# Devil's Frontyard Lawn Renovation in Toronto



## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

A little background:

When I moved in, the front yard (about 255 sq ft) had an ok lawn that looked "wild". A little bit of everything. I like grass that's dark green, lush and looking at the sky - not like the fescues that were in there that looked like waves in the sea. The straw that broke the camel's back is this year's heavy infestation of Crab Grass that I thought I'd fail to fight against.

This is why there's going to be a renovation.

I'm a newbie, so when I found this forum, I fell in love and soaked up a ton of info. Finally, when I decided to overseed the front lawn, I decided to ask the right questions and I got tons of help back.

Right when I began to work on the frontlawn, @jurkewycmi suggested I document it. I think that's a good idea that has the added benefit of a personal journal to look back at, so here I am.

This particular thread will be about just my front lawn. Being in Canada, you should know that some products that will be used are from the US and the lawn will be strictly Kentucky Blue Grass.

Here's how it looked today before I began the kill.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Aug 12, Sunday, 11.33AM
Temperature: 24º C
Wind: 10km/h SE*

I used the Canadian Tire version of RoundUp to kill off my existing lawn. I purchased the 5ml bottle (as was suggested by @Harts) from Canadian Tire.

This is a lighter version of the highly concentrated and diabolically powerful version that's sold in the US. This, apparently, means the results will be a little slower ~10days.



I also used the Chapin sprayer also suggested by Harts. I put the whole 5ml of RoundUp in the sprayer and went to town. To make sure it doesn't spray back in my direction, I was ahead of the wind and sprayed in the direction of North West since the wind was blowing from the South East.

After 15 mins of ensuring the grass is wet (but not to the point of run-off), I still had about 2.5ml of RoundUp left.

I returned the RoundUp back to it's container and called it a day.
It's now 5pm and I can already see some browning on the front lawn, especially where the crab grass is.

The next post will be when I noticed a significant change in colour of the lawn.


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## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

[Sigh]........ *I'D KILL* to have a front lawn that looked that good. :mrgreen:

I'm working on my back yard this year, but next year the focus will be on the front yard. I don't have the nerves to go full nuclear until I try just over seeding and coaxing it back to health. I hope things work out for you!

Battling zero rain and 100+ F temps here in Winnipeg.... not the best weather for restoring lawns.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

I recommend scalping the lawn around 3 days after you've sprayed your round up regardless if it has turned brown yet. If you wait too long it will be difficult to get as good of a scalp as the grass kind of flattens out. It's important to mow the grass as low as you can to get good seed to soil contact.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Aug 14, Tuesday, 8.33AM
Temperature: 24º C
Wind: 16km/h NW*

Nothing much to report except moderate browning. Not gonna lie, I _am _concerned about the green spots though (maybe I just did a sh_tty job?).

Does this mean I go home and spray those green spots too? Or wait and see?

PS: Thanks Snowbob, but my grass has always been flat... mainly the reason for the whole kill.


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## STL (Jul 14, 2018)

Wait and see. It takes a few days for it to get nice and crispy.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Give it time. Rome wasn't built in a day! Lawn care is a lot of waiting. You will likely need a second app anyways so give it a week. Keep watering to force more growth.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Aug 20, Monday, 3.49 PM
Temperature: 27º C
Wind: 22km/h NW*

Just like @Harts and @STL mentioned above, give it time. And give it time I did. We're on a full brownout except mild greenery on the north west side (barely visible in pic)

Under the brown, I see some light green clover left (or new?) in an area that previously had clover. I hope it gets taken care of in round 2 that essentially should begin either tomorrow or Thursday.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Looking good. The 2nd app will take care of anything left that's green.

Have you scalped yet? The thing will using the glypho is it will matte the grass down and make it harder to get a good scalp prior to seeding.

