# littlehuman's Celebration Bermuda Lawn Journal



## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*How it started - Sept '20*









*How it's going - July '22*









I decided last June that I could do more with my lawn. Long story short, after a season of learning-by-doing, I decided last October that I was going to completely renovate my front yard with Arden 15 bermuda seed. That process will take place this upcoming weekend, May 1.

A little bit of background and some pics below, as well as my overall reno plan.

My house sits on a hill and the front yard rests along the slope. You can see the slope of it in some pics below, but they don't really do it justice. It's not so steep that I'll have issues seeding (fingers crossed), but it's enough to require a decent leveling/grading process during the reno. There were also some trees/stumps in the middle of the yard that were removed in years past, which left nice-sized holes in the middle of it.

*Overall Plan*:

Glypho 1 month prior to seeding (blanket)
wait 1 week and water to get remnants to grow
glypho again if necessary (spot only)
water again
glypho again if necessary (spot only)
scalp/bag dead grass
Spread CarbonPro-G at max rate onto old soil
Spread 10-10-10 at 10lb/1K onto old soil
Till CarbonPro-G and 10-10-10 into top 3-4" to prep for grading
topsoil addition, grading and leveling
drag mat pull
roller compaction
drag mat pull again
roller again
scarify for seed (rake)
Arden 15 seed Celebration Bermuda Sod
Roll seed sod into soil lightly
Starter fert
roll peat moss lightly over seed
Starter fert again (2 weeks after planting)
Water ~3 times daily to keep soil moist (not wet) for 2 weeks or until germination rooted. 
Water once per day for 2-3 weeks and then resume weekly deep watering.
*I'M DONE!*

This is the state of the lawn in early *September, 2020* - You can see that the only real decent section is next to the street, which were remnants of Zoysia. The rest of the lawn was a mix of bermuda and weeds. Looking at this picture, you would think that this yard is more than salvageable in this state, but unseen in the picture are some very large holes in the yard and more than that - I didn't want a mix of two types of grass. So, a full renovation.









*February 25, 2021* - This was when it occurred to me that I should log/journal my progress. The Zoysia near the street had not come out of dormancy yet, but the rest of the yard got its first glypho treatment here (blue marking dye).









*February 25, 2021* - I attempted to get a wider shot of the entire lawn. You can somewhat get a feel for the slope of the yard here. Also note the lamp post next to the driveway.









*March 4, 2021* - Lamp post coming out soon.









*March 5, 2021* - Lamp gone. I had to dig down about 2 feet and pulled up the entire thing, concrete base and all. It had been there since I moved into the house in 2016 and had no power running to it.









*March 5, 2021* - But wait, there's more! This thing was immovable. I called around to no less than 10 landscape companies, all of whom said that coming to remove it would not be worth their (or my) time. More on this one in just a bit.









*March 13, 2021* - In prepping the soil a bit for the renovation, I wanted to remove as many surface roots as I could. There were a lot of them, stemming from the pine tree that can be seen in the rear of the photo.









You can also see in the image below (same date) that I'd given the Zoysia another round of glypho (blue marking dye).









*March 19, 2021* - Not much to report here - you can see that much of the yard has died off due to the glypho apps. Note the boulder still exposed next to the driveway.









*April 25, 2021* - In lieu of drilling into the boulder with a rotary hammer and splitting it with feather wedges, I decided to just... dig a bigger hole next to it and push it in. This left a little over 12 inches of soil on top of the boulder - which should be plenty for bermuda to take root and thrive.









Here are the bricks that came up out of the ground when digging the boulder's new home. My property is clearly on some sort of rockfall path and the folks who've renovated my house in the past did an incredibly poor job of construction material removal. I'm guessing that my driveway used to be brick at some point, as my entire lawn has these scattered throughout.









*April 25, 2021* - Which brings me to - the current state of the lawn as of this journal's creation. The lamp post and the boulder are gone. The roots have been largely taken care of *(lol @ this statement as of May 3 after tilling)*. The old grass is dead. This week, I'll be raking up the dried/dead grass and giving the entire lawn one more mow with the rotary, just to clean everything up in prep for the reno on Saturday.


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

littlehuman said:


> March 5, 2021. But wait, what's this? A small rock sticking up about 1 inch above the soil surface? 30 minutes of digging later, I realized that I had a problem. This thing was immovable. I called around to no less than 10 landscape companies, all of whom said that coming to remove it would not be worth their (or my) time. More on this one in just a bit.


Man that would have been a great candidate for a neighborhood-wide double jack contest! 

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWGAj_6kLpM[/media]


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

sam36 said:


> littlehuman said:
> 
> 
> > March 5, 2021. But wait, there's more! This thing was immovable. I called around to no less than 10 landscape companies, all of whom said that coming to remove it would not be worth their (or my) time. More on this one in just a bit.
> ...


My roommates and I did take some turns going at it with a sledgehammer. We succeeded in getting some frustration out, but not much else


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## Herring (Sep 19, 2020)

"Well, it ain't a meteor."

Looking forward to your progress! I'm seeding Arden 15 also this year.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Herring said:


> "Well, it ain't a meteor."
> 
> Looking forward to your progress! I'm seeding Arden 15 also this year.


@Herring Nice! Do you have a journal started? I'd love to follow your progress and compare!


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## Herring (Sep 19, 2020)

littlehuman said:


> Herring said:
> 
> 
> > "Well, it ain't a meteor."
> ...


I have not yet, I need to get one started.


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## ronjonbomber (Apr 14, 2021)

Looking forward to your progress! I seeded Arden 15 on April 5th and it grows like crazy. Great job on the prep! I have a journal going and will be watching yours!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*April 30, 2021* - Dirt was delivered today in prep for the reno tomorrow.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ronjonbomber said:


> Looking forward to your progress! I seeded Arden 15 on April 5th and it grows like crazy. Great job on the prep! I have a journal going and will be watching yours!


Thanks! I'll keep an eye on your progress, good luck with it! I'm supposed to get an inch and a half of rain Monday-Wednesday, so praying that this peat moss helps me in the no-washout department. I'm wondering if I should just get everything prepped, wait out the storm, do some re-leveling on Thursday and put the seed down at that point...


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

The renovation took place this past weekend, or at least the majority of it. I knew we had 3 days of intense rain headed our way today through Wednesday and being on a hill, that I wouldn't be able to seed this weekend due to washout.

*May 1, 2021* - Tilled in some 12-12-12 and carbonpro-g into the old soil. This took far longer than I anticipated.









*May 2, 2021* - First drag raking









After the first rolling and another raking









*May 3, 2021* - and because I knew about the rain (and again - hillside), I decided to run to Lowe's and pick up some painter's plastic to mitigate the erosion. It's helping a decent amount, but I can already tell that I'll have another drag raking and rolling to do once I take this off. *Update: ended up getting 2" of rain from 9a-2p and it did wash a bit of it around underneath (you can see on the pic to the right, water running off of the driveway. I've since put up some plastic landscape edging to keep it away for now), but nothing another drag raking and rolling shouldn't fix, I hope.*









Unfortunately for me, it appears that Atlanta is now due for 6 out of 7 days of rain next week (I can only assume due in part to me deciding to renovate), so I think the seeding aspect is going to have to wait a while - there's just no way for me to get the seed down on top of this fresh soil without it washing out and I don't think any amount of peat moss is going to help with it. So, I'll batten down the painter's plastic hatches and hope that it holds up relatively well, until I can find a decent spot on the calendar where we're due some typical Georgia sunshine and summer heat.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

I bet you could get it down this week, and be in okay shape with some seed mats and some good rolling.

