# Wiley's Lawn Journal



## Wiley

Wanted to start this journal to monitor my progress as well as have a platform to gain some knowledge and info. from the members of this forum.

This project was a new construction that began with a blank baron slate. The property is about 5 acres mostly made of hills, oaks, and native grasses. I seeded the flatter portion around the house this past fall as well as installed an irrigation system. The irrigation was a labor of love and a necessity due to the hot temps we see in the summer (60+ 100* days a year).

The seed used was a TTTF/KBG mix from Columbia Seed Company. I dropped the seed towards the end of September along with a starter fertilizer. I had good germination and things were going as planned. Locally we had some power shut-offs from the utility company (due to increased fire danger) and was unable to water for 3 days with some pretty warm outside temps, but the grass seemed to be okay. After about two weeks I started to notice a big difference between the growth in the front and backyard. The back was ready for its first mow while the front on the other hand was getting hammered by the local deer population and was only about 1/4" in height. During this time I was able to cut the backyard every 3 days to maintain a 3 inch HOC. The front has only been mowed three times to date but seems to be recovering. I have a few grassy weeds to tackle and the broaleaf in the back has been taken care of with Weed B Gon since the picture below.

Here are a few pictures to document my progress to date.







Thanks for looking and I look forward to sharing my progress.


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## Wiley

Beautiful weekend so I was able to get outside and tackle some weeds. I was focused on digging out some poa annua but also dug-up some redstem filaree.



Also encountered this tall grass that I'm having trouble IDing.


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## Wiley

Got out for a little mow session in the front today. Happy with how the lawn stands today even with the amount of poa I have. Watching soil temps and getting ready to drop some pre.


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## Wiley

Quick update. Outside temps increased rapidly this week from highs in the low 60's to low 80's. Spring is here in Northern Cal. No rain in Feb. and none expected in the extended forecast. Sprinklers will be utilized a bit earlier this season.

Monday 2/24:

Got a mow in

Checked all my sprinkler heads and made a few minor adjustments

Applied prodiamine

Thursday 2/27:

Got a little mix of milorganite and urea down at about a rate of .50lb of N/1000.

Sprayed some Surflan and Round-up around the property to improve our firebreak.


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## Powhatan

Wiley said:


> Also encountered this tall grass that I'm having trouble IDing.


Looks very much like annual ryegrass to me.


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## Wiley

Thanks for the ID and the link @Powhatan.


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## Wiley

Planned on giving the front a little trim this am but the kiddos had a different plan.



So, I decided to do a couple different projects.
I did some weed trimming around the property for some added fire safety.



Moved a sprinkler. I love funny pipe! Makes a project like this super easy. I also threw down some seed in the expanded area as well as some of the dog spots left from winter. Seed was a mix of Thor tttf and Bandera kbg.


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## Wiley

Got some seed kicking off in the spot where the sprinkler was relocated.


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## Wiley

Pulled some grassy weeds in the back as well as a mow this afternoon. The newly seeded areas by the patio are coming along nicely.



Dog spot culprit admiring her work.


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## Wiley

Needed to do some edging tonight and then decided to get in a quick mow. I've been putting down .25lbs of N down for five weeks straight and the lawn is filling in and growing nicely. Temps are supposed to be 95+ next week so I'm going hold off on the N and see how the lawn responds to the heat.


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## zeus201

Looking good!


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## Wiley

zeus201 said:


> Looking good!


Thank you!


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## Wiley

Survived our little heatwave we had. Most of the poa I have in the front is starting to get fried. It will interesting to see what's left in the heavy spots once it gets really hot.





About 30 days since I seeded an expanded area.



The backyard is looking pretty lush this evening after a much need mow.


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## Wiley

Update time.

Raised the hoc to about 3in over the last week or so. We had two good days of rain in the last week which hasn't happened in a while.

The front is moving along nicely. Current issues include some scattered spots of what I think is some sort of broom grass (pic below). The front gets most of the sun during the day so I've been spending some extra time to make sure the irrigation is dialed in.





The back is also doing well but it's not without it's issues. I've come to grips that dog spots will exist and tttf it is what it is until seeding time. The weeds consist of some patches of rose clover. I'm also in a battle with a mole or gopher.


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## Wiley

Had a great mow in the front this evening. Happy with how the lawn looks after about a week or so of 100+ degree temps. It will be interesting to see how everything settles in as we get into the dog days of summer. All done with the nitrogen and just started applying some iron.



Stripes are looking better after a slight modification to my mower. Thanks @Ware!



My mystery weed is also dying out and the turf is looking a little thin in that area.


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## Ware

Nice! :thumbsup:


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## Chris LI

:mrgreen:


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## Wiley

Spent some time in the backyard this morning to try and figure out what's going on with some dry spots I have. I double checked the sprinkler coverage and did some screwdriver tests. The sprinkler coverage was dialed in. The soil was firm but no major rocks or obstructions were found.

I spent some time trying to figure out what the heck was going on? Then I checked my irrigation controller and Occam's razor prevails again. For whatever reason I didn't increases my irrigation times in the backyard when I increased in the front. I've been irrigating at about 50% of what's optimal at .75in a week. We've already had ten plus days over a 100 degrees. Good news is everything is set now so time will tell how things recover.


