# Aggroriders First Lawn



## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

We have finally moved into a place and i now have a lawn to take care of. Growing up i always mowed my parents lawn and did general landscaping and upkeep but i have the desire to dominate my neighbors at my own place.

This lot is about 0.6 acres and im learning that its going to be a difficult battle to keep where i want. There are areas of the lawn that look great and others that need a lot of help. There has certainly been a grub problem on this property and i am hoping the grubex i put down will help stop them as i move forward. I have been moving a mole trap over the past week trying to catch whats running ar pi und under the grass now.

Looking ahead i really need to get the grub/insect problem under control. In the fall i want to seed the bare areas and overseed other areas to thicken things up.

I have purchased the lcl cool season guide and have been following the recommendations of pre emergent and fertilized over the past 3 months. I plan on doing 0.5 lb per 1k n next weekend and am checking the weather for rainfall totals more than i want to admit. I have been mowing twice a week as high as possible, about 4 inch.

I have been spot spraying weed and crabgrass killer but think i need to spray the whole lawn in a couple weeks if weather temps and conditions permit.

I would appreciate recommendations on insect/grub killing and grass identification to plan my fall seeding.









Some current overall photos which probably make things look better than they are.

Front


Side


Rear



Garden side


I also need to decide what to do with the garden beds. I have zero experience with them and need to learn. Im sure i missed a million details. Looking forward to input.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

You've got a nice lawn to start with. Looks like a northern mix of some types with some fine fescues in there. Have you caught any moles yet?


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

pennstater2005 said:


> You've got a nice lawn to start with. Looks like a northern mix of some types with some fine fescues in there. Have you caught any moles yet?


I caught my first mole on friday and got a cut in. Sunday i got some fresh mulch around the gardens and trees. Unfortunately i didnt take any photos of mulch as i finished in the dark after returning from a soccer game.









I really need to do an application of weed killer but i think i will wait until after the 4th of july. Planning to fertilize this weekend.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

For the garden beds it depends on how much work you want to do each year. I like minimal intervention and go with low maintenance plants and the wife does annuals.

Watch the temps with weed killers. Mornings or evenings are usually best.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

pennstater2005 said:


> For the garden beds it depends on how much work you want to do each year. I like minimal intervention and go with low maintenance plants and the wife does annuals.
> 
> Watch the temps with weed killers. Mornings or evenings are usually best.


Good point with the weed killer. Is it safe to apply throughout the summer as long as its in the morning before the heat and not a windy day? My rear yard is looking nice and I should have only a few spots to over seed and reseed but my front is not coming along like I hope. For some reason the pre emergent doesn't seem to have worked as well in front.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Im thinking of starting some plugs/small pots of various seeds to see what I like. Is this a good idea? Where can I get good/decent seed locally? Probably want to stick with the typical tttf and kbg mix but I don't know the differences between cultivars


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Sprayed some weeds in the front yard after playing some of the worst golf I have ever played last night. That seemed to help me recover from the embarrassment. Still trying to plan my attack this fall. I think I have decided that I will continue to manage weeds, fertilize and care for the rear yard as it seems to have done well this year. There are a couple spots I might throw seed but I don't think I need to overseed the whole back this year. I am hoping what I applied will prevent any grub damage this property had previously,

For the front yard I am considering splitting it in half and replanting a portion of it. One half can be saved and bounce back similar to the rear yard but I think the grubs and weeds from years past have done a number on the other side. I still cant decide how I will do it, I really don't want to kill everything and start over but that might actually end up being less work.

For the people that do renovations what do you do for bringing in new soil to level and fill holes? I don't want to bring in new weeds.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Aggrorider1 said:


> pennstater2005 said:
> 
> 
> > For the garden beds it depends on how much work you want to do each year. I like minimal intervention and go with low maintenance plants and the wife does annuals.
> ...


Yes. I spot spray occasionally in the summer but wait for cooler morning or evening temps. This is for spot spraying though. I personally wouldn't blanket spray in the summer.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

pennstater2005 said:


> Yes. I spot spray occasionally in the summer but wait for cooler morning or evening temps. This is for spot spraying though. I personally wouldn't blanket spray in the summer.


That's my plan moving forward. Pre-emergent really didn't do good in some areas and I have got a lot of things popping up. I have been hand pulling some weeds in my nicer sections of grass.