Perhaps the mid week rain next week is rather slow, really no way to tell this time of year. It's been unusually dry thus far!


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## AFBiker2011 (Jun 3, 2020)

Hopefully this evening doesn't add too much more rain to deal with.

... Watching with interest.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

FATC1TY said:


> I bet you could get it down this week, and be in okay shape with some seed mats and some good rolling.
> 
> Perhaps the mid week rain next week is rather slow, really no way to tell this time of year. It's been unusually dry thus far!


I'd actually resigned myself to giving up on the Arden 15 and purchased 6 pallets of Celebration last night. Lo and behold, the sod company can't cut it this weekend due to weather up in SC and can only deliver it during rainy days next week (obviously a no-go, but going to check some other sod companies around here, given that it's supposed to be dry through next Monday). So I may end up seeding it this week anyway and just hoping for the best. My real concern is that any amount of rain will washout the new soil that doesn't yet have grass growing in that area - really just trying to weigh the ups and downs of having to continuously correct/re-level soil that gets washed out on the slope as grass grows in - vs - just leaving the painters plastic on there for another 10 days or so and seeing if they'll deliver the sod on the 15th.

What type of seed mats are preferred for a slope? Do the straw mats between netting work well, and can I leave those there indefinitely or do they need to be lifted off the lawn at some point?



AFBiker2011 said:


> Hopefully this evening doesn't add too much more rain to deal with.
> 
> ... Watching with interest.


Oh it did indeed, but the painters plastic has held up relatively well. I had hoped to get out there today and pull it off, to let the soil dry a bit before I do another drag raking and rolling in prep for the sod on Saturday. But with the sod not coming due to weather, I've gotta leave the plastic on to hold off the rains we're expected to get next Monday-Weds.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

littlehuman said:


> FATC1TY said:
> 
> 
> > I bet you could get it down this week, and be in okay shape with some seed mats and some good rolling.
> ...


Holler at NG Turf or SuperSod in the area. I know NGTurf is down the street from me and I bet they can get ya taken care of. Might not have the specific cultivar you want, but will have the 'mains'.

The weather should clear up, perfect honestly, probably good to get some rain to really get your soil to settle in, IMO.

I got a roller you can use as well if needed after sodding, etc if you need it. Fill with water; did a pretty decent job for me, especially after it rooted up and soaking it all down.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

FATC1TY said:


> Holler at NG Turf or SuperSod in the area. I know NGTurf is down the street from me and I bet they can get ya taken care of. Might not have the specific cultivar you want, but will have the 'mains'.
> 
> The weather should clear up, perfect honestly, probably good to get some rain to really get your soil to settle in, IMO.
> 
> I got a roller you can use as well if needed after sodding, etc if you need it. Fill with water; did a pretty decent job for me, especially after it rooted up and soaking it all down.


Nice, I'll check them out, thanks.

Yeah I think I'll be alright after this upcoming week. I'm going to target the 15th for a sod installation if the weather holds off.

Actually bought a 2 foot roller for the reno job this past weekend and just to have around. Holds 270lbs which seemed to work reasonably well in getting everything to stay put for the most part. A little bit washed around under the plastic, but I pulled it up today and wasn't anything crazy at all. Think that'll be enough weight to get it compacted enough under the sod before I lay it down?


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 13, 2021* - Removed the painter's plastic yesterday so that I can finish prep work for the sod delivery tomorrow morning. It worked incredibly well in keeping everything in place during some very heavy rains.









Digging up some of the soil near the street, so that the sod is level/even with the curb stones - have more to do here today. Have a bit more drag raking and rolling to do this afternoon. I'll lay peat moss in the morning and then the sod afterwards.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

littlehuman said:


> *April 25, 2021* - In lieu of drilling into the boulder with a rotary hammer and splitting it with feather wedges, I decided to just... dig a bigger hole next to it and push it in. This left a little over 12 inches of soil on top of the boulder - plenty for bermuda to take root and thrive.


I laughed out loud at this. Clever solution, I don't think I would have thought of that but I guess if you puzzle over something long enough there's no telling what will occur to you.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Curious to know how the sod-laying went -- hope all went well! Will b following!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Ben S said:


> littlehuman said:
> 
> 
> > *April 25, 2021* - In lieu of drilling into the boulder with a rotary hammer and splitting it with feather wedges, I decided to just... dig a bigger hole next to it and push it in. This left a little over 12 inches of soil on top of the boulder - plenty for bermuda to take root and thrive.
> ...


That's precisely what happened. We'd long given up on it and that lead to some outside-the-box thinking 



ADanto6840 said:


> Curious to know how the sod-laying went -- hope all went well! Will b following!


Well I severely overestimated my work speed. The slope of the yard made it such that they couldn't lay the pallets strategically throughout, so I had to keep going back and forth from the driveway to the yard, hauling a gorilla cart's worth of pieces each time. I'd say I got 80% of the way done in 12 hours of work and plan to get up early tomorrow to finish.

I'm a bit leery of leaving the remaining sod but it's reasonably humid here in the evenings so I'll just make quicker work of it in the morning.

The ground was pretty flat from the rake n' roll, and I had zero trouble "hammering" in the pieces with my hand, but I also didn't get to rolling today and I'm wondering if tomorrow is too late to do that - not sure what kind of window I have there in terms of walking on/rolling it after laying it.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

My understanding -- a layman's at best -- is that watering it on the pallet can help preserve it, too. I had almost an entire pallet of TifTuf leftover, a friend picked it up, laid it down in a temporary spot and watered, and last I heard it was surviving fine. He's waiting to put it in its final location once his backyard remodel is finished (pavers, etc).

GL & following / looking fwd to pics!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 16, 2021* - Finished laying the sod this morning. No irrigation system here, so I've tried to get the two sprinklers pictured set up to water on a timer. They don't reach the edges of the yard, so I plan on going out and getting those manually a few times per day after the sprinklers do their work. I've ordered a 25' hose to replace the 100' one coming from the spicket, hopefully that will help a bit with the pressure.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Another option -- get a second 100' hose, a "Wye"/manifold, and another sprinkler. I doubt that you're losing much pressure from total hose distance. I'd have to check the numbers to be sure, it's been a while, but generally (IIRC at least) pressure should be nearly identical throughout the hose unless you have lift/head/etc. type variables at play.

Here it looks to be on-grade or even below, meaning it's probably not a pressure issue so much as a throw-distance issue. I could be wrong, hopefully someone that's more well (or recently) versed in this can chime in, but if anything I'd suggest a second hose & sprinkler -- can still run them from one timer, too.