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## Justmatson

Lawn is looking awesome! 
That tttf sure strips nice. What adjustment did u do with your mower to help with strips?

Good catch on your irrigation controller.


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## Wiley

Thanks @Justmatson! The modification I recently made was the TLF sticker I added. It made a world of difference. In all seriousness, I did add a big league lawn striper and it been great! It's built like a tank and will probably out last the mower.


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## Wiley

This last week was the hottest so far this year. The yard held up well. I've increased my weekly irrigation to about 1.75 inches spread between three waterings. More heat expected this week...



Father's Day mow was a great way to cap off the day.


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## Chris LI

The lawn looks great! :thumbsup: Are you using any wetting agents, or anything to help with moisture retention?


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## Wiley

Thanks @Chris LI! I'm not currently using any wetting agents but this is something I'm interested in for future use. Any recommendations?


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## Chris LI

Wow, I'm surprised with the heat you have had, that you haven't used any. That makes it more amazing, how good your lawn looks! I haven't used any, except for some yucca from Kelp4Less. I'm thinking of trying Hydretain. There are some pro products out there that work well, but are pricey, typically because of larger containers, or pellets that you need to purchase a hose end gun to use. @g-man has mentioned a product that appears to have very good results, but I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. There is a whole thread on wetting agents, if you do a search.


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## Wiley

> Wow, I'm surprised with the heat you have had, that you haven't used any. That makes it more amazing, how good your lawn looks! I haven't used any, except for some yucca from Kelp4Less. I'm thinking of trying Hydretain. There are some pro products out there that work well, but are pricey, typically because of larger containers, or pellets that you need to purchase a hose end gun to use. @g-man has mentioned a product that appears to have very good results, but I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. There is a whole thread on wetting agents, if you do a search.


Thanks for the kind words and pointing me in the right direction. It will be interesting how things hold on as summer progresses. We typically get upwards of 60+ 100 degree days a year, so any tool I can add to the toolbox the better.


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## Wiley

Update after getting settled into the heat. I've had some localized dry spots as expected but no major signs of stress. I'm pretty happy how well the color of the front has held on as it's just starting to fade. Tonight I did a quick iron app to give the color a little kick.

Update pic from yesterday with full sun.



I also worked on a side project today. Wife said I can plant anything I wanted in our roundabout so...grass it is!

I tied into a riser and added some irrigation. Worked on getting things level and removed some rock.


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## Wiley

Morning update. Lawn got some color back from iron app about a week ago. The brown/thin spots on the left are from the remains of my mystery weed. I plan to overseed that area in the fall and then cross my fingers that the density and premergent does it's job.



My driveway way project is moving along. I seeded La Prima XD (I know, don't kick me out of the cool season club) on 7/6 and germination flying. Temps will be 104+ all week so keeping things moist is the name of the game. Excited to see what it looks like a week from now.


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## Wiley

Update on the backyard after a morning mow. Not as much color or fullness compared to the front. There are a few patchy dry spots that may have some debris below the turf. As of now a screwdriver test is not too effective as most areas in the back are as hard as a rock. Game plan is to start doing some amendments this fall to increase the soil quality.



Also the spots I seeded out of necessity in the back this spring are getting hammered. Case and point against spring seeding, at least in my climate.


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## Wiley

Yard day Saturday! Super hot temps the last month or so and for the foreseeable future.

Temps are supposed to be around 110 degrees this week so I brought up the hoc to 3.75 from 3.25. I was impressed by how much growth I'm getting each week.





The driveway project is coming along. It's been about 5 weeks since seed down. Next step is to do some stone borders around the ends.


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## Wiley

Got in a super quick mow this afternoon. Applied disease ex.

Lots of smoke today from surrounding area fires.


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## Wiley

It's been hot and smoky here but temps should cool down in the next couple of weeks to do some spot overseeding and resume some feedings.

This was taken around noon yesterday.


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## Wiley

Temps are getting a little cooler. Took the hoc down to 3" from 3.75". Happy see how the lawn handled its first summer.


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## Chris LI

It looks great! You have much less smoke/haze in the air. Are you folks safe from the fires?


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## TheWestminsterClub

Love this picture must be awesome exploring 5 acres. As we right coaster I would of thought Nor Cal would of been cooler according to wiki its Mediterranean climate in Red Bluff. That sweet you get to plant warm season in the round about and mow in February its like the season doesn't end just takes a short break. Is your season 10 months long?


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## Wiley

Chris LI said:


> It looks great! You have much less smoke/haze in the air. Are you folks safe from the fires?


The smoke has decreased considerably. In the mornings there is a solid haze but as the day progresses it gets better. We are all good here! Thanks for checking.


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## Wiley

TheWestminsterClub said:


> Love this picture must be awesome exploring 5 acres. As we right coaster I would of thought Nor Cal would of been cooler according to wiki its Mediterranean climate in Red Bluff. That sweet you get to plant warm season in the round about and mow in February its like the season doesn't end just takes a short break. Is your season 10 months long?


Thanks! We have a lot of fun roaming around the property. The climate is a little unique. We have a pretty long growing season as you mentioned. The summers can get pretty rough (hot) so irrigation systems and proper watering is a must. We usually only have a couple of days with freezing temps so the grass slows a little but never truly goes dormant.

