# Zee's 2021 Lawn Journal



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

I'm a bit late getting this going but I've been looking forward to starting my 2021 lawn journal. I learned a ton from TLF last year and owe much of the success I had renovating my front yard to this online community. The link to my 2020 journal is here:

*Zee's 2020 M&M KBG Renovation (WI)*

My goals for 2021 are:

1. Front: Encourage the KBG to spread and fill in by promoting lateral growth through cultural practices and frequent spoon-feeding of Urea.

2. Back: Renovate a section of the existing NoMix with KBG. The back yard is in rough shape and I'd love to do all of it this year but without in-ground irrigation I will have to move sprinklers around, which limits the scope of what I'm willing/able to do at once.

3. Transition from rotary to reel mowing.

Just as a quick recap, snowfall here was heavier than normal this past Winter with total accumulation somewhere around 10" above average. I snapped this picture in mid-February:



After a quick thaw in March, the snow was gone and I was able to pull cores from the Front yard for sampling. Here's where things are at now in the soil:



Compared to 2020, the pH didn't budge even though I applied 10#/M of elemental sulfur. I saw improvement in P and K levels with the soil amendments I put down before renovating, but both remain low. Interestingly, my 2020 soil test recommended applying 3.0#/M of P; I ended up applying a total of 2.9#/M last year, with half of it going down at time of seeding. Since my 2021 recommendation is to apply another 1.8#/M of P, I can only assume that the baby grass chewed up the bulk of what I applied last year and left me still deficient! As such, I'll be incorporating TSP again into my program along with SOP for K and Sulfur to see if I can get the pH to move.

Coming out of Winter, the KBG looked pretty haggard. This is from April 8:





With uncharacteristically warmer soil temperatures arriving in early April, I put down a dose of Prodiamine (0.28 oz./M) and since I couldn't wait to start pushing some color I followed up with Urea (0.25# N/M) on April 9; both applications were timed to coincide with rainfall the following day.

I turned on the sprinklers and began tracking my irrigation when overnight temps were starting to consistently stay above freezing. After receiving over an inch of rain on 4/10, the last three weeks of April were mostly dry (<0.25" total). My target for the season is to water enough to maintain an ET deficit of 0.5", which I am currently below after wet weather finally moved into the area on 5/3 and dropped nearly 1.75" of rain.

I considered dropping seed down in early April to address a few of the problem areas but ultimately decided against it. I will try plugging these areas instead once things get going.







On April 27, I tank mixed Urea (0.25# N/M) and Air-8 (6 oz./M) for the second feeding and followed up with some biostimulants (GreeneStart and GreenePunch) for the third feeding (0.25# N/M) on 5/3. I'm planning to continue weekly light dosing (0.25# N/M) of Urea for the rest of Spring before applying a heavier dose (0.5# N/M) of Milorganite just before Summer officially arrives. With high soil pH, I'd like to start incorporating foliar Iron apps as well but may wait until Fall before getting that going.

In the meantime, I've been hunting and hand pulling all the Poa Annua I can find. I don't know that I've seen a ton of it, but certainly enough to know that it's around. The real eyesore at this point are the bunches of PRG that survived the renovation. I've accepted that there will be some amount of ryegrass mixed into the stand but my hori hori knife has been homing in on many of the really obnoxious plants for removal.

Here's how things are looking as of yesterday after a cleanup cut with the rotary mower:


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

My goal with this lawn journal is to provide weekly updates on either Sunday or Monday, depending on my work schedule. I'm hoping to dedicate a handful of posts to each of my stated objectives, as my attention will be shifting between the Front yard and Back yard throughout the season.

With this being the grow-in year for the KBG, I'm looking forward to watching it become established and hopefully resemble something close to a mature stand in the Fall. These pics are from 5/16:







I'm feeling pretty good about the program that I'm running so fingers crossed the success I had last year will carry over into this year. As of today, my total Nitrogen input has been 1.25#/M and I've started alternating the spray applications with granular applications of Humic-coated Urea. Based on my soil test, I need to adjust the soil profile a bit so I'm applying HCU (0.25# N/M) with TSP (0.5# P/M) and SOP (0.5# K/M) biweekly during the Spring. I also applied 5#/M of elemental sulfur on 5/15 and will reapply a the same rate in early Fall. I applied 10#/M last year and the pH didn't budge so this year will be the litmus test (literally) to see if the pH moves and then I'll decide whether or not to continue Sulfur apps in the future.