I can't remember if you posted this already, but are you planning Tenacity at seed down? The reason I ask is because I am doing a similar sized reno. I killed the grass in July and started leveling 2 weeks ago. The soil I brought in (Scott's lawn soil and triple mix from Lowes) claimed to be weed free. The other day I noticed a few small weeds popping up. I am confident it is from the soil and not anything that was left dormant in my native soil. I did a round of glyho on the weekend. Seed down will be this coming weekend. I will start my thread this week (when I get time).

Depending on when your seed down day is, Tenacity will help keep weeds at bay if you are planning on bringing any soil to level.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Next I'm looking to:


Scalp
Spray RoundUp
Clean and wash the sprayer to get rid of RoundUp remains
Add water + Tenacity to sprayer
Spray Tenacity
Wait 1 day
Coat the yard with 1" of Scott's Turf Builder Lawn Soil
Add some more lawn soil in areas that need leveling
Overseed with 1lb of KBG on the lowest setting of Scott's Broadcast Spreader (thanks @Sinclair!)
Lightly rake it in
Now, I know this _may_ be overkill, but I want to top and cover it with peatmoss. I will have sprinkler 4 times in 24 hours but I got bird issues and heat waves so hopefully peatmoss will keep things going. Advice is still welcome if this is not needed at all.

Feel free to comment please. Or forever hold your peace! :lol:


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

No need to clean out the roundup before spraying Tenacity, and you can do that app same day as seeding.

Peat moss is a good choice. I'll be spreading it as well.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

I would wait to do the Tenacity App right after seed down. I know our posts crossed paths in cyber space, but if you are bringing in new soil, you will want to treat that with the meso.

You might want to think about rolling the seed or lighting tamping it to ensure good soil contact.

I'll be covering mine with peat as well.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

This is the order I would do:


Spray RoundUp
Scalp
Spray RoundUp
Clean and wash the sprayer to get rid of RoundUp remains
Add some more lawn soil in areas that need leveling
Coat the yard with 1/2" of Scott's Turf Builder Lawn Soil
Add water + Tenacity to sprayer
Spray Tenacity
Overseed with 1lb of KBG on the lowest setting of Scott's Broadcast Spreader (thanks Sinclair!)
Lightly rake it in
 Roll to get that seed into the soil.
 Roll again.
.

If you get the seed into the soil, then I dont think peat is needed. Just keep it moist. Water during the day (not at night) and keep it from getting dry.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Sinclair said:


> No need to clean out the roundup before spraying Tenacity, and you can do that app same day as seeding.
> 
> Peat moss is a good choice. I'll be spreading it as well.


Great, I'll do it all in one day then!



Harts said:


> I would wait to do the Tenacity App right after seed down. I know our posts crossed paths in cyber space, but if you are bringing in new soil, you will want to treat that with the meso.
> 
> You might want to think about rolling the seed or lighting tamping it to ensure good soil contact.
> 
> I'll be covering mine with peat as well.


That's a great point @Harts! I read what you said about weeds from the soil you got. So, I'll spray Tenacity right after the Scott's Turf Builder Lawn Soil is down.



g-man said:


> This is the order I would do:
> 
> 
> Spray RoundUp
> ...


Thank you @g-man! Some questions.

1. The first three steps of Spray RoundUp, Scalp and Spray RoundUp again. Does it all happen same day? Or do I spray, wait a day... and then scalp and spray?
2. I don't have a roller unfortunately and renting isn't going to be easy. This is why I wanted to add peat moss. Is rolling absolutely necessary? At the very least, I can try to find a tamper in the neighbourhood if that can work.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

1. Wait in between. The idea is to ensure the roots dont start new grow.
2. Tamp, roll, walk over the area. Seed grows on moist soil. Peat is there to maintain moisture, but the seed should be in the soil. Dont be gentle.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

g-man said:


> 1. Wait in between. The idea is to ensure the roots dont start new grow.
> 2. Tamp, roll, walk over the area. Seed grows on moist soil. Peat is there to maintain moisture, but the seed should be in the soil. Dont be gentle.


Got it. 
Going to wait till tomorrow (as we had heavy rains yesterday and the dead grass is kind of matting down), rake a little and spray RoundUp.

