Question
We live in Northeast Illinois and had sod laid in our backyard Sept. 10. We watered faithfully and about 4 weeks ago, we noticed our sod to have a rusty look to it, not to mention, we have not had to cut the backyard because it has not grown. We had a company who fertilizes our front lawn look at it and they said it was because it wasn't laid correctly? The landscapers worked very hard putting the sod down, how could this be? The landscaper said that it is rust disease, however, all the article I read about rust disease say that there is a powder associated with this - we don't have any powder. Do you have any suggestions? Can the sod be saved? We payed $2400!  Thank you, Christine

Answer
I'd say you have a bit of an emergency here, Christine.

Get your Illinois Cooperative Extension (http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state/index.html) on the phone and run over TODAY with a sample of that grass for their expert diagnosis.

I am sending you to them because nothing I tell you will be the kind of message you can use for legal action.

Meanwhile, here's a page that describes the problem they are citing, posted by the Kansas State Dept of Pathology (http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/path-ext/factSheets/Turf/RustDiseasesOfTurfgrasses2.asp) and written by Ned Tisserat, an expert on plant diseases.  They include closeup photos of Rust (Puccinia) on a variety of lawn grasses.

With respect to the hard work you observed when the landscapers were laying down the sod, it's hard to believe they haven't done this kind of work enough to do it perfectly.  I mean, soil preparation requires a lot of sweat, muscle and machines.  But if you don't do it right, the sod won't root and the grass will die.

When people with new sod fail, it's usually because they didn't babysit the sod after it went down.  It looks good, so they figure, What could go wrong?

If the amount of moisture going down on the grass is excessive, the roots will die from lack of oxygen.  People with automatic sprinkler systems that turn on in the middle of the night are asking for this kind of trouble because the cool night air, excessive moisture and darkness add up to perfect fungus conditions.

Penn State (http://turfgrassmanagement.psu.edu/turfdis8.cfm#RUST) makes some excellent statements about managing Rust in the lawn: "In general, rust diseases do not kill turfgrasses, but may weaken them to the point that they become more susceptible to stress-related problems."

And they add: "Fungicides are used only as a last resort; one or two sprays applied after the onset of symptoms usually will suffice."

We could study this problem for a month on the internet; you can try to diagnose it yourself; or you can look at that whopping $2-plus K bill they socked you with, and find out what the local university professionals say is the problem.

Please don't forget to let me know.  If it is a fungus, I can tell you everything you need to do to get rid of it.  Without fungus-causing chemicals.

Thanks for writing and good luck with the Extension Service.