Sod looks fantastic btw -- extremely level, pretty damn good job laying it IMO, definitely better than mine was after the first day or three.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> Another option -- get a second 100' hose, a "Wye"/manifold, and another sprinkler. I doubt that you're losing much pressure from total hose distance. I'd have to check the numbers to be sure, it's been a while, but generally (IIRC at least) pressure should be nearly identical throughout the hose unless you have lift/head/etc. type variables at play.
> 
> Here it looks to be on-grade or even below, meaning it's probably not a pressure issue so much as a throw-distance issue. I could be wrong, hopefully someone that's more well (or recently) versed in this can chime in, but if anything I'd suggest a second hose & sprinkler -- can still run them from one timer, too.
> 
> Sod looks fantastic btw -- extremely level, pretty damn good job laying it IMO, definitely better than mine was after the first day or three.


Thanks for the input! It's hard to make out in that photo, but there are two sprinklers hooked up. Or do you mean having each sprinkler run from its own hose instead of daisy chaining them? The pressure from my spigot is insanely high (90 PSI according to a screw-on pressure gauge), but maybe the actual flow rate is low. I'm not well-versed in normal yard sprinklers like these - all of their boxes tout "4000 sqft" coverage and such, but I've never gotten anywhere close to that. Not sure what else I could do to increase the coverage from them that doesn't involve some pipe work, but I figure this setup works well enough in the meantime. It's only 3 weeks or so of babying it while it roots and then setting them up once a week for deep watering is no trouble (and I'll likely be looking into Hydretain to assist me there).

Went to Lowes today and grabbed a hose splitter so that I could have the sprinklers on a timer and have an extra hose that I can get the edges with (without having to walk into the sod to screw/unscrew the hose from the sprinklers every time):


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Maybe look to get a larger hose too, that'll really get the water out there if you've got good pressure.

Fwiw, you needed drier conditions and I think you wished it a little hard. I don't think we are getting any rain for 10 plus days !


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

littlehuman said:


> Thanks for the input! It's hard to make out in that photo, but there are two sprinklers hooked up. Or do you mean having each sprinkler run from its own hose instead of daisy chaining them? The pressure from my spigot is insanely high (90 PSI according to a screw-on pressure gauge), but maybe the actual flow rate is low. I'm not well-versed in normal yard sprinklers like these - all of their boxes tout "4000 sqft" coverage and such, but I've never gotten anywhere close to that. Not sure what else I could do to increase the coverage from them that doesn't involve some pipe work, but I figure this setup works well enough in the meantime. It's only 3 weeks or so of babying it while it roots and then setting them up once a week for deep watering is no trouble (and I'll likely be looking into Hydretain to assist me there).
> 
> Went to Lowes today and grabbed a hose splitter so that I could have the sprinklers on a timer and have an extra hose that I can get the edges with (without having to walk into the sod to screw/unscrew the hose from the sprinklers every time):


Interesting that your pressure IS high at the spigot, IIRC that implies that your results won't change with daisy-chaining vs individual runs. That said, I don't remember the physics well enough that I'd rely on it myself -- I'd test it.

That said, with great pressure at the spigot, you may as well pick up a 'Hose Bib Manifold' (I snagged a 4-port one for $20 in the outdoor/garden area of Home Depot this weekend), and then you could run a third 3rd sprinkler on a separate hose. In my world (with kids), too many hoses [or hose bibs/spigots] has never been an issue -- too few, however, definitely is. And the reality here is that, despite my disagreement, the kids desire for water pretty much *always* takes priority vs lawn's requirement for a spigot. 

Test it, though; and the other poster was correct, the issue may equally be either/and/or of: the "wye" (ie splitter) causing a flow restriction, or hoses being small. I'd probably just "solve it" once -- via buying a manifold (basically just a 'wye' but with multiple outputs, generally each w/ a shutoff) + more hoses [and sprinklers] of ample size. 

PS -- I bought a super light-weight "pocket hose" 2 weeks ago, just to try it. Was great for random use-cases & quick moving of the hose to different spots, but only for 1.5 weeks, then it got a puncture wound & I returned it yesterday.


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

Hose splitters and timers can restrict flow quite a bit btw.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> Interesting that your pressure IS high at the spigot, IIRC that implies that your results won't change with daisy-chaining vs individual runs. That said, I don't remember the physics well enough that I'd rely on it myself -- I'd test it.
> 
> That said, with great pressure at the spigot, you may as well pick up a 'Hose Bib Manifold' (I snagged a 4-port one for $20 in the outdoor/garden area of Home Depot this weekend), and then you could run a third 3rd sprinkler on a separate hose. In my world (with kids), too many hoses [or hose bibs/spigots] has never been an issue -- too few, however, definitely is. And the reality here is that, despite my disagreement, the kids desire for water pretty much *always* takes priority vs lawn's requirement for a spigot.
> 
> ...


At this point I'm not all too peeved with a little bit of manual watering - I like to watch the sprinklers anyhow just to make sure they're getting even coverage with wind, folks using water in the house, etc. I've spent this much time on the lawn, what's another 2-3 weeks of babying it until it's rooted 



FATC1TY said:


> Maybe look to get a larger hose too, that'll really get the water out there if you've got good pressure.
> 
> Fwiw, you needed drier conditions and I think you wished it a little hard. I don't think we are getting any rain for 10 plus days !


I know, I've cursed myself! I guess the bright side is that I get to regulate the exact amount of water I'll need, without worrying about getting too much from any showers/storms.

What's standard hose sizing after 5/8? Regular old 3/4?



sam36 said:


> Hose splitters and timers can restrict flow quite a bit btw.


I've added the splitter and timer after noticing the lack of distance from the sprinklers - I had them hooked up directly to the spigot yesterday and it doesn't seem I've lost any pressure or flow by adding them. FWIW, I only run one side of it at a time, but I know the splitter itself could restrict the flow.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 19, 2021* - Day 4 after laying it down. Some of the more yellow pieces closest to the house are starting to green up a bit. These were on the pallet that got laid on day 2, so a bit of nitrogen escaping caused some discoloration I'm thinking? This picture makes the lawn look less green than it seems in person and I can't tell if it needs more water. I've been checking under a piece here and there throughout the day and they've been consistently moist. I'm starting to see baby roots under there, so my instinct is to just leave it all be and keep up the same regimen.


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## SeanBB (Jul 11, 2020)

Is nobody gonna comment on the genius that went into digging a deeper hole and rolling the massive boulder into the hole vs taking it out! Damn genius! oh and by the way that "double jack" video is terrifying. I would've struggled with that boulder for weeks.

Great looking reno, excited to follow along!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

SeanBB said:


> Is nobody gonna comment on the genius that went into digging a deeper hole and rolling the massive boulder into the hole vs taking it out! Damn genius! oh and by the way that "double jack" video is terrifying. I would've struggled with that boulder for weeks.
> 
> Great looking reno, excited to follow along!


Haha, it took us some brainstorming to figure that one out. I've actually found another one in my backyard that I plan on doing the same thing to.

