# TJ_FortWorth 1st Lawn Journal - St. Augustine



## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

Reading through some of the seasoned veteran's lawn journals and creating my own over on the Yard Mastery app, I've decided to post here as well.

I am a first time home owner. My wife, dog and I moved into our home at the end of October 2020 from an apartment downtown. The 3,000 sq ft yard had not been tended to in years, there was inches of mulched leaves on top of hard dirt. There was overgrown jasmine in the front with mostly weeds where grass should be. The flower bed has been nice to us and is not an eye sore but my main attention since November has been on the lawn. We have a lot of shade. At any given time, a portion of my yard gets 4-6 hours max of sunlight with sun poking through the trees during the rest of the day.

I have minimal St. Augustine knowledge from my childhood helping my dad in his yard. So I'll admit, I am an LCN (Lawn Care Noob) - any advice, recommendations, etc. are more than welcome. I've already learned so much in my short time here on the forum.

Here we go!

*November 2020 - Clean Up*
Bagged over 50 yard bags with mulched leaves (I used a 3-in-1 blower that mulched leaves into a bag - yes this was awful).







After minimal research I decided on experimenting with tall fescue in the backyard. It was a valuable journey and I learned a lot. It turned out very beautiful for about 2 weeks and then started growing weeds galore. I didn't own any lawn tools, mower, etc. until recently so I let it grow. 




How did grass grow with all of these leaves? I don't know.





When I say weeds galore, I mean tons of weeds!!





Here is a pic of the fescue recovering from the Texas freeze. My house was unfortunately one that lost power and water (which sucked) but luckily no pipes burst. 


Borrowed my childhood Honda rotary mower from my brother (dad chose to give it to him) to get a couple mows in at least! 




*April 2021*
And now on to the main event - St. Augustine sod install. My plan was to remove all the jasmine, existing weeds, etc. and install sod in the front yard. I hired a local neighborhood lawn care guy to help with the jasmine removal and sod installation. I also wanted to see how the fescue would last in a Texas summer heat. I don't have much faith but at least wanted to give it a chance.

Jasmine removal, we also used the front-loader to scrape down the side of the yard. 










*April 7th, 2021 - St. Augustine Sod Install:*










I do not have under ground irrigation and my water pressure is terrible. Please say a prayer for me and my time moving sprinklers around.



I mentioned earlier how I wanted to see how the backyard Fescue would look in the summer. However, after the front install was finished, we ended up with another pallet of sod. Whoops! Long term I want all St Aug in the back, so as an experiment we put that last pallet in the backyard. It was so sudden and not planned for we had to move quick with soil prep. It was not the best prep, we used a weed eater to chop up the existing fescue and laid as much Scott's lawn soil as we could.








Now I'm dipping my toes into the chemical side of things of lawn care. During the fescue grow, I only used fertilizer, water and pre emergent. But I discovered my dangerous addiction to perfecting lawn care. I have already purchased the bio-stim 4 (humic12, RGS, Air8, and MicroGreene). My plan moving forward is to follow the YardMastery schedule tending to the sod needs first. I have not thrown any fertilizer down due to the below.

Since sod install I watered a ton the first week and cut back the second because we got rain. I sprayed a BioAdvanced Fungus Control on April 22nd. That was about the time I joined the forum. I have some concerning yellow spots still not greening up since install. The local neighbor lawn team who helped me install said it's probably nitrogen overload from the sod farm. We did have a delay in sod delivering due to "rain" the sod farm said. Not sure what to think of it. I have read others experiencing the same thing in their established St. Aug lawns so that's comforting at least. I'm assuming it has something to do with the harsh 10-day freeze we had in February but could be wrong. 


First time using the new sprinkler. Clearly I was still trying to figure it out with all of that street spray. 




So here we are today. This week I mowed at 4 inches for the first time and sprayed Humic 12 and RGS at the recommended dose. I have not put any fertilizer down but plan on spreading some 12-12-12 starter fertilizer next month. I'm starting to see a lot of sedge pop up in the fescue near the shed and in random spots in the St. Augustine. I plan on hand picking these until at least 45-60 days pass before spraying some Certainty and/or Celsius.

I have not sprayed an insecticide but I believe my current pest control company sprayed the yard when I first hired them back in November. I need to confirm what they're spraying and how often next time they come out.

Here is some pics I snapped yesterday and earlier this past weekend. I look forward to continuing my journey with y'all and please comment with any feedback you might have! My addiction is growing!











