# Romangorilla's Lawn Adventure - Belmont, NC



## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Ok, so I'm finally taking the plunge and creating my own lawn journal.
My wife and I moved into this house Sept 2017. We spent the first year as homeowners doing work on the inside. (New floors, new paint, new appliances etc.)
The yard was an absolute salad bar. Some common Bermuda mixed with every weed known to man. This is a picture that was used on Zillow when we bought the house:



So after a year as a homeowner and some time around July 2018, I discovered the YouTube DIY Lawn care professionals. I realized that I enjoyed being in the lawn way too much. Here is me just putting down some starter fertilizer on the Bermuda/weeds. I also got rid of the box woods next to the house and tried to spruce up the landscaping around the mailbox.
Lol try not to laugh:



Fast forward to September 2018, and I'm now obsessed with lawn care. I got rid of the pine needles for black mulch, and decided to do my first ever lawn renovation. I bought some perennial Ryegrass and threw it down so I could have some green grass through the winter. I killed off the front, seeded the PRG, added starter fert, and covered with peat moss. Now it's getting serious:









I really enjoyed dominating my neighbors through the winter. But I knew the PRG would never survive a Carolina summer. So here is where the real work began.
Around May 1st, I sprayed the Ryegrass with a several rounds of glyphosate and let it sit for about 20 days. Then rented a sod cutter and got everything up so I could have a blank slate.



With 2500 sqft of nothing but dirt, I was ready to go. It's May 25th, and I sprayed the dirt with RGS, AIR8, & microgreen. Then on May 28th I put down the Princess 77 seed, along with starter fert, and a double dose of Milo. Then I covered it all with peat moss. Watered it in and let the waiting begin.

After 4 days of watering 20 mins every 2 hours, I begin to see some germination.

IT'S ALIVE!



The next week or so, is just me sticking to that same watering schedule and documenting the progress.







At about this point, the worry sets in.
The P77 germinated pretty well, but the blades begin to turn purple and growth of the blade has almost completely stopped. 
I reached out to this site and some experts on here helped re-assure me that this is a common characteristic of P77. It germinates quickly and then kind of sits there for a while. 
At the advice of @Greendoc I added a balanced fertilizer (20-20-20) at 1# per 1000 and the purple blade issue cleared right up.
Now, we're back in business and at about the 3 week mark, the grass is ready for the first mow. I used a rotary for the first few cuts.



At about the 1 month mark, I decide to cut with the GM1000 and the quality of cut is night and day. Once I began to cut with the reel mower, the Bermuda started to thicken up nicely.





At 6 weeks, I put down another round of fert at 1# per 1000.
At this point, crabgrass and spurge are beginning to take over.
To help with the crabgrass, I spot sprayed Quinclorac at the recommended rate....it left some burn spots in a few areas in the yard, but overall the yard is looking pretty well.





On July 10th, I added some chelated liquid iron and another round of RGS, Air8, Humic Acid, and Microgreen. I'm also cutting every other day with the GM1000 at 3/4 HOC.


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## Bmossin (May 31, 2018)

That looks great. Awesome job.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Great job on the Reno!!!

Lawn looks awesome!


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Thanks fellas.
I just put down some MSM to help tackle the spurge issue.
Fingers crossed that it knocks it out and doesn't stress the turf too bad.
I'm also aiming at putting down some PGR sometime in the next couple weeks to see how it does.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

I have spot sprayed my crabgrass with Quinclorac as well and it's working but you do get those burn marks as well.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

@ENC_Lawn yeah it appears the P77 is pretty sensitive to it.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

July 25th update:

Removed the stone border around the baby Red Maple tree. Went with a live edge and planted some Zinnia annuals. Having the stone border was becoming a problem with the GM1000.

Fresh mow at 3/4" HOC.
Put down RGS and Humic acid in preparation for the potential aeration and topdress/leveling with sand this Saturday.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Romangorilla said:


> July 25th update:
> 
> Removed the stone border around the baby Red Maple tree. Went with a live edge and planted some Zinnia annuals. Having the stone border was becoming a problem with the GM1000.
> 
> ...


Looking REEL good!!!

Lawn is looking awesome!!!

Great job!


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Quick update:

Was able to aerate then rake up all the cores and put down my first round of PGR on 7/27. Then went on Vacation for a week.

I hope to put some sand down and do some leveling this coming weekend when the PGR wears off.

The turf took a pretty good beating thanks to the aerator and then me raking up all the cores. I did passes in 3 different directions just to ensure I tried to relieve my compaction issue.

The PGR is amazing stuff.
I used T-Nex at the lowest recommended dosage since it was my first time.
The turf has responded well with a thick and dark green appearance.
I have only cut it once in the last 1.5 weeks and I cut at 3/4" with greensmower. I usually cut it every other day.
Definitely recommend PGR.
By looking at the turf from a few feet away, you can't tell that it's riddled with dime sized holes.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Romangorilla said:


> Quick update:
> 
> Was able to aerate then rake up all the cores and put down my first round of PGR on 7/27. Then went on Vacation for a week.
> 
> ...


