# Battleboro's Journal



## battleboro (Jan 3, 2021)

We just bought this place early last year and I spent the year researching what it would take to "go low" with reel mowing, in addition to other landscaping projects. Now that a new season is approaching, I wanted to start this journal with a before/current perspective and build upon it as the year passes. This forum has helped me tremendously!

A necessary 2020 project was installing a rain garden to offset excessive impervious surfaces. This is relevant because it consumed what was once lawn.

Being built:



In action during tropical storm Eta:



In preparation for the 2021 year, and because we moved from a place with tall fescue, we sold this:



... and bought this:



... and this:



... then built this boom sprayer:



Here is the canvas:











I'm thinking about continuing this concept:



... to my ditches will help with cutting:





An ambitious project will be flattening the yard using this (6X10) (along with an old riding lawn mower [no deck], a ridged dragging frame and a landscape rake):



... and a 1 ton bag (FIBC 2500 lb. White Bulk Bag). I'm assuming about 12 trips (1 ton/1000 sq. ft.) and estimate we'll be loosing about 3K sq. ft. with the additional landscaping:



Even more lawn will be consumed as we put in a patio, walkway to the pool and focus on privacy on either side of the back yard. I'm hiring this work out to get it done before pool season. The rest I plan to do myself (not all of it in 2021). What you don't see on the plan is a 12X12 shed I'd like to build in the back yard. Maybe this fall lumber prices will come back down to pre-covid prices:



I'll be posting updates throughout the year. Nothing like laying it out there to hold oneself accountable. Let's do this!


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## BakerGreenLawnMaker (Mar 13, 2018)

Beautiful property and home. I love your river rocks for the drainage, great concept man, and I'm now completely jealous of your swardman, I hope to get an orange swardman one day. Good luck this season with your lawn.


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## Benwag (May 28, 2020)

Wow, looking forward to your journal this season


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## battleboro (Jan 3, 2021)

Well, one has to start somewhere. An experimental burn instead of scalping is the first thing I've done this year.

I found this post and thought I'd try it out on one section of the yard. I'm not sure if the areas of "superficial" burn were due to the wind pushing the flames too hard or due to higher moisture content in certain areas. As you can see, some areas are a deeper black in color than others. It would be nice if the temps reached a point to kill off the emerged weeds.

Here are the results:
















Whoops! How'd that get in here!?


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## battleboro (Jan 3, 2021)

I had only a little green coming through and didn't want to get too aggressive, but I did some prep before a proper scalp.

1. This is after cleaning up my experimental burn section (above) with a 22" Toro Recycler on the lowest HOC (ok, I guess you could call this a scalp):





2. Then I took out my new toy, slapped on the scarifier and pulled out so. much. thatch.



Instead of burning this section (below), I just took it down to about 1.75" with the Toro, in 2 passes, then scarified it:





3. The end result was a lot more thatch and clippings that I bargained. I just realized I didn't take any pics of the backyard.



This is a natural area (below) that I have other plans for, so I used it for "storage" until I can get rid of the clippings



The same here (below). The clippings aren't touching the tree trunk, so it should be fine until I get rid of it.



Lots of rain this week and cooler temps coming up. So, maybe no scalping for a couple of weeks.

I did manage to lay down some prodiamine ahead of the rain today. I'm hoping the winter weeds burn off with hotter temps later this year and the pre-m does its job.


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## battleboro (Jan 3, 2021)

Down to 3/8" in hopes to maintain a 1/2" HOC. This was my first time scalping and first time using a reel mower. I hit dirt in a few places and learned a lot.


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## ronjonbomber (Apr 14, 2021)

Love the layout of your property! Looking forward to the progress.


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## battleboro (Jan 3, 2021)

Thanks ronjon.

This is in progress now and we're paying the pros to do this job...

Installing a patio and walkway to the pool and piping the downspouts underground.








So much soil had to be removed, good top soil, we are reusing it to create a berm uphill to direct water to either side of the yard's crown and leveling out some low spots. The berm will contain privacy plantings of Degroot's Spire.

Using this soil to level out the backyard will also save me time, money and labor on the sand leveling I was planning for later in the year. This approach is also saving time and labor for the pros to haul this good soil off the property.

I plan to dig an ever so small swale down the property line to the ditch to direct additional runoff. It will follow the same line as the fence line on the left side of the pic below. A better view of that line is in the top pic. The fence line I'm referring to is right of the Ditch Witch in the top pic.


I'll keep posting progress. They should be finished with everything by the end of this week.


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## battleboro (Jan 3, 2021)

Well, they worked faster than expected. Everything was finished today and they did an amazing job.

















*Degroot Spires on the left (inside of fence)*


*Degroot Spires close up*


*If you're just tuning in, the "bare" lawn patches are areas that were leveled with soil from the patio excavation. The orange-ish colored soil is actually leveling sand used under the pavers, not clay.*


*Now all the downspouts, but one terminate in the rain garden (other side of fence).*


*Degroot Spires on the right side.*


*A little bit of clean up all around before I put the Swardman back to use.*


*Some sand leveling repairs are needed to fill in the stand-on skid steer tracks. No biggie. Sand leveling was on my list this year and they saved me a ton of work in the backyard. Actually, a few tons of work (sand).*




All in all, I estimate about 1000 sq. ft. of lawn was replaced with planting beds and the patio. The planting bed closest to the pool eliminated all the grass in an underutilized area of the yard and the odd shape was a pain to keep maintained, so we "fixed the glitch".


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