Since I decided to seed the ditch with a ground cover rather than grass, I knew I'd also need to incorporate an effective herbicide against clover to control its spread. I picked up a quart of 61.6% Triclopyr and spot treated (1.5 oz./M) areas on 5/16 where clover was popping up, although the stone border I installed as a natural barrier so far appears to be performing better than expected at suppressing its movement into the lawn.

Finally, I finished the weekend using the ProPlugger to encourage the lagging patch of KBG to catch up with the surrounding turf. I unexpectedly lost a tree in that spot four weeks after I seeded and by the time I had the stump ground it was mid-September, so I figured it would need some extra help filling in.

Last year:



This year:



Before plugging:



Otherwise, I've been obsessing about my irrigation schedule. We're in the midst of another dry spell with no measurable rain in the past 10 days so I've been running the sprinklers sporadically to maintain an ET deficit at or around 0.5".


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## Liquidstone (Mar 31, 2021)

Looking good. I'll be following along.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

May 24 update. This past week was all about preparing for the first bout of heat and humidity to settle in these parts. Smith-Kerns was initially projecting high probability for dollar spot but with cooler temps yesterday the risk looks to have decreased a bit, although it will remain elevated until next weekend.



In preparation, I applied a preventative dose (2#/M) of Azoxy 0.31% on 5/19. This is the first year I'm incorporating fungicides as part of my program and I confess that I don't have a lot of experience or knowledge when it comes to diagnosing fungal issues so I'm relying pretty heavily on Smith-Kerns to gauge when I should apply. Last Fall, I ran into fungal issues with a 2,000 sq. ft. section of NoMix.

Last year:


I'm hoping that a preventative strategy will help keep me ahead of any major threats that might develop. I attempted to resolve the issue last year using the kitchen sink method by throwing Prop, Azoxy and Thiophanate-methyl at it and while the grass responded nicely I'd like to avoid spending a ton on curative fungicide applications.

I'm planning the next spoon-feeding of urea on Wednesday and will include the first biostimulant of the season in the tank. I picked up a couple quarts of concentrated sea kelp but realized after reading a post in Pete's journal by @ksturfguy that kelp4less offers much better prices than what I paid. Since next year I'll be expanding the area I'm managing with biostimulants to include my back yard, I realized I need to do a better job sourcing certain materials.

As for my selective herbicide strategy, I've been somewhat complacent and so far have only spot treated for clover with triclopyr. I've been reading about @psider25 having to deal with poa triv following a Bewitched renovation last Fall and I'm pretty sure I've got the same issue.





@synergy0852 has been aggressively attacking poa with Tenacity and I will probably follow suit with two applications per week until I get a handle on what I'm dealing with.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Memorial Day update. Storms came through the middle of last week and brought around 0.75" of rain along with strong winds that helped the maple trees knock off their seeds.



Urea (0.25# N/M) and sea kelp (0.5 oz./M) went down along with the first application of Tenacity (4 oz./A) on 5/26; didn't really notice much bleaching but a follow-up treatment is planned for mid-week.

Not much else going on other than mowing. Mulching blades did come in handy to grind up the maple seeds but hoping that I'll be transitioning away from rotary mowing in the very near future.

Pics from yesterday 5/30:


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

One of my guilty pleasures during the early stages of the pandemic was perusing the online marketplace for a used triplex mower and dreaming of how my front yard would look striped. At some point, however, idle curiosity turned into a wishlist and when I found a 2013 John Deere 2500B with 1513 hours for sale at the end of last season I couldn't resist the temptation to bring it home. By the time it arrived, the grass had pretty much stopped growing but I still had a chance to evaluate the cutting units before the snow started falling. The reels were in need of a grind and one of the rear roller brushes wasn't engaging; since I didn't know its maintenance history, I decided to take apart all three cutting units while the tractor sat in storage over the winter.

After the holidays, I got to work breaking down each cutting unit piece by piece. John Deere schematics are readily available online and I probably would have been a bit wary about undertaking this project without them but I was able to stay organized using Ziploc bags and a Sharpie to make sure every nut and bolt was accounted for.