I planted the Bermuda to see how it would do as no one has it around here for some reason. It will be interesting to see how it does over the winter.


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## Wiley

Finally the temps are coming down and we shouldn't see another triple digit this year. Soil temps are hovering around 72 degrees for a five day avg.

Over the weekend I applied prodiamine at the three month rate, .15 lbs of urea and some feature on the front. This is the first bit of N since around the end of May. Here is a pic from after tonight's now.



The backyard gets a lot more traffic from the kids and the dog so I decided to overseed. I seeded with a mix of Thor and Talladega TTTF and applied tenacity. I was able to get a fence built to keep the dog on the other side of the yard while things grow in. Fence is almost complete minus a few 2x4's for the top railing.



The roundabout project has taken on a new challenge. My future plans after this first season's grow-in was to overseed with rye in the winters for that year round green. My brother, a former golf course turf manager, suggested trying out the bluemuda thing this year before the Bermuda gets fully established. If it doesn't work I can always spray it out and seed the rye for winter green. I bought some 365ss and scalped and seeded about 20 days ago. The temps have been all over the place with highs from the high 60's to the low 100's so the Bermuda has not checked out but has slowed. Here are a couple of pics as of today.


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## Wiley

Progress pictures exactly a year apart.


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## Wiley




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## jamesonw

Glad you were safe from those fires, crazy times for sure. The lawn looks awesome and thick. Very nice property! Congrats on the roundabout grow in. Thanks for checking in on my journal, I'll keep up with yours


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## Wiley

First mow on a fresh overseed in the back. 21 days post seeding. Applied .50 lbs of N via a triple 15. Planning on applying a second app of tenacity next weekend and then I'll apply prodiamine in 3-4 weeks.


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## Wiley

Productive weekend in the lawn.

-Applied a second round of Tenacity in the backyard as planned
-Applied a mix of glyphosate and surflan pre-emergent around the perimeter of the property as part of my fire protection plan
-Continued spoon feeding the front
-Replaced a faulty solenoid 
-Planted a few fire power nandinas

Looking forward to the possibility of rain this week. This will be the first significant precipitation since March.


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## Wiley

Things are slowing down in the lawn considerably. We had our first frost last week (about 30 days sooner than historical avg.) and a little rain as well. As things move forward I'll be on the lookout for some poa and the soft broom that was in the front last winter.

With the cooler temps the Bermuda in the driveway has checked out leaving a spotty looking bluemuda turf at best. This isn't exactly what I was going for but I'm not going to give up yet. A couple things that I will do different next time include: scalping the Bermuda shorter and using a pgr to give the kbg a shot at better establishment. I'm also considering using a power rake to hopefully get some better seed to soil contact. Seeding in general is a crap shoot and we had some hot temps until the last week of October and the Bermuda was still going strong and out competing the kbg. We get pretty hot here in the summer it will be interesting to see how much kbg is left in a year or so.


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## Chris LI

That bluemuda combo looks great during the transition to winter. IMHO, it's more uniform than you think. If you try some quick release N right now, the kbg should gain some ground on the Bermuda to strengthen it a bit before winter. My kbg/zoysia hellstrip bounced back a little (and patchy zoysia spots in the lawn) over the past few weeks with hitting it withthe aggressive N regimen (for the kbg). Overall, I think it looks great!


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## Wiley

@Chris LI thanks! I definitely need to get in another feeding or two. We've been unseasonably cool but the next couple weeks look promising for a little push.


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## Wiley

We've been getting a little more rain the last week or so which has been a nice change to say the least. I had a few spots in the front where the grass meets the driveway that was pretty heavy with poa annua last year and left some bare spots when it burnt out. I seeded these areas when I overseeded the backyard and similar to last year the deer have been going to town on the new sprouts. Looking at this area over the weekend I noticed that some poa was popping up in the bare areas. I applied preemergent to the rest front (minus this little strip that was seeded where tenacity was applied) and it seems as of now it's poa free.

One of the spots where the deer are feeding



Poa annua



Clippings yield was about half as much as normal but still a couple weeks to push the front yard with a bit of N.


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## Wiley

Temps are still pretty mild but should drop a bit the next few days. Planning on one more app of urea tomorrow as rain is forecasted for the next two weeks.



The colors on this blue agave caught my eye today.


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## Butter

Your lawn looks great! I am jealous of the mild winters in your area.


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## Wiley

Thanks @Butter! Your lawn is one of my favorites on TLF.


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## Wiley

Got in what might be the last mow of the season. More rain in the forecast this week.


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## Wiley

Had a beautiful day yesterday and was able to get in a clean-up mow as most all of the leaves from the surrounding oaks have finally dropped. We've had some coldish temps so not too much growth to speak of. The color has held on pretty good but I do have some mild fungus and leaf spot issues. I've been hand pulling any poa plants that I see but it's 90% better than last year.



I've also been dealing with a couple of gophers that have crept into the lawn and as of now I'm winning.