Wait another day and then lightly rake so the grass is not matted, and then being scalping.

This is exciting! Thank you @g-man!


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

You have such a small area that you could get away with walking on it, finding a tamper, using a landscape rake if you have one to tamp. You could probably even use the back of a shovel and drag it across the surface to pack the seed in.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Aug 23, Thursday, 11.19 AM
Temperature: 25º C
Wind: 18km/h SE*

At this point the grass is pretty much dead.

However, due to some work that was being done adjacent to the lawn, there was more than normal lawn traffic. And also, a small patch of grass was removed by the workers (about 1' foot wide, and 7' feet long). This led to extra dirt on the lawn as well.

So, I moderate-light raked it so the dead grass blades open up.

And sprayed with RoundUp. Other than that, nothing to report about.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Aug 24, Friday, 4.11 PM
Temperature: 24º C
Wind: 29km/h NW*

So, Friday I took the day off to get all this done and here are the steps I took:

- Around 11am, raked lightly again
- Pulled out the mower and began scalping. Had to do a few passes until I was satisfied that I can't scalp any further.
- I wasn't satisfied. So in areas where I thought I could do better - I took the string trimmer to it. 
- Around noon, I sprayed RoundUp

- Around 2pm, I tried to level some areas, and I think all I did was an ok job. It's hard to level without a roller. Eventually, I put down 6 bags of Scott's Turf Builder Lawn Soil and raked it to 1/2".
- Sprayed Tenacity
- Waited 15 minutes (No specific reason other than to give Tenacity some time to get into the soil otherwise my shoes might mess up the process as mentioned expertly by @Sinclair)
- Overseeded with spreader (amazing how the 1lb for my 250 sq ft lasted a few passes!)
- Raked it in and walked all over it
- Dropped peatmoss
- Lightly raked it (not sure if this was a good idea, but I don't think I was thinking as I wanted to get done before the after-work foot traffic began on our street)
- Watered it all


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Looks good. Now drink and pray!


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> Looks good. Now drink and pray!


Isn't that "Water, Drink and Pray"? :lol:

PS: I have my schedule set to water for 10 mins every 6 hours.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Aug 30, Thursday, 9.45AM
Temperature: 18º C
Wind: 9km/h NE*

So, 6 days have passed since the seeding and we have little sprouts showing! Yay!
I've been watering frequently. Sprinkler was set to (with some rain delays) 10 mins of watering every 6 hours starting at 5am. Rain is expected only once or twice this week, so I reduced the watering time from 10 mins to 5mins and runs every 4 hours. So this coming week it will water the lawn 6 times in a 24 hours period.







I do have a question though. What's that with two opposite direction leaves? I'm guessing it's some kind of a weed, but also wondering if it's some kind of a John Stockton weed that helps the grass germinate better? If it isn't, any ideas on how to nip it in the bud?


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## iowa jim (Jan 22, 2018)

There called dicots and there harmless, they will get choked out when the grass grows longer.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

iowa jim said:


> There called dicots and there harmless, they will get choked out when the grass grows longer.


Thanks @iowa jim! So they'll continue to grow till the grass gets thicker and longer - I'm guessing we can say good bye to them in 4-6 weeks?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Looking good!


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

I also have dicots popping up, and the Tenacity is lighting them up nicely.

Fear not. Everything looks great! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> Looking good!





Sinclair said:


> I also have dicots popping up, and the Tenacity is lighting them up nicely.
> 
> Fear not. Everything looks great! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:


Thanks guys!
It's my first ever lawn project and I'm happy to see the sprouting. Couldn't have done it without all the help from you all.

I'm wondering though, before the kill, I had 2 inches or so of gap between the walkways and the lawn. So this time I put some top of the top soil and hand seeded those areas. I noticed earlier today that some of these edges don't show the top soil and so I'm wondering if it's ok for me to add some more seed.

Also, there's one corner that slopes aggressively so I was thinking maybe I'd add more top soil and level it with hand and seed that area too.