A lot of the threaded fittings required some heat to get them to break free but eventually almost all of them came loose. I ran into issues, however, with the clamps that secure the rear rollers because the allen head bolts were all busted.



After several failed attempts to remove the bolts I decided to just cut the clamps with a recip saw and buy new ones.

I ran into problems again when trying to remove the side panel bushings that fit around the rear roller assembly.



After trying a few different methods with no luck, the service tech at JW Turf suggested using a blind bearing puller and slide hammer. Even with the proper equipment, I still needed a ton of leverage to get them out but in the end was successful.



After cleaning everything I was able to salvage in parts washer solvent and/or a rust removing bath, I looked them over for damage. I purchased all new bearings & seals and had to bite the bullet for a few specialized components to replace parts that either had stripped threads or worn gears.



Since everything was apart I decided to address the cosmetic features of the cutting units as well. The paint had chipped in several spots and rust was starting to pit the metal surface so I stripped all of the metal parts clean using an angle grinder and applied a rust-proofing primer followed by an enamel tinted to match the tractor.

Having never tackled a project of this scope before, I needed a hydraulic press In order to reassemble everything. Using the tool is fairly straightforward, although it's a bit unnerving knowing how quickly things can go awry when squeezing metal pieces together with 12-tons of force. In the end, the counterweights got a complete overhaul and I learned how gratifying the sound of a snap ring popping back into place can be.



A couple before & after pictures of the idler sprocket and bearing housing on the rear roller brush.





I also removed and replaced all the rear roller bearings. All of them had play, so I purchased a bearing puller from RR Products and squeezed the new bearings in with the shop press.



Finally, I replaced the bedknives with thicker fairway knives and upgraded the front rollers to 3" grooved polyurethane rollers from Golfco.







Once everything was back together I took the cutting units to JW Turf to give the reels a grind and brought the tractor out of storage. Since I didn't know the maintenance history, I drained and replaced the engine coolant as well as the hydraulic fluid and filter. Afterwards, I completed my normal seasonal maintenance by replacing the spark plugs, fuel filter, engine oil and filter; the air filter appeared to be fairly new so I decided not to replace it. After greasing all the lubrication points, the triplex was ready for the freshly-sharpened cutting units to go back on.



I set the bench HOC to 1" and took the triplex for a spin. I kept the baskets on to remove the clippings and after finishing a double cut snapped a few more pics.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Wow jumping in the deep end now! Cool project. I love fixing up old equipment myself. I've done a few topdressers and greens aerators but not a mower yet. It's good work for someone that has the knowledge and tools to pull/press a bearing. That JD look really nice.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

@Liquidstone @Vtx531 Thanks for reading/commenting. I like using this journal as a space to capture my musings while working out what's going to be best for my lawn so I appreciate the positive feedback!

June 7 update. With temperatures here creeping into the 90s this past weekend, I decided to forego reapplication of Tenacity until the mercury drops. Between lowering the HOC and increased disease pressure over the next few days, I figured the grass was already stressed enough without adding herbicides to the mix.

I've also adjusted my irrigation pattern as well to perform deeper, more infrequent watering. I had been keeping the ET deficit at or around 0.5" in all zones but have instead started targeting individual zones by allowing ET deficits to increase to 0.75" before initiating a longer irrigation cycle. My goal is to mitigate the risk of disease resulting from overwatering through good cultural practices rather than relying on fungicides. I sprayed a soil application of 14.3% PPZ at a preventative rate (0.5 oz./M) on 6/3, but I'm starting to become a bit concerned about over management so I probably won't be using anymore fungicides unless I see signs that I need to.

Pics from last evening:


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Not much to report this week. Lengthy irrigation cycles have been keeping things going amidst severe drought conditions (just south of here Milwaukee County is reporting 2021 is the 4th driest YTD in 127 years). Despite a couple preventative applications of fungicides, I noticed pythium on the leaf blades in several spots Saturday morning; just a reminder of the delicate balance that exists between heavy watering and weather that favors increased disease pressure.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Highly impressed with everything you've done so far. Keep it up you are destined for lawn greatness


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

M32075 said:


> Highly impressed with everything you've done so far. Keep it up you are destined for lawn greatness


@M32075 Thank you for the kind words. I really enjoy this hobby and like everyone on this forum I put a fair amount of thought and planning into what I do so I'm glad that it doesn't go unnoticed. 