Thanks! I'll breathe easy when it's all rooted and I'm into the weekly watering phase. Daily monitoring of it is giving my anxiety a run ("Oh no, I'm overwatering. But what if I'm not? I should go check under that piece, but don't wanna walk on it. Is there enough green material on this piece for it to live? I should put more peat moss here and there.")

Lawn care is helping me learn to fix the things I can and live with the things I can't.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 20, 2021* - Took a close-up of one of the yellowed pieces. Definitely some green coming through here, so I think I'm relatively alright. It's only been 4 days since this piece was laid and it was entirely yellow at that time. So, something is definitely growing here. Patience, littlehuman, patience.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 22, 2021* - One week since laying the majority of the lawn. It's greening up in a few of the pieces closest to me in the photo - those were the pieces laid on day 2, so I'm glad to see them still taking root.


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## Highlife159 (May 19, 2021)

What cultivar did you end up going with for the sod and where did you end up getting it from?


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Looking good so far! I definitely noticed a difference in the sod that I laid on the second day as well but it recovered just fine. I saw the biggest change in color and growth during the second week.

Also, have you tried running a single sprinkler (as opposed to daisy chaining) to see if there's a difference in distance and volume? I get a MUCH better result by running two sprinklers on two separate timers at different times, but I also use impact sprinklers.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Chuckatuck89 said:


> Looking good so far! I definitely noticed a difference in the sod that I laid on the second day as well but it recovered just fine. I saw the biggest change in color and growth during the second week.
> 
> Also, have you tried running a single sprinkler (as opposed to daisy chaining) to see if there's a difference in distance and volume? I get a MUCH better result by running two sprinklers on two separate timers at different times, but I also use impact sprinklers.


Thanks! I can already tell that it's starting to green up everywhere that it struggled last week.

I have - same pressure as running a single sprinkler, so I've just stuck with the daisy chain for now. I'm watering every other day at this point (pretty deeply to get the roots to chase it downwards), so it's no issue to move them to the other side of the yard.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 27, 2021* - Day 12 since laying the sod. First mow today with the Swardman at just over .75"


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Highlife159 said:


> What cultivar did you end up going with for the sod and where did you end up getting it from?


Sorry I missed this post, @Highlife159. I went with Celebration from SimplySod.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 30, 2021* - Day 15









*May 31, 2021* - Day 16, 2nd mowing.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Wow, looking fantastic & rapidly. Good stuff.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> Wow, looking fantastic & rapidly. Good stuff.


Thank you! Yours is coming along nicely as well!


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## monsonman (Dec 9, 2020)

Looking great @littlehuman ! in a few more weeks you wont even be able to tell it was sodded so recently.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

monsonman said:


> Looking great @littlehuman ! in a few more weeks you wont even be able to tell it was sodded so recently.


and looking forward to it!

It's already coming together in the center of the lawn, so much so that I've lost the seams which helped me keep the sprinklers in the same spots when bringing them into the yard :lol:


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

If anyone was curious as to _just_ how resilient bermuda can be, here's proof. These were my leftover sod pieces, which have been in my backyard, in the shade, in a pile like this for 17 days now. We've had 0.3" of rain since then (all at once, about 4 days ago). With almost zero water, minimal sunshine, and literally zero soil to root into (they're rooting into the sod pieces underneath), this grass is doing the most.










I'm going to let it continue to grow in this amorphous blob of soil and I'll plug this mound when I need to make any repairs to the front lawn.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*June 4, 2021* - Day 20, Gave it a cut before going out of town









*June 7, 2021* - Day 23, Having to cut every 3 or 4 days and it's picking up growing pace, still.


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## monsonman (Dec 9, 2020)

Its looking really good! What HOC are you at? looks pretty low for not having done a sand leveling project!!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

monsonman said:


> Its looking really good! What HOC are you at? looks pretty low for not having done a sand leveling project!!


Thanks! I'm at 1" currently while I let it fill in everywhere. I plan on taking it down a bit later this summer when I do a topdressing. The leveling work prior to sodding helped a great deal, but there are some divots and such that still need fixing.


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

That's looking really good. Love that celebration color!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

tcorbitt20 said:


> That's looking really good. Love that celebration color!


It definitely sticks out in contrast to the neighbors' yards


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## rugermccall (Jun 21, 2020)

@littlehuman this is a phenomenal job man!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

rugermccall said:


> @littlehuman this is a phenomenal job man!


Thank you! It's in dire need of a mowing at the moment. Going to get some urea tomorrow and give it some TLC while the weather is finally nice down here.


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## Cdub5_ (Jun 12, 2019)

Amazing progress, great job!!!

My ankles broke just looking at that slope of the lawn :lol:


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Looking incredible. I'm pretty jealous of how smooth it is so rapidly after sodding. It looks fantastic at 1" and will likely only look better in time.

BTW -- What's your desired/intended "long-term" HOC (and apologies if you stated it already and I forgot)? It looks damn good at 1" already, incredibly smooth/level, am curious if you intend to take it lower & by how much. I may end up *really* jealous if you do, lol. =)

Great stuff.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

That is looking excellent! You did a damn good job prepping, all things considered with the weather at that time.

Almost perfect timing and weather afterwards. Good soaking rains after a few weeks of barely anything.

I bet a bag or two of the level mix from super sod would be perfection to fill in some gaps, but it looks like you don't have much, if any real spots!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Cdub5_ said:


> Amazing progress, great job!!!
> 
> My ankles broke just looking at that slope of the lawn :lol:


Thank you! Feel free to come on over and help push it up the hill 



ADanto6840 said:


> Looking incredible. I'm pretty jealous of how smooth it is so rapidly after sodding. It looks fantastic at 1" and will likely only look better in time.
> 
> BTW -- What's your desired/intended "long-term" HOC (and apologies if you stated it already and I forgot)? It looks damn good at 1" already, incredibly smooth/level, am curious if you intend to take it lower & by how much. I may end up *really* jealous if you do, lol. =)
> 
> Great stuff.


@ADanto6840 Much appreciated! I think my plan at this point is to keep it at 1" for a couple more weeks, then take it down to around .8" or so after I top dress with sand. Next season I'm going to shoot for around .6", but we'll see how it fairs for the remainder of this one.



FATC1TY said:


> That is looking excellent! You did a damn good job prepping, all things considered with the weather at that time.
> 
> Almost perfect timing and weather afterwards. Good soaking rains after a few weeks of barely anything.
> 
> I bet a bag or two of the level mix from super sod would be perfection to fill in some gaps, but it looks like you don't have much, if any real spots!


@FATC1TY Thanks man! Yeah, I truly dodged some bullets and thinking back on it, I wouldn't have Celebration right now if it weren't for all of that rain 

A level mix may actually be the better purchase at this point, just to fill in a few of the lower areas. There aren't really any divots to speak of, just some bigger undulations in the lawn, so you're probably onto something there. I've not looked into their mix, is it similar to the Soil3 stuff? Edit: It is the Soil3 stuff, lol. May go that route.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*June 13, 2021* - Day 29. I had to cut it with the rotary yesterday after a massive growth surge with 5 straight days of rain here. That was a 1 3/8" HOC (diagonal lines) and I went at it again today with the Swardman at 1" (horizontal lines). I think I may start double cutting, I'm loving these stripes! The thin spots are filling in nicely, I'm guessing they'll be fully covered in about 2 weeks at this rate.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*June 18, 2021* - Day 34. Gave it a cut and then sprayed a tank mix of urea, FEature, and PGR.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

What a story, that rock or whatever. Looks great sir.

