# JRS 9572'S 2020 TIGRAND JOURNAL



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

This is the 6th summer of this yard. After 6" or more of rain this past week. I got in a good low cut last night. Low for me is a 1/2". Today @Brodgers88 is coming to aerate the yard. I'm heading to the rental shop to get a dethatcher and walk behind blower. Couldn't summon the man power for topdressing this year. Plus with the tifgrand "seed head" problem I'm ready to get down some Tnex for the 1st time. If I get the PGR down for topdressing, then it will be tough for the tifgrand to vertically come through the sand layer. Here's some pics after the mow last night, and when I marked the irrigation heads this am. I also took a picture of a sprig last night. We'll see what the difference will be after tnex.

It's been hard to get my girl to wake up so far this year. The temps have been unseasonably low. Only probably in the last week have we gotten to the point where the ground temp is averaging 70 and above.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

101 Dalmations have visited my yard. :lol: 
@Brodgers88 getting it done


----------



## Brodgers88 (Feb 26, 2017)

@JRS 9572 looking forward to the results! :thumbup:


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

More from the weekend. We were able to blow the cores to the street on 2/3 of the area aerated Friday afternoon. Did the backyard Saturday after the epic rains and lightening of Friday night Saturday am. Today we verticut the front and side. The back is just too @#%% wet still. Hopefully before the end of the day I'll reel mow the front and side. Then be done. At almost 48 I couldn't do this without my 17 year old son. I think years going forward I'm going to hire help to do it. Here's some pics.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Here's the end product less the backyard. Also I found some a pic from when I bought the lot and commenced building. Not only, as in most neigborhoods, did the builder remove the topsoil. They also removed about another 2 feet of the clay. So that's why I had to blow the cores into piles and we raked, shoveled them up. Those coresof pure red clay would never dissolve.

As soon as it can dry out I still have to take the push mower out there to finish up the little remaining cores in the back, and then reel mow. Rain is coming every 5 seconds it seems.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Monday we tackled the back some more. My son went over it twice with a push mower. Created a red clay dust storm.

From there I reel mowed it twice. Probably need to backlap the reel after it, but most all of the cores are gone.

Looked at my iPhone. Between Thursday evening and Monday afternoon I took 24.2 miles of steps. 4 miles of that was a walk on Saturday morning on the Lake Murray Dam. The rest.....walking behind a blower, dethatcher, and reel mower.


----------



## Brodgers88 (Feb 26, 2017)

Looking good! All that hard work is going to pay off :nod:


----------



## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

Nice job! It's a ton of work but looks like it is paying off. It's a slow grower but worth the wait. 
The pic of the sprig you posted threw me off, it doesn't look like Tifgrand.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

AZChemist said:


> Nice job! It's a ton of work but looks like it is paying off. It's a slow grower but worth the wait.
> The pic of the sprig you posted threw me off, it doesn't look like Tifgrand.


That's what I asked the builder and landscaper for. I never saw a "certificate" when it was installed 5 years ago. Who knows. Whatever it is....I'm stuck with it now.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

The aeration holes are becoming less noticeable a week and a half later. 


The photos are from the night of June 2nd after cutting like a rented mule for two hours. Seed heads! Got most of them out.

















Tonight is the night. After a couple of years of hand wringing. T Nex is going down. Crossing my fingers and toes.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

@AZChemist I pulled a piece of the front yard this morning. Different from the last piece I showed. Does this look like TifGrand? It's definately different from the last piece I showed which is from a different area of the property.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Another weekend. Healing up nicely from aeration, and de-thatch. Held off on PGR. The 1 gallon of T Nex I have is almost 2 years old. Never opened. Got a case of the jitters when I read where if it has some age it would tint the yard brown etc. But after rereading again I saw that was from one that had the seal broken and sat for a while. So I am going to read all 38 pages of the PGR thread. Maybe it will give me the courage to get it done. SMH

















Holes from aeration are less visible every day.


----------



## LA Basshole03 (Jan 17, 2019)

Thanks for the comment on my journal. Your lawn is looking great. From what I understand most people will make sure to add some iron in with the PGR and it helps minimize the browning especially with the first app.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Thanks for the tip.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Really worked this weekend getting all the old dead seed heads out. 9.6 miles worth of walking behind the McLane on Saturday and Sunday.

The reel has been backlapped. But the blades of grass look a little rough. Basically a 1/2" height of cut.



It's really started to take off. 3 weeks post aeration and the verticut. I finally got in the "valve box" to go over the stupid sewer clean out sticking out of the ground. Need to dig out around it soon, cut and lower the clean out below ground, and install the box. Can't wait to stop dodging the thing while mowing.


----------



## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

That checkerboard in the back looks sweet!


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

@Sbcgenii I appreciate it. I cut both ways in other parts of the yard. For some reason the checkerboard only shows up in that back area.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

A week post PGR...the turf is still there. Why I waited and agonized over it is beyond me.


----------



## Meximusprime (Jun 21, 2019)

Looking good! I will be doing my first ever PGR app next week.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

I was reminded of something today. I had backlapped my McLane about a month ago. It didn't seem to be cutting as well in the last week. So this morning I checked the reel, and it wasn't contacting the bed knife. I loosened the 4 screws and tapped the brackets. Contact all the way across, and cutting paper. Man the difference in the cut when I was done.