June 21 update. We finally got some relief this weekend with over 2" of rain falling over the past three days. I've been tracking numbers since April 1 and ET deficits are still around 3" which explains why my neighbors' lawns still look dormant. Meanwhile, I played around with the triplex on Saturday between the rain drops and tried double cutting a checkerboard pattern.





After mowing I dropped HCU (0.25# N/M), TSP (0.5# P/M) and SOP (1.1# K/M). YTD my inputs have been 2.6# K/M and 1.5# P/M and I won't be doing any more applications this year to specifically address P/K soil deficiencies, so I'll be particularly interested to see how those levels move when I retest in Spring 2022.

I also squeezed in a foliar application of FAS and T-NEX (0.4 oz./M) on Saturday evening. I have very little experience using FAS and even less with PGR, but I knew that I wanted to incorporate both at some point this season. Since my soil is highly alkaline, foliar apps are necessary for iron uptake but I have absolutely no idea what the difference is between FAS, Feature or Ferromec. Maybe some work better/faster than others but for now I'm using Ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (3.0 oz./M), Ammonium Sulfate (2.5 oz./M) and Citric Acid (0.25 oz./M) in my spray mix.

As for PGR, it seemed like a good time to stunt topgrowth and prepare for hotter temps in July but I don't track GDD (yet) so I'll have to guess when to reapply. I often feel like the learning curve is steep and the more that I educate myself on TLF the more I end up realizing how much I don't know yet.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

June 28 update. I haven't needed to run the sprinkler system in 11 days. Drought stress in the areas that aren't irrigated has subsided and the 2,000 sq. ft. section of NoMix in the front yard rebounded nicely.



Meanwhile, T-NEX really put the brakes on the KBG. In hindsight, I probably should have used less PGR for my initial application to see how the grass handled it. I'm mowing less but the grass has some yellowing now that I haven't seen previously.





I'm also disappointed by the color because the KBG didn't respond to the FAS application on 6/19. I applied Milorganite (0.5# N/M) to the NoMix on the same day it it looks noticeably darker than the KBG:







The KBG received an application of Milo (0.5# N/M) on 6/26 so I'm hoping the appearance will improve in a few days but moving forward I'm rethinking my strategy for spraying foliar iron.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

June 13 update. No update last week but currently not much to report besides mowing. I'm planning to backlap the triplex this week and maybe bring the HOC down a little. I'm also retrofitting my tank sprayer with a wider boom and new Teejet nozzles. After applying PGR it was apparent that my spray pattern has been a bit inconsistent and I'm hoping that a few modifications will give me more precision when spraying.

Meanwhile, since I haven't posted on the backyard yet I figured I'd give a quick summary of where things are at because things are about to get busy there. I tested the backyard soil in Spring and when things started to get going I adjusted the pH with two separate apps (5#/M) of elemental sulfur and dropped TSP and SOP for P/K deficiencies. I primed the 10,000 sq. ft. section being renovated with HCU (0.5# N/M) on 5/1 and gave it another boost with Urea (1# N/M) on 5/26.

Kill day was June 13:





Progress on June 24:





Two weeks post-Gly on June 28:





Second round of glyphosate was applied on July 3. Pics prior to scalping on July 12:





It's been incredibly satisfying watching the grass wither away over the summer. My backyard has always been a motley hodgepodge with scattered bunches of tall Fescue and blotchy swaths of lime green Bentgrass that I'm delighted to be rid of. I'll be finishing scalping sometime this week and may or may not use the core aerator to disrupt the soil before using a Harley rake to smooth out the seed bed later this month.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

July 19 update. Finished retrofitting the sprayer. I extended the boom to 96", installed a pressure regulator and added five new Teejet nozzles.







All I need now is to find time to spray. I'd hoped to work in weekly spoon-feeding of Urea and Sea Kelp throughout July but my attention has instead been directed toward the looming renovation in the backyard. I finished scalping mid-week and chewed up whatever was left with the aerator on Saturday. After dragging the cores and raking up the debris here's how things looked :





Since I don't have in-ground irrigation in the backyard, I spent Sunday dragging hoses around and setting up some new sprinklers to check coverage.



