# [Canada] davegravy's lawn journal



## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

First off, I'm so happy I found this place. For years I've felt there's more in terms of science and best practice with lawn care than what my google searches were turning up. Thanks for all the hard work amassing knowledge here!

I inherited this Etobicoke, Ontario lawn in Aug 2011 and have been hell bent on hand-pulling weeds and trying to go along with the provincial government's desire for me to have a herbicide/pesticide free lawn. I'm done with that - I've been extremely dedicated and there's no winning, especially since I back onto a park that is essentially a field of weeds (since parks departments here are herbicide/pesticide free now)

I recently discovered Killex being sold on Amazon.ca, picked some up, and I'm giddy with the time I'm about to save in my lawn care routine. Now I've discovered this site I want to take it even further, spend that saved time on improving other aspects.

Weeds

I've got an infestation of veronica speedwell and spotted spurge. The spurge is just starting to grow rapidly now, by mid August last year I came back from vacation and my lawn was gone hidden beneath a carpet of the stuff. I hand pulled but I expect it likely went to seed already.

Irrigation

I don't have an in-ground system. I want one but we're planning to tear down our house and rebuild in 1-2 years, which will likely mean replacing or heavily modifying the system since our foundation will expand. I figured its much more cost effective to wait (?) I'm treating the time until then as an opportunity to learn, so that when I reno the lawn post-construction I hit the ground running.

I water for now by moving a sprinkler around.

Annual Cycle

My back yard goes dormant every year and decent sized chunks of it completely die. It's full sun and sandy soil back there. One section dies some years from chinch bugs, and not others. Last July I had my first bad grub infestation (at the same time as the spurge infestation) but strangely this year there's no sign of grubs even though I took no action.

I overseed every fall (and a bit in the spring) trying a different box store seed mix, plus I fertilize (scotts) in fall and spring. Generally my lawn looks great every spring and like crap by end of summer. This summer it looks really good however, perhaps due to increased rainfall and me mowing a lot higher?

August 2018 (after hours of painstakingly pulling spurge)


August 2018 (after hours of painstakingly pulling spurge)


August 2018


Spring 2019


Today (Summer 2019)


(this cycle repeats most years)

 Plan 

Priority #1 is to spot treat the young spurge plants that are just showing now with Killex to stay on top of them, then hopefully get my hands on a pre-emergent (tenacity? dimension?) from seedworld to get ahead of next year's speedwell and spurge weeds. I need to figure out best application times for these.

I need to get a soil test done and use that to figure out what fertilizer / soil enhancers I should be applying. There looks to be a thread dedicated to soil testing so I'll save my questions till I've been through it. Then I'll need to source these products (hopefully the Canada product alternative threads will have what I need)

I need to get in-ground irrigation, but again that's a few years out. Hopefully I'm not wasting my efforts before then?

Anything else I might have missed?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Welcome @davegravy. I'm east of you but I was in Etobicoke earlier this year at plant world garden centre. It's a nice nursery. They got some plants that aren't easy to find locally for me.

Looks like your lawn is in better shape this season than last. I think it's a good idea to hold off on the irrigation and continue to work on just improving what you've got now. Like you say a soil test is a good way to start. I've send my soil to waypoint analytic in the states. Make sure to do this in the spring before you add any fert.

For pre e I'd recommend picking up prodiamine. It is labeled for pre e control of speedwell and spurge. Tenacity would be for when your seeding.

Your back yard looks like it gets lots of sun so it's a good candidate for KBG if and when you decide to reno it.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Thanks @SNOWBOB11



SNOWBOB11 said:


> Make sure to do this in the spring before you add any fert.


Let me know if I've got this straight. I should keep going with my normal plan (fertilize with Scotts and overseed in the fall, plus maybe put down some prodiamine) but then in spring after green up I:

* collect soil samples and send to lab
* wait for results
* develop fertilization plan
* procure fertilizer based on plan
* spread fertilizer
* more prodiamine?

I keep seeing things like Milorganite mentioned here, plus other additives that are difficult to find Canadian sources for. Given how fast things seem to move in the spring, and the fact I have to wait for test results, then source fertilizer and then maybe wait for it to ship, I'm wondering if there's anything I can do/buy beforehand to get product on the ground sooner in the spring? Is it really inadvisable to purchase anything before seeing test results?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Your plan looks good. You can collect soil samples as soon as you can work the soil in the spring. There will be lots of time to get the fertilizers you need after you get your results back.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Dropped the HOC from about 4" to 3.5" today.

