Be sure to water the sod thoroughly immediately after laying and occasionally during the winter if we have an open, windy winter. Proper soil preparation is critical for successful sod establishment, so prepare the soil as you would for seeding. Some root growth will occur during the winter depending on soil temperatures, so apply a starter fertilizer prior to sodding. However, sod laid during the winter will not root significantly until spring, so plan on irrigating the area in spring and throughout most of the summer. Drive from BASF is labeled for application within 4 weeks after turf seedling emergence.
Drive is effective as a postemergence product but has little preemergence activity.
However, Drive also controls a variety of broadleaf weeds. Dimension is also labeled for application within 4 weeks after seedling emergence and will control crabgrass both pre and postemergence. Drive is more effective on larger crabgrass than Dimension, whereas Dimension is more effective on smaller crabgrass than Drive, and its preemergence activity is a plus. Be sure to follow the label restrictions for most effective and safest control. To help turf areas continue to fill-in during spring and summer, it is important to provide adequate nitrogen.