I thought about doing an irrigation audit, but to be honest I don't think this is a "brains" type of operation. At this point I've spent a small fortune on timers and sprinklers but the way I see it, I didn't scoop up Finals tickets for Game Six against the Suns so it's pretty much a wash.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

July 27 update. The 2500B was down for a few days last week while I addressed a minor maintenance issue. A couple of screws that secure the yoke on the QA5 cutting unit had loosened and the center reel was dragging while in the raised position.



I removed all three cutting units and added thread lock before re-tightening the loose screws. After a quick bedknife sharpening, I verified that the reels were still cutting paper and checked the HOC. I decided to stay with a 1" HOC since I plan on using the triplex when my backyard renovation is ready for its first mow.

After remounting the cutting units I gave the front lawn a double cut.





I finished things off by spraying a soil drench application of Humic-12 (9 oz./M) and Sea Kelp (0.5 oz./M) at 20 psi and watering in.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

July 31 update. Seed bed is ready and my target seed down date of August 1 is a go.





On Tuesday, I rented a toy and spent the day playing around.



There's definitely an art to operating that machine and I respect anyone who uses one regularly and can accomplish in two passes what took me twenty :lol:

Still, I feel like renting one was well worth the investment. Last year, I spent most of July using a tiller/aerator to prepare the seed bed; the Harley rake condensed what took me a month into one day's work.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


My backyard had plenty of uneven terrain with dips and high spots where tree stumps were ground and the soil settled unevenly. Additionally, when our neighbor excavated for a pool last year he brought in a few yards of native topsoil to fill in a depression in the middle of the yard that would turn swampy when the ground was wet. I was more than happy to accept the free dirt but the rough grading left a noticeable bulge. The Harley rake tore through the bare soil like butter but I ran into trouble around the Maple trees. I knew there were a handful of shallow roots and a fair amount of them were churned up in the process.



I was left with an array of frayed ends of roots sticking out 1/2" above the surface of the soil. I spent Friday afternoon/Saturday morning identifying them by lightly dragging a landscape rake and then cutting them out with a reciprocating saw. There were still a couple of gnarly ones though that I needed to get creative with. I watched a couple videos of guys using angle grinders to pare away the surface so I used a concrete grinding disc and gave it a shot.





I finished Saturday by loading up the debris from hand raking and depositing it by the shed. This was a tight area and although I was able to maneuver the skid steer I wasn't happy with how the finished grade looked. I may decide to seed this spot later with TTTF/PRG just to have something there or maybe just lay a few rolls of sod.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@jrubb42 we talked about this. They Harley rake is a great tool for renos.


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## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

g-man said:


> @jrubb42 we talked about this. They Harley rake is a great tool for renos.


We did. I've watched some videos on it. They look like they work awesome. I didn't want to bring in a skid steer and I couldn't find a walk behind to rent in my area. Probably would've worked much better than the topsoil I brought in. It's already settling in areas.

Good work zip. What seed are you putting back there? I may have missed it in your journal.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Thanks @jrubb42. I first got the idea to use a Harley rake after reading @synergy0852 2020 journal and if memory serves he used a smaller rake attached to a Dingo but was somewhat disappointed by it which is why I opted to use a skid steer.

Seed went down yesterday without a hitch. I planted a 50/50 blend of Mazama and Bewitched.





I already have Mazama in my front yard and I wanted another KBG cultivar that should do fine with a little bit of shade, and everyone already knows how great Bewitched looks in Pete's lawn. :mrgreen:

I used the same process as last year and scaled it for 10,000 sq. ft. First, I mixed the seed (2#/M) with Soil Moist and applied it with a drop spreader. After rolling, I sprayed a mixture of RGS (3 oz./M), GreenePOP 16-21-2 (10 oz./M) and Tenacity (1 tsp/M). Next, I broadcast a mixture of 224# Milo, 15# TSP and 20# DiseaseEX. All told, I applied 1.4# N/M and 1.8# P/M. Finally, I covered the area with 700# of mulching pellets.



I picked up 500# of the Lesco product from my local Site One location but first I used four bags of Seed Aide that was left over from last year. FWIW, I was impressed by how much easier the Seed Starter 3 pellets flowed through the spreader and I will definitely be using that product again in the future.