This weekend consisted of another mow, another grub app, lawn food fertilizer and trimming bushes/shrubs. I will be taking the lawn down to a lower height for this weekend with a few mows this weekend.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Can anyone give me some insight on the mix below? It was recommended by a local company and trying to see if anyone has familiarity with it. 
32% Amity Tall Fescue
29% Corbett Tall Fescue
29% ZigZag Tall Fescue (Rhizomatous)
10% Tumalo Kentucky Bluegrass (Drought Tolerant)

I have just been mowing, spraying weeds on cool evenings and trimming bushes. PLanning and preparing for fall seeding.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Been awhile since I posted. Summer really brought some weed troubles for me. I have picked up the Triple Team Plus seed from Harts Seed Company to do my overseeding.

I need to rip some more weeds out this week and start dethatching. Want to get seed down Saturday.

How low should I cut?


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

I am a little nervous about my overseed and the amount of weeds in the center of my lawn. Have spot sprayed some weedy areas and planning to hand pull as much as I can before seed down. I have some tenacity to throw down when the seed goes down.

I have decided the focus this year is on the front. The rear will just continue to get fertilizer, mowing and killing weeds as best as I can.

Hopefully update some photos tonight.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Well the rain after work tonight ruined my plans for spraying roundup on some areas in the front. I really am unsure of how well an overseed would work as i have some weeds that i havent been able to identify. Really hoping for input. Want to seed on saturday or sunday because the weather is looking good next week.

Here are some photos of the front.













Would cutting low, dethatching and overseeding/seeding bare areas work out good with my front yard? I have tenacity to put down right after i seed or will i still have a mess next year? Full reno scares me a bit.

Here are some photos of the weed and patchy rear i will just try and keep treating and fertilizing.







Would love some input!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I'm not sure what you are calling a weed. Can you pull a few of the grass with roots and all? Maybe we could id it.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

The light green in the front yard is a lot of the image below. Not as mich in the rear, but i do have some crabgrass and other weeds there.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

This was a very busy weekend in the lawn. Friday and saturday i pulled some more large patches of weeds in the front. Saturday i mowed multiple times to get the lawn down to somewhere between 2.5 and 3 inches. Dethatched, mowed again as it popped grass up and loosen up some soil. Finished by spraying tenacity in the front and emptied the tank by spot spraying the rear. Sunday morning i went around and broke the soil up some more, seeded, lightly raked in some areas and rolled with the mower.













I finished with a light application of carbon x in the rear. That needs to be mowed tonight.

Currently front sprinklers are set for 4 times a day for 10 minutes. 830, 1130, 2 and 530. Going to monitor how the soil looks.


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## JDgreen18 (Jun 14, 2018)

Did you do an overseed or reno? Also what kind of seed did you use?


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

JDgreen18 said:


> Did you do an overseed or reno? Also what kind of seed did you use?


Overseed with some bare spot patching in the front. Seed from Hart seed co. Triple Team Plus. Hopefully I start to see some germination toward the end of the week.

32% Amity Tall Fescue
29% Corbett Tall Fescue
29% ZigZag Tall Fescue (Rhizomatous)
10% Tumalo Kentucky Bluegrass (Drought Tolerant)

Rear hasn't gotten any seed yet.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

I know im only a couple days into this and i shouldnt be seeing anything for a few days. I am worried that i didnt get the seed deep enough. Is it ok to see seeds on the top of soil? I loosened all the bear spots up, put seed down and lightly raked in before going over with the mower to compact. Should i be seeing seeds or should they be below the top? If i see seeds is there a way to correct now?


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Aggrorider1 said:


> I know im only a couple days into this and i shouldnt be seeing anything for a few days. I am worried that i didnt get the seed deep enough. Is it ok to see seeds on the top of soil? I loosened all the bear spots up, put seed down and lightly raked in before going over with the mower to compact. Should i be seeing seeds or should they be below the top? If i see seeds is there a way to correct now?


Yes you should see seeds on top of the soil. They'll germinate. I probably covered about 50% of my seed with the back of a rake using the loose soil. Perennial ryegrass germinates in a few days but TTTF and KBG take longer. Just keep it moist.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

pennstater2005 said:


> Aggrorider1 said:
> 
> 
> > I know im only a couple days into this and i shouldnt be seeing anything for a few days. I am worried that i didnt get the seed deep enough. Is it ok to see seeds on the top of soil? I loosened all the bear spots up, put seed down and lightly raked in before going over with the mower to compact. Should i be seeing seeds or should they be below the top? If i see seeds is there a way to correct now?
> ...


Thanks for the reassurance. I was starting to freak out thinking about it. Good thing this isnt a reno yet. Learning a lot.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Aggrorider1 said:


> pennstater2005 said:
> 
> 
> > Aggrorider1 said:
> ...


