# JayGo's Journal (Texas Tifway)



## JayGo

I should've started a journal when I joined TLF. But there's no time like the present, so here it goes.

*Day 1 of the 2021 season.* Last week, Texas was busy being it's funky self by giving us the worst winter storm we'd had in decades.

I scalped both front and back yards down to 3/8". I hit dirt in a few spots, which really bums me out considering how aggressive I've been with leveling over the past 3 years. 😞

I also scarified. I made 5 passes on the front and 6 in the back.
All in all, there were approximately nine 33 gal bags full of debris from scarifying alone, and then about another six bags from the scalp clippings. 👀

I'm waiting to put down pre-em, but there is rain in the forecast for the next few days. However, it could be the kind of rain that's perfect for watering in my application. 🤷🏽‍♂️


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## Getting Fat

i've been hoping you'd do a journal since we met last fall. Following...


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## JayGo

Thanks, @Getting Fat. Looking forward to sharing.

Have you started your season, yet? I assume you'll be breaking in that dethatcher. 👍🏼


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## JayGo

I was finally able to put down a pre-emergent app today after waiting for rains to pass and after helping both neighbors scalp and scarify their lawns. I made three trips to recycle center to drop off about 38 33-gallon bags of clippings and turf debris.
My lawn is starting to show a few patches of green here and there.


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## JayGo

With the bright sunlight today, I can see quite a lot of green up happening in the backyard. 👍🏼

Brought up the canopy and thinned out the top part a bit on the elms. It's a love/hate relationship with those trees. We love the shade during the hellish Texas summers ☀🌡 but that obviously means less sun for the turf. Those elms have flourished over the last two years, so there is a bit of thinning taking place around those trees.
The area marked with red has so little turf now because of the shade that I'm just going to build a 10x12 shed there.


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## JayGo

Starting to get some green up throughout the lawn.
Cleaned up the flower beds and cut back all dead branches on oleander and all crepe myrtles.



AT&T came and dug when they installed a new line to my house. But at least the damage was minimal. I'd planned doing more leveling this year anyway, so....


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## itsmejson

Looks great so far! I need to work on defining a new edge around my trees. The way you did it in the front looks great.

I'm in Cedar Park and I scalped yesterday.


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## JayGo

@itsmejson, thank you, sir!
I get asked about that edging all of the time.

I use this. Got it at Home Depot. The blade is the perfect size as far as creating a deep enough edge that'll keep turf from growing into the mulch.


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## itsmejson

Sweet. I'll have to get one this weekend. Do you use mulch or garden soil I can't tell from the photos.


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## JayGo

@itsmejson, I use mulch...about 1 to 2" max.


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## JayGo

I think I'll call today my first official mow of 2021. Lots of green up. Looks like the lawn may soon be ready for its first feeding.
My crepe myrtles and shumard oak have yet to bud. 🤞🏽 Plus it's not looking like most of my flower bed plants survived the Freak winter storm from a month ago.



Line where AT&T dug my new internet line is much more visible now that grass is coming in.


This area at bottom of photo is the one that is still mostly dormant.


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## Getting Fat

my landscaping plants also took the brunt of the "event" a few weeks ago. No idea what will die and I've received conflicting advice - cut it way back vs. do nothing and see what happens. Who knows?

you gonna drop straight AMS?


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## JayGo

Yep, I've read the same conflicting info, too. After pruning my trees and crepe myrtles, I went ahead and cut back everything in the flower beds. Plants didn't look "dormant," they looked more dead from the winter storm. Upon cutting the dead stuff off, I got to parts that showed life. Some plants in the beds are sprouting a bit of green. Some aren't. We shall see.

Plan is to use AS, but I'm just waiting on my sprayer to arrive.


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## JayGo

Pretty cool what 2 days of sun will do.


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## JayGo

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## JayGo

2 weeks ago, green up and growth was coming in super quick for about 3 or 4 days, but then it really slowed down. Today was mow #2 at 1/2" today. Also, today was the first 1/4 lb of N feeding with a 12-12-12.

