# wonder371's SF Bay Area Lawn Journal



## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Hi Everyone,

So hopefully these pictures will serve as some before pictures and eventually I will have some nice after pictures to show over the years.

I live in the San Francisco Bay area and rent the house I live in. My rent includes a gardener [who mows the lawn]. Although, I may buy a mower in the future and do it myself and have him focus more on plants and trees.

I have two lawn areas totaling 1808 sqft.

*Front lawn is 28ft wide by 18ft long; 504 sqft.*


























































*Back lawn is 28ft wide by 43 ft long. 1,204 sqft. *










































I'm open to any and all advice. Thanks in advance for all your support.

-Brendan


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

So from what I gathered, I think these are the first steps. I collected soil samples this evening and I will be sending it out to Waypoint Analytical tomorrow.

My lawn is currently getting a mild watering on odd days. I am going to try to give it a heavy watering twice a week, I just need to figure out my older sprinkler controller.


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## chrisben (Sep 11, 2017)

Cool, also, what are your goals and objectives?


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Hi Chris,

I would say my goals are to be a moderate Tier 2 Lawn Keeper. I'd love green lush/soft grass with as few weeds as possible.

I have a 18 month old son. He's taking a liking to our back yard. I'd really love for him to have a great lawn to play on.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I think first you need decide if you want a warm season or a cool season. That's going to depend on your weather.


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Hi G-man,

I'll be going with cool weather. I live in in Northern California, so weather is moderate. No snow, but at the same time I don't get triple digit weather. Is cool weather a smart choice or is warm a better option for the San Francisco Bay Area?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Im biased to cool season lawns. Cool season lawns struggle above 90F. They could tolerate a few days in 100F, but they suffer.

If cool season it is, then start getting some weed b gon to kill those weeds.


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

G-man - thank you for the advice! As far as weed b gon goes... spray on anything that looks like it isn't grass? Should I just get a 1 gallon general weed killer? or Chickweed/Clover/Oxalis? or Plus Crabgrass Control?

Am I too late in the season to use a PreM?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I would skip prem for now. I see the need to overseed in the fall (after the summer heat) to grow grass in the spots that will have dead weeds.

I would get weed b gon + crabgrass preventer. I would do a blanket application per the label to the entire yard. Then the next ones will be spot spraying.

You do have some weeds that could benefit from CCO. But I don't want to overwhelm your lawn. If you want to get it while you are out and about, but dont apply it until after the first spot treatment.

I read that you send a soil test. That's great to know what to apply. If you want to tackle the weeds this weekend, fertilizer will help the process of forcing the weeds to grow and absorb the weed killer. Get a bag of 10-10-10 at lowes/hd/etc. I'm assuming your soil test will yield you need it. Apply 10lb of it for every 1ksqft. (Sometimes they have 12-12-12 or 13-13-13, it will also work but we will need to apply less pounds, just let me know what you find).

Lastly, the day after weed treatment, start irrigating (to gets the weeds to grow).


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## Anthony Drexler (Apr 23, 2018)

I think the first step, is to identify your grass type. It looks like a mix of Kentucky Bluegrass & Tall or fine Fescue. I believe you have cool season lawn but, more advance people can further help advise you, on your turf. Listed below is my cool season schedule. I hope it helps.

March - Check PH, and supplement accordingly
April - Fertilizer, crabrass pre-emergent, spot spray weeds.
May - Fertilize & spot spray weeds.
June - Kickstart, preventative fungus control.
July - Grub control, and surface feeding insects.
August - Nutsedge control
September - Aerate, overseed.
November - Fertilize


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

G-man & Anthony. Thank you for all the help.

I got a gallon of Weed B Gone with Crabgrass and a bag of 15-15-15. Does that mean 7.5lbs every 1k sqft? How do you guys measure weight? Eyeball it (30 lb bag use approx 1/3)? or do you guys like put it on a normal household scale?

I have not applied anything yet as this weekend was currently a "heat wave" where we saw temperatures in the high 80s/low 90s. It's cooling off today, but today is a gardening/mow and irrigation day. So I think I will apply tomorrow, if it stays cool.

Is it bad to irrigate on the same day that the lawn is mowed?


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Also thinking ahread for fall and seeding. I was looking around at the websites that have been mentioned on the forum. I was thinking of getting the Summer Green Supreme Blend from PreferredSeeds.com. It is 20% Rebounder Tall Fescue, 20% 4th Millennium SRP Tall Fescue, 20% Cochise IV Tall Fescue, 15% Essential Tall Fescue, 10% Gamechanger Turf Type Annual Ryegrass, 10% Green Supreme Perennial Ryegrass, 5% Brooklawn Kentucky Bluegrass.

Does this look like like a good option? When should I order to seed on-time?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

By gallon I'm assuming it is premixed?

For the 15-15-15, I would go with a rate of 3.3lb per ksqft (a total of 6lbs for your lawn size). This rate yields 0.5lb of N/ksqft which is ok if the weather is not too hot. Yes a bathroom scale works. Grab the bag and either place it on the scale and substract, or place the content in a preweighted bowl. I dont eyeball it.

