# Biggy's lawn journal 2020



## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

3/15/20 - fixed up my 1600s, did a clean up mow at 1 1/16. Took some grass off but not much.

Plan for 3/17 - put down some pre tomorrow with the rain. If not, I'll just turn the sprinklers on.

Goals for 2020:

Level (done); install 3 new sprinkler heads (done).


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Put down prodiamine at 5 g/M, AMS at .2 lb N/M on reno area and SOP at 2 lb/M (since I know it needs this from last year).


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Got my rotary scissors. Came in a carboard box inside a cardboard box. Put it in the garage without even opening it. Sad times


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Mowed at .8, used rotary scissors for the first time (awesome tool), and somehow I have poa t in my reno. Never had it before in my yard so I'm pretty annoyed. Pulled a bunch and have a good size patch I'll gly on thursday (going to rain tomo).

Also, ordered 9 i20s to replace some rainbirds and add a few new ones.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Put down some calcitic lime at 20 lbs/M this morning in anticipation of about .1 to .2 inches of rain. Need to bump up my pH .5.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Got my i20s last night and I'll install them today. Spot treated some Poa T - I have no idea where it came from. Need to take some pics to of the yard since it's coming along nicely.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Pic from today's mow. 1st real mow of the year. Wondering when the stripes will show up :|


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Sprayed some FAS, replaced 3 rainbirds with pressure regulated check valve i20s (what a difference) (took some time since I had to order a couple fittings since NJ is getting hit with corona pretty hard), second round of gly on the poa triv and spent a lot of time playing with my young boys on the lawn.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Cut the front down to .6 inches today. Need to do some levelling this coming week/next week. Sprayed 2nd round of tenacity on the poa a in the back.

Bottom needs a dethatch, other spots are a water meter and I just dug up a sprinkler yesterday. Finally, some stripes in the lawn.

My boys wrestling/rolling down the lawn:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Did a dethatch on the bottom portion and got a bit of dead grass out; it looks a lot cleaner now. Cut this morning at .5 and put down Anuew this afternoon at a low rate. Looking to time the rebound effect with some leveling.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Close up golf ball pic::


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## Lobster Poutine (Apr 4, 2020)

looks great!


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## Kallgren (Nov 10, 2018)

It is looking very nice!


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

Nice! Are you using a reel?


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Thanks guys. Hard work paying off!

@ericgautier yes, a 1600.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Did an Easter mow at .5 in the front and .9 inches in the back.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I finally got around to running about 30 ft of piping to a previously non-maintained hell strip. Now, I have full coverage of my front! Dug up areas look like junk now but it needed to be done :|


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Mowed the back at 7/8. The reno areas are finally starting to take off and look much darker vs my other grass. Fed the reno with .25 lb N/M. Also put down SOP, humic, kelp, and Grubex. Spent an hour cleaning out my backyard 1600 carb and the stihl trimmer carb.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Mowed the front at 1/2 and the back at 7/8. I need to apply some PGR to the back. I was cutting way more than 1/3 off and my last cut was only 4 days ago. In some spots, it seemed like I was cutting 50% off, the clippings were huge.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Yesterday, 4/25: mowed the front and back at their respective heights. Asked my one son, 4 years old, what he prefers, 1/2 or 7/8, and he said shorter one. Gonna take the back down to 3/4 on Tuesday. I have some tree roots that need covering otherwise I'd go lower. Just dont feel like dealing with them until I level. 
Also, edged the beds, added some mulch and put some soil on a couple low spots.

Ordered a hori hori based on g-man's recommendation and a grease needle nozzle for one reel zerk I can't get to. Tomorrow's plan is to order 6 yards of sand for Friday delivery.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Cut the back at 3/4 tonight. Gonna go ahead and lower it more to about 10/16 on Friday/Saturday for leveling this weekend. Have 6 yards of sand coming!


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Did a quick mow at 1/2 on the front and 9/16 on the back.

Then, started the leveling:


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Are you back at it with the sand this morning or did you get it finished yesterday? Looking forward to more pics of this project over the next few weeks


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I got about 95% done today. I have about 1/2 yard left where I'll go over some spots in a week. It rained Thursday night with on/off showers on Friday so I was working with somewhat wet sand Friday.

Did about 3/4 inch irritation on all spots today after putting more down. Took a good 5 hrs to do the back with numerous beer breaks. :thumbup:

Here's a pic with one of my helpers. In exchange for helping he got tons of sand castles and cart rides to get more sand lol.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

My backyard 1600 started giving me some issues. When I engaged the reel, the drive drum wouldn't move. I compared it vs my front yard one and checked multiple items. Turned out to be a simple screw that was loose on the reel lever. Tightened it up and the issue went away. Decided I would finally take remove the wheel shafts too since I have nothing else to do today. Out came the torch and two wrenches. About 5 minutes per side with the torch and they came off very easy.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Just finished a cut at 3/4 on the back. Did 3/4 front and back and left catcher off due to recent topdressing.