Some of the flower bed plants are showing signs of life. 🌷🌸🪴🌼🌺. After seeing some new buds, I'm going to wait another 2 weeks to see if any of the brown/wilting stuff springs back from the winter freeze.

Shumard oak and crepe myrtles started to bloom a few days ago. 🌳🌿 Elm trees in the backyard are all blooming, too.





The line that AT&T dug is really starting to b other me more now that the turf is greening up. Hope I can wait until I level in a couple of months.


Area on left in this next pic continues to be the slowest to green up this year. Hadn't been the case in previous years.


Area on lower left in this pic gets a lot of shade from fence at this time of year.


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## JayGo

Rushed mow today. Was only able to squeeze in the front yard. We're still getting cool nights in the 50's here in Central TX. I'd say lawn is about 90% green now.

After giving the flower beds some time to recover from the historic freeze we got, I think it's clear only about half of the plants survived. Time to replace the ugly stuff and get them poppin'.


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## Getting Fat

lawn looks great jay. Think its time to pull the cords off that tree?


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## JayGo

@Getting Fat, thank you! Trying to get it going again.

Regarding the stakes, believe me I'm eager to get them off. Normally, I wouldn't stake a tree, but the tree is so tall that the winds from the south started to make the tree lean after about 2 weeks from when it was planted, so I added another 2 stakes for stability. An arborist friend said to leave the stakes for about a year and then take them out. It'll be a year in July. ⏳


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## JayGo

Finally had a chance to mow the backyard.
A little too windy today, but I'm hoping to use the new sprayer tomorrow to apply some micronutrients.

Liking the green up, but looking forward to more lateral growth. Seeing quite a few bare spots I haven't had before. 🤷🏻‍♂️


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## JayGo

The weeks I mow from left to right are the ones I dread a bit, because I get a little more scalping than when I mow in any other direction. Maybe has something to do with the way I leveled the last time? 🤷🏽‍♂️
I may need to drag the lawn in a different direction.





Can't wait to level the spot where AT&T ran a new line.




The flags mark where an 8x12 shed will soon be.


The spot where a tree used to be is becoming more visible as dirt/sand continue to settle


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## itsmejson

Looking real solid! Wish mine was like that


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## JayGo

Thanks so much, @itsmejson.
Trying to make it happen again.
The appearance is simply due to reel mowing.

Do you have a journal?


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## itsmejson

JayGo said:


> Thanks so much, @itsmejson.
> Trying to make it happen again.
> The appearance is simply due to reel mowing.
> 
> Do you have a journal?


Nice - no journal yet! This is my first year with a reel mower and so far it's been working out really well other than weak spots by the back patio. The front yard has not gotten thick yet - I'm sure it is because the ground is so compacted.


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## JayGo

@itsmejson, you thinking of aerating?


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## itsmejson

JayGo said:


> @itsmejson, you thinking of aerating?


I've thought about it but have never done it before so I have no experience. How often do you aerate?


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## JayGo

Got in a quick front yard mow today. 






Also, got my shed put up. Now, I'm in the process of reshaping the mulch area around the elms in the backyard. Have some thinking to do as far as design goes. Turf has taken a beating with all of the foot traffic in that area.


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## Patrck17

Hey what height of cut are you set at? @JayGo


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## JayGo

@Patrck17, currently mowing just a hair under 5/8".


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## Trent161

Looks amazing man!


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## JayGo

Thanks a lot, @Trent161. I appreciate that, man. I'm trying a more minimalist approach this season. 🤞🏼


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## JayGo

Catching up the lawn journal with some post-mow backyard pics.

I'm a bit stuck on what to do with the area around the trees that now connects to the new shed. I've already created a new border, and I know I'm going to mulch the tree area like it was before, but I need to incorporate a rock border somewhere to slow down rain run-off. Just don't know how to design it so that both look nice.


Backyard from the opposite angle.


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## Brou

JayGo said:


> Got in a quick front yard mow today.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, got my shed put up. Now, I'm in the process of reshaping the mulch area around the elms in the backyard. Have some thinking to do as far as design goes. Turf has taken a beating with all of the foot traffic in that area.


