I should have addressed the new sod watering issue. With new sod all you need to do is keep the soil under the sod moist. Moist means not dry and not soggy. If you have normal sprinklers that likely means you'll need to water for 5 to 10 minutes, three times per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Do that for about 2 weeks and then try to lift a piece of sod up away from the soil. If it seems to be rooted, that's perfect. If not continue the shallow frequent watering. Assuming it has knit down to the ground, then it is time to back off on the frequency and go up on the duration of watering. With such shallow roots you cannot do deep and infrequent watering yet. I would go to 30 minutes once a day to get the water penetrating deeper. If it ever seems soggy, then delay watering a day or two until it does not seem soggy. Every couple of weeks you can adjust back on the frequency and up on the duration. My oscillator sprinkler takes 8 full hours to apply 1 inch of water, so there is a lot of flexibility in making these adjustments. For St Augustine I would think you could be doing deep and infrequent by this summer.
Q
