I'm happy to hear that the lack of prep by my sod installer can be corrected.

Here is a copy of the soil test I had done in the spring by Virginia Cooperative Extension. We are located in Alexandria, VA near Mount Vernon - which is the southern part of Alexandria near the Potomac River.

The installer recommended that I water heavily for the first three days - to the point of the sod being squishy. Because the soil had been exposed for a long time - through our very hot summer - I watered each area for an hour. Then he told me to cut back by about 40-50%. I then went to 30 minutes for a week and now only 15 min per area unless we've had rain.

I do have roots coming out of the sod but it has not yet attached to native soil.

I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks, dchall_san_antonio!

Okay we're all coming to your place next 4th of July. That's a beautiful area.

I am defs not the guy to listen to about soil chemistry, but I have read a lot of the test reviews here. See where it says Mg VH, that's the reason your soil might seem like clay. Magnesium salts soak up humidity and dew and holds on tightly. The CEC of 9.6 indicates you do not have significant clay. Clay bumps the CEC value up to more like 15-20. That high Mg value is what makes liming the soil a concern. You do not want to add any more magnesium to the soil, so ground or pulverized limestone is what you want. Read the bag carefully so avoid magnesium.

There are two things you can do to help your soil right away. Those are to apply all the organic matter you can and to spray with shampoo. If you have leaves falling in the yard, mow them into the new turf. You might have to make multiple passes to get the leaf pieces chopped fine enough to fall down into the turf. Keep at it. If you can steal your neighbors' bags of leaves, do that. There's no upper limit to this. Always mulch mow your lawn to add more organic matter. Grass is better than the tree leaves because it has protein in it. The idea is to provide food for the microbes living in the soil. If you want to add still more food, we like to use soybean meal, corn meal, corn gluten meal, alfalfa pellets, or any other ground up nut, bean, seed, or grain you can get cheap at your local feed store. The application rate is 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. There's nothing critical about the amount even if you double it. More is better in a way, because it lasts longer. The second thing is to spray with shampoo. Use any clear shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Generic baby shampoo or any clear dollar store shampoo is fine. Water that in deeply with 1/2 to 1 inch of water (or rain). The shampoo will reduce the surface tension of the water allowing it to penetrate much deeper than normal. Having moisture deeper in the soil provides the perfect environment to grow the population of beneficial fungi in the soil. These are the guys that will soften your soil every time it gets wet. I applied shampoo once in 2012 and it's still working.

Your installer's advice pretty good and a little bad. Between that and your interpretation there is room for improvement. Soggy is never needed, so that part wasn't great. The idea with new sod or seed is to keep the roots moist, and keep them from being drenched. They will not grow into dry soil nor will they grow into fully saturated soil. You only need enough moisture to keep the soil surface damp. I tell people to water 3x per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner times) for 5-10 minutes each time for the first 2-3 weeks. Then back off considerably on the frequency once the roots have knit into the soil. At the same time water longer to get water deeper into the soil. Most people feel a strong urge to water too frequently. Grass hates that. Here's more on watering once the sod has matured (next spring).

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

You are welcome to visit! George Washington's Mount Vernon has a very nice fireworks display. It is a beautiful area but we had a super hot summer. Phew...I was glad when it was over.

I do see what you are talking about where it says that the Mg is very high. I'm thrilled to know that this is something I can work with.

We have tons of leaves with more than a dozen old white oaks on our property. A couple of weeks ago I had my husband mulch about 20 bags of leaves and I now have a pile under tarp for use in beds, etc. (Last year he bagged over 150 large construction bags of leaves as yard waste, so no shortage of leaves.) We definitely don't need all of them, but we still have some leaves falling, so I'll put them to good use.

Since the sod hasn't fully attached to the native soil, I am concerned about mowing at all. I talked to a local large sod supplier this morning and he told me not to mow until spring. What are your thoughts about mowing?

Also, should I do the mulch application before or after the lime application (lime with no magnesium)? And how do I apply the clear shampoo without creating a huge sudsy mess?

