It is probably too late for you to get the builder to lay more sod.

Your situation sounds like what we had happen in our first new home in No. VA where clay is the norm. Our builder layed sod in June during a very hot and dry spell. Before we closed, I went to the house and ran above ground sprinklers to try and keep it alive. Some made it - but a lot died. I wound up putting in a sprinkler system and then planted my own grass. My lawn always looked "Augusta-like".

Your approach to spread dirt and seed is the right one. Do yourslef a favor and get the very best grass seed you can - check out Lesco (now John Deer landscapes). I have seeded over 2 acres of rocky soil in my new house - some loam and some clay - with their seed and I have the best yard I have ever had and with no sprinkler system. We live in the Blueridge Mtns and when people visit they cannot believe how good the lawn looks. I owe the Garden forum experts a lot for their great advise.

Post on the Garden forum under lawns and ask what the best seed is for your area. I learned from them that Teamates Plus - which is a mix of mostly fescue but also has perenial rye and some bluegrass - is very good for the mid-atlantic region.

When you seed, put straw (not hay) over the top to protect the seeds. I never used to do this but found that it really works. I also like to use the starter fertlizer also sold by Lesco. Water short but frequenctly initially to keep that seed moist (maybe 3 times per day for 10 minuutes: early AM, mid day, and evening sprits). The Teamates grass seed is simply magic - rye pops after 5-7 days, fescue within 2 weeks or so. And very high germination rates. The big box seeds have a lot of inert material and lower germination rates.

I have found that if you can get your grass established with deep roots you really don't need a sprinkler system - but it is very nice to have one. After a year or two you can back off on the watering to maybe once every 3rd or 4th day with a single deep watering. If you water too much the roots won't grow deep enough and when drought comes a lot will die.

A few other lessons I have learned:

1) cut the grass as high as possible - especially in the summer. I cut mine at 3.5 to 4 inches. In the summer when the heat comes, you want to protect the roots from burning and the tall grass will do that. If you are in a drought or dry spell - don't cut the grass. If you do cut, wait after a good rain or a cool spell.

2) Bag your grass in early spring and late fall, mulch at all other times. You can mulch when the night temperatures are consistently above 55 degrees and that will allow the grass clippings to break down quickly and put nutrients from the cut grass back into the ground. If you don't bag when the night temps are below 55, the grass will clump and choke out your lawn, thatch will get too thick.

3) fertilze in fall, not in spring. The only food i give my grass is in late spring when I use another Lesco product called Momentum weed and feed. This stuff is the best weed control product I have ever used and takes out clover and dandy's with ease. If you feed in spring, you promote top growth but not root growth - and you will have to cut the grass more frequently. If you feed in fall (mid-late October) - you promote deep root growth which is what you want.

4) Use the garden lawn forum - best lawn advise around.

Good luck

Thanks, Sniffdog!

I have browsed the Garden forums and will definitely be spending some time on the lawn forum, especially as fall gets nearer and it's time to do something about the grass.

When you planted seed on the failed portion of your original sod, did you rip up the sod first?

Our backyard, which was seeded, looks better than most of our front, sodded, yard. I over-seeded the bare spots late last fall (because Blder seeded in late Aug. and had some die-out spots), but evidently it came up okay this spring. Thankfully, we put irrigation in back, too.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendations. I will check out Lesco......

Tracey

With enough water, clay is not a problem. In fact, fescue loves clay once established. Clay is a much maligned moisture and nutrient retainer.

Your sod is likely dying because of fungus. You need to put a fungicide down. I am having the same issue where sod is more sensitive to fungus. I'm not sure why that is but it is definitely true this year.

I am on my second treatment with fungicide this year. You really should start when the evenings get warm - like mid May. Much of your grass my come back after the fungicide kicks in.

Generally watering every day is not needed. Avoid watering at night because it encourages fungus (this is a debated topic). I definitely think watering daily encourages fungus.

I guess it can't help to try the fungicide. Thanks, David.

Yeah, I know watering every day isn't good; however, now that I've been watering it every other day, it does look a bit better. I just wonder if I tried to make it go too long between waterings too soon? I guess I need to stop thinking of the sod like I did in IL. There, it would've been fairly well established by the following summer.

It'd also look better if I got rid of some weeds, but with these temps and fragile lawn, I'm afraid that a broadleaf herbicide might stress it too much.

Hate to wish away summer, but I can't wait for fall!

Thanks guys.

I know you probably meant "can't hurt" but I just wanted to reiterate. I am staring at my backyard right now that we sodded the first 15 feet or so and seeded the rest - 2 years ago.

The strip of sod now looks almost as good as the seed after the fungicide I put down 2 weeks ago. Then it looked as if the sod was dead. You certainly can lose sod from fungus but you can also make what looks dead come back to life.

I have never heard anywhere that sod (even 2 years old) is more sensitive to fungus but it certainly is in my case. Maybe it is a different variety of fescue. It came from supersod which is the largest distributor in the area.

Good luck but don't wait too long.....

LOL...yes, David--that's what I meant. Guess I should actually use the preview function.

I see we have fungicide in the garage, but it's a hose-end sprayer container. Our lawn is SO big that I can't reach a lot of it with any of the hoses we have around the house. I'll have to pick up a different kind that I can use in a back-pack sprayer.

Thanks.