:thumbup:


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Looks like it's coming along nicely! Which variety of St. Augustine is this?


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Nice lawn and welcome to TLF. Nothing wrong with following LCN just refrain from buying those miracle products.

Any questions along your journey just ask


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

ionicatoms said:


> Looks like it's coming along nicely! Which variety of St. Augustine is this?


I think so - thank you! I ordered Raleigh St. Augustine.



CenlaLowell said:


> Nice lawn and welcome to TLF. Nothing wrong with following LCN just refrain from buying those miracle products.
> 
> Any questions along your journey just ask


Thank you, glad to be here. I appreciate the advice, I'm going to give these bio-stimulant sprays a chance this year during the sod process and see how it shakes out.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

I would not hand pick the sedges since that will separate the leaf from the root. It's best to leave it be until you apply some Certainty or try your hand with Dismiss. If it bothers you visually, just mow it down and it will spring up nicely when you meet it with the herbicide.

I have a fair amount of nutsedge and the herbicide application with a little patience really sets back those little buggers! I did a fall treatment in a particularly troublesome area and they responded well coming into the spring. There are still some there, but much less than before. My real issue is in my flower beds. I tend to keep things wet there since the bed plants prefer it...but so does the sedge.

Keep in mind that Certainty does work on sedges, but it is very slow. Dismiss works a lot faster. My recent technique was top drop Dismiss at the sedge soil to root level and then follow it up a day after with Certainty on the leaf blades. It looks like a nuclear bomb was dropped on the sedges without any damage to neighboring plants.

Good to see another try their hand at StAug in DFW!


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

UltimateLawn said:


> I would not hand pick the sedges since that will separate the leaf from the root. It's best to leave it be until you apply some Certainty or try your hand with Dismiss. If it bothers you visually, just mow it down and it will spring up nicely when you meet it with the herbicide.
> 
> I have a fair amount of nutsedge and the herbicide application with a little patience really sets back those little buggers! I did a fall treatment in a particularly troublesome area and they responded well coming into the spring. There are still some there, but much less than before. My real issue is in my flower beds. I tend to keep things wet there since the bed plants prefer it...but so does the sedge.
> 
> ...


Excellent advice! Thank you for the detailed description and disclaimers. With all of the rain we've got the past day or so I haven't been able to do much in the yard. Feed the weeds so I can kill them! Once it dries up I'm going to get at it with some herbicides.

It looks like the fescue will die if I take Celsius or Certainty to it. Should be fine on the rest of my yard St. Aug.

Something I didn't prepare for or really consider was the two different season grass weed control. Which is fine, I'm glad I'm learning and reading the labels. Sedgehammer looks good for Fescue and St. Aug.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

My experiences so far for these...

Celsius = good in warmer weather...much slower in cooler weather. Safe for St Aug.
Certainty = good in cooler weather for winter weeds. Slower kill rate. I've seen great effectiveness on sticktight buttercup, rescuegrass and henbit. Poa annua gets a knockdown, but I haven't seen a great kill rate. Safe for St Aug.
Blindside = don't do it except for a nuclear bomb scenario. Burned by St Aug which eventually did recover. I wanted to take out a breakthrough of Virginia Buttonweed and Blindside took care of it in short order. I used it on some other weeds close to a shrub and the MSM in it toasted a well established bush.
No experience with halosulfuron Sedge Hammer. I think it is a very safe play when broadcasting it over a St Aug area for nutsedge. Very slow I believe.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

Thank you for that write up @UltimateLawn - your experience is what I'm here to learn!

So nearly 2 inches of rain the past 24 hours. What're we thinking is going on here? Starting to see multiple blades throughout the back and front look like this. I saw online maybe water logged? Grey leaf spot? I sprayed BioAdvanced Fungus Control for Lawns on 4/22. Any help or advice is much appreciated.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Not GLS.

I've seen tips die back if there is a problem with feeding the plant via the roots.

Is the soil overly wet?


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

ionicatoms said:


> Not GLS.
> 
> I've seen tips die back if there is a problem with feeding the plant via the roots.
> 
> Is the soil overly wet?


Good to know not GLS, thank you for the response.

Oh yeah, soil and sod pieces are soaked.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Keep a close eye on it over the next day or two. Hopefully it dries up a bit without any intervention.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

I applied some Air 8 today and first dose of starter fertilizer at the recommended application.

I also got to mow and edge the St. Aug! Those yellow spots are starting to get better.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

Lookin great!


