simple. Most lots around here are sandy and fast-draining. New sod can dry out and die in a matter of days if the water is skipped. It does not fail because you missed a magic month. We install year-round. A dry stretch with no irrigation is the hard window. Summer roots faster when the water is actually running.
What you do in the first weeks
Keep the new sod watered for two to three weeks. The goal is roots moving into the grade we left, not a swamp and not a crack at every seam. On this sand, "set it and forget it" is how seams open. Check the lawn. If the pieces lift at the corner and the soil under them is dry, it needs water. If it is soupy and the seams are sitting in a puddle, it needs less, and the grade may be holding water in a spot we should know about.
Water in the morning rather than at night. That guidance is already how we talk about established lawns: sandy soil drains fast, and a lawn that sits wet overnight is an invitation to fungus. New sod is the same climate. Morning water gives the roots a drink and lets the surface dry. We are not a spray or fungicide company. Keeping the leaf wet all night is a problem you can avoid without hiring one.
Stay off it while the roots set. Kids and pets stay off for at least the first week. Regular foot traffic waits about two weeks of watering. Mowing waits until the grass is holding and has grown enough to cut at the right height, not until someone is tired of looking at it. A brand-new Floratam lawn that gets scalped in week two is a lawn we will be talking about again. The height, once you do mow, is 3.5 to 4 inches for St. Augustine.
Three weeks, without a minute chart
Week one, the pieces should not dry at the seams. Lift a corner in the morning. The soil underneath should be damp, not dust and not soup. If it is dust, water that day in the morning. If it is soup, skip a cycle and look at the grade, because a puddle against the slab is not "extra care." Kids, pets, and the mower stay off. Week two, the roots should be starting to hold when you tug a corner. Regular walking can begin around then if the watering has been real. Week three is when a careful first mow happens, at the height for that grass, not at the lowest deck setting because the lawn looks fluffy. St. Augustine is 3.5 to 4 inches. Taking it to the soil in week three undoes the install.
Rain counts, and it also lies. A half-inch overnight can carry a day. It does not carry a week of sun on sugar sand. A week of storms can keep the surface wet while the seams stay dry underneath if the water is running off a mound we did not intend. Look at the corner, not at the radar. We do not come back every morning to do that look unless the quote says we are there for another reason. The handoff is the point of this page. If you travel in the first three weeks, someone has to run the water. A neighbor, a timer you trust, or a delay of the install until you are home. New sod does not pause because the house is empty.
If you leave town, write the person who is watering a note that says morning, two to three weeks, stay off it, and call us if a corner is dust or soup. A timer nobody checked is how a new lawn dies while the app says the zone ran. We would rather delay the install a week than gamble the grass on an empty house. Say so when we quote it.
What Green Haven does, and what we do not
We pull the old material, grade away from the house, add topsoil where the sand will not hold water, lay the sod tight, and explain the water. We do not re-plumb irrigation, add zones, or move heads. If you do not have irrigation, say so before the install. A hose can carry a small yard through three weeks. A large yard in a dry week cannot be wished through. The estimate checklist asks irrigation yes or no for that reason.
We also do not promise the sod will paper over shade or a broken system. If a zone does not reach the back corner, that corner will die and the grass is not the cause. If the yard is dark all day, Floratam was the wrong plant. Fix the water, or choose a bed, before you blame the roll.
When the three weeks are done, the lawn goes onto a normal mowing schedule. Weekly in the wet season, slower when the weather cools. If you want that route, it is lawn mowing. If the sod itself still needs to be ordered, the job is sod installation.
Frequently asked
How long do I water new sod?
The first two to three weeks. That is how long the roots need to take in this sand. We install year-round. The sod fails when those weeks are dry, not because of the calendar month.
Do you stay and run the sprinklers?
No. We walk you through the schedule before we leave. Running the clock after that is the homeowner's job, unless we have agreed in writing to something else.
When can people walk on it?
Kids and pets stay off for the first week. Regular foot traffic waits about two weeks of watering.
Should I water at night?
Water in the morning. A lawn that sits wet overnight, on this sand and in this humidity, is how fungus gets invited. We do not treat fungus.
What if I do not have irrigation?
Tell us before the install. A small area can be hosed. A large area in a dry stretch cannot. New sod without any water plan is the job that fails.