# DSC123 Lawn Journal (Maryland)



## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

We moved into a new house last September. I'm in Maryland, just outside the DC beltway, zone 7a. The grass is in pretty rough shape. Lots of bare spots and weeds.

It looks like I'll be spending a lot of time at home for the foreseeable future, so I might as well put it to good use. I'd really love to have a lush, green lawn.

Our property is just under a half acre, but only about 11k sq feet of grass.

Here's the street view:

[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pSqN5hbUC7LQkUmHbCJUaAhoaT41f486[/media]

There's quite a bit of moss along the left side that I'm going to kill this weekend. Not much I can do about the shade, but I did drop some lime to bring the PH up.

Here's a close up of the grass in front:
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nwGtbw7-6h6HGIeH25wUi2ZzOzej_ljy[/media]

I have a whole bunch of landscaping to figure out. I don't think I'll ever succesfully grow grass along the driveway. Those trees have a lot of surface roots. And I'd like to get a more defined edge along the right side. But I'll save that for another day.

Here's the backyard, a picture from each end, then the bit of side yard:

[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1q-_B2F4MeE_fmiNDzOfwxpkXhd1-xGrZ[/media]
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1p3AazPcdsW_dp1LH72pdTl1ho13OwVy7[/media]
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1m_PW7s9bIxZeGwSe1a9ePr2327W5YoJZ[/media]

I'm going to sacrifice this area to the playground and tree cover. Maybe lay down a border and fill it with wood chips or something.
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ogEqjiPDIOuQhxYz3UlZtVv-QtJHOf0Y[/media]

Some closeups of the grass/dirt:
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pqGzINU_Kx5qaYYSVQc6J6tJJzLep0i5[/media]
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pr0RtMR_AZ2MxZkfzCAqHbNr8KegR_CX[/media]
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1p4P7Oh6IvTlR1s2qK_VfO5vwWU_opo7K[/media]
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pjxwiXxdBEi-wuG1oc8oNlTkHpgzz_l4[/media]

Those purple flowers are spreading all over in both the back and front. I think its Periwinkle?

Obviously, a big issue I have is the tree cover. I have about a dozen large oak trees and a few others I couldn't name. The oaks drop tons of acorns, twigs, and leaves. I worry that the droppings will suffocate my grass, but its also a huge PITA to pick them all up.

I'll add my soil test results, what I've done so far, and my plan, in the next post.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Here's my soil test results:

[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HAzGqKsNu7Og91OtGxFG6g-w-HBJT_Tw[/media]
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pICVNy3mZjB5Lvj1pONm6fW19GFA6siA[/media]
[media]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iF5qaPwXd8WzBQ9sBq_zFcpi8XvYMY8S[/media]


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

A couple things about the soil test that I don't understand. It looks like it assumes that I am starting a new lawn from seed in the spring, with the first page telling me what to do when seeding, and the second telling me what to do when in the fall. Frankly, I collected the soil in October and then lost the kit and sent it in months later when I found it again. In October, I was thinking of nuking my lawn and starting over. I don't remember, but I might have put that on the paperwork.

Anyway, I'm not doing that now. So I'm trying to figure out what to do now, given these results.

I applied 1/2 the lime and then ran a dethatcher I rented on 3/22. A few days later I did 1/2 an application of dimension crab grass preventer.

As for the potash, I suppose I'll try to find some sulfate of potash and spread it around in the amounts listed on the soil report. Obviously, I'm not going to till it in, since I have some grass at least.

And here's my plan for the year:

4/11 - Fertilizer. I'm not totally sure what to use. I guess I'd look for something like 32-3-10, as suggested on the first page of the soil test report. Maybe this? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Scotts-Turf-Builder-14-06-lb-5-000-sq-ft-Southern-Lawn-Fertilizer-23405B/100619059 Most of the fertilizers I see with those X-X-X say its for the fall? And this one says its for southern lawns? This is gives me some pause. But to get 1# N per 1k sqft, I'd need about 3#/1k sq ft. And I planned to put 2/3 down on 4/11 and the rest around 5/2. So that works out 2# per 1k sq ft now.