Have u poked around the top near the porch? Is it drier, perhaps more treasure?


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

jayhawk said:


> What a story, that rock or whatever. Looks great sir.
> 
> Have u poked around the top near the porch? Is it drier, perhaps more treasure?


@jayhawk Much appreciated!

I've only gone as far down as I did when tilling for the reno, and I did indeed find some more rocks and bricks. We found one more, about the same size as the one I dug the new hole for, but luckily it was light enough for two of us to haul it outta the yard. At this point, I'm pretty sure I've got at least 6-10" of rock-free soil throughout.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*July 3, 2021* - The HOC is right about 1.1" at the moment, due to some buildup from the slower-growing pieces of sod having died off before new growth came up through them (leaving all of the old/dead material from the original piece sitting on top of the soil). I'm going to verticut, scalp, and then sand level within the next 2-3 weeks - does that sound like the right order of operations? I'd like to try to time the topdressing with my PGR rebound if I can.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*July 5, 2021* - Fresh Cut


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## Keepin It Reel (Feb 20, 2019)

The lawn is looking great man!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Keepin It Reel said:


> The lawn is looking great man!


Much appreciated!


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Looks fantastic. Mowing on that steep grade is no joke I bet, but you sure don't have to worry about standing water after a thunderstorm.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

JRS 9572 said:


> Looks fantastic. Mowing on that steep grade is no joke I bet, but you sure don't have to worry about standing water after a thunderstorm.


My calves/thighs definitely get a good workout pushing the machine up the hill. The slope/no standing water is indeed a benefit!

I'm currently alternating mowing directions between horizontal/vertical/both diagonal directions, so some of those are worse than others based on the direction I'm walking vs the slope.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Hard to tell that it even needs leveling from the photos -- looks pretty damn smooth! Overall is truly looking fantastic!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*July 22-24, 2021* - Began scalping the lawn in prep for a sand leveling project. Bagging everything up took a pretty good amount of time - the total prep was a lot overall. My process was:

- Cutting with the rotary at 1" and bagging everything. This scalped a few areas of the yard. The areas it didn't scalp were the corners that grew in very slowly after laying the sod. These pieces suffered the most during that time and the grass had a hard time growing through all of the dead material.
- Verticutting with the swardman at a pretty reasonable HOC setting, around .25". I mainly just wanted to dethatch a bit in those aforementioned corner areas and slice up any longer runners. Wasn't super pleased with the swardman attachment, it ripped up a good amount of stolons and had a really tough time actually slicing into the canopy.
- Scalping again with the swardman and bagging everything up
- Hauling piles of sand into the yard with the gorilla cart
- Raking them flat with the level lawn
- Took a soft bristle brush to a few of the thicker areas to get the sand worked into the canopy
- Running the drag mat until it seemed everything was well worked in
- Raking again with the level lawn to get any last bits
- Fertilizer

Cutting the top off with the rotary









After having verticut, collecting everything with the rotary. You can see all of the stolons it pulled out.









4 tons of USGA Topdressing









And... done.









All in all, I filled 20 lawn refuse bags, lost a few gallons of sweat, and got pretty frustrated after 2" of rain poured on my piles of sand, but I got it all done. I need to brush/level lawn in the area near the mailbox again tomorrow, and probably give everywhere else another light raking with the level lawn too, after the small shower this evening. There's a few more on the forecast over the next week, so I expect to be out there raking in a few areas on the slope as it grows back in. My PGR app hit its GDD yesterday, so I'm hoping the rebound will help get it rolling again.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

I'm jealous. I hope yours comes back stronger than mine -- I'll get some pics up soon. You've got the stones though, for sure -- it looked *so* good, I hope it comes back looking even better.

Did you get at least 1 funny look from a neighbor? =D


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> I'm jealous. I hope yours comes back stronger than mine -- I'll get some pics up soon. You've got the stones though, for sure -- it looked *so* good, I hope it comes back looking even better.
> 
> Did you get at least 1 funny look from a neighbor? =D


It did, didn't it? It hurt a bit, cutting that first stripe into it with the rotary lol.

Oh yeah. My next door neighbor came outside right around the verticutting stage and said, "Did you like, spray something on your lawn, what the hell happened?" He looked equally perplexed when I told him that I'd done it on purpose. The landscaper for the property across the street talked to me for a bit about the process, the reel mower, what verticutting was, etc. It felt good to hear him say, "I was always curious who did the maintenance here" :lol:


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Hahaha. Love it. Hope it comes back great. Just about to get some pics up of current state -- I have some "mid-process" pics, but they're [almost] as scary as yours are. Mine looks solid but, honestly, not as good as your *before* pictures, haha.

Like I said, you've got stones! If I was your neighbor, even knowing the process, I'd probably be out taking pictures too! 

Congrats. =)


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Looks like you got it spread pretty well. Great job!!!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> Hahaha. Love it. Hope it comes back great. Just about to get some pics up of current state -- I have some "mid-process" pics, but they're [almost] as scary as yours are. Mine looks solid but, honestly, not as good as your *before* pictures, haha.
> 
> Like I said, you've got stones! If I was your neighbor, even knowing the process, I'd probably be out taking pictures too!
> 
> Congrats. =)


Thank you! Yeah, definitely feeling some form of, "Oh no, it looked so good, what've I done?", but I'm pretty confident in the celebration, given the pile of leftover sod pieces in my backyard in the shade - those are thriving just all bunched up back there. Yours has definitely come a long way since sodding - have you had any issues with your sand leveling other than a slow regrowth?



Redtwin said:


> Looks like you got it spread pretty well. Great job!!!


Thanks! I'm nervous the same way I was when the sod was first put down ("what if it just… doesn't work?!"), but I know it'll be alright in the long run. I'm hesitant to start mowing at my desired .6" with so much sand exposed, but I saw a post not long ago about just wetting it down first before mowing.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

How's it looking? =D


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> How's it looking? =D


Like a river ran through my yard and carried some sand with it 

Jokes aside, it rained another 1.5" in about 45mins on Monday evening. I managed to drag everything flat again, and then it rained again last night, though only about .6" in an hour, so much less "damage" done than the previous two storms. I've got another hour out there on the schedule when I'm home from work today - some more dragging and I may attempt to give it a mow. I plan on hitting it with a foliar app of N and FEature on Friday to give it a push. I also got my emails this morning that my GDD have officially reached the limit, so I'm expecting a nice growth rebound here within a week.

As it looks now, I can foresee a few patchy spots where I may have over-sanded. But, it's bermuda and we've still another growing month of very hot temps ahead, so I'm not really worried, there. I know I've probably said it before here in my journal, but lawn care is teaching me some very nice lessons in both patience and accepting the inevitable.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*July 29, 2021* - About 5 days since I first laid the sand down. It's been dragged again multiple times due to rain and such, so it looks a bit brown from this angle, but that's primarily just because the drag mat was pulled towards the street (looks much greener when looking at it from the street).