Some young spotted spurge starting to get going - I sprayed 3-way last week but it didn't seem to touch it. Did another spot spray today.

I'm picking up some urea over the weekend, and my backpack sprayer should be delivered Tuesday. Then I'll start my first blitz and do my first prodiamine application.

Excited...

Is it too late to apply the imidacloprid I picked up? Last year by this time grubs and chinch bugs had ravaged my back yard, but no sign of them this year. Should I wait until next summer?


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

@Harts @SNOWBOB11 would appreciate your opinion


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Unfortunately I can't help you with the imidacloprid. I've never used it.

As for the spurge, you might have to mix Triclopyr with your 3 way and make a couple of apps. I m believe pre-e is the best way to control it. Check the prodiamine label to see if spurge is listed.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

@davegravy I have no experience with imidacloprid or grubs. I've never worried about them as they have never been a issue for me. I don't see any sign of grub damage in your lawn so I wouldn't apply as it would seem like a waste.

With the temperatures we've been having start getting that urea down whenever you can. Great weather for growing cool season grass.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@davegravy Merit kills young grubs. It is nicotine based and attacks nervous system. They stop to feed and die. There is cycle they repeat. At this point of the year they are already big enough not be 100% affected by imidacloprid.
Best time of the year is spring. beetles lay eggs in June and young bugs start feeding. If you notice problems now (yellow spots), pull the dead spot at the edges (bugs move away to feed on fresh roots) and check for presence. If you have a lot (some count is acceptable) your only choice is a curative chemical. Sevin is one of them and I think is still sold in Alberta, so you can have on ebay with no customs hassle. It is a nasty stuff for mother nature, but... imidacloprid works also well on ants spiders etc. At higher rate can be applied at 2 feet out and 2 feet up your house walls and prevent from carpenter ant for example.
One last thing. Even if beetles mostly have annual cycle, some have a 3-4 years cycle. They move as 'colonie', some regions can get a big hit one year but then be let alone for few years. imidacloprid is very toxic to fish and aqua life, so rinse off your equipment away from water sources (even the sink). It is also fatal for bees and family. Avoid spraying on blooming plants. I am bug free for 3 years now 
Cheers,
M


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> @davegravy I have no experience with imidacloprid or grubs. I've never worried about them as they have never been a issue for me. I don't see any sign of grub damage in your lawn so I wouldn't apply as it would seem like a waste.
> 
> With the temperatures we've been having start getting that urea down whenever you can. Great weather for growing cool season grass.


Once you have them it is game over... Me and all of my neighbors we lost our lawns (between 60 and 100% of it) in one season. The worst discovery is in spring... And guess where they prefer to lay first...in a beautiful green lawn vs abandoned lot. It is a matter of surviving for them too.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Did my first fall N blitz + prodiamine spray yesterday on the rear yard and did the front today (and got lucky with a storm cell right afterward that watered it in perfectly).

0.5 lbs N and 0.2oz prodiamine per 1ksqft.

I also prepped a couple 1 gal tank sprayers for spot treatments - one with roundup concentrate + blue marker + surfactant, the other with 3-way + blue marker + surfactant. Excited to be able to see where I've already sprayed going forward

I definitely have some work to do getting my mixing and cleanup process more efficient. Seemed like 10% of my time was spraying and 90% mixing + cleanup.

I think there's a bit of green up already in the rear yard.





Here's my ditch:



I usually just do a few rounds of glyphosate on it per year, but I was wondering if it's worth spraying with prodiamine? It gets pretty flooded during rainstorms so isn't it just going to wash away and be a waste?


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Aug 16 - I got cocky and thought with my urea app I'd drop the HOC and bag.



Turns out my mower jumps suddenly from 3.5 to 2" and my lawn has become none too happy about it.

Today, a week after applying 1lb/k urea I'm really not seeing much change in terms of growth or colour. Urea I thought is supposed to be pretty fast acting?