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

Since the sun in DFW came back out yesterday, the yellowing appears to be recovering. Still waiting to see over the next several days.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

UltimateLawn said:


> Since the sun in DFW came back out yesterday, the yellowing appears to be recovering. Still waiting to see over the next several days.


I agree @UltimateLawn 
*Saturday 5/1:*


*This morning 5/6:*




This past Sunday I mowed the lowest my rotary will go on the below section.

Yesterday, 5/5 I sprayed Celsius and Certainty for the first time on the grass divider section of my yard that meets my next door neighbor. This area I've been putting off dealing with but now that the sod is humming along it's time to get the st. Aug growing here again.

Celsius 1.6g
Certainty 3 small scoops 
Bifen I/T 10 ml
Surfactant 2.5 ml
Mixed in a 1 gallon tank. Sprayed the hell out of this section.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

It's been about two weeks since I last posted and a number of things have happened (including lots and lots of rain - I think close to 5-6 inches the past 14 days). I'll try my best to recount everything here with pics.

1. My wife and I bought 7 new plants from Archie's Gardenland here in Fort Worth. Pretty cool little garden place, they carry a lot of local fert advertised as "tailored for Fort Worth soil". We got 4 Boston Green Ferns to hang on the front porch. 2 Spider Ferns hanging on the side of the house in the front-side yard. And 1 potted Bromelia (I think is what it is) that will sit on our back porch. 



2. Tenacity was sprayed on my backyard Fescue, it currently looks like a green/white spotted mess but the weeds are scorched and I can already tell the Fescue is growing back with natural dark green bases on the bottom half of the white blades. 


3. I think I've run into a small Chinch Bug issue in the St. Augustine portion in the backyard. I sprayed 0.5 oz of Bifen IT last week and that seemed to do the trick for a few days but yesterday 5/18 I noticed them buzzing around the thatch layer again. So I sprayed 1 oz of Bifen IT and that should take care of them for a month or so. I went ahead and sprayed the front yard St. Augustine as well.

4. Remember my low water pressure mention in my OP? Well, I'm proud to say I've successfully installed 3 above ground DIY sprinkler heads in the backyard. It'll cover about 500 sq feet (half my backyard), I plan on doing the same to the front-side where the sprinklers are on spikes stuck into the flower beds sprayed into the yard. 


5. The side yard where I share grass with my neighbor is recovering nice from the Celsius / Certainty cocktail a couple weeks ago. You can definitely tell the weeds are annihilated. Whatever St. Aug grass is left should hopefully win out the soil battle.


6. Sticking with a 2x per week mowing schedule - typically on Wednesdays/Thursdays and Saturdays/Sundays. Definitely going to mow today or attempt to hold off until tomorrow morning because I'm going out of town tomorrow evening until Sunday.

7. I bought myself a Titan Spreader which will be here tomorrow 5/20. After throwing down a couple pounds of old left over fescue seed in some backyard dry spots and front-side yard (I'll share more below) I noticed my cheap Scotts Mini Edge Guard spreader has the infamous tire line. HELL NO.

8. I have about 500 sq ft of yard easement in between the street, my neighbor, and my backyard fence. Technically my front yard on the corner lot next to the other neighbor. I probably should've sodded this area with St. Aug instead of the backyard, kind of regret that now but oh well. I scorched this area with another Celsius / Certainty cocktail about 1-2 weeks ago. I mowed it down on the lowest setting and spread my left over fescue seed in this area (honestly just to get rid of that left over seed) -- whatever doesn't grow or last the heat this summer I'll repair/fill-in with St. Aug sod. 


9. I received my soil test back from YardMastery's app. 
- Very low on Nitrogen (Nitrate 1.91, Ammonium 1.1 --- so 3.01 when I should be 7-18)
- Very high on Phosphorous
- Very low on Potassium 
- Low on Sulfur
- Extremely astronomically high on Calcium. The measure reads 1031.11 when the range is between 93-314. Very confused by this. 
- Magnesium is good
- Sodium is good
- pH is low (4.71)
- Very low on Iron (0.26) when it should be in the 4-11 range.
- Manganese is good
- Zinc is high
- Copper is low
- Boron is low

My plan of attack to get soil back in range:
- Spread 0-0-48 SOP this weekend and then again in 2-3 weeks at 2 lb / 1,000 sq ft. 
- Spread 7-0-20 Granular Fert from YardMastery (has Iron in it)
- Spread a pH increaser for acidic & hard lawns
- Spray Liquid Iron


As always, any advice, tips or tricks is welcome! I hope everyone has had a great week and will have a fantastic weekend, Spring time is so fun!