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## Wiley

February is here and the lawn is alive! Today's applications included:

3 month rate of prodiamine
.15lbs of urea
1oz per/k of feature

I also tested the irrigation system today and had some short cycling going on with the well system. I didn't have a bunch of time to go through it but I'm thinking it's a faulty check valve. Tomorrow I'll get into it and see what's up?

A couple of goals this year include increasing the input in the backyard. I will be following the pace program again this year for my N applications and want to match the total N front and back this year. Last season I applied about 1.5 lbs less N in the back...

The bluemuda has an outbreak of goosegrass and rescuegrass so I'm still deciding on trying to spot treat it or just spay it out with the potential of injuring the small amount of bluegrass I have.

I'll also be doing an irrigation project this year on the other half of the backyard which will be about 2,000sq ft. This area will include turf and a garden.


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## Wiley

First quality mow of the season with a measurable amount of clippings.


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## Wiley

I've been dealing with what I believe to be some dollar spot in the backyard. With a little help from forum members and my local extension office I think I'm on the right track. Thankfully this is isolated to a small area.



Hourglass lesions on the blades



Applied propiconazole and plan to apply 3336F at the 14 day mark. I will also apply some preventative rates to the front.

On a positive note I'm fully green now and things are lookin lush!


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## Wiley

Had a spot with some gopher damage where the turf was torn up and the soil level dropped from the shallow tunnels. Got some edging scraps and brought in some soil to clean this area up.


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## Wiley

Goals for the next couple of months/summer prep. Plan is to push a little N (about 1.25lbs over the next 8 weeks) and begin supplementing some K. Also ordered up some wetting agents to try this season.



Plan on getting a jump on installing irrigation and prepping for seed in this area.


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## Wiley

Applied .5lbs of NPK via 15-15-15 and brought the hoc down to about 2.5in for giggles.



Update/timeline on the bluemuda coming shortly.


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## g-man

Another single doubles. :thumbup: It is only 25% more walking.


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## Wiley

It's about to get reel this season! Thanks to an awesome member of this forum.


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## Chris LI

Looking great early in the season! Congrats on the the new toy to go Reel Low!


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## Wiley

Well my goal to match inputs between the front and backyard is already falling short. I got in my second feeding in the back for the season via a 15-15-15 @.75lbs then applied some feature.



I have a bunch of oak saplings popping up in the back. Plan is to continue with good cultural/mowing practices and see what happens.





The bluemuda is doing okay I would say it's 75/25 bermuda to bluegrass. I got a scalp in a couple of weeks ago then the temps dropped a bit so green-up on the bermuda is a little slow. Weed pressure consists of orchard grass and some rescue grass that I've been hand pulling. Plan to sand level sometime in the next few weeks.


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## occamsrzr

Wiley said:


>


Man, this is quite the view! Excited for your bluemuda progress.


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## Wiley

occamsrzr said:


> Wiley said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Man, this is quite the view! Excited for your bluemuda progress.
Click to expand...

Thank you! We enjoy it.


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## Wiley

Over the last two weeks it's been crazy windy and daily temps have been flirting with the 100's. Weekly FRET has been around 2.25 and it's been tough too keep up with the turfs water needs. Temps will be much cooler the next 10 days or so.

Applied foliar triple 18 today as well as preventative fungicides.


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## Wiley

Heat check coming this week!



All in all I'm happy with how the lawn stands moving into the warm summer months. There are a few spots that have a tendency to dry quicker and need extra attention on top of scheduled irrigation. I'm experimenting with some some tournament ready this year so we'll see how that goes.



In the small bluemuda area the bermuda is growing vigorously now. I have some bare areas from some weed removal over winter and I expect them to fill in rather quickly.


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## Butter

Looking good! Good luck with those temps this week. This winter I was envious of your climate, not so much now.


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## Wiley

@Butter thanks! The winters are great and the summers can be a bit brutal. On the bright side, it's low humidity and little disease pressure.


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## dj80d

DAMMMMMMMMMMMM looking good man stay cool its gona be a hot one


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## Wiley

dj80d said:


> DAMMMMMMMMMMMM looking good man stay cool its gona be a hot one


Thanks buddy! Will do. I imagine your bermuda is loving the heat.


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## Wiley

Summer is officially here (temps consistently around 100+) so the lawn is basically in a holding pattern. Moving forward I'll continue with light doses of triple 18 and feature. On top of trying to keep up with irrigation needs I'm also applying tournament ready.


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## occamsrzr

Looking good, man! Impressive color for the high temps + drought y'all been having.


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## Wiley

occamsrzr said:


> Looking good, man! Impressive color for the high temps + drought y'all been having.


Thanks, trying to live that 1-1-1 life! We'll see how it holds up over the long haul.


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## Wiley




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## Butter

Looking good! What is the 1-1-1 life?


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## Wiley

Butter said:


> Looking good! What is the 1-1-1 life?


Thanks! 1-1-1 life was just referencing NPK at a 1:1 ratio. Obviously it's important to feed based upon soil test results but otherwise I'm liking a balanced approach on non corrective applications.


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## Butter

I see. There's a lot to be said for keeping things simple. The 1-1-1 life is treating you right! Keep up the good work!


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## Wiley

The front is hanging in there with the heat, 20 days over 100* in the last month or so. A little disease pressure so staying on fungicide rotations. With our drought and wells going dry locally, I decided to decrease the irrigation in the backyard so it's a bit worn from the heat.