4/18 - 2nd half of dimension.

5/2 - Fertilizer - 1# per 1k sq ft.

6/6 - Broad leaf post emergent.

7/4 - Insect control/summer fertilizer

7/11 - Second half of lime

8/15 - Fertilizer 24-0-11 per soil test, 30lb in front; 14 lbs in back.

9/5 - Aerate/overseed/starter fert

9/26 - Soil test.

10/3 - Fertilizer 24-0-11 per soil test, 30lb in front; 14 lbs in back.

11/14 - Winterize/lime if necessary.

A major impediment I have is that I don't have any irrigation. I'm trying to setup some sort of hose system that I can lay out and set up on a timer.

Any advice is appreciated!


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## Socks (Jul 26, 2019)

Your plan looks well thought out :thumbup: It can be difficult, but it's smart to follow good agricultural practices and get your soil as healthy as possible for your fall seeding.

Without irrigation, it is pretty much as simple as moving sprinklers and hoses around :lol: This is a good video for setup, obviously you have more lawn, but same principal. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TVNB55Z7qG8

Looking forward to seeing the progress!


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

To go back in time a bit, here's what the front looked like when we bought the house in mid-september 2019.







And the back yard.







I didn't have time to put any work into improving conditions that first fall.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

The April 2020 pics in the first post were after we trimmed some branches off the maple tree near the street and I put some time into preM, fert, mowing, weed killing in the early weeks of quarantine.

Throughout May and June I continued to put in some work. I mainly followed the LCN's cool season guide.

Added a new mailbox.



Tried to keep the grass watered with a couple impact sprinklers daisy chained around the back yard and this impact tripod in the front. As I've noted elsewhere, my watering rates are way too slow, but I'm going to live with that for now.



Took down the Holly tree on left side just in front of the house (not me personally).





Got a new "lawn" mower.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Aside from general weed control--creeping Charlie keeps coming back--the trouble spots are the right and left sides.

On the right, the grass doesn't quite grow to the edge. Its sloped, it gets muddy, and as a result, the automower gets stuck over there. 


I've moved the mower boundary to avoid getting stuck, which has let thr ivy creep in a bit. Ill try to plant some grass there this fall and if it doesn't take, I'll let the ivy come in a bit more and redefine the edge of the lawn to match where the grass will actually grow.

The other trouble spot is left. There's a lot of hard, bare, dirt below the trees. Lots of weeds, too.





The holly had some monkey grass around it, and the bare areas left by the tree have invited more weeds.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

The back yard is still a disaster. It greened up with lots of poa A, which then died off and appears to have been replaced with nimblewill?


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

And that brings us current.

I've been told that the White Oak at the top of the driveway, next to where the holly used to be, is blighted and will have to come down. I hope to have that done, and the stumps removed, by the end of the month.

At that point, I'd like to seed that entire area, down to the maple near the street. A lot of the green in between the trees is just nimblewill. This past weekend I sprayed glyphosate from the flowers down by the mailbox, all the way up to the house. I also did a broadcast spray of speedzone across the yard to knock out some of the creeping charlie.

Assuming the tree and stumps are gone, my plan is as follows:

8/29 - Scalp the areas where I sprayed glyphosate to get them as bare as possible. Continue addressing weeds.

9/5 - clean up debris in the back yard, spread 1/2" of compost, then aerate. Fill holes and ruts in the front yard with topsoil. Debating whether to spread topsoil or compost over the left side of the front yard. Will also aerate the front.

9/6 - Reseed bare spots and overseed lawn. Tenacity. Starter Fert. Peat moss over the bare spots.

9/7 - play golf.

Long term, I'm uncertain whether I'll ever get grass to grown along the left side of my front lawn. If this fails, I'll consider other landscaping options, but I really prefer a lawn.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Cut the grass relatively low. Cut the nuked area as low as mower would go.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

12 yards of topsoil/compost mix delivered just before labor day.



Picked up some seed from Newsom Seed. Winning Colors TTTF for the front and their shade mix of fine fescue for the back.





Picked up some peat moss for the back and slopemaster for the front.



Finally got someone out to gring a couple stumps.