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

My calcium is around 1500-1600. You don't need to give it any more thought. It's no big deal.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

ionicatoms said:


> My calcium is around 1500-1600. You don't need to give it any more thought. It's no big deal.


Good to know, thanks for that. I was dumbfounded at first, and even further confused when looking at pH boosters going into further Calcium detail. I did run across others saying this is fairly normal but glad to have some confirmation.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

@TJ_FortWorth , what the latest on the lawn???


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

UltimateLawn said:


> @TJ_FortWorth , what the latest on the lawn???


Been meaning to post. Doing well!! I've had some serious drainage issues in one portion of my backyard, threw down some sand it seems to have worked during the last half of May with all the down pour storms. The st aug is thinning near my backyard fence as well. I seem to remember some pebbles being under there we couldn't all pick up before sodding or could be fungus issues, not a sun issue because it definitely gets 6 hours a day. Been doing bi-weekly preventative rates switching of eagle20, Scotts disease ex after the BioAdvanced fungal control in mid april. With all the rain we've had I've noticed some GLS on the blades. Bagged mowed for a week (2x mows) then went back to mulching. It's starting to clear up with the fungus apps and sun finally coming out. I also installed some quick snap in ground sprinklers in backyard. Picture below is from testing angles and distance that's why a pool of watered gathered. Seems to be working great with my low pressure, ordered more for the front. Side front area starting to green up with some fescue from that last bit of seed I had.

Also doing one more soil test with ServiTech in Amarillo. Going to double check/verify my results from YM.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

Your lawn is looking really great! I love the lantanas and hostas - I recently planted some in the sun and shade respectively.

After my battle with TARR promoted by all of this rain, it is fair to say I will be going on a regular fungicide maintenance this year. Two week cycles sounds good. My StAug faces the direct sun in the front yard, so when I have to water it pretty much has to be a fairly good soaking or it would entirely evaporate the next day.

Keep up the great lawn!


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

I have conducted two separate soil tests in the past month. 1 from Yard Mastery and 1 from Servi-Tech in Amarillo, TX. Reading TLF, I believe (not certain) Yard Mastery uses MySoil and/or Soil Savvy labs. Servi-Tech is listed at the link below as an accredited laboratory by the PAP, SSSA, and NAPT. MySoil and Soil Savvy are not. https://www.naptprogram.org/pap

The soil test results are extremely different probably no surprise to anyone here.

I even took one more Garden Tutor soil test to determine my pH level using the classic pH strips. The results are shown below, draw your own conclusions.

The "Very High" results from Servi-Tech are most likely from me throwing down all sorts of stuff to correct the results from YM. I should've taken it easy.

Yard Mastery pH level: 4.71
Servi-Tech pH level: 7.4
Garden Tutor pH level: 6.5 - 7.5

Thoughts?

Yard Mastery


Servi-Tech


Garden Tutor pH strip (might even indicate slightly higher than 7.5)


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

I found this interview discussing why the pH values may be different between tests. It's so confusing though. This is 3 points off literally the difference in how you would treat the soil. Do I throw down lime? Do I throw down sulfur? Etc.

https://youtu.be/xcl0apTIBNo


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

Focusing on the positives today, yesterday I took my time and enjoyed the mow doing my Wednesday night lawn care routine of mow, edge/trim, blow, preventative rate of Bifen and Demand to get ride of the ridiculous amount of mosquitos settling low in my 4" St. Aug. There were 10-15 mosquitos popping up every few feet while mowing yesterday.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

*June 20th, 2021
*A few posts back I mentioned some sections of my St. Aug struggling (backyard St. Aug [pictured below], and front-side yard under two of my Oak trees [not pictured]). Appearing thin, brown, dying, etc. Although I have 4 large Oak trees on my property, the backyard section pictured below arguably gets more sun than any other area in my yard so it can't be a lack of sunlight. Reading as much as I could on TLF I convinced myself these sections were experiencing brown patch or early signs of TARR. To combat this perception I sprayed Clreays 3336F 5 fl oz / 1,000 and spread some left over Heritage G I had in my shed (only had 2 lbs / 1,000 left which is preventative rate). I also grabbed some peat moss from my local Lowe's and spread that over these areas after spraying/spreading fungicides. 
_Before Treatment: _

_After Treatment:_

I can already tell the peat moss is seeping into the thatch layer (if that's a thing, we haven't had any rain so it can't be runoff). There was a lot more peat moss than this picture shows. I will attempt to update these sections in future posts.

