Question
Hello I live in Winnipeg, Canada, and last weekend I had new sod put down. The sod arrived early Friday morning on 12 pallets which sat in the shade until 6:30 the following morning when the crew arrived to lay it. I would say that about 1/3 of the sod pieces are now completely brown. (total of 700 yds). When laying the sod many pieces were quite warm. I have a sprinkler system which was turned on immediately after sodding. Here are my questions.
1) do I go back to the sod farm and ask for a sod replacement because of bad sod or was it my fault that I let it sit for a day.
2) I fertilized the soil prior to placing the sod, I over seeded with a general Scotts seeds mix, I spread more top soil over the dead spots. Will the grass rebound or do I rip them up and replace.
3) as the back yard is 50% shady do I continue to over seed with a good quality shade mix. If so which seed do you recommend. The supernova blue grass I read about is not sold here.

Answer
Sorry to hear your sad Sod story.  For future reference: NEVER let Sod sit around.  N-E-V-E-R NEVER.

Now, I have to know, did you schedule the delivery of the Sod for the day BEFORE the Sodlayers were going to put it down?

That's forgivable.  You should not have done that, but it is forgivable.

BUT....

If SOMEONE ELSE contracted all this for you, they should uit their day job!  And if the 'Sod Crew' told you they would come the next fday, I want to know: Why did the Sod Crew NOT know the basic rule about laying Sod, which is, lay it IMMEDIATELY?  What kind of professional lets expensive Sod sit around on a pallet in the middle of the Summer for an entire day?  

OK, as a New Yorker, maybe I am getting a little over-steamed about this.  Maybe it's the Summer heat.  Maybe I'm still mad at Scotts.  But if this was not your own oversight, frankly I just don't see why we pay people to throw our money out the window like that.  If I was filling my tank up with gas at the gas station at a full service pump, and the guy filled up the wrong car, what would I do?  I'd make the guy fill my tank up with the gas I paid for.  If I filled up someone else's car, of course, then the gas is history.  And if you get Sod delivered on a Summer morning -- 12 Pallets, you say??? Holy Toleeeeedo!

I'm afraid you may have to eat the mistake, too.  I don't care if it's RAINING the day the Sod is delivered.  Sod goes down NOW.  Period.

If this is not your fault, my friend, get a photo.  Please.  Even your superduper sprinkler system won't change that rule.

I do hope this was not your fault.  But if it was, I regret to tell you that I wish you had written FIRST.

Meantime, you are doing what you reasonably can.  Fertilizer - good work.  Overseeding - nice try, but the seed will need to make contact with soil, and I don't know how much soil your Sod will get in the way of before it decomposes.

Your Scotts overseeding is done with the best of intentions, but it will only work you put down enough topsoil topdressing to support new Grass roots.  This 'general' Scotts seeds mix can actually be a nice selection; Scotts has been known to scoop up rights to some pretty cutting edge Seed from the top Grass breeding labs.  Your autosprinklers will keep your Seed moist, which is terrific.  This could even turn out to be the nicest part of your Lawn.  But like I said, only if there's a good substantial topsoil layer for the roots to grow into.  To accelerate decomposition of lost Sod, pick up a bottle of organic thatch decomposer -- a bottle of bacteria and Fungi that will wake up and start eating away at the chitin and complex carbohydrates that make up Grass roots and stems.  It won't kill anything but it will keep your Earthworms happy while transforming spent sod into rich Humus.

A slow release Nitrogen fertilizer (preferably organic, which helps microbes thrive, and that's what you want down there) will keep the baby Grass happy.

Now let's go over to your Shady situation in the back yard.

'Supernova' as you know is an awesome new Bluegrass variety.  It's also one of the most expensive Grasses ever brought to market.  The patent will run out in a dozen years or so and then it will be nice and cheap.  Meantime, this stuff is incredible.  Maybe too costly for a backyard, anyway.  Because you ALSO want a Grass that you can run around on in the back yard, yes?  You want to BBQ back there, you want to play Frisbee, you want to sit around and not worry that the Grass is screaming every time you take a step.

So maybe Supernova isn't for you, anyway.  Maybe there's other Grasses that may be better for you.

Science has done some great things with Grass these past few years.  As long as you're not talking about Trees here, you have other choices.

The Gardens Alive! website (www.gardensalive.com) has a proprietary Ahade-tolerant grass that you might be successful with.  Fine Fescue is considered the best Grass for shade.  And while it's not traffic tolerant, it's incredibly drought-tolerant.

I don't have to tell you that whatever you do to the Grass it should be chemical-free.  Beware of all the stuff on the market that tells you how safe it is and how you can practically eat the stuff after 3 days.  It's not true.  They just have not proved that in court yet.  But they will.  Eventually.  You don't want to be "Exhibit No. 325" for the prosecution in that lawsuit.

There's another reason to push the non-Chemical system here:  Shaded Grass is vulnerable to all kinds of Fungus attacks.  An Organic program will help to balance bad Fungus by supporting natural controls that you don't even know are down there.  It doesn't kill anything good. Those 'natural controls' will be decimated if you apply one of those Fungicides that wipes your Grass clean and destroys all microbial life underfoot.

Mow high to maximize leaf surface of the grass blades.  Water in the morning to allow for evaporation and avoid a setup for Fungus.

And when you fertilize, do it at half rate.  Grass growing in shaded areas only needs two-thirds the Nitrogen of your front-yard Grass growing in full sun.  An excessive dose of Nitrogen will stretch leaves and make them susceptible to Fungus spores -- which by the way are ALWAYS down there waiting to seize the day.  Don't panic; most Fungi are BENEFICIAL.

A couple of blue slate stepping stones will help humans keep off the Grass and minimize the footsteps that stress turf.

Less water is needed for shady Grass.  Even less for Fine Fescue.  Water less, but water deep -- and ONLY when ABSOLUTELY NEEDED.  Frequent, light sprinklings will only increase your odds of catching an ugly turfgrass disease.

I hope the new week arrived with better news about your Sod.  If not, give these solutions your best shot, and please keep in touch.