# Project #1 - Front Lawn



## Jersey Devil (Apr 5, 2017)

I have three lawns: front, side, and back--and I've broken each into a separate project.

This is my front lawn project, and if you think it looks bad now you should have seen it when we moved in last June (2016). I've never cared for a lawn before, so I'm a total rookie. I'm trying to list exactly what I've done to the lawn so far in hopes that you all can help guide me to a much better lawn than what I currently have.


June through August 2016 - basic mowing. No time for anything else due to the move and a new baby.

September into mid-October 2016 - removed a large island in the middle and all of the field stone that surrounded it.

Late October 2016 - removed a very large white oak tree that was leaning toward the street. Contnued to mow as needed.

Early November 2016 - started enhancing the soil where the island / oak tree was, then reseeded the area with a mix of Scott's Sun Mix and Scott's Sun / Shade mix (No idea what I was doing so hit up YouTube). Continued to mow as needed, but didn't walk on newly seeded area at all.

Late November into early December 2016 - Watered and replaced top dressing as needed due to wind / rain events. Continued to mow as needed.

Early to mid-December 2016 - started to notice seedlings popping up through the area in pretty good numbers, but very sporadic. Continued to mow as needed, but still not walking on area of new growth.

January through March 2017 - Pelletized lime application and fertilizer from local supplier. No mowing needed.Put down Scott's Moss Killer mix, which worked great and I saw results in less than five days.

Early April 2017 - Ironite application and first mowing after noticing growth really taking off in late March. Also top dressed with top soil / sand mixture from local supplier and applied a mix of tall fescue and perennial ryegrass (both Scott's).

I've mentioned my recent re-seeding / top dressing debacle elsewhere on the forum, but just to recap I basically spent an entire day trying to enhance the sandy soil with a top soil dressing from a local supplier, put down lime, and re-seeded the entire front yard only to have a significant rain event the following day. No seedlings are showing from this project, yet, but it's only been exactly 7 days as of this date (04/13/2017). More to come on this as things develop (or don't develop!).

I'm sure you all can tell where the island was, but here's how I did my little re-seeding project:
So after the island and huge oak tree where removed from the front lawn it left a gigantic sandy hole in the ground. The landscaper(s) did a great job filling in the hole the best they could, but I still needed to add material in order to level it off. So I added a soil / sand mixture from a local supplier, which uses only local sand and organic debris to make up their product. It's actually my Township recycling center's product and seems to match my current "soil" pretty well.

After adding the soil I tilled the entire area with a hand tiller and watered the area down well. After that I added the Scott's seed (both sun and sun/shade mix) then added Scott's Starter Food. I covered the area with a variety of top dressings so as to help with the seed / soil contact. The area was watered daily through late December (see above). It turns out that the sun and sun/shade mixes have a variety of seed types, so basically I ended up putting down several varieties of fescues, ryegrasses, and Kentucky blue grasses.

That's about all I can regurgitate off the top of my head, so here's some pix of where I'm at now. Any advice, guidance, suggestions, etc... will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!


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## Miller_Low_Life (Apr 12, 2017)

I don't have any experience with sandy soils but am decent with clay. I would think the steps you're taking will payoff in the long term. Odds are this lawn didn't have any love before you took it over. I would think just keep doing what you're doing and you'll see a major improvement when fall hits. Something that has really worked for me this past year was putting down bags of compost in spots that needed more work. Below is a picture of my front lawn from a couple weeks ago. I've noticed that switching to organics has helped quite a bit with my green up in early spring. So organics is another recommendation from me.


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

Yeah my friend has sandy soil and it requires a slightly different watering schedule in the real hot summer months but you can have a great lawn. You just gotta remember that it doesn't hold nutrients/water as well. So organic fertilizer will stay in the soil longer than synthetics, and the water once a week rule might not apply during the hot summer months.


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## lewb (Apr 13, 2017)

I just joined the forum, I do not have any experience with sand soils. I would not use any liquid form of fertility as the dry will hold in soil longer. I have switch to an pretty much organic or natural fertilizer. Basically what the natural program does is change the soil structure. Over time you will see sustained benefits. I use Milorganite which is made from a sewage into a granular fertilizer. I apply 4 times a year at 14 lbs per 1000 sq ft.


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## Jersey Devil (Apr 5, 2017)

Thanks for the great info and suggestions, guys.
I've also been working on Project #2 - side yard lawn, and have my first signs of sprouts now. I can't see much where I seeded the bare spots in my front lawn because I'd have to walk over an over-seeded area to see those spots and don't want to do that quite yet. 
Thanks again!!


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

Photos or it didn't happen =P


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## Jersey Devil (Apr 5, 2017)

GrassDaddy said:


> Photos or it didn't happen =P


LOL.....it's filling in a little more each day, so I'm waiting to share pix until you can actually see a real change in it!! LOL


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