My lawn looks stressed, thin, and hazy, as it does every year around this time, but I've been babying it this summer:


measuring rainfall and supplementing with manual watering. I've had at least 0.5" every three days since it got hot in mid/late July. I'm pretty careful with sprinkler positioning
mowing regularly (with a sharpened blade)
...although the exception to 2) above is there was at least a few occasions in the spring where the lawn was overgrown when I mowed, and I didn't bag because I didn't know any better.

From testing with the thatch rake, there's a bunch of lawn litter as has been a repeating yearly pattern for me, so I'm wondering if it's preventing my grass from getting water and the fertilizer I put down. My current thinking is to try and rent a power rake before my next urea application.

If that's not the underlying issue then I'm hoping it's a soil ph or malnutrition issue that I'll uncover when I do my first test in the spring.

I started a thread about my problems here


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

Did you water in your urea app? Unless you have like the equivalent of landscape fabric of yard litter your still going to get water and urea down to the turf. You could take a soil soil probe (using a spade works too, or even a screwdriver) to see how much water has penetrated.

We also had temps around 90 for the past week so the lawn could just be stressed still.

It's possible you have too much water. Your lawn could be choked out between the junk and water. If this is the case I'd let it stress without water for a week and rake up all the dead you can.

You used true 46-0-0 urea without a slow release coating? How many lbs urea total did you apply? How did you measure the weight you applied?

This is really strange to me, if you applied ~0.5# of N via urea you should have had to cut 3 times in the past week.

You can melt the urea and apply foliar in your backpack sprayer, then there is no worry about the layer of dead grass if you're comfortable spraying.

You could make a mix similar to 3.25lbs urea/gallon and apply at like 16oz/ksf. Which would give you about 0.2#N/ksf, maybe split it into two passes (8oz/ksf in one direction, 8oz/ksf in a perpendicular direction).


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Kaba said:


> This is really strange to me, if you applied ~0.5# of N via urea you should have had to cut 3 times in the past week.


Day time temps are still really hot and the grass is still coming out of dormancy. I put down 0.5lb N on the weekend and have cut just once since; and I haven't cut my blvd yet. There is definitely increased growth, but certainly not a flush.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Kaba said:


> Did you water in your urea app?
> 
> You used true 46-0-0 urea without a slow release coating? How many lbs urea total did you apply? How did you measure the weight you applied?
> 
> ...


I did a foliar app, and yes, uncoated urea. Then I did about 0.5" of water from the sprinkler to make sure it was good and in there.

Measured using my food scale. I did two passes (at right angles) on my 5ksqft lawn, 2.5lbs per pass, 5lbs total, so 0.5 lbs N per k.

I guess it's just stressed


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

Wow this heatwave must have done more than I expected! My mind is blown lol, learn something new every day here.

At least you know you did everything right so just keep on it!

Normally by mid August our temps are milder during the day so I've been use to getting really rapid response and green-up from even coated slow release mixes, but I haven't tossed anything down this year yet.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Kaba said:


> Wow this heatwave must have done more than I expected! My mind is blown lol, learn something new every day here.
> 
> At least you know you did everything right so just keep on it!
> 
> Normally by mid August our temps are milder during the day so I've been use to getting really rapid response and green-up from even coated slow release mixes, but I haven't tossed anything down this year yet.


It could partly be the heat, but I'm pretty sure my lawn is just super sensitive. It goes more dormant than any others around me, reason yet to be completely determined. See https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12806


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@davegravy Did you ever try a 'no N mix' . Some people swear about it, other are calling it a waste. I have had such a great results with it, that when the time came to do my reno, I was deeply confused of what am I doing.
What I am talking about is:
Humic, Kelp, Micros, Iron. You can do foliar or soil for all, but I prefer Chelated Iron to be foliar and all the rest goes in the ground. All Canadian sourced.

With this and the natures best 9-2-2 fertilizer from Home hardware, I had never stopped mowing my grass 2 times a week (yes all during the heat) and it stayed so close to its spring best that, as I said, I am hoping my new KBG is worth the hassle...


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Babameca said:


> @davegravy Did you ever try a 'no N mix' . Some people swear about it, other are calling it a waste. I have had such a great results with it, that when the time came to do my reno, I was deeply confused of what am I doing.
> What I am talking about is:
> Humic, Kelp, Micros, Iron. You can do foliar or soil for all, but I prefer Chelated Iron to be foliar and all the rest goes in the ground. All Canadian sourced.
> 
> With this and the natures best 9-2-2 fertilizer from Home hardware, I had never stopped mowing my grass 2 times a week (yes all during the heat) and it stayed so close to its spring best that, as I said, I am hoping my new KBG is worth the hassle...