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## Wiley

It's been a bit since my last update. I've been pretty busy with work, kids sports, and non lawn projects around the house.

I decided to undergo a renovation in the front. I sprayed the first app of glyphosate on July 30th. Pic from the morning.



One week post application



Currently getting the dead material from the lawn and doing some spot leveling around the walkways and some low spots where trenches have settled.



I have a bit more work to do on the seed bed, another round or two of glyphosate and a couple of sprinkles to move. Seed down will be around September 15 depending on weather and soil temps.

Seed I'm going with.


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## Wiley

Gettin close.


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## Chris LI

:thumbup: I've been waiting for an update. :bandit:


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## Wiley

Final round of gly last night and seed down today. Soil temps cooling and should be favorable moving forward.


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## Wiley

A little action 7 days post seeding


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## Wiley

Update

Day 14



Day 21



We've had some weird weather with high temps swinging 30 degrees some days so monitoring moisture has been a challenge. I opted to error a little on the wet side. Some areas are moving a little slow especially where I brought in some sand. Weed pressure is minimal as of now.


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## Wiley

28 days

First proper mow. Applied .25lbs of AMS


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## Robs92k

Filling in nicely now…great work!!


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## Wiley

Robs92k said:


> Filling in nicely now…great work!!


Thanks!


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## Wiley

40 DAS

The last ten days or so have been wet and cool. Temps have been around 55* with not much deviation between the highs and lows. Started to see some poa annua plants which is pretty early for our area. I've also noticed some disease issues which is not surprising based upon the weather we've been having.


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## Wiley

46 DAS

Finally dried out enough to get in a mow. HOC @ .75. The area closest to the driveway is obviously the most thin. This area also tends to get hit with poa a so I've been pulling any plants I see.


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## Wiley

Pre mow



Post


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## Jeff_MI84

That filled in very nicely.


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## Natron

Looking great Wiley! Happy to look back on your journal and see it's possible to get through the blistering N. Cal heat.

Also stoked to see you go with HGT. I'm trying that in my backyard currently and look forward to seeing your results going forward.

Cheers.


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## Wiley

@Jeff_MI84 thanks!

@Natron thanks for looking through the journal. As you know the heat in the summer is no joke, not to mention a drought. One thing that I've embraced is dialing in my irrigation practices. The ET guide in the irrigation sub forum was huge for me. Good luck this fall and moving forward into next season.


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## Wiley

Thank you!


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## Wiley

Hand pulled some weeds before mowing. Overall minimal weed pressure but I do have some poa a popping up. Formal pre applied.





First mow on a fresh overseed by my 9yr old in the back.


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## Wiley




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## Jeff_MI84

@Wiley looks great. 👍🏻


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## Wiley

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wiley looks great. 👍🏻


Thanks for the kind words!


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## jskierko

Color looks awesome! Jealous that you are still seeing temps in the 60s every day. Enjoy!


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## Wiley

Thanks @jskierko! I've followed your reno's and the picture/date documentation helped me relax a bit as things stalled out or were moving slow. For my area we are in prime time for cool season lawns but things should slow done a bit for the next couple of months here shortly.


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## Wiley

2022 is starting to ramp up a little here. Temps are the 60's with lows around freezing so growth is still minimal at best but that should change here shortly. Waiting for soil test results that should be here next week so for now it's just planning and pulling some weeds (mostly poa a). Pumped for this upcoming season and excited to see how the reno progresses.


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## Wiley

Hand pulling a few more Poa a plants and getting the irrigation dialed in.


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## Wiley

Pre game mow @ 5/8".

Getting closer to the first fert app of the season. Soil test came back with P and K a little high and a ph of 6.8. Plan will be AMS and chill moving forward with a touch of micros along the way.

Pre applied this week.


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## Wiley

First fert app of the season .25lbs of AMS

Preventative fungicide app

Spot spray of some broadleaf with triclopyr


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## Wiley

Temps came to a screeching halt the last couple of weeks but warmer/hot temps are in the horizon. I was looking a some GDD values from the last couple of years and I'm about 200+ GDD's behind previous years.

Overall I'm pleased with how the reno is doing to date. I still have a few areas that are thin and need to fill in a bit. I also have a few different grassy annual weeds, mainly poa a and smutgrass, that I've been hand pulling.


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## Wiley

Getting into full swing here. Temps are definitely on the rise and we even touched 90* this week. Continue to spoon feed with AMS @ .20lbs about every 10 days.

Irrigation is up and running corresponding with current ET values. We're in a drought so it will be interesting to see how the turf does as the season progresses. Goal is to irrigate @ 80-90% ET during the dog days of summer.



Area that is most thin which also has the most weed pressure.


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## Wiley

Getting into the swing of things here. Slight adjustments to the HOC to try and find the sweet spot currently @ 20mm.


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## Wiley

Wet and windy this last week. The weather put me a little behind on my mowing and fertilizing schedule but happy to get some measurable H2O. Raised the hoc a bit.


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## Wile

From one Wile to another, great stuff! Going to be a blockbuster year for you.