Still a bit uneven in spots but I have some sand leftover for another round in a week or two. I'll upload some other pics once I get my wife's phone as I believe she took some pics of my craziness.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Some pics my wife took::


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

:thumbup: What brand of topdresser is that?


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

@Chris LI its called a "little bull." It worked great when I could use it but the problem with it is that the impeller is wheel propelled and sand is heavy so it was a pia to push. On my to do list is to mod some brackets and a sliding shelf to the inside so it releases the sand slower to the impeller. Should be awesome then.

Wife also gave me some lawn time today so did a 3/4 mow across the entire yard.

Got my weed knife today.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

^ +1 I use that knife s lot. Yesterday I planted annuals using it.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

@g-man I got it based on your recommendation!

Mowed the front today at 9/16 and my drum started making a weird rubbing noise - the gap between the two hubs also disappeared. After the mow was over, I flipped it upright and noticed all of the spokes in my left drum cracked! Now, my back yard mower gets its time to shine and mow the front until I can get a new drum, which may be awhile since I already blew my May budget, and half my June budget, on sand and some other parts 

Looks like it'll be cheaper to buy another mower - wife is going to love that idea :lol: 


Anybody know if the spokes are steel or aluminum? I know the drum itself is aluminum but I'm not sure about the internal spokes. Maybe I'll try welding it - what's the worst that can happen :roll:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Decided I'll take the drum apart tonight. First step, removing the covers. A 7/16 impact makes short work. Next, 1/2 socket to idler pulleys. Now, just slide the belts off.

Fun part, 1/2 impact between the drum pulleys to remove the shaft screws.

My broken drum. Gonna try to weld this back this weekend.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

That looks like cast aluminium.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Thanks, again, @g-man!

I'll be buying some bernzo alum rods and will try brazing it.

Since I'm still having the grass push through the sand I'm holding off on the pgr until Friday. As a result, I'm on an every other day mow, which I don't really mind. Today, I did a mow front/back at 10/16. I'm working my way back down to 1/2 and have zero issues with the roots in the back since I did the leveling. Additionally, I can now ride along my sidewalk in a certain area without issue or concern.

Since my one 1600 is out of commission, I figured this week would be a great time to do some cleaning/maintenance on it. I'm about 10 hours from an oil change but went ahead and did it today. I also did a thorough cleaning with purple power and APC. I'll spray some fluidfilm on the underside to prevent dirt/grass from sticking. On my working mower, I did a nice wipe down with APC.

Tomorrow's plan: Put down FAS and humic/kelp.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Put down azoxy + propi today. HOC is currently at .45 inches/11.5 mm. Noticed some scalping in a couple of places so not sure if I can take it much lower. I might push it to 9 just to see how it looks.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I put down anuew on the 6/6 @ .35/M(double earlier apps). Last cut before this was on the 9th and I think it helped out a bunch. Going to stick with that aven't posted for awhile but have been keeping up with the lawn. Raised hoc to 18 mm and the grass loves this hoc. I got 10 lbs of bewitched from SSS for a reno this August. I have about 1500 sq ft in the front I'll do and 3000 in the back. I'll keep the rest incase of a washout or I need to reseed some areas.

Sedges are popping up in my area and have a couple so I'll spray sedgehammer+ tomorrow.

Some unfiltered 10:30 am pics:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Did a nice relaxing cut this morning; HOC: 18 mm/.7 inches. Cleaned up the edges with the rotary scissors. Grass is looking real nice despite 90+ weather the past 2 days and a full week of it coming up. Clippings show zero signs that the grass is slowing down despite not using any fertilizer in over a month and I'm mowing every 2-3 days. Once it dips to low to mid 80s next week, I'll spray some urea at .25 N/M to feed it a bit. I put down azoxy/propi on Sunday along with humic and kelp. Zero signs of fungus/browning so far as I've been hitting targets for fungicide apps.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Did a quick cut of the front at 18 mm. Grass on the edges of the driveway is starting to brown a little so I adjusted my sprinklers to stay on them longer. We've had 1 inch of rain in the last 25 days and I think that might be an overstatement. Everybody else's grass is going dormant now.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Got a quick mow in before a t-storm came through . Browning on top pic from dogs pissing and bottom from sprinklers that weren't staying put. Changed my sprinklers on the 6/29 so that grass hasn't gone too dormant. Hoping to pull it out in time to gly it :lol:





Edit: Put down some old formula Ringer tonight. If I had to guess it was between .3 - .4 lbs N/M - I didn't measure since I was in a rush.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Ever since I installed this Ring camera, it's been a fantastic experience listening to people walk by saying "it's fake", "is that real", "it looks amazing" and seeing people rub it lol. Today, was a first though - a guy stopped in the middle of the road, left his car door open and walked around to rub the grass.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

I've been keeping an eye on your journal for awhile, and was waiting for an appropriate time to comment. Well, that photo is F-ing awesome! You bring a smile to all of us lawn nuts. Maybe, he will have the gumption to stop by when you're out there and you can recruit another lawn nut. Kudos on your pride and joy!