That's some crisp edging! Nice job.


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## Buffalolawny

Nice backyard


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## JayGo

@Kamauxx and @Buffalolawny

Thanks, gentlemen. We lucked out picking out this lot. Nice not having neighbors back there.
In case you're curious, this is what I use to cut those edges. Pretty easy to do. Got it at Home Depot for about $20, but it seems that they've jumped up to $27 these days.


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## Brou

I actually have one of those. I use it for edging around flower beds and tree rings...and twice for snapping ATT's fiber optic line. :lol:


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## JayGo

Kamauxx said:


> I actually have one of those. I use it for edging around flower beds and tree rings...and twice for snapping ATT's fiber optic line. :lol:


Man, I did the same thing. Fortunately for me, it was the cable line from the previous service provider I used. So at least in my case I didn't mess up my service.


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## JayGo

Been a while since last journal entry. Lawn continues to look the same. Doing well.
Scalped yesterday down to 3/8" to prepare for some leveling. Was supposed to be a spot leveling, but I went ahead and just went for the whole thing again.
4 yards of masonry sand for 4,800 sq ft.
Thanks to @Hapa512 for the angle iron drag. That is the way to go!!


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## JayGo

Tomorrow, it'll be 2 weeks since I did the 4th leveling on my lawn. Backyard is coming in a little slower than the front this time. Still, it's growing in nicely.


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## Two_Rivers

Great work! Always fun to see hard work payoff.


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## JayGo

@Two_Rivers, thank you sir. I'm glad I got it in before it started to feel like summer.
The "cooler summer" we'd been getting was good while it lasted, right?
How is it in Houston?


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## Txmx583

Yard looks great!! She's placement is perfect!! You have a nice sized backyard so it doesn't take away from anything, and the shade from the trees will keep that area cooler and protect the shed from the sun.


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## JayGo

@Txmx583, thank you. We lucked out with this lot. We picked it because of that group of trees. They were small at the time, but their canopy is starting to get pretty wide, so I'm getting more and more shade sooner than I expected. Lots of pruning and thinning out.
Placement of the shed was easy, because the shade had pretty much thinned out all of the turf in that area, so it worked out.


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## JayGo

Front yard is now about 97.3273889% filled in from leveling. Backyard has a bit more shade, so "grow in" is a bit behind the front. Still, they're both coming along nicely.


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## JayGo

Fresh mow. The spots that have a little more filling in to do are more visible in this pic.



Here's a shot showing how the backyard is still not as filled in as the front. More shade means more wait time.


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## JayGo

Business as usual. Nothing new or exciting to report. It's been a while, so just thought I'd update the ol' lawn journal.

...but I do need to get ready for my Fall pre-em application.


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## Herring

Excellent looking turf for sure!


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## JayGo

Thank you, @Herring. 👍🏼


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## itsmejson

Strong like bull! Great work!


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## JayGo

Hey, @itsmejson! Thanks. Tryin'.
How goes it out on your side of town?


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## itsmejson

It's going! First season using a 25" McClane and it has served me really well so far.

I've called this my test lawn to learn on as we have been waiting for our home to be finished being built in Liberty Hill. Come next season I should be ready w/ all the general lawn knowledge on maintaining newly laid sod!


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## JayGo

Yea, man. Looks great! That's a nice block of grass. Looks like plenty of sun.
When you get to the new place, just let the new sod establish, so you can do some leveling once it really gets growing. It's gonna be smokin'.

25 incher? I sometimes wish I'd gotten the next step up from the 20" machine I got.


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## Jimboslice

Great photos, thanks for sharing with us. I'm encouraged by what you've done. I'm over in College Station and have wanted to make the switch to Bermuda from St. Augustine but I'm concerned about the fact that I have some shaded areas, not full shade, but some shade nonetheless. I've heard various things about how tolerant certain types of Bermuda are with shade. I see you have some photos with what appears to be some shady areas that I suspect are similar to what I might have. You feel confident making an assessment of the shade tolerance of that tifway you have there? It is looking pretty good to me.