Given that we are in late fall now, should I continue to water? I read your guidance but I just want to make sure.

At what point in the spring do I start watering? For instance, we will start to see warming in mid-to-late March and that's when we start to see early signs of spring.

Thanks again...much appreciated.

It's a little late in the fall for rooting. Not a problem as it should start rooting fine next spring. If you have sod on hillsides, you may want to use staples to hold it in place until it gets rooted. Are you willing to apply your own fertilizers and Lime?

Ridgerunner...thanks for the assurance. We don't have any sod on hillsides, so we should be ok there. Yes, we are willing to apply our own fertilizer and lime. At this point, I have been advised to go ahead with the lime (just make sure it's not the magnesium lime) and hold off on the fertilizing until spring.

Overall the grass looks pretty good but I do have a couple of areas that are starting to turn yellow. Not sure why would cause that. Should I fertilize those along with lime?

I know you are getting rain, but what are your temperatures now and for the next 3 weeks?

Over the next 15 days - Daytime temperatures in the low 40's to low 50's (only 2 days in the 50's out of the 15). Nighttime from mid-20's (1/2 of the next 15 in the 20's) to mid-30's. Does this help or do you need more detail?

If you don't get any rain from now until the temps warm into the 70s, then deep water monthly unless it's freezing.

That's getting a bit low for any real nitrogen uptake. It would do no harm to apply a "wineterizer" type fertilizer. Uncoated, fast release, a high percentage of WSN-water soluable nitrogen, but likely not much benefit. You have been given good advice on lime. You want calcitic lime not dolomitic. If you get pulverized or crushed, you want the highest mesh number you can get and as close to 100 calcium carbonate equivalent as you can find. If pulverized, you will want to use a drop spreader rather than a broadcast spreader.

Some unsolicited advice: You do want to get the pH up into the 6s, but 5.9 isn't a major problem by any means. Your potassium on the otherhand is quite low. I'd give potassium priority this fall. It plays a major roll in root health and growth and putting it down now will give it time to move down into the soil and for the salts to wash out before next spring. Potassium and lime should not be applied at the same time. There should be 3-4 weeks between adding them if you decide to do both. You want to find 0-0-50- potassium sulfate SOP. Avoid muriate of potash 0-0-60.

As far as application rates, I wouldn't apply more than 1# of potassium (2# of product) at any one time. I would also suggest that you apply no more than 50# of 100 cce lime before retesting. I wouldn't apply more than 25# of lime at one time.

dchall_san_antonio: when you say "unless it's freezing" - are you referring to the daytime temperatures or evening temperatures. We are already into freezing temperatures on some nights.

Ridgerunner: Thank you for the additional information regarding the right lime to purchase. And thank you for the information regarding the potassium. I will likely do both - I can alternate months. But you would suggest doing the potassium first and then follow with the lime?

Any thoughts from either of you regarding the yellowed portions of turf that I have? Someone I spoke to here that owns a sod farm said that he thought it might be due to the fact that that particularly area wasn't got missed when it was originally fertilized in the field.

Thanks again!

Ridgerunner : when you say no more than 1# of potassium - do you mean per 1000 sf? We have about 6000 SF of sod.

Am I going to have any luck finding these items at the big box stores or will I need to go to a nursery or garden store? Thanks!

Yes, 1# of potassium per 1000 sf. If you buy 0-0-50, the bag will contain 50% potassium, so you need to apply 2# of product to get 1# of potassium.

Big box stores will be no help except for a "winterizer." You may even need to buy on line if a garden or seed/feed store does not carry or cannot order it for you. There are some possible alternatives that could be easier to find, but they contain phosphorous which you do not need and many contain muriate of potash.

Although doing both this late in the fall shouldn't create any problems, I like to avoid hitting new seedlings or new sod (particularly unrooted) with too many amendments.

Great...thanks! I'm looking online now. I appreciate your help!

You should be able to find pelleted calcitic lime at a big box store, but it doesn't work as quickly or evenly as pulverized. It is easier to apply and you can use a broadcast spreader.