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## Chief Brody (Aug 6, 2020)

Thanks for posting! I'm in Catonsville and really enjoy seeing other MD'ers projects. Newsom Seed is awesome.
Can't wait to see how your project turns out with the seed you chose!


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

I planned to do the whole job Labor Day weekend but it was way more work than I expected.

I cut the reno areas as low as possible then went over it with a garden rake to try and pull out as much dead stuff as possible. The soil is hard and rocky, but I got some help digging out the rocks







I expected to have big holes from the stumps, but they just filled it back in with the wood chips. So I tried to dog out a 6" depression or so and then filled that with topsoil/compost.



Rented an aerator and made a couple passes. What a PITA that was. I'm hiring that out next time, haha.



Spread some topsoil/compost.



Took me 3 days to get that far and I didn't even spread the dirt on the front yard.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Day after labor day i quit work a bit early and finished the back yard.

Threw down the seed, rolled, spread 3lb/1k of XST and 3lb/1k of cx diy.



Rolling was a pain. The dirt was moist and a lot of it clung to the roller.

Sprayed some air8 and RGS, too, but my sprayer wasn't working great. Tenacity instructions say not to use it on fine fescue, so I didn't.

Spread peat moss by hand on top. By that point it was dark outside and I was wearing a headlamp to see what I was doing. So no pics.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

2 days later the forecast called for 0.2" of rain. I measured 3" in my gorilla cart. Some flooding in the basement, nearby rivers overflowed and I saw videos of highways completely flooded up to the windows on stuck cars.

Luckily my back yard is somewhat flat, so i didn't get a big wash out. Looks like some of the dirt and seed moved around, so i filled ij what I could with additional seed.



A couple days later -- 4 or 5 after seeding, 2 or 3 after the storm--and some grass started poking through.



I spend Sunday morning spreading the soil/compost around the front.



Still need to seed.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

And by Monday morning the grass was really starting to come in. Crazy how fast it comes. This is 5 or 6 days after seeding. Noticeable difference from Sunday morning to Sunday afternoon, and a huge difference by Monday morning when I took this pic.


Some mushrooms starting to sprout. I noticed these growing in my soil pile Sunday, so I suppose that's where it came from.




I blew off the leaves as best I could, per @Virginiagal's advice. I may add a bit more soil and seed to the spots that look to have been washed out.


Hope to seed the front today.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Chief Brody said:


> Thanks for posting! I'm in Catonsville and really enjoy seeing other MD'ers projects. Newsom Seed is awesome.
> Can't wait to see how your project turns out with the seed you chose!


Thanks. I'd never been to Newsom but it looks like they have quality seed. They use the cultivars recommended by UMD for this area. I sort of had a brain fart in the store, said I wanted TTTF for the front and they gave me Winning Colors, rather than one of their mixes. But I used their shade mix for the back which has the types of fine fescue UMD recommends.


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## Chief Brody (Aug 6, 2020)

dsc123 said:


> Thanks. I'd never been to Newsom but it looks like they have quality seed. They use the cultivars recommended by UMD for this area. I sort of had a brain fart in the store, said I wanted TTTF for the front and they gave me Winning Colors, rather than one of their mixes. But I used their shade mix for the back which has the types of fine fescue UMD recommends.


I went with a 10lb bag of Top Choice that Newsom sells for a strip of my yard that's only about 600 square feet. 
I know their main gig is wholesale to companies, but I think they'd do well to sell 10 and 20lb bags of their own blends to the DIY crowd.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Two days later, 9/16, the back started to fill in some. Lots of bare spots where I think the soil got shifted around during the big storm. I'm calling this DAG 2.





Here's the back 9/20, roughly DAG 6. Grass grew really fast and was about 2.5" so I cut it down to 2". Seemed early to mow, but it seems the general advice is to keep it at 2" to encourage spreading, which I really need. This picture is mid-mow. The wheels left lines in the soft dirt/matted down grass.





I also added some more compost/topsoil and seed to the bare spots this day.