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## JayGo

@Jimboslice, thanks.

From my experience, I'll say that it has a LARGE appetite for sun. As I've shown in previous pictures, I have 3 elms, and as the highest parts of the canopies grow upwards (the parts I can't prune from the ground), I get a little more shade every year. And every year, I have to move the tree border a little farther out because the grass closest to tree border thins out.

It is pretty clear what parts of my back lawn get more sun. Here's the side that gets a lot of sun.



And below is the part that sees about 4 hours of sun a day. Some of those "spots" are just the actual sunlight peeking through the trees.
There's also a line of bare dirt going from the house to the shed where I dug to run power to the shed.



Two things worth mentioning...
1️⃣ I have 3 dogs (small, medium, & large). So the backyard is fighting dog pee on top of the lack of proper sun...that's a deadly combo. But where there's proper sun, there is no pee damage.
2️⃣ I did some pretty aggressive leveling again this year in late-ish July. In previous years that I did heavy leveling, the lawn would completely fill back in within 3-ish weeks. But as the trees have grown, it's almost 3 months post-sand, and it's very slow to fill in in spots where sun is lacking.

With sun, my Bermuda was always quick to recover from anything. I can keep the tree thinned out and keep branches from growing out, but trees grow up, too. Ha ha That extra height also makes for shade.

The grass in the front yard is the exact same grass as the back. I was even more aggressive with leveling the front this year. It bounced right back like nothin'. I feed it the exact same stuff as the back, but it's clearly a fuller, more dense patch of grass.

Hope I've at least provided something that could be useful to you.


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## itsmejson

@JayGo yes I'm ready to try and level a lawn for the first time lol. I already bought a leveling rake and a gorilla cart just need a drag mat.

I'm complete opposite I always think I should have gone with a 20" McClane since the current front yard is small and hard to maneuver around trees. However at least it's less passes with the 25"


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## JayGo

@itsmejson, you can borrow my drag if you like. I have a 5×3. Can be hand-pulled, but it is easier and MUCH FASTER if you pull it with a golf cart or something like that.
I'll tell you right now, leveling is a lot easier than people make it sound...even if you're doing it by hand.

Yeah, the folks I spoke to before I bought my machine mentioned that a bigger machine is a little more challenging to turn and work into tighter places. Pro's and con's, right? 🤷🏽‍♂️


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## JayGo

It's been a slow recovery for the heaviky-shaded backyard from scalp and sand leveling. But it's hanging in there. The rain and good amount of sunlight in recent weeks have really helped. Hoping it'll fill in completely before it checks out.

It yellowed a little after I lightly scarified over this past weekend. I talked to remove debris so my pre-emergent could get to the soil easier.




Here's a shot of the debris removed in just the first pass I made with the scarifier.


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## JayGo

Bermuda is hanging in there, despite a spell of nights in the high 30's/low 40's. Mowing is down to maybe once a week these days. Haven't had to edge in a couple of weeks.



Today, my backyard mow was an especially sad one. My faithful companian and best dog I've ever had in my 47 years left us yesterday.
My mow was sad because she enjoyed following me around as I pushed my machine around the lawn. She was one of those buddy dogs that was always at my side...followed me whenever I got up to go anywhere. Today, she wasn't in her usual sunbathing spot and the pee burns she left on the grass were just another reminder of her this morning. 🙂


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## Herring

JayGo said:


> Bermuda is hanging in there, despite a spell of nights in the high 30's/low 40's. Mowing is down to maybe once a week these days. Haven't had to edge in a couple of weeks.
> 
> 
> 
> Today, my backyard mow was an especially sad one. My faithful companian and best dog I've ever had in my 47 years left us yesterday.
> My mow was sad because she enjoyed following me around as I pushed my machine around the lawn. She was one of those buddy dogs that was always at my side...followed me whenever I got up to go anywhere. Today, she wasn't in her usual sunbathing spot and the pee burns she left on the grass were just another reminder of her this morning. 🙂


Great color for those low temps! Have you continued any fertilizer going into the fall?