Thanks I was wondering about this. I think I will look into doing something like that next year after I get my first soil test and start trying to tune my soil.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@davegravy No problem. None of those will move your tests needle (not for the macros, nor Ca or Sulphur). Another thing. I found, in case you are low on Ca, chicken manure (granulated) has 7% of it vs 6% N lol...
All organic


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Just copying some of the summary info and pics from my other threads here:

Aug 22 - seeded rear garden with KBG
Aug 27 - lawn not responding to watering, falling further into dormancy


Aug 30 - dethatched front yard, rear garden germination starting.
Sept 2 - dethatched rear yard


Sept 3 - 0.5# N/k from urea on front yard


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Also, can a mod move this into the lawn journals forum? @g-man ?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

davegravy said:


> Also, can a mod move this into the lawn journals forum? g-man ?


 :thumbup:


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

Just wanted to chime in and say keep batting, you're doing all the right things: trying different approaches, understanding your lawn, asking questions, learning, and of course lots of hard Work.

IT WILL PAY OFF!


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Kaba said:


> Just wanted to chime in and say keep batting, you're doing all the right things: trying different approaches, understanding your lawn, asking questions, learning, and of course lots of hard Work.
> 
> IT WILL PAY OFF!


Thanks Kaba.

I need to remember that as far my lawn is from my goals, this year it's miles better than years past - I have no weeds and no large completely dead patches!


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Keep it fed and watered. We have some great temperatures over the next couple of weeks. You should notice a big difference in the appearance shortly.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Sept 5 - applied 0.5#N/k from urea to backyard.

If it seems like it's responding well and I can keep up with the mowing I think I'll do weekly applications like this for maybe 2 or 3 weeks to get some quick fill-in, then back off to 0.5# bi-weekly until end of growing season. Sound viable?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Perfect. I did 0.5lb N for 3 straight weeks. Beginning this weekend, I'm backing off to 0.25lb N weekly as we near frost temperatures.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Raised the HOC 1 notch so these pics look a little more green as the growth hides all the still dormant yellow grass beneath. I'm not sure there would be any visual improvement yet if I used the old HOC (~2"). I know you typically lower HOC rather than raise this time of year, but my lawn's so stressed as it is I'm trying to let it breath.





My little KBG experiment is coming along.




Front yard has a lot of filling in to do where I scalped it with the Sun Joe and ripped out all the fine fescue.



I'm thinking of spraying some FAS because I've never tried it and I'm curious how this pig looks with lipstick :lol:

EDIT: I sprayed FAS


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## Mark B (May 30, 2019)

Harts said:


> Perfect. I did 0.5lb N for 3 straight weeks. Beginning this weekend, I'm backing off to 0.25lb N weekly as we near frost temperatures.


You are nearing frost temps? @Harts What's your forecast?
We have 15 to 18C this week in UK.

Following along @davegravy :thumbup: The trials of caring for fescues eh? Similar situation here. I just took off my scarifier and got the thin tine dethatcher on ready to go as we blitz the N


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

@TheWhiteWizard not yet. We're still low to mid 20s most days.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

TheWhiteWizard said:


> Following along @davegravy :thumbup: The trials of caring for fescues eh? Similar situation here. I just took off my scarifier and got the thin tine dethatcher on ready to go as we blitz the N


Thanks, yes I will figure this out if it's the death of me. My neighbors have been stealing the 'nice lawn' show for too long!


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Another N (0.5#/k) app today, front and back.

Had my first good rainfall in a while (1") the other night. I don't know what's in rainwater that's not in city water but WOW my lawn just got traction all of a sudden. It's like the N apps the past month have been just collecting there in soil and are now doing stuff.





Still struggling on the left side a bit but coming around.

Neighbour expressed envy and asked for my help with her lawn


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

Looks great man!

There is nothing like a nice long soaking with thunderstorms to really make a lawn happy.

Massive improvement eh!


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

I think I must have broken my prodiamine layer (0.2oz/k, applied Aug 14th) in the backyard when I dethatched (not scarified) with the Sun Joe. I've had a corn speedwell infestation for years and was hoping using prodiamine this year would break the cycle but I'm seeing thousands of very tiny germinating weeds right now between my turf plants.