No problem! You put a lot of work into and then all you can do is water, watch, and wait :thumbup:


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Very excited, I have some baby grass popping up. Noticed some after work yesterday and theres even more this morning. Hopefully it really starts filling in this weekend.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Quick update. I think i am in some type of sprout and pout phase with my tttf. I dont even know if thats a thing with tttf. I had really good germination in my more bare spots and i so see a lot of new little grass from overseeding. I had to mow on sunday because my existing lawn was getting too high. Thinga looked good after and i dont think i disturbed any of the new grass badly.

I have put some fresh seed in places that arent as thick as others.

I was thinking to continue watering 4 times a day for another 5 days or so because i put more seed down and there is kbg in the mix. Is that a good plan or should i switch to twice a day now?

Something i learned, i did not scalp low enough in the areas that were weedy. The brown dead stuff is stil there looking bad but i see a good amount of new grass that germinated there. I dont think i cut low enough because from a distance these spots stick out like a sore thumb. I am thinking about borrowing my dads push mower to lower hoc even more and bagging. This should help get rid of the dead matter i think. Is this a good idea or no?

Appreciate any input.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

How long are you watering currently? How long since seed down? The dead stuff would be pretty far down in the grass canopy, correct? I don't know if you should go that low yet for risk of damaging the new grass. Could you remove some of that stuff by hand?


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

pennstater2005 said:


> How long are you watering currently? How long since seed down? The dead stuff would be pretty far down in the grass canopy, correct? I don't know if you should go that low yet for risk of damaging the new grass. Could you remove some of that stuff by hand?


Each zone is set at about 10 minutes. After posting i think im just going to let the grass grow out as long as i csn before cutting and keep it high this fall.

I could try and remove some by hand.


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## JDgreen18 (Jun 14, 2018)

Are u watering 4 times a day for 10 min a zone? That seems like a lot of water. How many days has it been since seed down? Depending on how high the new grass is you might be able to cut just the mature grass and not the new grass. I say if the new grass is 3 inches tho you can cut it it stimulates growth. Let it dry out a little before mowing tho


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

JDgreen18 said:


> Are u watering 4 times a day for 10 min a zone? That seems like a lot of water. How many days has it been since seed down? Depending on how high the new grass is you might be able to cut just the mature grass and not the new grass. I say if the new grass is 3 inches tho you can cut it it stimulates growth. Let it dry out a little before mowing tho


It does sound like a lot of water, but the soil looks to just start to get dry in areas before the sprinklers kick on again. I don't have any wet spots and I am able to walk anywhere on the lawn without it being soggy.

Today is day 11 from seed down.

I will start to reduce the watering.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Busy weekend. I have never liked the way stormwater discharged right at the foundation with very little slope. I made some modifications and installed basins that run out to pop up emitters in the rear.







I also mowed the rear low, dethatched and overseeded with perenial ryegrass in the rear/sides.





Front lawn is filling in nice. I am adjusting watering schedule tonight. When should i switch to once a day in front?


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Gave the front a mow last night and it is coming along nicely.







Feel like things will really look better in a couple weeks. Overseed seems to take longer to look good compared to all these renos i see. Maybe because of the competition with existing. Couple ysars of overseedings and i will probably be happy.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Over seeds are a bit tougher to see results but that is looking nice. I started watering 1x a day about 3.5 weeks into my renovation. Although, if these higher temps hold I might go back to 2x depending on what the grass is doing.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Front is really filling out nicely. I will probably have to overseed a few spots next year but we will see. Rear overseed has popped up pretty well and existing grass is getting pretty high, will have to mow soon. Few areas that are hard to keep wet and wont fully fill in this year.

Nice mow on the front yesterday. Gonna put some carbon x down this week.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Basically back to just maintaining/mowing the lawn for the rest of the year now. Rear is coming along but it will require a lot more work next fall.





I think i now understand why people reno beautiful lawns. At first i was impatient and just wanted a good looking lawn but now after the process i can understand that the process is also fun. What a transformation in a year imo.

Now i guess i have time to golf and finish the body work and painting my car...


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Looks great!


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

I did my first mow on 4/6/20 and my pre emergent has been down a couple weeks now. I hope that it was a successful application. Following my mow I spot sprayed selective herbicide to try and kill clover and other things that already popped up. Lawn is starting to look pretty good but I am seeing a lot of weeds in the rear as expected. Last year the main focus was the front yard. Depending on how my spot spraying went I anticipate spot spraying tenacity in 3-4 weeks as a follow up.

Goals for this year are to improve keep improving grass quality/thickness in the lawn while keeping weeds to a minimum. Late summer I think I will kill areas of clumping fescue/k31 that are random and replant those areas. The rear will most likely get a heavy overseed.

