# chrismar's Side Yard Rehab (2016)



## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

_Moving this over from the "other site". Hope that's ok!_

*Post from August 25, 2016:*

Last year (2015) I renovated the main and side of my front yard. Some of you may recall that the side yard was a huge mess of "cement water" and gravel from the installation a pool and fence. You might also recall that it was very compacted. I raked up as much of the gravel and "cement water" as I could, and cultivated the entire area about 2" deep with a mantis to relieve some of the compaction. It all worked, and my kbg did germinate and eventually start to take off, albeit at a slower pace than the main yard.

Fast forward to April of this year. We had a ~2,000 SF paver patio put in around the pool and a bunch of landscaping to go with it. The side yard was the staging area for the pavers and heavy equipment (bobcat & backhoe). The side yard was once again destroyed. :banghead:

After the pavers and landscaping jobs were completed in early/mid-May I threw down a pound or two of my remaining KBG (without any tenacity) and hoped for the best, knowing it probably wouldn't turn out that well. Obviously it didn't. I ended up with some KBG, but mostly a salad bar of crabgrass, oxalis, spurge, maybe some stiltgrass and who knows what else.

So, instead of killing it and renovating that area again, I figured let's test KBG's spreading ability and the triangle approach!

Here's where we are today:

*Area at Large (August 2016)*
(maybe) You can see to the right and top-right where the grass was unaffected and things are doing pretty well.









*Area Closeups (August 2016)*


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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

*Original Post: August 25, 2016*

*Weed Closeups (August 2016)*


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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

*Original Post: August 25, 2016*

*This is what I started with (the concrete water, gravel, compaction, yada yada yada) (July 2015):*



































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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

*Original Post: August 25, 2016*

*After cultivation, pre-reno seed down (August 2015)*









*Seed Down (August 2015)*









*Post reno, pre-April 2016 patio*
(don't mind the bare spots, doh!)


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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

*Original Post: August 25, 2016*

*What I've done so far*
I've put down two applications of Bayer Advanced Weed Lawn Weed and Crabgrass Killer (2,4-D, quinclorac & dicamba), once in June and again in July. It got some of the broadleaf's, but the crabgrass laughed in it's face. Probably because it was too big.

Yesterday (August 24th) I put down some prodiamine. The goal being that whenever the nasties do die (either via me/herbicide or frost) that they don't come back.

*The Plan*
More weed killer. I've got Drive XLR8 (quinclorac) in my sights. But I think for now I'm just gonna use the remaining Bayer Advanced I have (another 32 oz concentrate). I'll probably hit it sometime labor day weekend and then again 2 weeks later. Once the weeds are (mostly) gone I'm hoping the aggressive fall nitrogen regimen will help the KBG accelerate to fill in those bare spots. Next spring more prodiamine to keep the nasties at bay. All told, I'm hoping by this time next year it'll be like it never happened.


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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

*June 16, 2017 Update*

I've spent the better part of the spring attacking the weeds heavily. I've been living the triangle life and hitting the broadleafs with a 3-way, the woody stuff (clover, ivy, etc) with triclopyr and the sedges with sulfentrazone. It's been working fantastically and the kbg is happy to fill in the bare spots. It's even quite clear in the pictures how well things have been going! I'm thinking it might even be filled in by the end if this season!

Pictures!

*General area (biggest problem area is to the leftish near the walkway and driveway):*









*Some top downs... little weeds remain:*


















*Some nutsedge in this one, but you can really see where the KBG is spreading and filling in towards the middle:*


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Amazing stuff chrismar! That is why KBG is awesome! Oh and give yourself some credit for all the hard work! :thumbsup:


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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

Pete1313 said:


> Amazing stuff chrismar! That is why KBG is awesome! Oh and give yourself some credit for all the hard work! :thumbsup:


Thanks for putting them side-by-side like that!

In all honesty, it hasn't been much work. I mix each herbicide a gallon at a time in old milk jugs (kept in the shed). I then keep a $1 store spray bottle filled with each product in the garage (easier access than the shed) and walk around with each one every week or two.


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

Nice!!!


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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

*Spring 2018 Update*

The triangle approach and proper feeding are working. Way, way less weed pressure this spring and the KBG is filling in nicely. A few areas are thin, but I expect them to fill in and thicken up as the season goes on.


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## kevreh (Apr 3, 2018)

Wow what a turn around! Did you get that crushed gravel out of there?


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## chrismar (May 25, 2017)

kevreh said:


> Wow what a turn around! Did you get that crushed gravel out of there?


Nope! I got out what I could, which wasn't that much. The rest I tilled/cultivated to help relieve some of the compaction. Most of it's still in the soil in one form of another, though... not that you could tell!


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