# Tim's 2018 Lawn Journal / mini reno



## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

Hey all, I thought I would get a lawn journal started.

While I have been interested in having a nice looking lawn, I really didn't know what I was doing. This past year I have learned a ton about lawn care. Thanks to forums like this and several YouTube Channels, I have gained a lot of knowledge.

For the most part, I am pretty happy with my front yard. The grass is pretty thick and weed free. I'm pretty sure I have a TTTF contractor's mix in my yard. The grass in my tree lawn didn't fare too well this year, and I have some issues. Not sure if I have disease, or just spots that dried out. I did have quite a few of my sprinkler heads go out on me this year. So I have been going around and replacing the heads as well as raising the head level to get the water level above the grass cut height.

I have decided to renovate the tree lawn area. I sprayed round one of glyphosate today. I am going to throw some Black Beauty Ultra down in a few weeks when I am ready to seed. As for the rest of the front yard, I am going to start the fall nitrogen blitz and get some pre-emergent down.

My Back yard is a different matter altogether. I have a lower lever and an upper area with a steep hill. The lower area I'm not too worried about. My daughter has a trampoline and I have two dogs. I'm not going to do any thing with the lower level until the trampoline is gone.

The upper hill area is probably 80% weeds and 20% something. I really want to get some good thick turf growing on the hill because I think the hill is starting to erode and the retaining wall is starting to lean. I have been going back and forth as to what I want to plant on the hill. I am 90% sure I want to seed with Zoysia grass. The main reason is that I don't have irrigation on the hill, and I want something that won't thin out in the heat of the summer. It is also a pain in the butt to mow. So I want a grass that doesn't grow vertically as fast. I want to mow it once every two weeks ideally.

Here is the front yard. Not too bad of shape.





Here is my fall reno project. This is the tree lawn area. I thought I would just start over and get some renovation experience. I will continue to water the area and hit it with another round of glypho in 7-10 days. I will have the lawn aerated and I will use peat moss to cover the seed.







This here is the hill area. Unfortunately, I am probably too late on the year to seed with Zoysia. Everything I have read is that you want to plant in late June, early July for best results. So I will be spraying weeds, throwing down nitrogen and pre-emergent to get the soil ready for next year.







Thanks for reading. If anyone has any comments about my plans, I am interested in hearing them. I am still pretty much a newb at real lawn care. So any thoughts would be appreciated.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Before going with zoysia, I would suggest you give the cool season guide and fall nitrogen a try. Zoysia takes a while to establish.

You will be amazed how much improvement a little of fall nitrogen does to a lawn.


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

Thanks @g-man I'm going to fall nitrogen and get the soil read for next year. If I do the Zoysia, it won't be until next year anyway. So if I do, I will be all in and make the commitment to get it growing.


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

Added the Simple Lawn Solutions Humic/Fulvic Acid and Liquid Aerating Soil Loosener. Going to apply some more glypho to my renovation areas this weekend.


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## STL (Jul 14, 2018)

Good luck! Only bit of advice I can offer is sometimes problem-area problems can persist even after changing up the grass.

Sounds like you got your irrigation issue handled though so hopefully that'll do it for ya. Are your hell strip sprinklers on their own zone?


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## Iceman (Jul 5, 2018)

Check the label on the liquid aerating soil loosener. I think it says not to use 1 month before or after seeding.


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

Tomorrow is the big day. I'm having the lawn aerated and will be throwing down my seed. I thought today would be a washout, but Gordon decided to leave the area sooner than expected and I was able to get my grass cut. I scalped it pretty good. I also spot sprayed a few places where nutsedge and some clover made it through my last glypho application in the renovation area.

My final plan is to overseed my main lawn with JG Black Beauty Sunny mix.

My renovation tree lawn will get Midnight KBG. After aeration, I am going to rough up the soil and add some Sta-Green lawn soil to the large area and just a regular cheap manure/compost bag to the small area. I was curious to see if it was worth the extra money to buy the lawn soil over the cheaper compost. Both areas will get a layer of peat moss and Scotts Starter Fert with weed control.

