Sod is a quick and easy option to establish your new lawn in Michigan. Complete with pre-grown lush green grass, you will have a beautiful lawn immediately. However, unlike a normal lawn, it isn't fully established yet and shouldn't be mowed for the first time until at least two weeks after installation. Once it's ready for mowing, cut back on watering the day before to give it a chance to firm up, and set your mower to the highest setting to reduce the risk of stressing out your grass. Then, mow your sod!

Is your sod ready to be mowed for the first time?

Installed sod in St. Clair Shores, MI.

While your sod will look like a normal lawn upon installation, it isn't fully established like one; its roots haven't developed and begun to grow into the soil yet. The first two weeks after installation is when your sod is most fragile and will need time to establish. After the two-week mark, you can test your sod and see if it's ready to be mowed! To do this, gently tug on the sod. If it feels anchored to the ground, then the roots have established themselves in the soil and you can go ahead with mowing. However, if it lifts up, then you will need to wait longer for the roots to establish before mowing.

While it will take your sod about two weeks to start developing shallow roots, it will take about six weeks to have a strong root system and be completely established.

Stop Watering Your Sod the Day Before You Plan to Mow

You have concluded that your sod is rooted enough to mow, so what now? Your next step should be to stop watering it the day before you plan to mow so it can firm up. Because sod needs plenty of water to encourage root establishment, it will be soft and if you don't let it firm up, you could sink down into it while mowing. Cutting back on watering will the day before you mow will allow it to firm up so it will be able to withstand the weight of the mower.

Set your mower to the highest setting to prevent stressing out your grass.

A push mower in new sodded lawn in New Baltimore, MI.

Although your sod is established enough to mow for the first time, it's still weak. You can prevent stressing out your grass by mowing on the highest setting to avoid cutting off too much. You should never mow more than 1/3 of the grass blade; the 1/3 rule is essential to follow when mowing your sod for the first time. If you keep this in mind, your sod will have no trouble enduring its first mow!

Be sure to check if your mower blades are sharp! Dull blades can tear and rip the grass, stressing out and damaging your new sod.

Do you want to install new sod or mow it for the first time? Sign up for our sod installation or lawn mowing service!

At Big Lakes Lawncare, we are dedicated to providing a great customer experience. With hundreds of reviews as proof, we provide exceptional services that deliver the results we promise; we guarantee your satisfaction, or you get your money back! We offer a sod installation service so you can establish your new lawn, and we use Kentucky bluegrass so it will thrive in the Michigan climate. If you already have sod installed, we can help you mow it for the first time with our lawn mowing service.

We offer our services to residential, commercial, and HOA properties in and around Macomb, Shelby, and Chesterfield, MI. Call us today at (586) 200-0855 to sign up for any of our services.