How to successfully plant grass sod

[connda]

I planted an area of my yard with grass sod.  It's a thick blade grass like Bermuda grass.  Unlike sod in the US that I've planted/laid before, this sod has virtually no root or rhizome structure.  Sod in the US always had about 1/4 to 1/3 inch of root and soil attached to the grass.  Not here. 
So I've basically have a thin layer of grass without much root and no soil attached.  That's what I laid out in the yard.
First turned the soil, raked it even, watered, put down the sod, compacted it, and watered again.  I've been regularly watering it ever since but - it's basically all turning brown and I'm guess will not root.

So - what's the trick for laying this local grass sod?  I'm at a loss.

 

[JWRC]

It took me a couple of years to get this right and I can only tell you what I did. The grass was the same as yours, basically no root, so in the end and on about the 3rd attempt, I didn't try and roll it out, just cut it up and laid the bits with roots onto nice wet raked soil Kept it nice and moist and in no time at all it took off and spread and then joined up to the other bits and in about 3 months I had a good finish. Now is a good time to plant with it being the wet season. Just try not to let it dry out too much.

 

It stands to reason that  the bits without roots are going to die off anyhow, what you have in the picture will grow and spread if kept well watered, I would try and rake out the dead bits.

[Samuel Smith]

When I did mine, in the dry season, I watered it so much that the ground was waterlogged.  Worked.  Maybe you didn't water it enough?  The "malay" grass you have does spread out, so as long as some is still alive you should be ok.  Water the hell out of it ???? 

[Pilotman]

We bought our house some 4 years ago. I have not done a whole lot to what is a fairly large garden area yet, other than keep down the natural growth of what is there,  as I am yet undecided on a final design.  One thing I do not want is grass.  Reading all the posts on TV , it's just too chancy to try and in any event, I didn't leave a well tended lawn garden in the UK to reproduce it here in Thailand.  I think a well thought out design, using rocks, boulders, water features, trees, big and small, local bush plants and tropical flowering plants can be much easier to cultivate and give that real tropical feel that I am looking for.  Grass is definitely out as far as I am concerned.  All personal choice of course and of course, this adds nothing to the OP's question, for which I apologise. 

[djayz]

When I laid our lawn a few years back, the wife persuaded me to add sand to the soil before laying the sod. After the sod was laid, I had to walk it in (i.e. press it into the sand/soil mix). Low and behold, the sod took first time! Try spreading some sand the next time you try it. 

As others have said, it must be kept moist in order to encourage root growth.

Now, I have a lush green lawn ????Good luck. 

[cooked]

15 hours ago, djayz said:

When I laid our lawn a few years back, the wife persuaded me to add sand to the soil before laying the sod. After the sod was laid, I had to walk it in (i.e. press it into the sand/soil mix). Low and behold, the sod took first time! Try spreading some sand the next time you try it. 

As others have said, it must be kept moist in order to encourage root growth.

Now, I have a lush green lawn ????Good luck. 

Yup, that's the way you're supposed to do it. A roller (concrete pipe) would help, and judicious watering.

[grollies]

5 hours ago, cooked said:

Yup, that's the way you're supposed to do it. A roller (concrete pipe) would help, and judicious watering.

Seconded. I flattened mine with wooden planks plus my weight.

[djayz]

One of the few simple things in life that I absolutely love is walking barefoot across the lawn. 

[Samuel Smith]

8 minutes ago, djayz said:

One of the few simple things in life that I absolutely love is walking barefoot across the lawn. 

Until you stand on a scorpion, or a centipede or a nest of those tiny red ants ???? 

[chickenslegs]

I have found that the broad leaf grass does not grow well in direct sun, but prefers shade. For exposed areas the narrow leaf is best (IME).

 

Also, when first laying turfs, giving water in the evening, or even in the dark, is best as the combination of water and sunshine can burn the grass.

[oldwelshman]

Dont forget to spread and mix chicken shit with sand and bags of DIN ie soil before laying.

[connda]

16 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

I have found that the broad leaf grass does not grow well in direct sun, but prefers shade. For exposed areas the narrow leaf is best (IME).

Thanks.  That's good to know.  So I'll update considering you mentioned that.

I'm about a week into it after planting.  Interesting enough, the grass that is the most shaded during the day is doing the best.  
I've checked and the greenest grass has sunk roots into the ground.  Having check the brown grass that seems to be the most exposed to the sun, even within the mostly dead grass there are still turfs of green that have sunk roots.
So as soon have mentioned - I do 'water the hell out of it' keeping it watered three to four times a day and really concentrating of those dry patches in order to coax those green shoots to grow.  I think it's just time now.  I'm not planning to rake off the dead grass as this whole exercise is to keep the weeds that like to choke the garden to a minimum and replace them with a uniform layer of grass.  However, now that chickenlegs mentioned it, I'll probably buy some narrow leaf grass to put in the most direct sunlit areas.  This was my first experiment to see how it would work.  I've still got more dirt that I want to cover in the garden.  So, thanks for all the suggestions! This is a good start.

[MartiniMan]

Dont fight nature - take a look at the wild its lush and green and thick 

 

All the import grass is a scam its sold at a high price then dies and they sell you again - check how they grow it - semi indoors with hydro or constant mist spray in totally abnormal conditions thats why it dies in the midday heat

 

You just need to let natural grass seed in your area - so grow wild borders just let it get very wild and go to seed once grass seeds it gets tufts on the top now you just go around and run your thumb and finger through that head and get around 100+ seeds per time its abundant

now just throw that seed over your ground 

 

Add sand and dolomite lime to the area and some spaghnum pete moss if you can

Also feed with epsom salt and do not use any lawn fertiliser at all it is not needed

Every few weeks stab the ground to air it just stab randomly around and leave a hose on mist in the midday

After around 1 month you can just try a first cut - you need a lawn mower

once the first cut is done you should have a uniform lawn begin and now you can start to give some feed

What's best is use the first cuttings when fresh steeped in a bucket of water then spray that back over

Rake it and cut again after 2 weeks you can add sand and rice husks for strength

Try to do this during rainy season and it should be hardy enough to last all year

Do not use a import grass because that is for a foreign country and will just be a pain in the neck use the local grasses and cultivate with nature - because nature knows best

All foreign grass will be a huge labour to love because it wants much lower temps and less harsh sun but you will see the local grass just loves it.

It makes me laugh often in thailand you see expensive resorts with terrible lawns then next door the wild wilderness is lush green and over growing... and they paid a small fortune getting that import grass redone every few years ????????

[Samuel Smith]

No problems with the broad leaved malay grass in the sun all day on my lawn.

[CGW]

Keep it wet as stated, wife & I laid about an acre, mainly thin bladed grass, some Malay grass in shaded areas, though - again, as stated, it tolerates sun and drought well once established. Some of the black soil sprinkled around doesn't hurt, so little nutrition in the ground here.