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*August 12, 2021* - It's recovering rather slowly from the sanding, but I also ripped out too many stolons when verticutting, so the whole yard is doing its best relatively. Given how damaged it was after that, I think it's doing pretty well. I've been mowing right around .65"


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*August 25, 2021* - Hit it with .5lb of N this past Saturday, and a PGR/FEature mix on Sunday. Mowed today at .65"


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*August 28, 2021* - Picked up the GM1600 today from @FedDawg555 and gave it a cut. _Much_ easier on the slope than I thought it would be.


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## Txmx583 (Jun 8, 2017)

Looking awesome man!!!


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## FedDawg555 (Mar 19, 2020)

littlehuman said:


> *August 28, 2021* - Picked up the GM1600 today from @FedDawg555 and gave it a cut. _Much_ easier on the slope than I thought it would be.


Glad she's at a good home! Looks great!


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

littlehuman said:


> *August 28, 2021* - Picked up the GM1600 today from @FedDawg555 and gave it a cut. _Much_ easier on the slope than I thought it would be.


Looks great Alex! Look T the wider stripes starting to show up… the GM1600 is the pinnacle for a greens mower for home use, I think you'll enjoy it on the slope just fine. The larger cut helps a ton too!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Thanks all!



FATC1TY said:


> Looks great Alex! Look T the wider stripes starting to show up… the GM1600 is the pinnacle for a greens mower for home use, I think you'll enjoy it on the slope just fine. The larger cut helps a ton too!


I know, I was instantly impressed with the first mow. It does make sense that the additional width, coupled with the additional weight vs the Swardman, would help it up the slope.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

littlehuman said:


> Thanks all!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Also- mowing after a rain will help level the yard a little, due to the weight.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

FATC1TY said:


> Also- mowing after a rain will help level the yard a little, due to the weight.


and get this precious machine _wet_?!

In all seriousness, what's the best way to clean it up after a dew/fresh rain mow? With the Swardman, I would just blow it off really well, but regarding the reel itself - any preferred product for me to spray on for rust prevention during storage?


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## FedDawg555 (Mar 19, 2020)

littlehuman said:


> FATC1TY said:
> 
> 
> > Also- mowing after a rain will help level the yard a little, due to the weight.
> ...


Lightly rinse off reel area to remove wet grass then take blower and dry it off really well. I used a light coat of Fluid Film rust/corrosion protectant on reel blades


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

FedDawg555 said:


> littlehuman said:
> 
> 
> > FATC1TY said:
> ...


Thaaaat's it! I knew we talked about it but I couldn't remember what product you used. Much appreciated!


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Hose and blow. Lube the reel.

Get a good grease gun, keep it lubed every 3 months. Oil change each year, backlap as needed. It's pretty low maintenance honestly.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

FATC1TY said:


> Hose and blow. Lube the reel.
> 
> Get a good grease gun, keep it lubed every 3 months. Oil change each year, backlap as needed. It's pretty low maintenance honestly.


Picked up a lock n' lube gun - what's the preferred grease? The multi-purpose marine grease I've seen folks using here?


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## FedDawg555 (Mar 19, 2020)

littlehuman said:


> FATC1TY said:
> 
> 
> > Hose and blow. Lube the reel.
> ...


Lucas Red n Tacky is what I've used in that machine


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

FedDawg555 said:


> littlehuman said:
> 
> 
> > FATC1TY said:
> ...


 :thumbup:


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

littlehuman said:


> FATC1TY said:
> 
> 
> > Hose and blow. Lube the reel.
> ...


Perfect. I like my lock n lube. Works great and stays as clean as a grease gun can.

I use a marine grease, but I'm sure most anything will be sufficient so much as you keep it lubricated, especially when you wash it off with a hose.


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## FedDawg555 (Mar 19, 2020)

littlehuman said:


> FATC1TY said:
> 
> 
> > Hose and blow. Lube the reel.
> ...


Don't forget to get the lock n lube needle for the drum bearing zerks.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

FedDawg555 said:


> Don't forget to get the lock n lube needle for the drum bearing zerks.


I picked up the whole kit and caboodle!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*October 15, 2021* - It's been a minute since I've updated, but she's still looking good at the moment. The neighbor's lawns are slowly going dormant after some chilly evenings we've had here, but mine seems to have held on for now.

My last app was a bit of potassium just to ease it into the colder weather, which I applied at the end of September. At this point I'm just keeping it mowed once a week or so at .8"


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## Herring (Sep 19, 2020)

Looking great and nice color!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Herring said:


> Looking great and nice color!


Much appreciated. It's hanging in there! Thoroughly impressed with the progress that you've made this year with the Arden!


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

How's it looking currently?

I'm really itching to get some lawncare work going on over here (and some greener grass) -- so am quite curious how yours is looking currently. I'll try to get some pictures up on mine too; admittedly am kind of hoping yours is looking similar to mine at the moment. =D


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> How's it looking currently?
> 
> I'm really itching to get some lawncare work going on over here (and some greener grass) -- so am quite curious how yours is looking currently. I'll try to get some pictures up on mine too; admittedly am kind of hoping yours is looking similar to mine at the moment. =D


Mine's about 95% dormant at the moment. The middle of the lawn has a small amount of green hanging in there, but that's it. I've a few tiny weeds here and there, but the prodiamine has held almost all of it at bay.

How's yours?


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Woo, that makes me feel a bit better -- I see some of these journals with quite a lot of green & similar temps, and was starting to get a bit nervous (irrationally, I'm sure) that I've got less "dormancy" than "dead". I believe it's just 95%+ dormant though, like yours. Very few weeds here too -- less than I can count on one hand. Likewise, prodiamine appears to have been extremely effective.

Outside using my blower currently; really think I'm just trying my best to find things to do around the yard and wishing for some warm soil temps. I'll post some pics on my journal today. =D

Glad to hear all's well. Looking forward to a good season this year. 

Edit: Posted an update over on my journal. Pics are a little "sad" but is probably just that time of year... I hope! =D


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*March 25, 2022* - A halfway pic, because I'm bad at remembering to take progress photos until I've already started the work.

Spring yard stuff has begun over here. Cleaned everything up with the blower, and then scalped to 1" with the rotary and bagged everything. Then began scalping to about .4" with the Swardman while the Greensmaster is in for grinding. I'd planned on verticutting the following day, but the rental shop couldn't get the machine started, so that's taking place this upcoming weekend. I'm not touching that Swardman verticutter cartridge again until I sharpen it - it absolutely destroyed my lawn last year by ripping up too many stolons.

This pic is halfway through the first pass of the Swardman scalp. I went over it again in another direction afterwards. All in all, I only filled 7 lawn bags, much less than I'd anticipated.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Wow, pretty darn green to start with. How long had it gotten pre-scalp/before you did the first pass at 1" with the rotary?

It doesn't look *that* long though it's hard to tell from the picture. I'm a little surprised you even got 7 lawn bags! Though now that I think about it, we don't have lawn bags around here, so maybe they are smaller in your area and/or these days, at least versus what I saw as a kid in the midwest.

