# Shiltz Lawn Journal - Eastern Washington



## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Hello All,

Been absorbing a ton of information on the website and YouTube this year. Planning out a large renovation of my property in Eastern Washington for 2021. We bought the property in 2018 and it includes 1 acre of lawn. Grass type appears to be a bit of everything and was neglected due to being vacant for a period of time. The lawn is finally coming out of dormancy after a very late, hot, and dry summer. It has been a challenge watering with above ground sprinklers. Goal #1 for Spring 2021 is an irrigation system. Here are a couple pictures of the current lawn.





So for now, I'm currently maintaining what I have the best I can and planning for 2021. I purchased three KBG varieties from Seed Superstore to do a test run. I chose Bluebank, Bewitched, and Mazama.



Today was seed down day and I can't wait to see it grow! The test area is about 200 sf and I decided to do half with peat moss and half without since it would be a lot of work to spread peat moss on an acre of lawn next year. I'm excited to see the varieties compared to my current lawn and am happy to share my experiences since I have not seen much of a presence from my region.



Thanks for checking out my lawn and project!


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

First signs of germination after four days.


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## GrassOnTheHills (Jul 3, 2020)

Germination start on the side with our without peat?


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## Justmatson (Apr 4, 2020)

shiltz said:


> First signs of germination after four days.


Thats a beautiful piece of property you have there. It's going to be awesome once you reno. I can already picture it :thumbup:

In ground irrigation is strongly recommended almost a must for that size.

Are you looking to do a mono? 
You'll be happy with anyone of those, the Mazama should be the darkest, just be aware mono's can be a bit more work. Watch it more closely for disease that could wipe out a large selection if not the whole thing. Little safer to go with a blend but a mono is definitely possible. 
Lots of members have mono cultivars to prove it.

Whats your ultimate goal with this lawn?


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Germination on the side without peat. I keep a close eye on it and im sure there must be some germination under the peat.



GrassOnTheHills said:


> Germination start on the side with our without peat?


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Thank you! The land definitely sold us on this propery.

I plan on installing the irrigation system in spring and start leveling out the lawn for fall 2021.

I have decided to choose three varieties, each a seperate type for disease resistance. I was first thinking bluebank, mazama and bewitched and thats why i got those for a test. But now im thinking shipping for that much seed will get expensive quick. I have a local agriculture supplier that gets seed from landmark turf and seed so ill probably go through them. Now i am thinking a combo of Bluebank, noble, and hampton which covers three different types for disease resistance. I haven't found any feedback on noble or hampton though, but they are supposedly a-list, elite varieties.

Thats the plan so far! Just a nice smooth, dark green KBG lawn.



Justmatson said:


> shiltz said:
> 
> 
> > First signs of germination after four days.
> ...


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

One week since seeding the test section.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Two weeks since seeding, 9 DAG, of the test section. Peat moss section definitely outperforming the bare ground, but the bare ground is doing well also.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

SPRING RENOVATION

Just got done with my Spring Renovation. Not ideal but the ground was bare so moved forward. Was planning on finishing last fall but got behind on projects. The Sprinkler system was installed last fall. The ground has been regraded and smoothed out. I decided to go with Champion GQ PRG.

Today I spread the seed, raked it in and rolled it down, then applied Scotts Triple Action for New Seeds. Cant wait to see some germination! I hope it becomes a success...

Here are some before and after pics.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Absolutely awesome looking property, definitely jealous! Big area to manage, excited to see how this turns out. Best of luck!


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

jskierko said:


> Absolutely awesome looking property, definitely jealous! Big area to manage, excited to see how this turns out. Best of luck!


Thanks! We are definitely lucky to have a property like this. Just slowly fixing it up. The front lawn that we renovated is about 20k sf. Cant wait for some results!


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Germination on day 7! Half of the yard has a maroonish tint. Also planted perennials in the front yard today.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

1 DAG. Overall germination appears to be good. Some areas recieved too much water and washed out the seed. Other areas appear to be maroon with white tips. Thinking too much starter fert with mesotrione?

My question is will those areas recover or die off and reseed?


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

First mow of the new grass at 1.5 in.
7 DAG
A lot of bare spots to reseed but pretty pleased with the progress and enjoying the stripes already!


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## amartin003 (Apr 30, 2021)

Starting to fill in nicely! BTW love the background mountains in the pics!


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

amartin003 said:


> Starting to fill in nicely! BTW love the background mountains in the pics!


Thank you! We dont have much around here but we do have beautiful mountains, rivers, and lakes.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Looking great. PrG is awesome for a spring reno. It establishes super fast. Have you reseeded yet?


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

uts said:


> Looking great. PrG is awesome for a spring reno. It establishes super fast. Have you reseeded yet?


That was definitely a deciding factor for our Spring renovation. Some areas have been reseeded. I didn't use peat moss the first round but am during the second time since some areas get less water coverage.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

13 DAG. 
Getting some weeds but not too bad. 
One more round of seeding tomorrow and then hopefully that will be it. Starting to look full except for bare areas.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

22 DAG.

Some areas have filled in very thick while others have progressed more slowly. I believe this may be due to less fertilizer. Thats my guess since most of the sprinklers have a circle of less mature grass around them and maybe the water washed the fertilizer away. Any other opinions are appreciated.

I threw down a 1/4 lb/k of nitrogen to help those areas fill on better.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Had a heat spell of 90 degree weather for four days. The PRG did not like that but it did help me find out the problem areas that I will have to keep an eye on. Weeds have started to pop up but I routinely pick them by hand and will be able to apply tenacity soon.

Mowed the lawn yesterday and today applied some Humic/Fulvic/Kelp and some liquid soil aeration.

The PRG continues to thicken up and overall im pretty happy with the progress.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads here. Did a quick mow for the occasion.

Dealing with the heat! Two weeks if 90 degree weather in the forecast.


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## shiltz (Aug 14, 2020)

Been awhile since I posted here. The Champion GQ PRG front lawn is a year old. Looks decent but hoping to apply GreenEffect soon to get a bit more color and also apply some speed zone for clover.

I decided to go with TTTF in the backyard which is the dogs yard and seeded Defiance XRE about a month ago.

I also ordered KBG for the side yard. Purchased Bluebank from Swell Seed Co, and Mazama and New Moon from Twin City Seed. The side yard is my outdoor project for the Fall.


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