I guess I'll have to blanket spray 3 way in the spring when the speedwell is more mature and easier to get foliar contact with...

Although I remember reading something that prodiamine doesn't prevent germination, it interferes with a chemical process that happens very early on in a plant's life just after germination. So maybe there's still some hope it will kick in and do something?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Have you looked at the very first photo you posted of your backyard and compared it to how it looks today. That is one hell of a transformation in your first year.

Keep doing what you're doing. By this time next year you won't even recognize it.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Harts said:


> Have you looked at the very first photo you posted of your backyard and compared it to how it looks today. That is one hell of a transformation in your first year.
> 
> Keep doing what you're doing. By this time next year you won't even recognize it.


Thanks man, you're right it's a massive improvement 

I'm hard on myself, as in my experience that's the only way to improve, but it's important to relish progress from time to time.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Because lawn care is a slow process with minimal positive results from one day to the next, I think it's important to take a moment every now and then and look at where we started compared to where we are right now. It's easy to forget how truly bad it looked.

Seriously, keep it up. You started from a very bad place. You have brought it back from the dead. With a full season to work with next year, you're going to bring it to new heights.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

What a difference a couple weeks can make. Keep smashing that N button. It's go time now.

Even the really bad lawns in my neighbourhood are green today.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Today it rained 0.5"... and a dragonfly.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Another 0.5# N/k today on the front and back. Almost dropped the HOC today but chickened out since there's still a few areas with stunted growth


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

Looks like a new lawn good work!!!


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

:nod: :nod: :nod:


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

Post a before and after!!


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

^+1 Hell of a transformation Mr. Gravy. Think about all of the work you have put in. That is lawn to be proud of...especially from where it started. :clapping:


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Kaba said:


> Post a before and after!!


Thanks guys for all the support 



My goal going forward is to not have it go so brown in the peak of summer. I'm hoping that getting a soil test, amending soil appropriately, and tailoring my watering to what soil cores are saying (instead of just blindly watering X inches / week) next year will be the ticket! Also not letting my grass get overgrown and clogging up my lawn with wads of undigestable clippings like I did this spring.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@davegravy Drop the HOC! It is now or never for us. The transformation looks just incredible!


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

Let these couple hot days pass, take your HOC down and keep the pedal down on the nitrogen.

We have only a few more weeks of glory!


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

davegravy said:


> Thanks guys for all the support


Which one is the before? :lol:

You should be really proud that is amazing!


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@Kaba I have seen so many times the exact reverse...so a proper question to ask...


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

On close inspection I'm seeing a lot of this in my lawn



It's not impacting the overall appearance (yet?) I'm just trying to be proactive. The lawn's growing at a good clip and has good colour - should I be concerned? Other than just enough to water in my urea apps I haven't been watering as it's been cool mostly.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

Rust - totally normal this time of year and no cause for concern.

Stick to the plan


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

As for Urea apps, I try to get them a week apart, the day before some decent rain.

Some times a "week" is 5 days, sometimes it's 8 or 9, but I try not to water the lawn anymore in Sept/Oct.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Another 0.5# N/k on the Sept 27th.

Going to do another round of FAS in the next few days hopefully. My order of humic acid (powder) from Gardener's Pantry came in so I might spray that at the same time.

Dropped the HOC today.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

davegravy said:


> Raised the HOC 1 notch so these pics look a little more green as the growth hides all the still dormant yellow grass beneath. I'm not sure there would be any visual improvement yet if I used the old HOC (~2"). I know you typically lower HOC rather than raise this time of year, but my lawn's so stressed as it is I'm trying to let it breath.


Look at that change.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@davegravy Amazing! If you can combine your humic with Kelp source it will do even better. This time of the year micro bio activity slows down, but nothing to loose.


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

Are you doing 0.5N/ksf weekly? It's looking AMAZING!


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Kaba said:


> Are you doing 0.5N/ksf weekly? It's looking AMAZING!


Thank you! Yes weekly, although I'll likely start to back off to bi-weekly except in a few areas which are still thin. Most of it has thickened up as much as I imagine it can.