Looks like your season is off to a great start though! The amount of green you already had is very promising & is more than mine (both pre & post scalp), for sure. I'll post an update on my journal today or tomorrow. 

Hopefully will be a great season for you -- I'm looking forward to seeing the progression & future updates!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> Wow, pretty darn green to start with. How long had it gotten pre-scalp/before you did the first pass at 1" with the rotary?
> 
> It doesn't look *that* long though it's hard to tell from the picture. I'm a little surprised you even got 7 lawn bags! Though now that I think about it, we don't have lawn bags around here, so maybe they are smaller in your area and/or these days, at least versus what I saw as a kid in the midwest.
> 
> ...


Most areas were still under an inch. I'd given the lawn a blanket app of Celsius to tackle some winter weed growth that apparently snuck through the Prodiamine. I let that sit for 24 hours and then used the rotary primarily to bag up those weeds. The rotary didn't even fill a single bag, so mostly just picked up weeds with that pass. The majority of the bagged material came from two passes with the Swardman at .4"

These are the lawn bags I (and most others) use in my area: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Garbax-5-Pack-30-Gallon-Brown-Paper-Leaf-Trash-Bag/3548432

Thanks for the well wishes, I'm hoping for a nice first full season since laying the sod last year. Looking forward to your updates as well!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*April 2, 2022*
After I scalped the lawn a week prior, I went to pick up a verticutter rental, but the machine went down and I had to wait a week for them to fix it. I got that done and then swept everything up with the rotary.









*April 3, 2022*
Gave it a cut right around .55" to smooth everything back out after the verticut.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*April 10, 2022* - Applied Headway G and some 16-0-10 based on soil test results.

*April 11, 2022* - Sprayed Bifen.

Also picked up some new goodies this week: A Stihl KMA 135R battery kombi system, along with an edger attachment and spare shaft to attach my new set of Idech Rotary Scissors (which are way louder than I thought they'd be).


----------



## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Nice! We're about in-sync, though yours is probably setup to look a bit better! Just verticut mine yesterday, fertilized today, and my PRS arrived about an hour ago too!

Given the 'loudness' notes I keep hearing, I'll probably wait til this weekend to try the PRS out. Are they 'hearing protection' level loud?? Heh.

Good stuff, looking forward to your updates!


----------



## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> Nice! We're about in-sync, though yours is probably setup to look a bit better! Just verticut mine yesterday, fertilized today, and my PRS arrived about an hour ago too!
> 
> Given the 'loudness' notes I keep hearing, I'll probably wait til this weekend to try the PRS out. Are they 'hearing protection' level loud?? Heh.
> 
> Good stuff, looking forward to your updates!


Ha, definitely seems we're in lockstep with our progress.

For me personally, it's not that they're overwhelmingly loud, it's that the noise they make is relatively high-pitched. Think of a table saw, a lot of the noise is from the metal's friction - same deal IMO.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*April 25, 2022*
Cut at .75". It's picking up growing pace pretty quickly, I'm already mowing every 3 days. Some of the sparse spots are from me verti-ripping instead of cutting, I think; Some are just growing in slower from the scalp.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Wow! That's coming along nicely. It has really perked up since your April 3 verticut.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Redtwin said:


> Wow! That's coming along nicely. It has really perked up since your April 3 verticut.


Thanks! Some solid rains a couple of weeks ago as we transitioned into the 80s up here has the Celebration doing the most.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*April 29, 2022*
Cut at .75" again. Mowed yesterday and raised it to .85" - I'll maintain here until my sanding project at the end of this month.









*April 30, 2022*
Tilled up the area next to my driveway, tilled in some new topsoil, raked it flat and then seeded some micro clover.









*May 3, 2022*
4 days later and I'm already seeing germination of the micro clover. I might put some more of this in the backyard as ground cover.









*May 3, 2022*
Sprayed a tank mix of Urea (.125lb N/1K), FEature (2oz/1K), and PGR (.25oz/1K) today. This was my first PGR app of the season, as the grass is picking up speed and I'm now mowing more than twice a week.


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## TigerKnight (Apr 13, 2019)

@littlehuman Lawn is looking good! Where did you rent your verticutter from? Or do they have it advertised as a slit seeder?


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

TigerKnight said:


> @littlehuman Lawn is looking good! Where did you rent your verticutter from? Or do they have it advertised as a slit seeder?


@TigerKnight Much appreciated!

Anything I need to rent, I get almost exclusively from Northside Tool Rental (Buckhead store is closest to me, but they've 3 other locations as well): Ryan Verticutter


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## jsams22 (Apr 20, 2021)

Were you cutting this with the Swardman you are selling? If so, did you get a different mower? Green up is looking great!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

jsams22 said:


> Were you cutting this with the Swardman you are selling? If so, did you get a different mower? Green up is looking great!


@jsams22 The first cuts last year after establishment were with the Swardman. I purchased a GM1600 at the latter half of the season (Aug 28th, page 4 of this journal) and have used it since. Though, I did use the Swardman to scalp with while the Toro was in the shop for yearly maintenance/grinding this Spring.

I appreciate it!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*May 14, 2022*
One year since laying the sod. Cut at .85". Sprayed Bifen 5/10 and laid more Headway G 5/11.


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## cokenner (Apr 27, 2021)

What's your Urea/Feature/PGR rates? And what is your GDD interval? I appreciate it!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

cokenner said:


> What's your Urea/Feature/PGR rates? And what is your GDD interval? I appreciate it!


Because I'm using PGR, my urea rate is halved, so I put down .125lbs per week for a total of .5lb per month.
I add FEature at 2oz/1K when I apply PGR.
I use .25oz/1K of T-Nex

I track my GDD with littlleaf (designed by our own @wiseowl) and use 225.


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## cokenner (Apr 27, 2021)

littlehuman said:


> cokenner said:
> 
> 
> > What's your Urea/Feature/PGR rates? And what is your GDD interval? I appreciate it!
> ...


Perfect man. I have celebration in my backyard that's about 4 years old.


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## jsams22 (Apr 20, 2021)

cokenner said:


> I track my GDD with littlleaf (designed by our own @wiseowl) and use 225.


What is Littleleaf?


----------



## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

jsams22 said:


> cokenner said:
> 
> 
> > I track my GDD with littlleaf (designed by our own @wiseowl) and use 225.
> ...


https://www.littlleaf.com/ is an application which assists in tracking the daily GDD for those who use PGR. Instead of applying every 2 weeks, this program tracks the data for your area and lets you know when to reapply.


----------



## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

cokenner said:


> littlehuman said:
> 
> 
> > cokenner said:
> ...


Good stuff. How's it coming along? I've enjoyed it thus far - the color alone sticks out like crazy relative to my neighbor's lawns.


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## cokenner (Apr 27, 2021)

littlehuman said:


> cokenner said:
> 
> 
> > littlehuman said:
> ...


