# Thenenk's Oregon Lawn



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Starting a thread for my lawn as today I decided to glyphosate the entire front yard.

Plan was to spot kill and overseed/seed repair. But after looking through the lawn today to respray (2nd app of glyphosate) I found a lot more red fescue than I had noticed before and decided to blanket spray as I am planting PRG.

Hoping for the best!

Seed blend is Barenbrug RPR so I'm looking forward to testing this as many forum members have brought it up.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

At seed down I applied 3lbs/m starter fertilizer, and 5 lbs/m Humic acid. Second blanket coat of glyphosate was mixed with 1 cup of table sugar and applied after first watering while the grass was still wet, hoping to assist the breakdown of organic material in the soil.

I did not weigh my seed but it was somewhere between 7-10 lbs . Front yard is just over 1000sq/ft


----------



## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Good luck, seed looks good, and our weather here over the next week is going to be great for seeding now. I glypho'd a few weeks ago and put my seed down today hoping for the best. I'm trying KBG though so wanted to get down as early as possible since we cool down considerably in October.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

FuzzeWuzze said:


> Good luck, seed looks good, and our weather here over the next week is going to be great for seeding now. I glypho'd a few weeks ago and put my seed down today hoping for the best. I'm trying KBG though so wanted to get down as early as possible since we cool down considerably in October.


Yes in need to stay on top of watering this coming week, we have some days over 80 but I think this is going to work out. I should have enough time to get it well established.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Got my irrigation programmed for 6/10/2/6 at 8 minute cycles during germination, temps are a little high but I think this will provide plenty of water for the seed. 


Doubting my glyphosate at the look of this but I know I got good coverage.


----------



## Trextoddrund (Jul 26, 2019)

Hey,
looking forward to seeing some GOOD results!..


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Came home last night to realize my sprinklers did not go during the day. &#128545;


----------



## Trextoddrund (Jul 26, 2019)

Doooooooooooohhhhhhhh!
Start the timer over ( Germination countdown ) :-( 
Sorry to hear that, bummer for sure!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Day 5 since seed down, no visible germination yet.

I did remove this root that was sticking up from my maple tree, forgot to do it at seed down.

Glyphosate effects are starting to show and the grass has not really been growing since last Saturday.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

8 days after seed down and glyphosate, some germination starting but hard to see any new grass blades in this dead grass. The kill off looks good at this point. Will apply a few more pounds of seed and the remaining starter fert ~3lbs today.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Soil is looking good, got some mushrooms fruiting now. Also can see some of the new grass coming up! Applied more grass seed and second app of starter fert as well as 5 lbs of Humic.


----------



## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Curious where you found that Barenburg mix locally? I may use it to overseed my back yard this year.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

FuzzeWuzze said:


> Curious where you found that Barenburg mix locally? I may use it to overseed my back yard this year.


Wilbur Ellis is a Barenbrug distributor, they are a fertilizer/ seed supplier for Oregon farmers. You have to call them and ask for the specific seed and find one of their locations that does retail sales. I had to drive to Albany. But this seed is stocked in their Wilsonville warehouse. So they had to transfer it for me, took a few days.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

My wife says she feels embarrassed of our yard now that it's mostly dead  I'm so excited for what this is going to look like when it grows in!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Rain in the forecast for today! For some reason it makes me so happy that I can turn off the irrigation for a day.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)




----------



## Trextoddrund (Jul 26, 2019)

Hey man,
Yaaaa that little bit of rain was a nice change here in our Willamette valley!  
Was just checking out your latest posts, looks like it's coming along.. Keep posting the progress pics! :thumbup: 
I just had my 8 weeks since seeding reminder.. So far the Pacific NW seed blend is looking really good / dark green!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Here's some progress pics, midday it's hard to see the new grass since I did not remove the existing turf, but these pics show my baby rye.

Hard to tell if I need more seed at this point I may wait a few more days till I can really see if I have some spots without new growth.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

It's also only 5 days since my second application of seed. So I may get some more germination over the weekend.