Ist pic is of some grass material



I think pics would be better if there weren't Saharan Dust in the atmosphere tapping down sunlight.


----------



## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Looking great! Still favor celebration?


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

@jayhawk I only spent two summers with the Celebration before having to move. I'm really becoming partial to TifGrand as time goes. On my 2nd PGR app. it's slowed the seed heads, but they're still there. Really slowed the clippings.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

After my July 3rd cut. Even though I'm on my 2nd PGR app I need to cut every other day to keep the unsightly seed heads out of the picture. Hopefully that will diminish over time. It's not as bad as it was before when I wasn't using a PGR.











Really happy with the color in some places. Thought I saw and army worm last week. Nuked the yard with Ortho bug be gone. 48 hours later I don't think I'll have to worry about them. I also won't have to worry about earthworm castings. It was an earthworm graveyard on the sidewalk.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Pretty good weekend. Glad for PGR. Haven't had to mow as much. Which is good since the scorching heat wave is here for the summer.

Put down "Unicorn Pee" last week. Humic 12, RGS, 0-0-2 Microgreene, Dethatch, and Air8. Put down the old Scotts disease X. 3rd PGR app rapidly approaching according to the Greenkeeper app.

My son took the pics this week. It's funny what different angles, the amount of sun light, and so on can make a difference in what the stripes look like.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Put down the "Unicorn Pee Cocktail" from Greene County last night (RGS, HUMIC, Air8, 0-0-2 Microngreen, and D-Thatch) after a pretty substantial rain storm. About to put down my 5th app of T-Nex on Saturday. Took out some small bushes near the driveway. Just going to let the tifgrand grow in after adding a mixture of sand and potting soil to the strip.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

My son took these pics Saturday afternoon. Of course the stripes do not show up when you face into the sun. 

I asked on the warm season forum about it. Put out T-Nex last night. Less than 2 hours later a pop up thunderstorm, dumping a 1/2" of rain shows up. Not sure where that leaves me with effectiveness of the application.

Oh yeah trimmed the shrubs in prep for the "pinestraw man" to come this week.


----------



## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

If the PGR dried, it should be fine. No worries after the rain.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Some latest pics from the yard. I probably should do a scalp. I've raised the HOC from around a 1/2" to 5/8". But honestly. I'm worn out. We'll ride out what we've got and scalp/level in the spring.

1st year of PGR has been awesome. The yard has never looked better. I believe it's due to PGR, and the Greene County RGS, and Humic 12. I'm as frustrated as ever at my McLane mowers. I've got a box full of parts, as you can see below (that's not all of them), to keep me busy this winter.

But this yard keeps me busy. I had heart issues two years ago (at age 46) and found out through a heart cath that I had one artery at 35% blocked, and another at 25%. It didn't require a stent, but it required some big changes or heading down a dark road. I did a stress test at the time. Could barely last on it 5 minutes. Last week (2 years later) I lasted 10 minutes, my cholesterol's been cut in half, and the cardiologist told me to keep doing what I'm doing. Working and toiling in the yard is a huge part of the activity and steps that helped turn that around.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Loving the weather.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Man the great temps and the high sun of fall were awesome this weekend. I really enjoy this grass this time of the year. I took some small shrubs out about 45 days ago. Don't think it will cover all the way before dormancy. I may go put some rye winter seed in that area to avoid erosion of the soil and the concrete driveway during the winter. I also pulled a small sprig from that area that went into the drive way some. My last app of PGR ends today, and I'm not going to apply any more until next year. But you can tell by this sprig it was doing its job.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Sorry. Hit send too soon.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Maybe one of the last cuts. Sent off a soil sample to Soil Savvy. Everything checked out except for pH which was 5.61 (which doesn't surprise me since well water around her is notorious for being really acidic.) I'm also a little low on copper. We'll be dumping lime over the winter.



Vanity Strip as Ron Henry says


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

We had a light frost a couple of weeks ago. It was mainly on the roofs in my neighborhood. @Brodgers88 and I live within 15 miles of each other. He had some tiger stripes in an area of taller height that I saw in his journal. I think the difference is I live within a 1/2 mile of Lake Murray which has 500 miles of shoreline. A big lake that's still pretty warm.

At any rate these are two pics from Sunday November 15th. This is the 2nd "last cut of the season" set of pics.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Frost on the ground this am. But I don't think we're even "leopard spotting" yet. It think it's going to take sustained cold temps to put it to sleep.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Friday November 20th after the frost pictured above a day earlier. Still looks pretty decent today (5 days later.)



I forgot to show this a couple of weeks ago. Up in the corner of my backyard. This tree, not sure what type it is, started to turn leaves only on one side. They've fallen since. I wonder if all the humic, root growth stuff, and so on put down in my side this year made those branches and leaves stronger? May have been irrigation too. The side that's in my yard stayed green much longer.


----------



## Brodgers88 (Feb 26, 2017)

Looking good @JRS 9572! I'm assuming you were still green for Thanksgiving. Mine is still hanging in there for now.


----------



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

December 6th. TifGrand finally starting to head to dormancy.


----------