Wow...that's awesome...only having to cut it once in 1.5 weeks.

I like the 3/4 HOC as well as the deeper green color! :thumbup:


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

@ENC_Lawn, I'm convinced that PGR is pure magic. No one can tell me otherwise. lol
And yeah I'm with you, in my opinion, the P77 seems to look best at 3/4. But my yard won't really let me take it any lower until I do some leveling.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

August 22nd Update:

The Toro GM had a drum drive belt snap, so I had to use a rotary for about week or so while I waited on a replacement belt.
During this time the shortest I could cut was about 1.25"....and it was killing me.
So as soon as the belt came I put it on and went at it.
Since the grass was so long, I scalped it down to 3/8", and then re-set the HOC to 1/2".
I think the P77 is handling the low HOC pretty well, but the color at 3/4" is a lot better IMO.
It could be the turf is still trying to recover from the scalp, so we shall see.

I also just sprayed some Prodiamine to get a jump on the fall pre-em.


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## clbphllps (Aug 20, 2019)

Wow, looks great. You know your stuff. How do you get away with peat moss on the seed? I would've figured it would make the soil too acidic, especially given so much clay.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Thanks. I had some timely help from @ENC_Lawn & @Greendoc when I was going through the reno process.
And I use peat moss because my soil PH is actually somewhat Alkaline. Right now the PH is somewhere around 7.1. So for me, the peat moss is perfect. But honestly, and I could be wrong, the benefits that peat moss provides such as keeping seeds moist for germination, and erosion control, far outweigh the potential effects of a slight PH change.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Update 9/23:

It's been awhile and I just want to unpack everything that has gone on for my own record keeping purposes.

The early part of August, the lawn kept looking "scalped" after each mow no matter how much I watered or how well I fertilized.
After reading some posts on here about the same thing occurring in other lawns, it appeared that around this time of year, a Bermuda lawn needs to be thinned out.
So I rented an overseeder from Home Depot and verticut the lawn on 9/2. I was pretty tough on the lawn. Did 4 passes just to make sure I pulled out all the dead material under the canopy. I then bagged it all up with the rotary. I wish I took pictures of the clippings afterwards. It was amazing. It was nothing but dead material.

But after the verticut on 9/2, the lawn looked terrible and I wondered if I had made a mistake since it's pretty late in the season.
So after one week post verticut, I put down .25 per 1000 of nitrogen to give it a little boost.
The picture below is the lawn just 2 weeks after the heavy verticut.
It looks better than ever.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Romangorilla

Deep green...and the lawn density looks great!

Nice job!


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Quick Update 11/12:

Since this is my first year with this P77 Bermuda, I decided to not over-seed with PRG. And due to an unseasonably warm fall, the Bermuda held on longer than I thought it would.
WE HAD OUR HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR IN OCTOBER!
But now... just 30 days removed from the hottest day of the year we had our first freeze. And just a few days ago, we had back to back nights of sub freezing temps. The Bermuda is all but dormant at the moment.
I stopped cutting with the reel about a month ago and let grow to just over an inch and have been using the rotary on the lowest setting.
The P77 fought hard, but Mother Nature and Father Time are undefeated.


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## Backyard Soldier (Jul 29, 2019)

are you Charlie by any chance? If so...its Frankie (bought your TC).


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Backyard Soldier said:


> are you Charlie by any chance? If so...its Frankie (bought your TC).


Hey man! Yep, it sure is. 
Small world isn't it? 
I hope the Tru-Cut has been useful for you. I miss that thing. Just for scalping and spring clean up.
How's that Baroness treating you? You still like it?


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## Backyard Soldier (Jul 29, 2019)

haha...it sure is...I sort of wondered why that lawn looked familiar 

yeah man...loving the Baroness...im def keeping the TC for the grunt stuff...its come in handy for that already. also for edging since I can get closer to smaller areas too.


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

Hi guys, I'm also in Charlotte. Do you have a source for the Screamin Green? The local Site One carry anything worth going for?

That lawn is looking great! Unfortunately, I don't have enough sun for any Bermuda varieties. Zoysia is holding strong, though!


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

@Gilley11 , sorry for leaving you hanging. But to answer your question about screaming green, no I do not. I hope your Reno is going well.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

3/10 - 
I was able to scalp the front yard down to .25". The turf was sitting around 1.25" over the winter so I had to do multiple scalps. Did .75, the .5, and then lastly .25". Used the GM1000 with the grass basket for all of it.
She needs to green up soon! It felt way too good breaking out the GM1000.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

About 1.5 weeks post scalp:
It's greening up well.
Can't wait to do some aerating and sand leveling in a month or so.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Lawn looks good to me.

Where are the light green areas you where talking about?