And here's the back yard today, DAG 11. I'm giving the automower a try. It seems beneficial since it only weighs 20lbs, mulches tiny bits of grass, and can run more frequently. My concerns are whether it will cause damage because it turns much more frequently, and whether it'll mat down the young grass by running so frequently. So I'll keep a close eye on it.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Here's the mower. The ambient mower noise is the neighbor's lawn service, not this quiet little guy.

https://youtu.be/iFblsJPvnh8


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Here's the front on what I'm calling germination day, 9/22. Grass is starting to poke through. The blue stuff is slopemaster.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

DAG3 on the front, 9/25. Filling in nicely. Less patchy than the back.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

I just thought I should go snap another picture of the front. Walked out and realized I forgot to turn the sprinkler off. Intended 10 minutes of watering, gave it 50 min. 😬


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Expecting a lot of rain tomorrow so I figured I should mow today. I didn't want the leaves that had fallen go get wet and heavy.

I've put automower on hold, not because of any tearing, but because the grass looks very matted down. I tend to think its because we've had so few sunny days. Perhaps the sucking power of my push mower would help.

Here's the back, 3rd mow, 14 DAG.



First mow on the front, 6 DAG. Some of grass was up to 3" already. I also cut back some overgrown trees and ground cover by the driveway and along the right side.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Walking around the yard lately I've been a bit disappointed at some of the patchiness and weeds. Then I went back and looked at the pictures from this time last year. Its night and day. Very encouraging.

Sat 3/20. There was a ton of debris on the lawn--twigs, leaves, stones, etc. Bought a yard sweeper and it picked up a bunch, but not nearly everything. Made the family walk around with me and pick up the rest. Then gave the lawn its first cut of the season. Used the push mower instead of the robot hoping it would help suck up any remaining debris.

Sprayed the first part of my spit app (5g/1k) of prodiamine the next day. Mixed in some speedzone in the back yard (1.8oz/1k) but didn't have enough for the front yard. Rained a little over a half inch yesterday, which should be good for the PreM.

Hope to do another round of speedzone this weekend and perhaps some fertilizer. I'd like to set up the automower so its ready when the grass starts growing.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Still need to speedzone the front and spray my first round of N.

Only had two breaks in my perimeter wire. Larry the Lawn Guy is up and working.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GPDrFXqN1DyQqkhVn1r7Qxwk30djLY5E/view?usp=sharing

That's not the most flattering view of the back. Here's the year over year comparison:

April 3 2020:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q-_B2F4MeE_fmiNDzOfwxpkXhd1-xGrZ/view?usp=sharing

March 31, 2021:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G1wm6cqBqRQ59yAkA4zzs6yHGOUnXDmX/view?usp=sharing

April 3, 2020:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pSqN5hbUC7LQkUmHbCJUaAhoaT41f486/view?usp=sharing

March 31, 2021:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fr1Stipquq6TlVyC-j13P3hXifNdsDjj/view?usp=sharing

Lots of weeds to kill.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GPvXE0u4kUpug2uK79i4U4erbRzZdChi/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GG-lCJq6A3AB_EihX7edjxVE1BXieyKn/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G8xxhIA4fdSL5H2-JQs9DaH_By_wxP05/view?usp=sharing


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Lots going on, catching up. Here's we were by late April. I was really pleased with the improvement.




Always looks great this time of the year as the azaleas are in bloom.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Expanding beyond the lawn. We got a plan drawn up for new patios and landscaping. The landscaping we had, though beautiful while the azaleas bloomed, was overgrown and took up too much of the yard.



The existing patio was brick, wasn't in great shape, and had room for grills but not much else.



There was also an oddly shaped brick patio in the back. It was uneven, had some hole in the middle that I imagine was a fire pit, and a brick oven sort of thing that I didn't really have any use for.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

This shaded area under large oak trees had poor soil & was very rocky. Last year we put this old playhouse in for the kids. I figured it would be a challenge to grow grass there anyway. But the whole area is pretty messy.





The brick walkway wasn't in good shape either. And these window well covers the previous owner used were falling apart.



A koi pond along the back, everything around it overgrown. I have no desire to feed fish. This had to go.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

The side by the screen porch has a bed of azaleas and some vegetable planters I built last year. The tops were destroyed by branches that fell during a storm.