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## crazymas0n (Apr 19, 2019)

following this thread, looks great, I like your progress, keep up the great work.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Next year I have this big patch of course fescue I'll need to burn out and reno. Even from afar it looks like an ugly splotch.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Did a foliar application today. First day in a while where I'm free for lawncare and there's no rain, although it was borderline too windy.

0.1 oz humic powder / k
2 oz FS / k
1.7 oz AS / k
NIS


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

Oh, Interesting to see before vs after. I did similar. I've thrown way more Humic though . Almost 1oz/M plus 0.6oz/M of Tri Kelp (3 different seaweeds). And you need a striping kit! You will love it!
Amazon sometimes sells the Toro one.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Babameca said:


> Oh, Interesting to see before vs after. I did similar. I've thrown way more Humic though . Almost 1oz/M plus 0.6oz/M of Tri Kelp (3 different seaweeds). And you need a striping kit! You will love it!
> Amazon sometimes sells the Toro one.


I know it's the same company but do you have any idea if the Toro model generally fits Lawn Boy?

1oz/M sounds like the listed soil application rate - are you applying that foliar? The listed foliar rate is 1/10th the concentration of soil application.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Measured my soil temps just now, sitting between 60 and 65F. I figure I'm good to keep hitting the N and there's still some point in putting down humic for a bit.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

davegravy said:


> Babameca said:
> 
> 
> > Oh, Interesting to see before vs after. I did similar. I've thrown way more Humic though . Almost 1oz/M plus 0.6oz/M of Tri Kelp (3 different seaweeds). And you need a striping kit! You will love it!
> ...


The toro kit is very adjustable I have it on a Honda HRR. It takes some practice to be efficient, but your yard is straight so you will like it. Not the price!
I did last Humic foliar. I am not scared of this stuff. Do soil, if you don't feel comfortable with it. And Kelp makes a difference. I also cycle some organic fert in my N apps. I liked the Sustane line. It combines organic with some rapid AS punch.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

davegravy said:


> Measured my soil temps just now, sitting between 60 and 65F. I figure I'm good to keep hitting the N and there's still some point in putting down humic for a bit.


Warmer weather on the radar. Keep up with the N. Just keep it micro dosed.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Today:

0.5lbs N / ksqft 
5g humic powder / ksqft
All sprayed in 0.8gal/k carrier and watered in.

Included my new KBG test reno in this. 


While working on the lawn I had the pleasure of smoked prime rib wafting past me periodically. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving


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## Kaba (Mar 29, 2019)

It's disgusting how good your lawn looks now!!! :lol:

Great work man. Now we just need to figure out how to survive the summer!


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Well done! Your transformation has been outstanding! I can remember how worried you were just a few short months ago.

Your persistence has really paid off.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

@Harts @Kaba

Thanks guys. I'm yearning to take it to the next level now. Don't think I'm ready for a full reno (especially given how shaky my mini reno has been this fall) but I think I can eeke out better colour and turf health in the heat of summer next year.

One thing I noticed is a section I seeded this spring is several shades of green darker than the rest of my lawn. There's a clear domination line, I'll post a photo soon. I've treated it the same as the rest of my lawn in terms of fertilizer and FAS apps this fall. It's the same northern mix grasses as the rest of my lawn. My theory is it's the topsoil I put down when I seeded in the spring, and the rest of my lawn's soil has some major deficiency that I'll find and fix in the spring when I finally get a soil test.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2019)

Looks great. Sorry if this was mentioned and I missed it while skimming through but was wondering what kind of grass seed did you put down in the main area? Was the house initially sodded with KBG?


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

@macdawg I believe it was originally a northern mix. I overseeded with this which is similar:



Hope that helps.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2019)

Cool, thanks. Interesting that it has "creeping red fescue". I've heard of that grass type but know nothing about it. That lawn is thick and has great color.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

macdawg said:


> Cool, thanks. Interesting that it has "creeping red fescue". I've heard of that grass type but know nothing about it. That lawn is thick and has great color.


Thank you 

I bought the seed mix before I joined TLF and learned much about grass types. I still don't know much about creeping red fescue except that it's part of the "fine fescue" family. My lawn generally looks good this time of year but in the summer heat it struggles more than a lot of lawns I've seen on here. If you look back to August in this thread you'll see what i mean.

It could be watering or soil problems, or the fine fescue having poor heat tolerance. I haven't really narrowed down the cause yet.


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