I also did a blanket application of Yard Mastery's Stress Blend 7-0-20 at 3 lbs per 1,000. 



*June 26th, 2021:*
The heat has been brutal here in Fort Worth with absolutely no rain now for 2-3 weeks (hoping to get some this week though!). Because the heat has been so bad I haven't been able to mow 2x per week like I have been, not because I personally can't take the heat, I can, but because my grass is stressing and not growing as fast. I've been watering 1.5-2" per week during this drought time (not daily) and hand watering smaller sections that don't get as good of sprinkler coverage (hand watering happens almost daily to these stressed spots, typically near the concrete which makes sense from heat reflection). Plus, I rather my grass be a little longer to combat the heat and protect itself vs. cutting it to look it's best. However, I did get a mow in on 6/26/21 during the evening which was the only time I mowed last week. 
I also sprayed my monthly application of:
- RGS (6 fl oz / 1,000)
- SeaK (1 fl oz / 1,000)
- Humic12 (6 fl oz / 1,000)
- BioAdvanced Insect Killer (0.5 fl oz / 1,000) - I swear the mosquitos are getting worse in my front yard. Also seeing a lot of brown and white moth activity not only in my yard but also around the neighborhood when I walk my dog. I did get a GrubEx application down late May but could've experienced some runoff from all the rain back then. Might put down another application soon.













Ignore hose in the pics. Without underground irrigation, my quick snap hose end sprinklers will have to do. Hoses don't look the best but it's the cheapest option for me right now and will allow me to water while out of town. I'll be out of town on vacation 15 of the 31 days in July this year.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Looking good! Thanks for the update.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

Adding some recent photos post-Iron application.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

It's been awhile since my last post. I've been out of town essentially 3 weeks in a row leading into August. I've decided to glyphosate my entire backyard and start over with a cool season grass going into Fall/Winter & Spring. Mostly because I love the way TTTF and PRG look, plus I want to use it as my own little golf chipping oasis. I'm still debating if I want to keep it long term as it burns off in the Texas heat fairly easy, or move to all St. Aug or another warm season grass in the back long term. My front yard will continue to be St. Augustine forever. I've been using the Lawn Forum Renovation Guide as my instructions.
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=16808 <-- Renovation Guide Link

Reasoning, the backyard is well shaded, the cool season appeared to work well last year going into this summer. The pallet of St. Aug I laid during the original renovation has struggled a ton. It's been on a constant decline since installation and I'm not 100% sure why. It could be because I didn't sod the entire backyard so the edge pieces didn't know what to do and suffered. It could be due to lack of soil preparation as I was not anticipating an extra pallet. It could be shade/lack of sun or disease, etc. so I will revisit this going into next summer 2022.

*July 13th:*
Double cut the front yard before heading on vacation for 5 days. 



*Here are some pics of the scalped backyard 7/19:*
I spread 0-0-48 SOP per my soil test (YardMastery sent me a new test kit for free after they reviewed my last one with questionable pH levels). 
I spread HumiChar at bag rate as a soil amendment. I've laid another dose of soil and sand in the area near my deck opening as that is a low area in my backyard where water used to pool.











*And here are some pics taken today 8/9 approximately 4-5 days post-glypho application. *






*July 20, 2021*
Spread Mag-I-Cal Plus for Lawns in Alkaline & Hard Soil on entire yard per soil test to slightly reduce pH. 
I continue to mow at HOC 4" in the front yard to help the St. Aug fend off the 95+ temps here in Fort Worth.

*July 26th, 2021*
Sprayed RGS, SeaK and Humic12 at label rate, I also spread some 7-0-20 fert at bag rate in the front and backyard.

*July 28th, 2021*
Mowed HOC 4" in front yard, continue to scalp backyard at lowest setting bagging clippings. 
This is the day I spread HumiChar at 2 lbs / 1,000, I also spread DiseaseEx at 2 lbs / 1,000.

*August 5th, 2021*
Sprayed Bifen IT at 0.5 oz / 1,000 as I noticed too many white moths flying around during a mow. Made me feel uneasy. 
Sprayed Greene Effect, MicroGreene and Air8 each at 6 oz / 1,000 in front yard. 
This was also the glyphosate day for my backyard. 
Mowed at 4" HOC in front yard.
Mowed at lowest setting HOC in backyard and bagged clippings. 
Here are some updated pics of front yard. Looking pretty good I think:



*August 7th, 2021*
My surrounding plants were struggling a little bit after the last vacation I took (I was out of the country for about a week). So I poured a tiny bit of YM FloraGreene liquid fert onto the base of my flowers. Will update in a week or so.