With no rain in the forecast I'll be relying on a bevy of hoses and sprinklers to keep things moist and get growing. I spent most of Monday tweaking my irrigation setup to maximize coverage and begin watering. I have two manifolds equipped with an arsenal of Orbit timers that I can program to run throughout the day and will have water flowing in earnest starting tomorrow.



I finished the day by giving the front yard some much needed attention. I hadn't been on the triplex in a week and things were looking pretty shaggy, so I relaxed a bit and double-cut a checkerboard pattern.


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## Liquidstone (Mar 31, 2021)

That orbit setup is a site to see! I'm sure you're beat after today. That is going to be one stellar combo with mazama and bewitched. Definitely looking forward to your updates.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

August 7 update. Storms moved into the area Friday evening and dropped over an inch of rain in less than an hour. We haven't seen any appreciable rainfall (>0.25") here in over three weeks, and the timing for a deluge was not ideal; the Lawn Rebel would call it a real "pisser offer." I haven't surveyed the damage to the backyard renovation yet because more storms are in the forecast for the rest of the weekend and I won't be addressing any washouts until early next week anyway.

In the meantime, I'll reflect on last year's success and how I seeded a bare patch of dirt that looked like this on August 7, 2020:



Now looks like this:


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

August 8 update. I got home just before dusk and had a chance to assess damage to the renovation from this weekend's thunderstorms.







The topsoil that washed away pooled in a handful of areas that in some spots is 2" deep and probably contains a fair amount of grass seed. Meanwhile, all of the painstaking work I did smoothing the seedbed has been completely destroyed.



All told, we received just over 5" of rain in a 36-hour period.



To put it into perspective, we hadn't received that much rain in total over the past SEVEN WEEKS and hadn't received more than an 1" on any given day during that span.

TBH, I pretty much feel like I just got a major kick to the groin. I was hoping to see signs of seed germination in a few days but now I'm just wondering how much seed I even have left. I'm not sure how to proceed after such a giant setback but I'll collect my thoughts and figure out a gameplan tomorrow.


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## Liquidstone (Mar 31, 2021)

Man, kick in the groin without a doubt. What a bummer, especially with the drought you've experienced. Im sure you'll get collected and figure out a solid game plan moving forward. I liked your optimistic approach looking back on a solid outcome!


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

August 17 update. Back to square one. After spending a few days pouting (me not the grass), I accepted defeat and conceded to Mother Nature. I saw a decent amount of germination and have no doubt that the KBG would have performed admirably trying to fill in the washouts but after the painstaking effort spent smoothing the seedbed, the channels and grooves that were left in the aftermath of the storms were simply too much to bear. So after the ground dried out, I tore everything up again with the aerator and then dragged the cores.

I reseeded on 8/15 with the same 50/50 blend of Mazama and Bewitched (2#/M). After raking and rolling, I sprayed a mixture of RGS, GreenePOP and Tenacity. I broadcast 30# TSP mixed with 20# DiseaseEX and covered most of the area with erosion control blankets before laying out hose again and restarting the sprinklers. Finally, I staked the blankets down by hand. I REALLY hate having to do things twice.





Despite the setback, I'm only a week behind schedule compared to last year.


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## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

Well we're in the erosion blanket club. Sorry to hear about all of your misfortunes. That's really is a punch in the gut. But on the bright side you're only a week behind last year and it's pretty much impossible to happen again with the blankets.

One of the reasons I decided to use blankets on my entire reno was because I actually saw how well your germination was in your blankets last year.

Did you end up pulling them up at some point? If so, when? Or did you leave them? How was germination under the blankets that looked like there wasn't much there? I see seedlings under the areas that look bare, but when I pull up the blanket they don't look very healthy.

Sorry for so many questions. Lol.

Good luck this time around man. You're good to go now!


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

jrubb42 said:


> One of the reasons I decided to use blankets on my entire reno was because I actually saw how well your germination was in your blankets last year.
> 
> Did you end up pulling them up at some point? If so, when? Or did you leave them? How was germination under the blankets that looked like there wasn't much there? I see seedlings under the areas that look bare, but when I pull up the blanket they don't look very healthy.