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## Mark B (May 30, 2019)

Biggylawns said:


> Ever since I installed this Ring camera, it's been a fantastic experience listening to people walk by saying "it's fake", "is that real", "it looks amazing" and seeing people rub it lol. Today, was a first though - a guy stopped in the middle of the road, left his car door open and walked around to rub the grass.


That is brilliant and so so funny!! :lol: 
I had just finished reading the depressing morning news and logged on to your update. Thanks for posting! :nod:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Haha thanks. I got a good laugh out of it too. I guess, like we do on this forum, once it gets good then we reno. Last night I was out front and was thinking to myself "the grass looks good, should I really reno it?" Today, out front detailing the car and looks awful to me hah. Since I don't have any weeds, I'm gonna skip 1/3 of the gly stages and have a later 1st gly date.

Edit: well, brought up the reno again since my FIL stopped by and the wife now won't let me do it since she wants to move and the grass "looks fine." Guess I'll be sitting it out this year, even though I have 10 lbs of bewitched, and losing germ % for next year


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Yesterday: Did a rotary mow and then a reel mow (had leaves and tree bark on the ground and didn't feel like picking them up). Applied Anuew at .25/M and Feature at 1.5/M. I'm noticing a couple spots with leaf spot so I'll hit them later tonight with some azoxy.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Did a cut at .7 before we get a tropical storm tomorrow. Also, waited on the azoxy until tonight. Put down slighlty more than a preventative rate since I noticed a couple dew webs this morning and we've been having high heat and high humidity. In the past, I've dealt with PB so hoping I get a break this year.



Wife picking up the remains of our flowers after a couple deer cleared them out. They also invited themselves over to eat our garden. Borrowed some bobbex from a friend and put that down while I wait on my bottle from amazon.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Some spots on my lawn are beginning to turn brown. I over-applied iron in a couple of spots + high heat = disaster. Heat index is 107* here at the moment and temps will stay in the upper 90s until Wed, then lower/mid 90s on Thursday. I'm letting the grass grow up to probably about 1 inch - today is day 4 without a cut. 8 pm tonight - heat index at 94*; 8 am tomorrow - heat index at 93. I'm planning to cut Tues am, when temps are heat index is low/mid 80s, which will be 6 days since last cut. :?


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Raised HOC to .99 inch since I don't want to go to the 1 inch mark :lol: . Temps in the upper 90s for the past week and haven't changed my irrigation schedule at all with no syringing. Grass is holding up pretty good and temps exposing some weak spots in my irrigation - almost entirely by the pavement.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Biggylawns how is the yard doing?


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Between my wife wanting to move over the winter (saying don't waste time/money on the grass) and pool and kid toys being left out for days, it's taken a beating. I had a good amount of fungus (pythium) that I tried to manage without chems - that was very unsuccessful. I've been hitting it with .25 N/m for about 2 weeks now (fall blitz) and put down some pre-em awhile ago since I'm not renoing it.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Lawn season is closing in on the end in NJ and all liquids have been packed up and moved out of the garage to the laundry room. I hit it with a mixed dose of 1.5 oz Feature, 2 oz FAS and .3 N/M urea on Sat. The grass really greened up within 2 days so I'm excited for tomorrow and Wednesday since we are getting rain! Since I'm planning to move over the winter, I more or less let the lawn operate on cruise control and in the process did not notice a couple of fungus issues until it was too late. As a result, I lost the title of best lawn in the neighborhood, and possibly down to 3rd place :sorry: However, I'm trying to get it back before year end for pride purposes. Also trying to push this KBG to fill some big spots that got hit with PB before Halloween and lower the HOC down from .55 to .35. I could not bite the bullet and buy mefe for the PB when we are really pushing to move over the winter and have no knowledge of how my new lawn will be. The only thing I do know is that I will be doing a full reno the first year. I'll take a couple pics for journal documentation tomo, Wed, or Thurs depending on the rain.

Edit:: pic added


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Cut it at .425 yday and .3 today. Looks to be filling in aggressively now. Spring sand project helped in a bunch of spots. Couldn't really feel the difference but when I was this low before the front roller was digging in spots; nothing today. I might take it down to .25 or lower end of this week depending on how it performs. After closer inspection of other two lawns that I deemed ahead of me I can unequivocally say best lawn in the neighborhood hah. High hoc was hiding a lot of weeds and bare spots. Also 2 landscapers touched the grass yday(wife was having garage sale so thats why they stopped). I still take that as a compliment since they see grass all day long. Trying to fill in bare spots close to pavement before end of Oct.

Edit: sprayed urea at .25 N/M and put down a bag of lime to ever so slighly raise the pH.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Did a nice cut yesterday afternoon. No leaves! Today, can't see the yard hah

Picture of how grass is doing at .3:


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