Just not sure if I'm right to do so. Any thoughts?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

You can but I would wait a few more days to see if you get any germination. The seeds won't all come up together at the same time.

Unless you know for sure you had a wash out from one of the storms earlier this week.

Having said that, I threw down a bit more seed along the edge of the sidewalk and put down a little more top soil and peat on Wednesday night.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> You can but I would wait a few more days to see if you get any germination. The seeds won't all come up together at the same time.
> 
> Unless you know for sure you had a wash out from one of the storms earlier this week.
> 
> Having said that, I threw down a bit more seed along the edge of the sidewalk and put down a little more top soil and peat on Wednesday night.


Ok, so I guess what I'll do is since it's still sprouting, I'll add some top soil for that corner that I need to level; hopefully the KBG can sprout through this new added layer. Wait till after the long weekend.

Then depending on how much growth I see on the edges once I return, I may add more top along the edges. Over seed by hand and then cover with peat moss so the birds don't have a buffet meal.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Sep 6, Thursday, 6.09PM
Temperature: 21º C
Wind: 11 km/h S*

A few more days, and a lot more sprouts. It's coming along nicely as we're nearing the 4th week. All I'm doing is keeping it watered and moist.

As mentioned in previous posts, I put down some of the Scott's Turf Builder Lawn Soil around the edges to ensure smooth curves that are levelled the way I want it. And in these plays, understandably, the sprouts are still sparse.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Starting to look like a lawn!


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

*Sep 17, Thursday, 7.25PM
Temperature: 23º C
Wind: 16 km/h E*

Thanks @Harts! Appreciate that reassurance! Sorry for the long delay in my update guys but things are definitely better.

Here are the issues I noticed:


Edges aren't coming up fine, possibly due to leveling that I happened to do a few days after seeding.

There's still some patches here and there and from what I've been told before, I think it's fine.

Close to the hedges, there hasn't been much activity. But this is due to low watering. Neighbour to the left kept complaining about water from the sprinkler (that has a bit of elevation so the wind made that happen) that kept coming over on her grass/steps so had to stop it. Over the past week or so though I've been personally watering that dry-ish area twice a day and I don't see much happen. So I'm thinking of dropping more seed along the edges this weekend.
Other than that, have a looksie. And any comments welcome if my issues are me just reading into it too much. Ignore the colour, not sure why it looks a little neonish.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Didn't you read the guide on here called "Controlling the Wind During Irrigation"? Unreal. Some neighbours can be such a pain.

Lawn is coming along. Time to drop some urea down. 0.25 lb N every week.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> Didn't you read the guide on here called "Controlling the Wind During Irrigation"? Unreal. Some neighbours can be such a pain.
> 
> Lawn is coming along. Time to drop some urea down. 0.25 lb N every week.


Yup, both sides are retired and they got nothing better to do. Oh well.. but yes, I'll look for that guide now.

Thanks man! You think I should drop urea even though there's some patches and I'm considering over seed #2 in those spots?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

I dropped urea on day 20. There are going to be patches for a while.

0.25lb N. Go do it RIGHT NOW! Get the flash light out!

N will encourage growth and spreading. You're fine to start your weekly apps now. No more than 0.25 each time.

I would hold off on the over seed. Wait until the spring. Feed it now and see what fills in over the next month.

You can probably now too. Cut it down to 1.5". Mow often.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> I dropped urea on day 20. There are going to be patches for a while.
> 
> 0.25lb N. Go do it RIGHT NOW! Get the flash light out!
> 
> ...


Haha gotcha. What about watering, do I slow it down to say mornings and evenings?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

You should probably be just doing once a day in the morning. What day are you on?

You want to start encouraging deeper root growth. Once a day but deeper watering. Do that for maybe a week then dial it back to every other day for even longer. Keep stepping down until you are back to 1" one time a week.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> You should probably be just doing once a day in the morning. What day are you on?
> 
> You want to start encouraging deeper root growth. Once a day but deeper watering. Do that for maybe a week then dial it back to every other day for even longer. Keep stepping down until you are back to 1" one time a week.