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## Wiley

Wile said:


> From one Wile to another, great stuff! Going to be a blockbuster year for you.


Haha! Thanks @Wile


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## bf7

Wiley said:


>


This looks incredible!!


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## Wiley

Thanks @bf7! I've been thinking about trying some wavy stripes that you definitely inspired. Best of luck this season.


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## bf7

Wiley said:


> Thanks @bf7! I've been thinking about trying some wavy stripes that you definitely inspired. Best of luck this season.


Please do it! They would go perfectly with your wavy walking path.


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## Wiley

Snuck home early and got the hoc back down a bit.


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## ReelWILawn

Absolutely amazing. Looking forward to following this along this season. Great work on the reno :thumbup:


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## Wiley

@ReelWILawn thanks for the kind words. I've been following your journal and all of the hard work you've been putting into the property as well as the turf. Everything is coming together very nicely!


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## Wiley

Heat is rolling in so it's time to settle in for summer. Nervously excited to see how it handles the heat.

Turf recently had a rust outbreak but it seems to be under control now.


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## rhart

Looking sharp!


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## Wile

What are your temps like right now?


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## Wiley

Wile said:


> What are your temps like right now?


Mid 90's. We average 60+ days of 100+.


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## Wiley

rhart said:


> Looking sharp!


Thank you!


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## Natron

Super green. Looks great Wiley! Randomly ordered questions for you: Any watering restrictions for you yet? Are you still trying to match 80% of ET? What's your irrigation scheduling process?


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## Wiley

@Natron thanks for the kind words.

We currently don't have any water restrictions. I'm on a well and decently close to the Sacramento River. With that said, there are some areas in town where wells are going dry, so I'm not going too wild and pumping water like crazy.

Yep, I'm still trying to irrigate around 80% of ET in the front. I'm going to mess around with a little less water in the backyard on the TTTF/KBG mix.

I'm using FRET data from weather.gov as well as some resources from UC Extension listed below. Since this is a reno I'm still getting a feel for how the turf handles stress and recovery is dry spots. The front has 3 stations which put out about an inch of water per hour. As of now I'm shooting for 1.5 inches spread out between 3-4 irrigation cycles during the week. My soil is pretty sandy so holding capacity is not great.

https://ucanr.edu/sites/UrbanHort/Water_Use_of_Turfgrass_and_Landscape_Plant_Materials/Water_Demand_Calculators/Water_Demand_Calculators/

How's everything looking in your neck of the woods?


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## Natron

That's concerning about the wells running dry. Would you consider drilling down deeper or drilling a new well?

Thanks for the tip on the FRET data. I was getting my ET data from CIMIS but didn't know forecast data was available. Have you been able to automate the gathering of any of this data? I was considering doing that with CIMIS data since they have an FTP, but don't know if it's worth the effort.

Our purveyor still has no restrictions, but they are getting tighter in surrounding areas.

Stay cool this week.


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## Wile

Wiley said:


> Mid 90's. We average 60+ days of 100+.


Man that's got to be tough. What made you want to do KBG over a warm season or bluemuda?


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## ReelWILawn

have you settled in on a HOC you plan to keep for the season?


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## Wiley

Natron said:


> That's concerning about the wells running dry. Would you consider drilling down deeper or drilling a new well?
> 
> Thanks for the tip on the FRET data. I was getting my ET data from CIMIS but didn't know forecast data was available. Have you been able to automate the gathering of any of this data? I was considering doing that with CIMIS data since they have an FTP, but don't know if it's worth the effort.
> 
> Our purveyor still has no restrictions, but they are getting tighter in surrounding areas.
> 
> Stay cool this week.


I have not considered exporting that data but that's a pretty good idea. If get some time end-up going that route I'll forward it along.

Glad to see you're not on any restrictions. Good luck this moving forward this summer!


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## Wiley

Wile said:


> Wiley said:
> 
> 
> 
> Mid 90's. We average 60+ days of 100+.
> 
> 
> 
> Man that's got to be tough. What made you want to do KBG over a warm season or bluemuda?
Click to expand...

Good question. I had TTTF/KBG before this and it performed pretty well with some struggles in July and August. I went with full KBG due to it being superior in it's drought recovery and dormancy attributes. TTTF is arguably more drought tolerant but in my research takes more water to recover from drought. Another benefit with KBG is that if it does get blow out from the heat it has the ability to fill-in compared to TTTF which would be an automatic overseed. It will be interesting to see how it all goes moving forward.

Bermuda and other warm season grasses would definitely be the best choice for our area but it's funny that you really don't see it them much around here. I know of a couple quality bermuda lawns and a lot of cool season lawns that have common mixed in. Depending on how this reno turns out in the long run I may end-up doing bermuda (Lat36) or something along those lines.

I actually have a smallish (600sq ft) test plot of bluemuda that I've been dinking around with. Sometimes it looks pretty good other times it's horrible. Honestly I don't put a lot of extra time into it other than mowing and basic feedings. From my experience there is less of a transition from one to the other and it looks best when both types of turf are coexisting and thriving. Ideally I think that individuals looking for bluemuda want green in the winter months but for me this is when the turf looks for crap. So, as of now I don't know if it's the best long term option for me. You also need to be pretty dang creative when it comes to the use of herbicides.

