# LawnGuyLand's Journal



## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

Been meaning to start one of these journals for some time now. We bought our house in 2015 and the lawn was a mess. Like many here I found this site along with some excellent youtube channels and went to work. I learned so much in the last few years so thanks to everyone who contributes.

We had our property graded late last fall after having a tree removed, so I didn't end up seeding until about November 1st, 2017. All things considered, it came in pretty well. I put down the Hogan TTTF Blend + 20% KY Bluegrass. Not sure how much is KY Bluegrasss vs TTTF, but here's what it looked like on September 4th. I have been doing weekly apps of urea to help thicken up the bluegrass. Got 0.46lb N/M from urea down on 8/31, 9/6, and 9/17.







It's still very thin in many places, so over the last few days I scalped it down to about 1.5" or less in some spots and plan to overseed and roll it in and add some peat moss tomorrow after we get some rain today to soften up the soil. Ideally I would have liked to do this earlier in the month, but we had a party this past weekend so the yard had to wait until after.

I probably could have scalped lower but I didn't want to injure the good grass too much. Here's what it looked like yesterday. I still plan to keep up with the weekly urea apps in the areas that are already thick, but will most likely avoid the bare areas where I need to seed at the new establishment rate.

After scalping yesterday, I applied 3oz/M of SLS/Yucca soil conditioner and 4oz/acre rate of Tenacity, along with 0.46lb N/M from urea.

The areas that were scalped down to the dirt are mostly perennial rye. I probably should have nuked those spots, but want to give a shot at overseeding and see how they take. If I'm unhappy with it, I'll kill those spots and renovate next year.


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## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

Threw about 30lbs of seed down this morning before work. Saved about 6lbs for touch ups if needed.

I should be renting a lawn roller later today to roll it all in. Soil should be nice and soft from yesterdays rain and the soil conditioner I sprayed earlier this week. Then if there's time, I'll cover some of the bare spots with peat moss.


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## Powhatan (Dec 15, 2017)

You're progressing well :thumbup:


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## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

Thanks!

Just finished rolling in the seed. Went North/South and then East/West. Still have to cover with peat moss.


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## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

3 bags of Peat moss is down on the bare areas!

The one peat moss spreader that Home Depot has was already rented so I had to spread by hand. It didn't take long, but I would have bought more peat moss to top dress some full sun areas if it was available. I'll keep checking this week and maybe I can get 3 more bags of peat moss down.


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## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

I couldn't resist testing my new-to-me earthway spreader so I dropped 80lbs of baystate. The spreader is incredible compared to my old Scott's edge guard mini.


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## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

Noticed some light germination on day 5. Today is day 6 and it's really starting to pop! I'm excited to see how much progress will happen overnight with all of the rain we got today.

This picture was taken late this morning.

I'll probably have to mow the majority of the overseed areas tomorrow or Thursday. They're looking pretty shaggy. I'll try to mow around 2 or 2.5". I know most say to bag, but my mower mulches very well, and when I've overseeded in the past, areas that received leaf mulch grew in the best.


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## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

Wow 13 days without mowing felt like an eternity!

I blew some leaves off of the new grass and into small piles to mulch in and mowed the existing lawn at 2.75" yesterday to give the overseed some sun. I stayed off of the reseeded areas as much as possible. Most areas seem to be filling in nicely. There's at least one or two spots that didn't get great germination. One area just didn't get peat moss and the other is where I used to rinse out the tank of my backpack sprayer. I learned that lesson fast. All tank rinses now have a dedicated "hidden" dump location.

Thinking of dropping .25-.5lb N before the expected rain tomorrow. I'll probably drop .25lb N from urea mixed with some bay state. I'm only 12 days in from seed down though (about 7 from germination), but I'd like to give the existing grass areas a boost to encourage spreading/thickening. And I really want an excuse to use my Earthway spreader.


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