Just over 35 days @Harts.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Ok, drop the watering back to once in the morning.

If you haven't given it a cut yet, you should. 1.5". Mow every few days at that height if time allows.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> Ok, drop the watering back to once in the morning.
> 
> If you haven't given it a cut yet, you should. 1.5". Mow every few days at that height if time allows.


Got it and done! Thanks @Harts!
There's one area that had a slope where it got mowed down to a little less than an inch lol, hopefully it recovers well.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Hello everyone!

Trust everyone had a brutal winter the same way I did here in Toronto. The only good things that came off it is the Raptors made it to the finals, and Guerrero Jr/Biggio got called up into the majors.

The lawn came up 90% lush in spring and with a very big problem. A few patches of green grew faster and greener than the rest. Google said this is due to dog pee that may have happened over the winter, or last summer when the renovation was on-going. Would love to see a fix?



Admittedly, these are the mistakes I made:

- Didn't get to my first mow for a few weeks (the little sun we had, I was at work)
- Didn't spray anything all spring (thinking I'll overseed to make up for the 10% patches that didn't fill in well) and that gave way to some weeds

Variety #1:


A couple clumps of this variety #2:




Any recommendations on how to get rid of the uneven patches and lose the weeds in the process?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Are those pictures taken in the last few days? In the first image it almost looks like you have fungal pressure with the yellow blades.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Are those pictures taken in the last few days? In the first image it almost looks like you have fungal pressure with the yellow blades.


Yes @SNOWBOB11, just a few days ago! You think it's fungus?! Oh man. And this is brand new grass too. I vaguely remember pre-killing/pre-reno, that same area looked similar.

I've just done some overseeding (a nitrogrow mix) in some of these bare areas (dog urine), and then overseeded the rest of the lawn to hopefully thicken up the lawn further as per last year's recommendations by @Harts and @Sinclair.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Actually Snowbob, you may have been right... I'm seeing more yellow in the centre now.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Devil said:


> Actually Snowbob, you may have been right... I'm seeing more yellow in the centre now.


Do you have any fungicide on hand? Have you used any fertilizer this spring so far? The fungus might just be because we've been getting so much rain this spring.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

No fungicide, but I can get some from Canadian Tire @SNOWBOB11. Any ideas which one to get?

And no fertilizer used at all. Last fall, I went with weekly N drips.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

The fungicides you see at Canadian tire aren't really what I'm talking about. The spring after a reno is important to keep the grass well feed. Give it some nitrogen and see how it responds.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Thanks @SNOWBOB11! I seem to have a big problem though, last year I calculated exactly how many grams of Urea I drop using the Scott's broadcast spreader. I can't seem to find that number anywhere!!

This is the Urea I purchased.
Can you please be so kind to tell me how many grams of urea I can put down?

Front lawn: 255 sqft 
Back lawn: 1055 sqft

Based on your recommendation, I'm planning to put down the Urea twice a week at least till Canada Day and then resume in early September till the law mow.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Being you haven't fertilized yet give it 1 lb of urea per 1000 sq ft. So round it off to 1/4 lb for your front lawn and 1 lb for your back lawn. See how the lawn responds to that. It would have been a good idea to feed weekly through the spring. It's getting a bit late to be weekly feeding heading into summer so be careful not to over do it.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Being you haven't fertilized yet give it 1 lb of urea per 1000 sq ft. So round it off to 1/4 lb for your front lawn and 1 lb for your back lawn. See how the lawn responds to that. It would have been a good idea to feed weekly through the spring. It's getting a bit late to be weekly feeding heading into summer so be careful not to over do it.


Awesome! Thanks for the tip. Going to hit it soon!


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

For the size of this lawn, urea will be hard to spread... Why not just go with another app of starter fert or a balanced fert 16-16-16 for 1 lb N... I use urea but I have 1/2 acre so it is very economical. For what you have a $20 bag of fert will last you two seasons..

I agree that if you have not fertilized this year, your grass is starving....


