Question
In July my dad put down new sod in our front lawn. He tilled top soil which seemed fine enough to put sod on. Then he put fertilizer under the new sod, put the sod down, and rolled it. We watered the lawn like crazy but it about 6 weeks later and our lawn has brown patches in it and some of the root of the sod appear to not have take at all. (i.e. i can still see the corners of some of the sod) Is there anything we can do to save our grass now or in the spring? Thanks for your time.

Answer
Hi, Una - This is a sad story indeed.  But not unusual at all.  It's hard to sod a lawn in July.  Not impossible.  Almost impossible.

You say the topsoil "seemed fine enough" - but your dad did not really know because he did not have a soil analysis.  This is not making mudpies, but many people treat it that way.  This is really a very grownup, exacting science, turfgrassgrowing.  And if you don't have great soil, you can never have great grass.

The worst thing here is that your dad sounds like he really worked hard to do it right.

Unfortunately, when growing any kind of grass, if you miss anything, you usually end up like this.

Which really is not so awful.  Because there are patches - is this correct? - but there is a lot of rooted grass?  Please confirm.

That sod MUST make contact with the soil.

Does the soil in your area tend to have a high clay content?  Is drainage a problem people bring up frequently?  If the topsoil is not draining properly, the roots of the sod will never be able to penetrate the soil because they will never be strong enough.  Goodbye, sod!

It's hard to correct unprepared topsoil at this point.  But if the sod is not attached, you might give it a shot anyway.  Lift the areas that are not taking root, and till in humus, compost and pelletized lime.  

Smooth with a rake, and water the topsoil, watching to make sure you know that the drainage is good.  

In sections that are already brown, fix the soil, and quickly replace the old brown sod with good green sod.  At this point your sod does not need Nitrogen.  It needs Phosphorous, to build up roots.  Bone meal will inject Phosphorous into the soil, it won't burn the roots, and it will be good for your grass.  

Avoid sand, which will basically turn clay into cement.

Keep the soil moist - but not wet.  You don't want to write again about Fungus attacks on your new sod.

This is prime grassgrowing season, Una.  The best time of year to put sod down for a new lawn.  If you spend the next few weeks showering your lawn with love, you may just pull off a lawn this summer.  Good luck, and be sure to keep me posted.