Mow, apply the fert and spray the weeds in that order. Then tomorrow in the am irrigate the lawn to water in the fertilizer(avoids the lawn being wet all night).

I dont like the annual ryegrass in that seed mix. Seed doesnt go really go bad (it takes years), so order soon to have it at hand when you need it.


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Thanks again, G-man! I will do it tonight!

On the subject of seed, would the Preferred Seed "Trio Supreme Mix" be a better option?

34% Blend of 3 of Our Top Rated Perennial Ryegrasses
33% Blend of 3 Improved Kentucky Bluegrasses
33% Blend of Intrigue Chewings Fescue, Celestial Creeping Red Fescue and Nanook Hard Fescue


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I am biased to kbg and perrenial ryegrass. The blend you posted has creeping red at 33%. I would 10% of annual rye over creeping red.

Another option is Hogan seeds. He could make a custom blend for you.


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Gardener mowed today. I fertilized and did the weed b gon with crab grass control this evening. I will irrigate tomorrow morning.

As for custom blends I think I'm a little too much of a lawn newbie to go that route right now. Can anyone recommend a newbie friendly sun and shade pre-selected blend that has a good amount of fescue to it? (I like the look and feel of fescue)


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Soil results came today (see below). The sample was taken before the 3.3lbs per 1000 sqft fertilization, weed b gon blanket and spot treatments.

Since treatments, lawn is slowly got worse (lots of dead weeds), but it seems to slowly be getting better. I'm currently working on irrigation. The my sprinker heads and nozzles are old and some were not working very well. I've ordered all new rainbird PRS45's with R-Van Nozzles. After I get those all installed, I'll probably get a Rachio controller.

Soil Results:


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

Anthony Drexler said:


> I think the first step, is to identify your grass type. It looks like a mix of Kentucky Bluegrass & Tall or fine Fescue. I believe you have cool season lawn but, more advance people can further help advise you, on your turf. Listed below is my cool season schedule. I hope it helps.
> 
> March - Check PH, and supplement accordingly
> April - Fertilizer, crabrass pre-emergent, spot spray weeds.
> ...


Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to finish some irrigation improvements, as well as, the fix-it items recommended by my soil test (aerate, gypsum, calcium nitrate, and fertilization). I plan on having this all complete by July 1`5th. Starting Mid-End of July, I would like to try to get on a schedule similar to what Anthony recommended (please let me know if anything needs to be added to this cool season schedule).

Anyone have recommended grub control & surface feeding insects products?


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## Anthony Drexler (Apr 23, 2018)

I like Scotts GrubEx, and Bayer Grub Killer Plus


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

~1 month check in.

Front Lawn: 

















Back Lawn:

























The month's lawn activities:
15-15-15 Fertilizer 
Blanket Weed-B-Gon w/ Crab Grass 
Replaced All Pop-Up Sprinkler Heads w/ Rain Bird 1804 PRS45 Series with R-VAN Nozzles
Replaced All Fixed Sprinkler Nozzles with Toro Precision Series Nozzles (Free from the State of CA)
Replaced Old Rain Bird ISM-6 Controller with Rachio 8 Zone 3rd Gen Controller
Spot Weed-B-Gon w/ Crab Grass 
Aerated Lawn
30 lbs of Gypsum
10 lbs of Calcium Nitrate

Summary:
I think I definitely shocked the lawn with all the changes I've made. I think the weed-b-gon after effects also proved that there were pretty good portions of my lawn that were weeds rather than grass.Going to take it much easier this month. Only planning on doing grub/insect control & a nitrogen fertilizer while continuing to dial in the new irrigation. Really the plan is just get the soil and existing grass in as good as condition as possible for a September overseeding.

Other Notes: 
Upon being in my yard more, I've learned I have a pretty bad roof rat issue. I have/had lots of bushes for them to live in plus tons of fruit and vegetable vegetation. Working on limiting their access to the fruits and veggies as much as possible while removing all the bushes that they live in. You will see in the pictures, I've removed a good portion of the bush on the back left of the property as well as trimmed the fig and orange tree pretty significantly. Apricot tree (the tree with flowers around it) will be getting a sheet metal ring around it to prevent them from climbing up it. I'm also using bait stations & traps.

I also have a pretty good wasp issue, although no signs of nests (must be on a neighbors property?). I am hoping the greener grass (less access to the dirt) and the insect treatment will limit their activity on the lawn.

Lastly, birds (especially the local crows) like pecking at the lawn. I am guessing for grubs. I am hoping the insect treatment solves this too.


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## wonder371 (May 31, 2018)

So I fell off a bit... we had a new baby in the family in January. So I changed from Lawn Prep to baby prep. Now that he's survived his first 90 days and better weather is around the corner, back to getting on lawn care.

Is there a crab grass pre-emergent that you guys have found success with? or anything will do?


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