A dirt path leads to the front yard, with small trees and stuff off the side of the front porch.





Flower beds in front of the house looked good in May, but as soon as the colors fade, it looks a lot less attractive and somewhat overgrown.



On this side, the azaleas blocked the windows and crowded the walkway.



The stairwell wasn't in great shape and I didn't like that there wasn't anything to stop the kids from falling down there while playing basketball. Mess behind it, too.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

First some tree work. We'd already had 2 or 3 large trees taken down. A storm came through and knocked a large tree that sat juuuust across the property line onto our neighbor's house. We decided the big one that hung over our house had to go immediately.









This really created a lot of space here. But it also lead to a lot more sunlight on the fine fescue lawn I seeded last year.

Trimmed some of the others to raise the canopy. Before/after


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

The patio project was delayed by about a month due to production issues. It was very exciting when it finally got started.

No more brick patio!


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Goodbye fish!


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

And the finished hardscape in early july.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Absolutely love the new patios. Got some adirondacks for the fire pit and the dining table should arrive soon.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

The problem at this point was that the surrounding landscape detracted from the beautiful New patios.











And like I said, once the azalea blooms end, it starts looking drab.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

So, in early August I had a local company come and pull it all out.











The yard feels twice as big now.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Irrigation installation!!





This was actually a huge pain in the butt. They didn't put the heads in the right places and didn't set up a shaded area as a separate zone. I made them come back the next day to fix it.

Now I think it's leaking. And we failed the inspection for the submeter. They're supposed to come back tomorrow to address those issues.

They even cut through the power line to my shed, though to be fair it was very much a homeowners special sort of setup by the prior owner.

Worst of all, they really did a number of my back yard. The grass I planted last year was not doing well. The fine fescue was getting more sun than anticipated after taking down the tree. The constant parade of contractors trampled the grass in the July heat. And I basically ignored my lawn care for the 3 months while all this work was being done. I tfigured it could recover once the irrigation was ready.

But the digging and re-digging for irrigation destroyed it. Big swaths of dirt where there was once grass. Rocks pulled to the surface and strewn about.. We got a big storm in the middle of the day of the install so the ground was all wet and soft.. The ditch witch left ruts and dips and humps everywhere. A total disaster.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

And that brings me to the present.

I'm planning to buy new shrubs and flowers per the master plan. I'm trying to decide whether to have a contractor do the planting or just DIY.

I may also hire a contractor to sod over the entire yard (except the shaded area, which will get a shady mix).


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

The irrigation leak was finally fixed today. Plantings and sod should go in Thursday/Friday.

Hoping to overseed the front yard myself this weekend.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Prep done and plants delivered. Plants go in tomorrow. Sod on Monday.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

8 pallets of Sod have arrived.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

All projects finally complete!

Finished front yard landscaping. Skipped the overseed. Too much going on.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Pulurple Coral Bells below the window behind the stairwell should eventually provide a full, colorful, low maintenance ground cover. Seed & straw on the other side of the path.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Really couldn't be happier with how this all turned out.







Line of Schip Cherry Laurels that will eventually become a hedge.



As the Boxwoods grow they'll hide the window wells.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Fire pit patio looks great. Pachysondra will fill in the mulch areas for a more natural, gardeny, look. Still gotta paint those last 2 chairs.









Seeded the play area with some shade tolerant fescue. We'll see how it works.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

The dining patio and grilling area cameout awesome. Still waiting for the new table to arrive, but we'realready getting a lot of use out of it.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

This had to be a ton of work! Looks nice and clean!


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

jskierko said:


> This had to be a ton of work! Looks nice and clean!


Thanks. I didn't do the labor myself this time. But dealing with 5 or 6 different contractors to get this all done over the past 6 months was its own kind of hell.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Seed is coming up nicely. There's going to he a lip where the sod is a bit higher.





Leaves and nuts falling already. I'll blow the leaves tomorrow and possibly hand pick the nuts.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

My mower stopped working so I borrowed a neighbor's and cut the new sod and seed for the first time on 9/29 ~ two weeks after it was laid. Defintely broke the 1/3 rule cutting at the highest setting.