@jrubb42 I love those Futerra blankets and I would have used them again in a heartbeat if my budget hadn't already been blown from having to do this project twice. I didn't have any issues with air pockets/bubbles (which honestly was surprising because the area where I used them was very, very loose soil and the grade was nearly 18%) so I never touched them again.

For reference this was two weeks after seeding:



And this is today:



BTW I'm taking your advice and ordering my 2022 seed this week


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## lbb091919 (Apr 26, 2020)

Wow looks great! Do you remember when you decided to pull that blanket up?


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

lbb091919 said:


> Wow looks great! Do you remember when you decided to pull that blanket up?


@lbb091919 I never removed the blankets. IMO pulling them up does more harm than good because you will inevitably lose baby grass that would otherwise help to fill in the area when mature. In my experience, patience is rewarded when growing KBG.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

August 23 update. The renovation hit another snag and methinks this project may in fact be cursed. Tuesday morning I took the kids for a bike ride and when we returned the sprinklers were mysteriously no longer running. I checked my app to verify that they *should* have been on, and then quickly headed to the basement. It turns out that our 1/2 hp well pump (installed in 1997) had finally given up the ghost and left us with no water pressure. I called our well guy and an hour later he confirmed that the motor was drawing too much current and had seized up. Since I'm placing significantly higher demand on our water supply than the previous owners, he recommended installing a 1 hp pump with a variable speed drive rather than just tying in a new pump with the existing system. The installation was completed on Thursday and when all was said and done I was getting a constant supply of 14 GPM at 60 psi with no cycling.





In the interim I ran hoses from my neighbors to keep the seed bed moist but right on cue, rain (0.29") returned on Saturday just six days after reseeding. While we managed to avoid the epic gullywashers from two weeks ago, the erosion control blankets successfully passed their first test. By Sunday I had widespread germination…of the straw blankets.



Still, there are signs that things are moving in the right direction.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

August 29 update. A successful renovation again appears to be in limbo. The straw blankets managed to prevent any washouts from the 1.42" of rain we received yesterday but the soil is absolutely saturated and has turned completely into the consistency of mud. I've been obsessively comparing what I'm seeing to last year's pictures so I know to expect coverage to be somewhat sparse at this stage. Still, I can't help but feel that it looks light years behind right now. I grossly underestimated how much moisture the blankets have been trapping and I'm afraid that germination stagnated over a lot of the area. I blame myself since I never did a proper irrigation audit and the array of sprinklers I am using are providing complete but wildly inconsistent coverage.

Meanwhile, I haven't posted much lately on the front yard but things there have taken a decided turn for the worse. The high humidity and warm nights this past week looks to have kickstarted disease in a lot of areas.





I struggle at distinguishing between different types of fungi (to an untrained eye differentiating based on appearance is a lot like splitting hairs) but the lack of mycelium leads me to believe it's probably either brown patch or summer patch and not pythium blight.





I applied DiseaseEX (2#/M) on 5/19 and Propiconazole (0.5 oz./M) on 6/3 but have gone fungicide-free since then. I'd hoped to use cultural practices to manage disease-risk and I haven't seen any indication of disease pressure until now. TBH though I'm not sure how much of it is due to environmental factors and how much is self-inflicted. In hindsight, I may have started my Fall blitz too early and was too heavy-handed at the outset: my first application was a combination of 22-0-10 (0.77# N/M) and Urea (0.23# N/M) on 8/6. I sprayed T-NEX (0.2 oz./M) and Triclopyr (0.4 oz./M) on 8/17, followed by another high dose application of granular Urea (1.0# N/M) on 8/22.

I first noticed the rings on 8/24 and have mowed once since then, but right now my plan is to stay off completely until I see signs that things are either improving or getting worse. I reread Pete's 2019 journal and found a lot of great information buried in there about how to deal with summer patch by using AS, frequent watering and aeration so if I continue to see deterioration that will be my remedy. At this point though I'm wondering if I should just stick to growing Microclover since my ditch gets nearly as many compliments as my lawn with a fraction of the effort or headaches. :bd:


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

It looks like brown patch or yellow patch. I would use a azozy.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Hey Hey, we're basically running the same course here... My reno is lagging way behind where it was last year and am likely going to have to drop more seed once chances of rain pass. I also have some brown patch with almost identical presentation to your pictures. Dropped thiophanate at curative rate last week since I had it on hand. Seems to have stymied it, but I am not taking my chances and have azoxy coming in tomorrow. Fall is right on the brink, we will get through this!