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

@ENC_Lawn In the picture above it's mainly in the right side of the lawn. Here is a close up:
Not sure if you can tell in the pic though.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I have the same light green areas that are new growth after I scalped and leveled. Where I have seen it, it usually greens up in a day or two.  Have you put anything down yet?


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Yeah...I don't know the answer but I bet it works itself out once it has a week or two of good growth.

When I first seeded Princess 77 that's about the same color I looked when it first started growing...once it had grown for a while it was then a darker green color.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

4-1-2020
The lawn has almost completely greened up.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Did those lime green spots resolve themselves?


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## Jairow (Nov 12, 2019)

This is a great journal! I've learned a lot by going through it. Thanks for posting it.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

@Redtwin first thanks for the info up above. I really appreciate it. And so to answer your question, yes and no.
Some of the spots of lighter green turf have turned darker green but there are plenty of new spots (mainly in one area) that keep generating the light green leaf blade.
I haven't given it a heavy dose of nitrogen yet, due to the reel mower being in the shop for another week.
When I get the mower back, I'll have to scalp again to bring the HOC back down, then I'll finally fertilize.
I'm hoping in doing that, that will straighten this situation out.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

@Jairow thank you.
Happy to help. I had a lot of help from enc_lawn and greendoc when I was doing my Reno.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Greening on up and looking good!!!  :thumbup:


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Update (4/29):

I have decided to try and maintain the P77 Bermuda at 3/8". So far it's done pretty well. It lacks that dark green color you get at a higher cut like 3/4". But going sub 1/2" is way too addicting. Lol



And during this quarantine, I also replaced the mailbox. Out with the old, in with the new. My wife picked it out, and although, I wasn't on board with the design, I must confess it looks a lot better than what we had.


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## ChiTX2015 (Mar 2, 2020)

@Romangorilla Looking good. I agree when I drop the height low its hard to get the dark green look. I know some people still do it. I think I might try some Iron and see if I see how it goes.


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## ChiTX2015 (Mar 2, 2020)

@Romangorilla Could you share what sort of fert you applied so far? I'm at around 5/8" but my lawn is not greening up as your lawn has.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

ChiTX2015 said:


> @Romangorilla Could you share what sort of fert you applied so far? I'm at around 5/8" but my lawn is not greening up as your lawn has.


I have been using "Turf Nectar 15-0-0 with 6% Iron". I really like the stuff. It's a liquid so it's easy to mix and spray.
About late March, I applied some 17-17-17 since my soil test showed I was low in those areas.


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## ChiTX2015 (Mar 2, 2020)

Romangorilla said:


> ChiTX2015 said:
> 
> 
> > @Romangorilla Could you share what sort of fert you applied so far? I'm at around 5/8" but my lawn is not greening up as your lawn has.
> ...


Nice. Not sure I can get those in TX. May need to look into it.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Romangorilla Lawn is looking really...really good! :thumbup:


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

ENC_Lawn said:


> @Romangorilla Lawn is looking really...really good! :thumbup:


Thank you very much.
How's your Lawn looking so far?


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Romangorilla said:


> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> > @Romangorilla Lawn is looking really...really good! :thumbup:
> ...


Finally starting to green up pretty good...I still have some areas I want to work on where various weeds have died off and the Bermuda hasn't taken over in those areas yet.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Fresh mow at 3/8".

The turf is still pretty thin. I think if we could get a few days in the high 80's it would make the P77 take off.


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Update:

Fresh mow.
I had to move the HOC up to 1/2". BELOW 1/2" JUST DOESN'T LOOK GOOD FOR P77. Lol I need to come to terms with that.
Putting this in all caps so when I look back at my journal next spring, I'll see this and remember to not go below 1/2" unless it's for a scalp.

Due to all the rain, I have had a ton of issues with fungus. First large patch and now dollar spot.

Hopefully the warm, dry weather will help sort it out.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Romangorilla Looking good!

Nice stripes as well. :thumbup:


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Fresh mid day mow.
HOC 5/8

Fungus is starting to dissipate and starting to get that dark green look again.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Romangorilla Looking real green!!! :thumbup:

Nice checkerboard stripes as well! :nod:


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Thanks@ENC_Lawn

Quick update:

Put down some CarbonX at .5 per M about a week ago.
I really like this stuff. The turf is starting to darken up.

HOC 5/8"


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@Romangorilla

Your lawn looks fantastic!

Nice work!!!


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## Benwag (May 28, 2020)

Color looking great, that 5/8 hoc looks like the sweet spot


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## Romangorilla (Jun 3, 2019)

Update:

I performed a Good old fashion HOC reset 8 days ago. The turf was beginning to get "puffy".

I scalped it down to 3/8" and bagged everything. Then applied some CarbonX fertilizer at .5LB per M.
Then watered like crazy.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic right after the scalp. I wished I would've.

But here it 3 days post scalp:



And here it is present day, 8 days post scalp, HOC is 5/8":


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## Bmossin (May 31, 2018)

Spot on with the diamonds. Like a baseball field.


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