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Thanks!

Any recommendations of a broadleaf destroyer from Canadian stores that's legal?


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

Devil said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Any recommendations of a broadleaf destroyer from Canadian stores that's legal?


no.


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## W8INLINE (May 27, 2018)

Canada is all about diversity. Not just among people but lawns too. Our government wants us to love everyone and everything. Unless you are a farmer or own a golf course, then you can pick and chose


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

none of the stuff you can get for a residential lawn will work.

we had a company come in last year with their Fiesta spray but that only works as long as you have it applied every year. suppression. suppression doesn't work though when the neighbours yards are actually fields and their crop blows all over into your yard.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

I bought Tenacity last year, maybe that can help?


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

Tenacity will work. Careful with the rate or you'll have a blonde lawn.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Also check out www.lawnproducts.ca. They sell the American formula of Weed B Gon (with 24,D and Dicamba). They will ship to you.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Sinclair said:


> Tenacity will work. Careful with the rate or you'll have a blonde lawn.


Container says 5-8 fl oz per acre. My front lawn is 255 sqft, so like 0.0058 acres. Plus, I'm going to use an old Weed B Gon (709ml) sprayer to spot spray Tenacity.

Math is the big problem for me @Sinclair lol so I'm breaking down at exactly how much fl oz I need in the Weed B Gon sprayer full of 709ml water.

(Using the Weed B Gon spray bottle to avoid nosy neighbours)



Harts said:


> Also check out www.lawnproducts.ca. They sell the American formula of Weed B Gon (with 24,D and Dicamba). They will ship to you.


You mean this one @Harts? It's Weed Out. I don't see Weed B Gon.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

That's such a small area that calculating and applying the amount becomes a bit absurd.

I'd put 1/2 teaspoon of tenacity into the spray jug you're using (assuming it's a gallon jug), fill completely with water, and apply just until everything has been misted.

You can always do a second and third app, but you avoid turning your lawn white.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

+1.

I use 1/2 tsp of Tenacity in 1 gallon. I also add triclopyr and surfactant to the mix.

Sorry, it's the Killex you want.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Sinclair said:


> That's such a small area that calculating and applying the amount becomes a bit absurd.
> 
> I'd put 1/2 teaspoon of tenacity into the spray jug you're using (assuming it's a gallon jug), fill completely with water, and apply just until everything has been misted.
> 
> You can always do a second and third app, but you avoid turning your lawn white.


That's a good idea @Sinclair and the most proper calculation! Thanks!

I have two Weed B Gon's. One is the regular sprayer (709ml in pic below), and the other is the one with a battery wand (5L). I don't remember what's in the 5L jug, so I'll dump it out and do what you suggested with 1 gallon equivalent.

Then either spray from that, or just transfer some into the smaller sprayer and go misting in these weed spots.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

@Devil maybe I misread your last post, but I wouldn't mix the Weed B Gon with the Tenacity - not because it doesn't mix well but because the stuff you bought is already diluted and ready to spray. Diluting with water would further dilute the active ingredients. If you had the concentrate, you could mix that with the tenacity.

I would spray the Tenacity on it's own and go around with the Weed B Gon after.

And if I remember correctly, you have nosey neighbours. Be careful!


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

Harts said:


> @Devil maybe I misread your last post, but I wouldn't mix the Weed B Gon with the Tenacity - not because it doesn't mix well but because the stuff you bought is already diluted and ready to spray. Diluting with water would further dilute the active ingredients. If you had the concentrate, you could mix that with the tenacity.
> 
> I would spray the Tenacity on it's own and go around with the Weed B Gon after.
> 
> And if I remember correctly, you have nosey neighbours. Be careful!


He's just using the bottle as a decoy. :lol:


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Decoy it was!

So, like you said @Sinclair, I did the half tbsp and went to it. Man, spraying by hand from that Weed B Gon bottle you see is hard! Especially when the lawn has weird weed growing. Had to spray most of the lawn with it.

About 8 hours later, starting at 5am this morning it began to rain.