*Bonus pics* of the amazing Zoysia grass Escondido Country Club has going on in Horseshoe Bay, Texas. I was here for a long weekend mid-July. Spectacular what they're doing down there at this amazing golf course. Also, I was able to chip in for my second ever Eagle on their first par 5 from about 75 yards out. Ecstatic feeling no doubt.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

@TJ_FortWorth , great set of updates. The front lawn is looking really good. I'll be watching as you reno the back yard. It will be interesting how the cool season grass works out.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

UltimateLawn said:


> @TJ_FortWorth , great set of updates. The front lawn is looking really good. I'll be watching as you reno the back yard. It will be interesting how the cool season grass works out.


Thank you sir, I've been following your journal as well. I'll do my best to keep the backyard lawn reno updated here over the coming weeks.


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## H12Mike (Jun 30, 2021)

What have you decided for future soil tests? YM or Servi-Tech?


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

H12Mike said:


> What have you decided for future soil tests? YM or Servi-Tech?


I will be using Servi-Tech from now on.


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

Photo Dump Incoming (a few might be repeat pics). Another 5 weeks have passed since I last posted an update. I've been busy maintaining the front St. Augustine and prepping for my backyard renovation. It appears my last post noted I just scalped the backyard and sprayed my first round of Glypho. I'll try to do a recap from that point.

*Soil Test for Backyard Only:*
- This was the free soil test from YardMastery after I contacted them about my first one. 


*June 16th:*
- One of the last times (if not the last time) I mowed the backyard TTTF mix before summer heat really took over. 


*July 19th & 20th: *
- Spread sand/top soil in low spot near deck. 
- Started to mow lower in backyard. 
- Per soil test, Spread pH Reducer (Mag-I-Cal Plus for Lawns in Alkaline & Hard Soil) at bag rate. 










*August 5th:*
- Sprayed first round of Glyphosate (I used Hi-yield Killzall Weed and Grass Killer - 41% Glyphosate)
- Pics taken on August 9th, so these pics show 4 days of death. 






*August 13th:*
- Glypho working it's magic.


*August 15th:*
- Almost completely killed off. 
- Continued to bag mow at lowest setting to clear debris and any dead grass/weeds. 


*August 16th:*
- Spread sand and top soil in some lower areas of the backyard. 
- Continued to water daily to promote weed/grass germination so I can kill again. You'll see a small patch of green in the pic below that grew from first glypho app. 


*August 24th:*
- Sprayed second application of glypho at bottle rate. 
- Continued to bag mow at lowest setting to clear debris and any dead grass/weeds. 
- Continued watering daily for short amounts of time to promote weed/grass germination. 








*August 27:*
- Normal pic update.






*September 8th:*
- Raked up all dead grass manually with steel rake. 
- Bag mowed at lowest setting to pick up debris/newly raked dead grass.
- Blower used to pile up remaining dead grass and disposed. 
- Can you spot the pup in the pic with the mower? 
















*September 9th:*
- After raking I still noticed some bumpy/low spots so I did another round of sand/top soil spreading.
- Used a scarifier once each way to soften up the soil. 




*September 10th:*
- Sprayed RGS, Humic12, SeaK, Air8 at normal bottle rate.
- Spread HumiChar, 0-0-48 SOP and 12-12-12 starter fertilizer.
- Continued to pick up debris. 


*September 12th:*
- Starting to run out of things to do/prep. Getting close to seed down day. Using this week to finalize all things seed bed.
- Lightly raked the backyard and continue to pick up debris. Acorns are starting to be a nuisance from the big tree in the backyard. 






*September 15th:*
- Planning on spraying one last application of glyphosate today or tomorrow. I took these pics this morning.
- I planted a handful of TTTF and PRG seeds in a pot with soil from my yard as an experiment to see if the soil temps are getting close. 
- I'd say we're a couple more days away from seed down day. Getting excited! 






I will continue to update my journal as we progress through seed day.


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

Why do the glyphosate app now? Wouldn't it have been a better option to kill it early Spring to avoid bare soil all Winter?


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## TJ_FortWorth (Apr 23, 2021)

UltimateLawn said:


> Why do the glyphosate app now? Wouldn't it have been a better option to kill it early Spring to avoid bare soil all Winter?


I am seeding with a cool season grass this winter. Throwing down seed in a few days.


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