Picture from a few weeks ago.



Up-close from last season. August


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## Wiley

ReelWILawn said:


> have you settled in on a HOC you plan to keep for the season?


As of now I'm right at an inch and plan on staying there.


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## Wiley




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## Jeff_MI84

@Wiley nice view. Too much sun today, can't read.


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## Wile

Who's gonna tell him &#128517;


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## Wiley

Wile said:


> Who's gonna tell him 😅


😁


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## Wiley

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wile nice view.


Thanks 👍


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## Chris LI

Looking great in 2022! I always love the contrast of your deep green, nicely edged lawn, to the uniform surrounding areas. That's what makes your lawn unique.


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## Wiley

I had a couple of isolated spots that have been browning and almost looked light drought stress. Upon further inspection I've been bitten by grubs. I'll definitely use this as a learning experience and not forgo preventative insecticide app in the future.

Temps will be 100+ most of the week so I'm sure more root damage will apparent. It's a pretty wild feeling when you can just pull back handfuls of turf with ease.


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## Wiley

Upon further review the turf pest that's feasting on my turf are billbugs. Curative insecticides have been applied so now it's just a waiting game.

With the damage and stress present I decided to come out of regulation. Moving forward I'll continue to monitor the damage and focus on sound cultural practices.

A couple of shots showing infected vs uninfected areas.


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wiley how many times a year do you put down grub control?


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## Wiley

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wiley how many times a year do you put down grub control?


No specific grub control applications, just a single app of bifen in February. Lesson learned...


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wiley Bifen works pretty good.


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## Wiley

@Jeff_MI84 theoretically it should. It could have been a timing issue (too early) as there's a pretty good correspondence between activity and GDD's and the app had lost it's effectiveness. In the future I will use more of a systematic approach with imidacloprid.


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wiley sounds good.


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## Wiley




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## STI_MECE

How are you able to keep the weeds at bay around the trees you got? I have quiet a few oak trees on my property with shallow roots, if i could keep grass and weeds from growing around the trunks of the trees it would save me a ton of weed eating lol


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## Wiley

STI_MECE said:


> How are you able to keep the weeds at bay around the trees you got? I have quiet a few oak trees on my property with shallow roots, if i could keep grass and weeds from growing around the trunks of the trees it would save me a ton of weed eating lol


Traditionally I have used Surflan (oryzalin) as preemergent but it is no longer in production. Moving forward I plan on using Gallery (isoxben). My applications are made twice a year and correspond with my lawn's pre application. Any weeds that might make it through are either hand pulled or pot treated spot treaded with glyphosate. If you have prodiamine or dithiopyr on hand those would work as well.


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## Wiley

Heat check coming!


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## Chris LI

With a string of 100*+ days predicted, are you staying with the 1" HOC you mentioned on 5/23, or do you plan on raising it a little? Do you plan on skipping any mows or any other preparation/mitigation of the high temperatures? I'm always trying to up my game with summer survival, and am curious as to what others are doing.


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## Butter

Dang Wiley that's hot! Maybe I need to quit crying about Kansas weather. The lawn looks great!


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## Wiley

Chris LI said:


> With a string of 100*+ days predicted, are you staying with the 1" HOC you mentioned on 5/23, or do you plan on raising it a little? Do you plan on skipping any mows or any other preparation/mitigation of the high temperatures? I'm always trying to up my game with summer survival, and am curious as to what others are doing.


My goal is to try and stick with that 1" HOC all summer. The smaller area that the walkway separates, which was hit the hardest by the billbugs, is being cut at 2". It will be interesting to see how these areas compare moving forward.

With the heat I imagine the top growth will slow quite a bit along with the mowings. Right now I'm mowing about every two days.

I've been pretty dedicated in applying wetting agents every 3 weeks throughout the spring and I'll continue doing so throughout the summer. I read some research that mentioned good results when applications were made before drought set in, so that was my goal.


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## Wiley

Butter said:


> Dang Wiley that's hot! Maybe I need to quit crying about Kansas weather. The lawn looks great!


Luckily it's a dry heat with humidity in the teens. I've lived in the Midwest and the humidity and warm temps definitely warrant some crying and can be just as uncomfortable to the heat out west.


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## Wile

Man our weather looks similar right now. Think mother nature got our names confused? Which wetting agents do you use? I think I missed that.


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## Chris LI

Wile said:


> Which wetting agents do you use? I think I missed that.


Great question! I was wondering the same thing.

@Wiley Thanks for the details on your plan. I have some Hydretain that I need to get down ASAP. I think it works OK, but would like to try something else, like Aquatrols, next time I order.


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## Wiley

@Chris LI @Wile I've been using Underhill's Tournament Ready with the pellet pro applicator. Once you bite the bullet and get the applicator the pellets are not too expensive. I get three apps per pellet. I have some areas that get notoriously dry so you can give those areas some extra attention easily when applying to the whole lawn.


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## bf7

Holding strong through the heat! Have you used any other wetting agents and compared their performance with Tournament Ready?


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## Wiley

bf7 said:


> Holding strong through the heat! Have you used any other wetting agents and compared their performance with Tournament Ready?