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Front yard.





Back Yard





This weed has popped up in many spots in the rear and I spotted a couple in the front. Can anyone id it?



I think the lawn is looking good at this time hoping I can keep weeds out!


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Oh, crap! That looks like Hairy Bittercress. I was just replying to Mark @TheWhiteWizard in my journal about it. See if it has a tiny taproot with small, bulbous, leaves emanating from the center, kind of like a dandelion on a smaller scale. The leaves can be greenish/purplish or either color. If you can pick them, do so right away, because the flowers will explode sending seeds everywhere, once it matures. It's only an early season weed, so once you're past it, you're clear to next year. Fall PreM is the way to go. I saw a post this week mentioning that not all PreMs are effective against it. I think Prodiamine was the ineffective PreM (and not labeled for it), so Dithiopyr is the best option for fall PreM in this situation, even though Prodiamine has a longer duration. There are weed apps that can help you. I hope my ID is wrong, because it's a PITA. However, it's not the end of the world.


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## Mark B (May 30, 2019)

Aggrorider1 said:


> This weed has popped up in many spots in the rear and I spotted a couple in the front. Can anyone id it?
> 
> 
> 
> I think the lawn is looking good at this time hoping I can keep weeds out!


+1 on the hairy bittercress ID. @Chris LI nailed the description. The exploding seedheads happen very quickly in the weeds life cycle, try hand picking everyday if possible to contain it. They do come up easily with the tiny taproot they have. Using a chemical option might work but I'd be concerned that by the time the chemical has an effect, the seedheads will have matured.

And I would definitely tend to agree with you - the lawn is looking great!


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

TheWhiteWizard said:


> Aggrorider1 said:
> 
> 
> > This weed has popped up in many spots in the rear and I spotted a couple in the front. Can anyone id it?
> ...





Chris LI said:


> Oh, crap! That looks like Hairy Bittercress. I was just replying to Mark @TheWhiteWizard in my journal about it. See if it has a tiny taproot with small, bulbous, leaves emanating from the center, kind of like a dandelion on a smaller scale. The leaves can be greenish/purplish or either color. If you can pick them, do so right away, because the flowers will explode sending seeds everywhere, once it matures. It's only an early season weed, so once you're past it, you're clear to next year. Fall PreM is the way to go. I saw a post this week mentioning that not all PreMs are effective against it. I think Prodiamine was the ineffective PreM (and not labeled for it), so Dithiopyr is the best option for fall PreM in this situation, even though Prodiamine has a longer duration. There are weed apps that can help you. I hope my ID is wrong, because it's a PITA. However, it's not the end of the world.


After my post I did see some discussion in other lawn journals. I have been trying to get out once or twice a day and hand pulling the best that I can. Planning for a fall pre emergent this year unless I am unhappy with the lawn and do another overseed. We will see how I can manage weeds throughout this spring/summer.

Thinking my second mow will be this weekend or next week.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

TheWhiteWizard said:


> Aggrorider1 said:
> 
> 
> > This weed has popped up in many spots in the rear and I spotted a couple in the front. Can anyone id it?
> ...


 :thumbup: 
Good luck Aggrorider1


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Needs an update!


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

uts said:


> Needs an update!


You aren't kidding! Essentially was on cruise control mowing and fertilizing this year. For the most part made it through summer ok. Below photo of the front is from the end of July.


I love how the thick areas of prg in the rear look. Great color and quality so i decided to go for another overseed in the rear this year. I started by spot spraying patchs of creeping bentgrass a week before. Scalped, bagged, dethatched, bagged and put seed down the 23rd. Impatiently waiting for it to fill in.









One of my major spring/early summer projects was resetting the paver walkway in the front. Huge improvement. 










And some random photos from throughout the ywar.







I need to get some fall pre emergent and look up timing of application for the front. Hopefully will spot spray some creeping bentgrass in the front with tenacity today.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Thursday morning after throwing seed down Sunday afternoon. Not seeing any germination yet. If I don't see anything by the weekend I will be considering trying again next week I get antsy


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## Zcape35 (Sep 17, 2019)

The waiting around for it to germinate is tough, just make sure you are keeping the seed moist!


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

We have some germination! always exciting to see. after the steady rain yesterday and sun today I think many more will pop up.


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## Aggrorider1 (Jun 18, 2019)

Got pre emergent down in the front on Friday the 28th before all the rain on Saturday. Much more seed sprouting in the rear. I picked up a manual reel mower to trim the rear overseed. Will get progress pictures this week.


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