I partially sodded in 2017-18, can't remember exactly. I have common in the rest of my back yard. Didn't really start cultivating practices on the back until this past summer. I mainly focused on my front yard. The back gets tromped by 2 70+lb dogs, but I love it now that I started reel mowing (7/8), fertilizing, and watering regularly. Still have some leveling issues, but like my front yard, it's a process.

Celebration back to the front of the pine.


Common behind tree and by pool.


Common in front of pool.


I'm thinking of killing off the common, hopefully, and plugging either from new sod or donor from my current.

Here's my front yard for contrast, KBG, it's my baby that I'll also be applying PGR to.







Sorry to hijack your journal!


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## cokenner (Apr 27, 2021)

littlehuman said:


> jsams22 said:
> 
> 
> > cokenner said:
> ...


I started using the lawntrack app that was developed by someone on the forum as well, toying with littlleaf to see which I like better.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

cokenner said:


> littlehuman said:
> 
> 
> > jsams22 said:
> ...


It's super simple to use and has worked well for me thus far.



cokenner said:


> Sorry to hijack your journal!


lol no prob, lawn is looking great!


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## cokenner (Apr 27, 2021)

littlehuman said:


> cokenner said:
> 
> 
> > What's your Urea/Feature/PGR rates? And what is your GDD interval? I appreciate it!
> ...


Is that #N or #Product?


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*June 9-11, 2022*

Sand-leveling project started this past Thursday with a scalp. Aerated yesterday and blew off the cores. I'd timed my PGR application to expire this week, so that I could utilize the rebound after the sanding. PGR rebound is definitely real - the grass grew quite a bit from then until today.

Scalped everything down to about .25"









About halfway through the second pass









*-Bonus cool-season pic* - Picked up a riding mower from my friend in order to haul the gorilla cart and drag mat; Gave his fescue a trim beforehand.









3 tons of sand delivered yesterday. I've once again overestimated the amount needed. Remainder is being moved to the backyard tomorrow.









And done. I'm going to hit it with some urea in the morning, wait a few hours and then lightly water it in before the sun hits the yard.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

Looking good!

The sand itself also looks *really* good -- I'm currently trying to find good sand, wasn't overly happy with what I procured last year, and I'm finding it quite difficult around here. An assistant super at a local golf course here told me "no good topdressing sand is available locally" and suggested that, for a lower-volume project, he'd consider pool-filter sand otherwise he suggested that play sand may be the next-best option that's available for me. I even picked up a set of sieves to "test"/measure sand and I'm comparing it to the PGA recommendations -- so far my samples of 2 local 'bulk' sand sources were nowhere near the PGA recommendations (both had too many fines AND too much overly-large/coarse 'pebbles'). I'm over-thinking it, for sure, but I do find it interesting and entertaining to quantify sand; I'll probably write up my adventures in sand-sourcing & sieve-testing sand in the near future.

Good stuff, I'm sure it'll recover very well, looking forward to seeing the results!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

cokenner said:


> littlehuman said:
> 
> 
> > cokenner said:
> ...


.125lb N


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

ADanto6840 said:


> Looking good!
> 
> The sand itself also looks *really* good -- I'm currently trying to find good sand, wasn't overly happy with what I procured last year, and I'm finding it quite difficult around here. An assistant super at a local golf course here told me "no good topdressing sand is available locally" and suggested that, for a lower-volume project, he'd consider pool-filter sand otherwise he suggested that play sand may be the next-best option that's available for me. I even picked up a set of sieves to "test"/measure sand and I'm comparing it to the PGA recommendations -- so far my samples of 2 local 'bulk' sand sources were nowhere near the PGA recommendations (both had too many fines AND too much overly-large/coarse 'pebbles'). I'm over-thinking it, for sure, but I do find it interesting and entertaining to quantify sand; I'll probably write up my adventures in sand-sourcing & sieve-testing sand in the near future.
> 
> Good stuff, I'm sure it'll recover very well, looking forward to seeing the results!


Much appreciated!

Aw bummer. I'm lucky to have a few options for sand near me and I've been very pleased with the USGA grade I've gotten this year and last.

Wish you were closer - I've got about 2 tons of extra sand at this point.


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## SouthernTiftuf (12 mo ago)

littlehuman said:


> ADanto6840 said:
> 
> 
> > Looking good!
> ...


I know a guy with a bermuda lawn down in middle Georgia that would want that sand if he had a truck haha. That person may be me.


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## ADanto6840 (Apr 1, 2021)

I said "PGA" both times above but I meant USGA sand / USGA sand specs (and their recommendations vary depending on the underlying soil type & research is ongoing WRT more "fines" -- but they give good ranges in their PDFs including different ranges for fairways vs greens and some basic reasoning about why, etc).

FWIW -- If I had a way to find USGA sand anywhere within ~2hrs drive... I think that it's highly likely that I would rent a truck for the sole privilege of getting such good sand!


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## SouthernTiftuf (12 mo ago)

Agreed on that @ADanto6840

@littlehuman let me know if you need someone to take care of that sand for you


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

SouthernTiftuf said:


> Agreed on that @ADanto6840
> 
> @littlehuman let me know if you need someone to take care of that sand for you


If you've a way to come grab it, I'll give you a solid deal. As is now, I'll just be using it for my top dressing next year.


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## cokenner (Apr 27, 2021)

littlehuman said:


> *June 9-11, 2022*
> 
> Sand-leveling project started this past Thursday with a scalp. Aerated yesterday and blew off the cores. I'd timed my PGR application to expire this week, so that I could utilize the rebound after the sanding. PGR rebound is definitely real - the grass grew quite a bit from then until today.
> 
> ...


I'm going to be leveling my backyard in the next few weeks! Perfect timing on your journal update! Wish I had a Swardman, but the Mclane/sunjoe combo should do fine. Don't think I'll aerate until the fall when I do my front yard as well. My lawn isn't level at all, so I don't think i'll do straight sand. Maybe a sand/compost mix, if I can find it, or a sandy loam. Thanks for the updates!


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*July 3, 2022*

Mowed at .55 the day prior to the 4th. I'm dealing with a bit of stress on the left side, which I believe was due to a bit of drought. The shape of the stress is pretty in line with the tree canopy above it - I'd gotten a little lax with my watering and I think that canopy was preventing any rainfall from hitting there when we were only getting ~.03" at a time (until this past week when we started getting an inch per day).

It's also still recovering from the sanding in a couple of spots. 3.5" of rain in about an hour washed away a good bit of it. Such is life on a hill.


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## SouthernTiftuf (12 mo ago)

Looks super good especially considering the circumstances. Down here in middle Georgia we had a couple of weeks of 102 or so days and then have been getting storms daily almost for a week now. I'm sure you guys have been similar


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

SouthernTiftuf said:


> Looks super good especially considering the circumstances. Down here in middle Georgia we had a couple of weeks of 102 or so days and then have been getting storms daily almost for a week now. I'm sure you guys have been similar


Yep, right there with you. It's either no water, or it's 2" of water lol


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

*July 16, 2022*

The drought stress is pretty much gone at this point. Lawn is in full swing. I lowered my PGR rate to .2oz/K on account of some stress via combining with Prop earlier in the season.

Pictured: Free futon for those in ATL.


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