I've only used Tournament Ready to date. I'd like to try another product or two to see how they compare in the future. Any thoughts or suggestions??


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## bf7

Wiley said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Holding strong through the heat! Have you used any other wetting agents and compared their performance with Tournament Ready?
> 
> 
> 
> I've only used Tournament Ready to date. I'd like to try another product or two to see how they compare in the future. Any thoughts or suggestions??
Click to expand...

I really like Aquatrols so far after 1.5 seasons (the jug lasts 2 seasons for me), but it's the only one I've used. Like you I'm curious about other options or even how my grass would do with no wetting agent at all. Since I don't have an irrigation system and started sand capping, I feel compelled to put something down. I was considering trying either Tournament Ready or Aristocracy next year. With TR I like the idea of hitting localized dry spots with the pellet gun.


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## Wiley




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## Wiley

Had a little drop in temp and was able to spoon feed a little N and thrown down some feature. Temps are going to be a little wild this week with a couple of days around 110*. I have a few spots that show stress but a little extra hand watering seems to do the trick. Still mowing at 1". The area inside the walkway, which was hit the hardest by the billbugs, is being rotary mowed at 1.75.


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## Wiley

Full sun! The HGT Bluegrass may not be the darkest but I happy with the performance.


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## Wiley

One thing I'm liking about the wetting agent with the pellet pro is that it gives me something to do in the lawn when I get the urge to do something, like fertilization, that doesn't need to be done.

20+ days in a row with over 100 temps and still surviving.


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## Chris LI

^+1
:thumbsup: I love mine for the same reason! I jump between the Cloudburst and Rainbow nozzles. I can get more down with the Cloudburst, but the spray is a little nicer with the Rainbow. I guess you like the Rainbow better, from the photo?

I just wish that I had more street pressure to make better use of the Cloudburst, with my 100' of true 3/4" ID hose.

I'm due for another round, but it's still hot after a T-storm came through, and really humid.

Are you using TR or H20 Maximizer (or one of the other two)? From the green stripe, my guess is TR.


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## Wiley

@Chris LI the rainbow is the go to for me. It's funny looking at the cloudburst specs I thought it would be perfect gpm wise as I'm pushing 30+ from the well but my avg pressure is around 50psi so it under performed a bit.

I've only used TR this season. I do have some H2O Max on hand but I haven't tried it yet. Maybe next year I'll split the yard in half and do a little test.

I do like the TR though. I've been pretty consistent with it from spring on. Initially I targeted areas that presented localized dry spots the last couple of seasons and when the heat set in I started to do broadcast apps of the whole lawn about every three weeks. With that said I also believe I've found the sweet spot for irrigation for my climate and soil so that has helped as well.


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## Chris LI

Thank you for your experiences with both of the nozzles. Mine is similar with volume/psi, and I ordered the Rainbow along with the Pellet Pro from feedback from other TLF members during my research. I bounce between the two, because I'm torn between the flow of the Cloudburst and the psi of the Rainbow, and didn't want to pay for a third nozzle (Rainmaker-green), which was expensive at ~$30.

I'm utilizing both the TR and H20 Maximizer for the purposes listed for each, but should try to experiment to compare them like you mentioned. So far, they're both performing very well.


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## Wiley

Update! The second half of August was a tough month. Temps were wild with 10 days or so at around 115. I was paying extra attention to my irrigation and monitoring the turf closely. No doubt some drought stressed kicked but I also had a second wave of billbugs damage that I missed initially as I assumed it was drought.

The area within my walkway was definitely hit the hardest. I would say about 50% of it was toast. I've put some plugs in some spots but then decided to reseed the bare areas as I had some on hand. The main area of the lawn wasn't hit as bad so the game plan is to plug the thinner areas.

Temps declined rapidly in the last two weeks and the lawn is recovering nicely. With soil temp averages being well over 100 I wasn't sure how well it would recover but I'm impressed so far.

Pictures are 12 days apart


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## jskierko

Grass is so resilient. This is an amazing bounce back for less than 2 weeks elapsed!


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## Wile

That is crazy. How much were you watering and how often?


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## Wile

That is crazy. How much were you watering and how often?


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## bf7

&#128079; Nice job bringing her back to life! I don't think I could step outside at 115F, let alone monitor the turf closely.


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## Wiley

Wile said:


> That is crazy. How much were you watering and how often?


I was watering daily to keep up with ET rates at about .30in per cycle. The native soil is mostly sand so more frequent irrigation events are necessary.


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## Ben4Birdies

jskierko said:


> Grass is so resilient. This is an amazing bounce back for less than 2 weeks elapsed!


+1!
No kidding, that is shocking!

What range have your temps been the past 2 weeks?


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## Wiley

Ben4Birdies said:


> jskierko said:
> 
> 
> 
> Grass is so resilient. This is an amazing bounce back for less than 2 weeks elapsed!
> 
> 
> 
> +1!
> No kidding, that is shocking!
> 
> What range have your temps been the past 2 weeks?
Click to expand...

The 10th is when it started cooling down


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## Wiley

Almost fully recovered.


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## Wiley




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## Wiley

Not the best angle for the stripes but I'm happy with the turf quality and overall recovery. I've been alternating between some ams and EqualizORR for my fall feedings.


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