----------



## Trextoddrund (Jul 26, 2019)

Ohhhh YAAAAA, it's coming in for sure! Just keep pouring the water to it! Haahahahaaaaa ( I had a $230 water bill last month! Uuuuuuuuggghhhhhh ) Did you see the HIGH heat warning today and mainly tomorrow.? 100 tomorrow


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Yes it's crazy but I have been watering a lot. Was getting discouraged but realized I planted some plugs at the same time as second seed app and they are just starting to germinate.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)




----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Trextoddrund said:


> Ohhhh YAAAAA, it's coming in for sure! Just keep pouring the water to it! Haahahahaaaaa ( I had a $230 water bill last month! Uuuuuuuuggghhhhhh ) Did you see the HIGH heat warning today and mainly tomorrow.? 100 tomorrow


Good news is once it starts raining we will turn off the water for most of the year!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Cut grass today, still have faith that more new grass is coming but will probably be a few more days until I can see it poking up over the dead material. I think the sugar I sprayed helped in breaking down some of the thatch layer. Going to apply more with my first foliage feed and see just how much of this dead material will break down naturally.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

This is day 12?

I think you should grab a rock rake (or any hard rigid rake) and break up the grass layer in the front by the sprinkler. Then drop more seeds there and stomp on them.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

g-man said:


> This is day 12?
> 
> I think you should grab a rock rake (or any hard rigid rake) and break up the grass layer in the front by the sprinkler. Then drop more seeds there and stomp on them.


Yeah G man I may have to do more seed. I'm going to give it another day since today is another 100 degree forecast. But I may just rent a slice seeder. Will do some close inspection today and post pics.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Rained last night and this morning, nice change from the hot past two days. I did some close inspection and even in the worst spots I still have some germination. This weekend I may get a slice seeder and get more seed seed down.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Progress pic


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Ok I'm going to rake this out today and put more seed...


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

That was a lot of work.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Progress photo. Plenty of germination still to come, and more seed down today.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Wonderful rainy days! Will have irrigation turned off for a total of about 5 days. Will be planning on doing a cut on the new grass next weekend.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)




----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Close up is of the corner above.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

It's coming in!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Backyard update pic, this really filled in this season. It grows super slow due to shade from the house but it's pretty dense, I may buy a reel mower for this side next year.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

One day after second cut and liquid starter fert with root stimulator.

Little weeds popping up need to spend some time pulling this week.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Lots of rain lately, hoping for another dry day to feed again and get a cut in. No leaves falling yet but that will be a major pain for a few weeks once it starts to keep them off the new grass


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Cut and fertilizer this weekend, looking green.

Several bare spots that will need the plugs I grew will need to get those in this week


----------



## jabopy (Nov 24, 2018)

Took a while ! but it's looking good now. :thumbup: I think I'll try growing some tray plugs, it looks a good idea.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

jabopy said:


> Took a while ! but it's looking good now. :thumbup: I think I'll try growing some tray plugs, it looks a good idea.


Yes it's been a trial and error Reno. But we are looking pretty solid at this point. I'll post pics of my transplanting when I get to it this week. Trying to get this lawn sorted as much as I can before my vacation next week.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Some plugs I placed in a few bare spots. If this works it will be interesting to see if it spreads.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Apart from the problem areas I have pretty nice density with the Reno, this was cut yesterday at the lowest setting on my rotary slightly more than an inch.

The flatness of the lawn overall has diminished from the weeks of watering, definitely some soil has shifted. Next year will need some sand.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Curious how this regenerating rye will respond to frequent mowing, I assume it will spread faster with frequent low mowing, but will be interesting to see how it performs.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Late season update, all the leaves are done, looking forward to next year!


----------



## Ballistic (Mar 19, 2018)

Nice progression in a pretty short time.

Also good to see another person from Oregon on here.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Thanks @Ballistic !


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Giving my mower as a Christmas gift to my brother in law who bought his first house... so mower shopping next year!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Winter weeding...


----------



## Powhatan (Dec 15, 2017)

Thenenk said:


> Winter weeding...


Very nice job. That's nitrogen for your compost pile. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Nice salad bowl! It must feel good to get those suckers!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Chris LI said:


> Nice salad bowl! It must feel good to get those suckers!


Oh yes it feels great! I also raked some dead material out and used the leaf blower, looks pretty good for January. Will post a pic on the next sunny day


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

:thumbup:


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Odd but we had a little burst of growth on the front lawn over the past week. I did rake the whole thing very good a couple weeks ago.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)




----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

:thumbup: 
It's always nice to see the beginning of the season greenup kickoff. The edges of the grass panel bordering pavement greenup a little earlier, since the concrete/asphalt holds the sun's heat. It'll only be a little longer until the middle of that field greens up!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Ordered manual reel mower today (7 blade version)


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

...just in time to take the top off the luscious green spots, for your first mow! :mrgreen:


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Chris LI said:


> ...just in time to take the top off the luscious green spots, for your first mow! :mrgreen:


Yes! I'm very excited to kick it off this year, looking for a gas powered reel mower but will be scanning craigslist for that. excited to start reel mowing for sure.