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

g-man said:


> It looks like brown patch or yellow patch. I would use a azozy.


Thanks @g-man. Should I be concerned about Fall fertilization if I'm treating concurrently for brown patch? Specifically, should I switch my N source from urea to AS and decrease my inputs?



jskierko said:


> Hey Hey, we're basically running the same course here... My reno is lagging way behind where it was last year and am likely going to have to drop more seed once chances of rain pass. I also have some brown patch with almost identical presentation to your pictures. Dropped thiophanate at curative rate last week since I had it on hand. Seems to have stymied it, but I am not taking my chances and have azoxy coming in tomorrow. Fall is right on the brink, we will get through this!


@jskierko It does look like we are on eerily similar trajectories. I also ordered azoxy and expect it to arrive sometime around mid-week.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

No need change.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

September 10 update. Backyard renovation is now 19 DAG; with Labor Day in the rearview mirror and the clock ticking, I decided it was time to rip the bandaid. I removed the straw blankets on Wednesday and while I expected to be disappointed by the overall lack of germination (which was certainly the case), I was pleasantly surprised to see that the seedlings that were beneath the blankets appeared to be in good health.







First feeding was on Thursday, which was a combination of GreeneStart 9-0-1 (0.06# N/M), Urea (0.1# N/M) and RGS (3 oz./M). On Friday, I used a handheld spreader to sow some of the thinner spots with Bewitched.







After covering the seed with peat moss, I spent some time adjusting the irrigation layout a bit and resumed watering 3x daily.

I anticipated that growing KBG in the backyard was going to be difficult and, in hindsight, there are a few things that I wish that I'd done differently which may have yielded better results. Still, compared to last year this project has been much more challenging than I imagined and will be testing the limits of KBG shade tolerance and spreading capabilities.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

September 19 update. At this point it's safe to say that if I didn't have bad luck with this year's renovation I'd have no luck at all. After a fortnight of placid weather, Mother Nature decided to send thunderstorms back into our area two days after I dropped more seed. The end result: my second, somewhat less spectacular washout of 2021.



While I can't claim that this project was an abject failure (I do have grass growing after all), if awards were being handed out I'd receive the participation trophy that everybody gets just for playing.

28 DAG areas that look good:





Areas that look so-so:



Areas that look bad:



And areas that are downright ugly:





My crystal ball has been murky of late but I'm pretty sure I see a hex plugger in my future :bd:

Meanwhile, shipping delays thwarted my attempt to curtail the damage from brown patch and apply a fungicide to the front yard. By the time my order of azoxy finally showed up, the damage was already done.



I have little recourse now but to push with Nitrogen and hope that the turf recovers. That being the case, I've been dropping granular AS (0.5# N/M) weekly and have started mixing in foliar apps of Urea (0.2# N/M) in between. As you'd expect, growth has been vigorous and my mowing schedule is now every other day.

I also recently upgraded the triplex with rear-attatching yokes to keep the cutting units planted firmly on the ground.



Since my terrain is more undulating than a golf course green, I needed a modification that would reduce bouncing and I've definitely noticed a more consistent cut with each pass since putting them in service.


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## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Haven't felt like posting much lately but I wanted to get at least one more update logged before putting this year's journal to bed. The renovation has filled in considerably and I'm hopeful that with some plugs it should look somewhat respectable in 8-10 months.

36 DAG (9/27):


49 DAG (10/10):


58 DAG (10/19):


36 DAG:


49 DAG:


58 DAG:


36 DAG:


49 DAG:


58 DAG:


Final fertilization was on 10/19; total Nitrogen input for the renovation since 0 DAG stands at just over 2# N/M.

The front yard, meanwhile, has been getting blitzed with a combination of granular AS and foliar Urea spray apps. Since Labor Day, the total fast release Nitrogen input came to 3.86# N/M; another 0.5# N/M came from Milorganite on 9/24. The areas that were hit hardest by brown patch haven't fully recovered but things are trending in the right direction and I'm hopeful that a robust Fall fertilization program will pay dividends in 2022.


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