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.


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## TN Hawkeye

JayGo said:


> Bermuda is hanging in there, despite a spell of nights in the high 30's/low 40's. Mowing is down to maybe once a week these days. Haven't had to edge in a couple of weeks.
> 
> 
> 
> Today, my backyard mow was an especially sad one. My faithful companian and best dog I've ever had in my 47 years left us yesterday.
> My mow was sad because she enjoyed following me around as I pushed my machine around the lawn. She was one of those buddy dogs that was always at my side...followed me whenever I got up to go anywhere. Today, she wasn't in her usual sunbathing spot and the pee burns she left on the grass were just another reminder of her this morning. 🙂


Sorry to hear about your loss. It's amazing the little things we miss when they go like not being there for a mowing. I'm sure she's sunbathing somewhere right now just waiting for the mower to start.


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## JayGo

@Herring & @TN Hawkeye, thank you both.

No more fertilizing for me. Just letting it slowly doze off to sleep. Last time I fed it was .15 lbs of N on Oct 17. Texas weather is weird. We normally get to wear shorts on Thanksgiving and even on Christmas Day.


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## JayGo

It had been 11 days since the previous mow, but I got one in yesterday afternoon. Noticing a little dormancy starting to creep in. Hoping to knock out the backyard today.


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## itsmejson

Sorry for your loss @JayGo. We adopted an older dog 2 years go and couldn't imagine not having him.


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## JayGo

Thank you, @itsmejson. Happy Thanksgiving.


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## JayGo

December and still maintaining a little color even though we've had cooler weather and chilly nights. Today was the first mow in about 2 or 3 weeks. I was surprised by the amount of clippings.


Backyard is doing surprisingly well despite lots of shade this time of year.


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## JayGo

Alright, time to finally get my 2022 journal going.
It's been a cooler Spring than normal. Daytime temps are fine, but night temps are definitley trending cooler. My turf is definitley not as far as it was this time last year. Still, no complaints. It's coming along. Texas warmer temps are inevitable.

Front Block


Driveway Block


Backyard #1


Backyard #2


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## itsmejson

@jaygo solid work already man!


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## JayGo

@itsmejson, hey there! Thanks! Trying to get it going again.
How's the new place?


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## itsmejson

It's going! It's true when they say home projects never end.

I decided to play it safe and not apply pre-e down early this year so I've been battling weed & common Bermuda growing in the back yard but a beer always makes things look a little better lol.


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## JayGo

@itsmejson, I know this isn't the most appealing way to treat for weeds (especially with how hot it is this weekend in our area), but you could get out there and clear at least an area of your lawn by hand pulling weeds.
Just grab your ear buds or speaker, a cold beverage, and a bucket for the weeds.
...at least until you feel comfortable to use a post-emergent.


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## Dono1183

itsmejson said:


> It's going! It's true when they say home projects never end.
> 
> I decided to play it safe and not apply pre-e down early this year so I've been battling weed & common Bermuda growing in the back yard but a beer always makes things look a little better lol.


Those electric jellyfish sure do make thing better!


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## JayGo

I really need to do better about keeping my journal updated.
Front yard after this morning's mow.



About to knock out the backyard in a bit. But for now, here's a shot of the new paver patio.


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## jasonbraswell

that looks like a great spot to relax in the shade!


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## JayGo

jasonbraswell said:


> that looks like a great spot to relax in the shade!


Thanks, Jason.

It was an easy decision to put it there. First, the shade makes it perfect. But also, that shade has been slowly thinning the grass more and more in that exact spot over the years, so....
The size was perfect for our needs.


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## WillyT

Looks clean!


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## JayGo

@WillyT, man that's the conversation my wife and I were having just yesterday. She wants to put out a few decorative things, and I said it looks cleaner and neater with less stuff out there.

I'm gonna show her this. Ha ha Thanks. 👍🏻


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## SamtheSamuri

this is awesome!


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## JayGo

@SamtheSamuri, thanks.
And thanks for the reminder that I should update this thing.


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