----------



## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

Let us know how you like that manual reel mower, I've been looking for a decent used one but there aren't many around me so I'll probably have to buy new!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

kds said:


> Let us know how you like that manual reel mower, I've been looking for a decent used one but there aren't many around me so I'll probably have to buy new!


I will update as soon as I get it! Was supposed to get here yesterday, but now I guess is delayed. Hoping for a dry day when it shows up.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Got some help putting the 7 blade reel mower today


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Did a first mow with it at 1.25" HOC. Pretty smooth, will need to go in multiple directions for sure, but I intend to do daily mowing if possible so it should kee a nice cut.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)




----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

1.25 looked pretty uneven, so I dropped to 1 inch HOC in pic above.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Threw some moss out (iron) on a few patches of moss. Mostly in the back yard. Finished off a bag of Humic as well just for fun. A lot more thatch than I was expecting, need to get a thatch rake.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Liquid iron and seeding some plugs. Sunny day but to wet to mow.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Mower the tops off again today, slowly growing. Green color coming in fairly even.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Looking good for last but of winter here, the frost just melted off this morning. This week I fed some overseeding and in the bare spots covered with Pete moss.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Root growth stimulator and a spoon feed today! Letting it grow out a touch before mowing.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Been a busy season, have needed to update for a while.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Color update, some darker green coming in, need to get some more liquid fert.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Long time since update lol! Unemployment makes for better grass!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Been a while since I've posted, very good time of year for perennial rye!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

After a long hiatus I'm back on the journal. My front lawn has suffered from some bad heat stress this year, partially from a water restriction we had for about a month. I also have some significant thatch issues in some areas. My thatcher will not solve this problem alone. After many passes and a lot of material removed I sprayed some liquid nitrogen and sugar to hopefully help break down some of this but will order some dethatch and start using it regularly. Not going to kill what's left but have a couple pounds of midnight KBG I'm pre germinating (on day 4 )


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Overseed done today with midnight kbg pre germinated for 6 days. Mixed the seed with a mag of milorganite and half a bag of granulated humic. Almost had enough peat moss to cover so it will be interesting to see if the uncovered portion has much of a difference. Now it's time to water and wait!


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Glad to see you back! It will be interesting to see how the kbg seed does with an established prg lawn.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Here's how it looks after first day of watering, the surviving grass is bright green from all the fertilizer.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Chris LI said:


> Glad to see you back! It will be interesting to see how the kbg seed does with an established prg lawn.


Thanks Chris! Yeah it's going to be successful I hope. Now is when I doubt if I pre germinated the seed correctly… but water and wait.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Not seeing much baby grass yet, but the rye looks amazing.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

I know I need to be patient, midnight could take 3 weeks to germinate, I did soak for 6 days but still don't need to panic. This is just day 10 since those seeds first hit the water.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Germination!


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

11 days after the overseed. 18 days from the start of soaking the seeds. Just got back from a family trip for the last 5 days and luckily my sprinklers did their job. Think I used enough seed? Haha it's going to be too thick… need to decide if I go swardman or allet with a cartridge to thin this out multiple times next year.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Set my reel mower to the lowest possible setting and gave the front yard the first cut since overseed. Took three passes to get through it since the rye was so long.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Mowed again the second day, I'm entertaining the idea of daily mowing for the rest of the season.

It's almost smooth enough, but can be better, I picked up 4x50 lb bags of play sand yesterday to make some micro adjustments it will need to be gentle on this new grass.

You can see the color difference between the existing rye and the new kbg. Seems to be successful so far.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Most of the high spots I'm hitting are where the thatch is the worst, tonight I sprayed 6 oz of molasses in one gallon of water over the lawn and watered it in. Also reduced the sprinkler schedule tomorrow to 3 times a day eliminating one watering.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Ordered PGR for the first time. Excited to see how this stuff works, will probably wait until it show up to use it.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

My conveyor roller came in the mail today! Gave the grass another cut, I've been able to keep up with daily mowing. Just applied some liquid AS today as well.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Progress pic from daily mowing. Decent color all around but you can see some dark spots which are the thatch problem areas. First pic is a close up of one of those areas.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Yesterday I used two 50 lb bags of play sand to lightly dust the low spots in the lawn. Planning to repeat this after another week of letting it settle in to not put too much sand down at once.


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Applied PGR for the first time today. Started low at .1 oz for my 1000 sq ft lawn. We will see what happens in the morning


----------



## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

Progress pic after iron and PGR.


----------