And @SNOWBOB11, @Harts @MMoore et al... here's the N

Tuesday Jun 11, mowed to 3".
Dropped N.
Watered half inch to activate.
Wednesday Jun 12, sprayed Tenacity
Thursday Jun 13, rain!

Apparently it's going to rain till Sunday. 
You know what sucks though, both my neighbours left and right have no weeds in their lawns. But also that they've been maintaining their lawns for over 15 years!


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

you will get there.

my hell strip is lit right up right now. its a spot I don't think I will ever be able to be satisfied with.... its part of trying to manage a living system....

im learning just like you. my neighbor on one side was meticulous with how they maintained their yard but they moved out and the new owners aren't doing anything (they only just pulled the cover off their pool last week  ) but I was envious last year before they moved out. it takes time to get it under control.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

MMoore said:


> you will get there.
> 
> my hell strip is lit right up right now. its a spot I don't think I will ever be able to be satisfied with.... its part of trying to manage a living system....
> 
> im learning just like you. my neighbor on one side was meticulous with how they maintained their yard but they moved out and the new owners aren't doing anything (they only just pulled the cover off their pool last week  ) but I was envious last year before they moved out. it takes time to get it under control.


Ha! Learning you say @MMoore?! I've been watching your journal dude. You guys are all PhD level in Lawnology!


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Maaaaannnn... here's the heartbreaker! I'm definitely a few shades yellow.  Can't wait to see what the Urea does!


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

MMoore said:


> im learning just like you. my neighbor on one side was meticulous with how they maintained their yard but they moved out and the new owners aren't doing anything (they only just pulled the cover off their pool last week  )


Hey now, I just uncovered my pool on Friday...it's been too cold! :sad:


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

Sinclair said:


> MMoore said:
> 
> 
> > im learning just like you. my neighbor on one side was meticulous with how they maintained their yard but they moved out and the new owners aren't doing anything (they only just pulled the cover off their pool last week  )
> ...


I opened mine 2 months ago. been running the heater since may 24 long weekend. I hate looking at the cover.

Their pool is as green as my lawn. its gross.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

Just have to vacuum out the last of the junk, wash the deck, and turn on the heat 

Pictures 5 days apart.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Love the privacy in your backyard @Sinclair!

In other news, @MMoore, it's been about 6 days since the urea drop, and I don't see much of a difference. However, there's a lesser tinge of yellow now..


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

refresh my memory, how much urea did you drop @Devil?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

@Devil how many apps of Urea have you done? It took two apps of 0.5lb N on my hell strip before I noticed a difference in colour.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

MMoore said:


> refresh my memory, how much urea did you drop @Devil?


1/4 lb Urea (about 120 grams) for the 255sqft front @MMoore



Harts said:


> @Devil how many apps of Urea have you done? It took two apps of 0.5lb N on my hell strip before I noticed a difference in colour.


Interesting @Harts. I dropped just one so far, on the 11th of June, about a week ago. I'll mow again today and drop another batch if you think two apps might help.

And then follow it up with Tenacity tomorrow for the damn weeds (that are now showing a slight shade of brown thankfully!)


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Oh and used Scotts broadcast spreader at 4 for the urea


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Put down urea yesterday and watered it in. Right on time for rainfall which we have today.

I guess I'm gonna have to put tenacity tomorrow.


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## W8INLINE (May 27, 2018)

Take daily pics now that you put the urea down, curious to see how it works day by day.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Good idea @W8INLINE!
FYI, mine is on the left..

Jun 21


Jun 24


It may be the sun on Jun 21 that made a difference? I honestly can't tell the difference when I directly look at it. And sun placement matters too I guess.

What do ya'll think?

@Harts, think I need a third app? I want to get this over with so I can do some Tenacity again..


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Where do you live again?


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## W8INLINE (May 27, 2018)

Harts said:


> Where do you live again?