After mowing, I reduced watering down from 3x a day to 2x a day.

Before the cut.








Sod after first cut.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

I had to tear up the boundary wires for my automower when I did all these projects. With the mulch and flagstone path to the front yard, I don't think the automower can pass from front to back anymore. It was a pain anyway because I had to leave the gate open and then remember to close it when I let the dog out. That's the #1 downside to an automower.

So I plan to wait for a sale and get a second automower. I set up my current one on the front yard and I'll cut the back, which is flat, with my push mower. Its too bad becasue I think an automower is perfect for new grass. It could cut every day and its light weight so it causes less wear on the grass.

The problem is that my push mower stopped working. Spent hours trying to fix it. A neighbor who worked at a lawn mower repair shop for a short while couldn't figure it out either. Took it to a repair shop on Monday and they said it would take 2 weeks. Estimated labor charge was $90.

So I bought a new one. I'm deep into the Ryobi 40v lawn tools so I got one of their mowers. I don't need a workhorse, just something that'll cut the grass a few times a year when I can't use the automower. I planned to get their cheapest push mower, which is not self-propelled, with one battery for about $250. But they had a higher end floor model on sale for $350 so I got that instead. It has two blades for improved mulching and came with 2 6ah batteries.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-40V-HP-Brushless-21-in-Cordless-Battery-Walk-Behind-Self-Propelled-Lawn-Mower-with-2-6-0-Ah-Batteries-and-Charger-RY401140US/314600837

Ran it for the first time Monday (10/4) and seemed to work fine.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

With all my focus on the new backyard, I was a bit late to overseeding the front.

I got one of those sunjoe scarifiers and used it for the first time this past weekend. It tore up a ton! I didn't think I had a thatch problem, but I wanted to be sure I got good seed to soil contact. This totally tore up the thin areas to the point that I was concerned I might be ruining my yard. But I went ahead anyway and I'm glad I did. In the past, it felt like overseeding did nothing. I think I'll have better results this year.

I used Newsom's TTTF. I put down about 6lbs/1ksqft. Added some by had in the bare areas.

I also spread some of Newsom's shade mix by the playset. The grass there was coming in well but there were a couple thin spots in the middle and around the edges.





Watering the overseed 2x to 3x a day now. My plan is to keep the automower running so the existing grass doesn't grow any higher. Not sure how that will work if it's always wet.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

That's a really nice TTTF blend! I've bought pallets of straight Spyder LS for work, and later Titanium 2LS. The Spyder holds a great color with minimal inputs (blueish color like kbg), and not too coarse of a texture.

The shade mix looks like it has good cultivars, too. I know @Green likes Apple, but I can't remember if it's Apple "3" or it's predecessor(s). I'm sure he'll chime in.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Chris LI said:


> That's a really nice TTTF blend! I've bought pallets of straight Spyder LS for work, and later Titanium 2LS. The Spyder holds a great color with minimal inputs (blueish color like kbg), and not too coarse of a texture.
> 
> The shade mix looks like it has good cultivars, too. I know @Green likes Apple, but I can't remember if it's Apple "3" or it's predecessor(s). I'm sure he'll chime in.


I bought some Apple SGL a couple of years ago because Chris found a paper detailing the spreading behavior. Unfortunately, the lot that I purchased seemed to have a bit of annual rye seed in it, something I had never experienced before, but is common. But it didn't turn out to be a huge issue. Any plants were fairly easy to pull out, and they only lived for about a year anyway. I think Apple 3GL is an upgraded version of Apple SGL. Apple SGL seems to have a moderate growth rate...slower than some. I really haven't used much of it. Titanium 2LS was good, too, but again, I really haven't used a lot of it yet.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

After a restful winter, Larry is back to work. Unfortunately, he lost an eyebrow.



As I walk through the yard, all I see are dead spots and weeds. But when I step back and compare to the same time last year, the improvement is clear.



Unfortunately, the new landscaping doesn't allow Larry to travel between front and back yards. So I'm cutting the back manually with the Ryobi 40v crosscut model I got late last year when my gas mower died. First cut was yesterday and today its 20-40 degrees out.


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