For once, it appears that my procrastination has payed off. The 10 day forecast has no rain and low 80's for the high. I will post some more pics of the progress tomorrow.

My poor lawn, it doesn't like being cut this low.





Some pesky nutsedge that will meet it's demise.


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

Got my lawn renovation work done today. Right after the aeration was done, I attacked the dead grass with a garden weasel and a rake. I was able to get most of it up. I then added lawn soil to the larger area and cheap compost to the smaller area. I then seeded, fertilized, and topped it off with peat moss. I also over seeded my main lawn. Watered everything in and now it's time to hope for the best!


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

It's funny how things work. I did my reno a week ago from this past Sunday. Watering several times a day in short bursts and the soil hasn't dried out since. Pacing back and forth, like an expectant father, I walked up and down the sidewalk searching for any hint of growth. On Friday, I noticed some new growth in the main lawn where I overseeded with Black Beauty Sunny, but nothing in my Midnight KBG patch. I decided that on Saturday I would throw down some Perennial Rye Grass seed to compliment the ***, if for no other reason, to get something growing sooner rather than later. After throwing down the PRG and lightly garden weaseled the soil to get the PRG seed some good contact, I gave it a good watering and said good night. I went out Sunday morning, and lo and behold, my Midnight KBG sprouted overnight. I couldn't believe it, I was expecting another week at least before I saw any growth. It's always a good feeling to see the hard work paying off.


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

Day 25 of my renovation/overseed project. The new grass is emerging from it's sprout and pout stage. It's starting to darken in some areas and get tall enough to cut. I did some light mowing as the ground is still pretty soft and the soil didn't like the wheel marks very much. I put the striper back on the mower. It felt nice to get some stripes back in the lawn. Other than some bleaching from the Scotts Starter fert with mesotrione, my main lawn is recovering from the aerating/overseeding.


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

I'm 9 weeks in and I thought I would post a little update on my fall lawn renovation and rejuvenation. The tree lawn area that I completely renovated is doing great. The main lawn has also recovered from the summer stress it was under. This is the best my lawn has looked in the three years since I moved here. Not sure how many mows I will have left this year. The growth has slowed considerably as the ground temps continue to fall. I laid some single-double stripes today.







I have a question about a spot in my tree lawn renovation. I have this lighter in color and thin patch. This was also a bad spot this past summer where the grass was dying. any idea what could be going on here?


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## rob13psu (May 20, 2018)

Tim H said:


> I'm 9 weeks in and I thought I would post a little update on my fall lawn renovation and rejuvenation. The tree lawn area that I completely renovated is doing great. The main lawn has also recovered from the summer stress it was under. This is the best my lawn has looked in the three years since I moved here. Not sure how many mows I will have left this year. The growth has slowed considerably as the ground temps continue to fall. I laid some single-double stripes today.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That looks really nice.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Before going with zoysia, I would suggest you give the cool season guide and fall nitrogen a try. Zoysia takes a while to establish.
> 
> You will be amazed how much improvement a little of fall nitrogen does to a lawn.


Based on the images, I'm assuming no Zoysia. Right?


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## Tim H (May 31, 2018)

g-man said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > Before going with zoysia, I would suggest you give the cool season guide and fall nitrogen a try. Zoysia takes a while to establish.
> ...


Not yet. I am still considering it for the hill in back. I went Midnight *** and some PRG in the tree lawn. I overseeded with Black Beauty Sunny in the main lawn.

The funny thing is that I had some extra PRG that I threw on a few spots on the back hill. I watered it with a hose here and there. Maybe for 5 minutes every few days. Those patches took off and look really good among the weeds. The weeds are green as well from a couple apps of urea.

I am still leaning towards zoysia for the hill. I really need to get some thick grass up there to keep erosion at bay. I still have until spring to make up my mind.


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