He must live in a bad area, lots of gang activity....just look at the vandalized cars on the street


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

:lol:


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Haha @W8INLINE! Better believe it - finest graffiti artists around!
@Harts Downtown TO off the DVP


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

I was going to suggest if you were in Miss or surrounding area I could stop by and take a look. But I'm not driving anywhere near the DVP!

Can you take photos with your phone tonight. It's hard to tell with the screen shots you posted but it doesn't look like much has changed. Can you include a close up of some grass blades as well?


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Harts said:


> I was going to suggest if you were in Miss or surrounding area I could stop by and take a look. But I'm not driving anywhere near the DVP!
> 
> Can you take photos with your phone tonight. It's hard to tell with the screen shots you posted but it doesn't look like much has changed. Can you include a close up of some grass blades as well?


Oh man, you guys are legit kind! Here you go @H@Harts. Forgot to get the grass blades.. I'll get them tomorrow!


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Some close ups @Harts


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

That looks dry to me. I assume you've been getting at least as much rain as I have? Have you had to irrigate at all?

Does that stuff pull up easily? Do you have a dethatching rake?


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

A little rake action, pull a few weeds, and a bit of water will do wonders.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

maybe I missed it... what seed did you use?


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Sorry for the delay guys, had a rough week after Canada day! Hope you guys had a good one though!



Harts said:


> That looks dry to me. I assume you've been getting at least as much rain as I have? Have you had to irrigate at all?
> 
> Does that stuff pull up easily? Do you have a dethatching rake?


Yeah had abundant rain! And yeah, some of the stuff did pull up well. Did a ton of it. I think I have chickweed and black medic. Another one unable to identify but it's like the black medic, except with star shaped small tips.



Sinclair said:


> A little rake action, pull a few weeds, and a bit of water will do wonders.


Done done done!



MMoore said:


> maybe I missed it... what seed did you use?


Pure KBG last fall when I did the reno.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

is pure a species or a mix name? im wondering what types of kbg were in your bag.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

MMoore said:


> is pure a species or a mix name? im wondering what types of kbg were in your bag.


Sorry @MMoore, I meant as in it's not a mix but just KBG. I got it from here.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

@Harts just saw your amazing less than an inch backyard and I'm soooo tempted to do my frontyard that way too (maybe 2" though), lol except given the weeds I have in there now and a couple bare patches from weed pulling I'm not sure it's a good idea. It might take a 2 more mows and 8-10 days before it comes up as green. LOL, but one can dream!


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

So kept pulling these little fkers (black medic) out today. In some places, they were so dense that after pulling them out, all I'd have left is small bare patches. I guess they create a canopy around them so there's no grass growth at all. Filled it with some top soil and let it be. Hopefully the fall feed will bring back the KBG.





Also bought a new blade for the mower and I can totally see the difference - I think the grass was getting stressed with the old blade as not only was it not sharp, but also dented in some spots.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Nice. Not sure what happened but over the last 2-4 days of a heatwave (even though I watered 1 inch at least twice in the last week), it turned into this. Looks like hair thinning!

Anyway, yesterday I thatched the front area (the horrendously brown part) and watered it deep.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

So apparently this might be rust disease, according to LCN videos. Other than watering and hoping for the best, I guess there's nothing I can do.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Not rust. Looks like drought stress. KBG can handle going somewhat dormant in the summer months and usually bounces back when the rain returns.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Not rust. Looks like drought stress. KBG can handle going somewhat dormant in the summer months and usually bounces back when the rain returns.


Thanks @SNOWBOB11 so you think some daily watering is going to help? Also why only the front? Is it because it slants towards the street causing more runoff than absorption?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Deep watering 1-2 times a week is better. 3 times if it's really hot works too. Sometimes the grass that's closest to the concrete heats up more and can dry out faster.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Deep watering 1-2 times a week is better. 3 times if it's really hot works too. Sometimes the grass that's closest to the concrete heats up more and can dry out faster.


Thanks @SNOWBOB11! Been doing that + the thunderstorm has helped a little. The browning is on it's way out. Been a whole week since I last mowed due to the rains and extreme heat. Might do it tonight.


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