# KDN - 100% PRG - UK



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Hey everyone.

Late fall and winter were very wet again here in central England. With the amount of rain we've had it has been a battle against worm casts and snow mould.

I used a Saponin based soil conditioner which was very effective in bringing the worms to the surface where the birds had a feast. They are at a more manageable level now so I'd call that a win :thumbup:.

The PRG has lost some of it's color and there's a few dozen patches that have been killed by snow mould, but overall things are looking pretty good going into Spring.









Soil test 3/19/2021:


The soil test looks really good, only concerning thing is the copper levels. They suggested that high copper can be from usage of fungicides. The fungicide I used on Nov 6 does not contain any according to the label, so I'm not sure where it has come from.

Since my sulfur is so low I'll use AMS as my N source this year.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Cut at 1" and applied 1lb AMS via hose end sprayer.


----------



## RCUK (Jul 16, 2018)

Looks great &#128077;. How are you dissolving the Exlir AMS?

That soil test looks almost like a mirror of a recent one I did with them. They suggested using a liquid Manganese supplement but not sure if it is needed.

Are you happy with the Hurrells seed purity? Looking to buy some more soon from them, a guy I speak to on IG has a similar mix to yours and said he found some small seeds in his bag of CSI/Topgun rye.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

@RCUK I use 1L warm water in a Birchmeier hose end sprayer and it dissolves easily enough. The Exlir stuff sometimes has gritty bits that won't dissolve so I sieve the mixture to stop blockages.

I'm not sure Manganese is that important either, probably won't do anything specifically to increase it. Do you have any idea what lab they use or the soil testing method?

As for Hurrells seed purity, I have only found about 10 poa plants across the whole reno. I think the CSI-rye has a smaller seed than most rye or they are just rye seeds that didn't reach maturity before being harvested.


----------



## RCUK (Jul 16, 2018)

Thanks &#128077;

Not sure about the lab, it was on the envelope but forgotten who it was.

10 Poa is great, not bad at all. I've pulled way more but the lawns are facing the street so can expect more from the neighbor's lawn and birds.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Good progress over the last week thanks to good weather and the AMS.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Great progress!


----------



## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

@kdn looking pretty sweet! Best of luck this season.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

@g-man @Wiley Thanks guys!


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Irrigation ran today put out roughly 12.5mm (0.5"). The last 30 days have been very dry with just 18.5mm (0.75") for the whole period.

Daily rainfall accumulation for last 30 days.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Mow at 7/8". This is the height I'd like to maintain through summer.

Picked up 275lb sand and top-dressed a few spots that had sunk over winter, likely will top-dress the whole lawn again once these sections recover from the sand.

Applied 2lb of granular AMS and then watered in.

I've never top-dressed with sand before so I'm not sure if this is too fine or not.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Well April was a difficult month and it's been hard to make any progress. 10% of the average rainfall, lowest average minimum temp on record, and 22 ground frosts. May is starting on a similar note with temps barely breaking 10c (50f) this week.

The 2lb of AMS has added color although a little patchy from the granular app.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

The weather so far this month has been a total pisseroffer. Instead of being cold and dry it's been cold and wet and it's hard to keep up with mowing. I've been using the manual reel in-between rain to maintain at 7/8".

I have some sand and CSI CORSICA PRG ready to throw down once we get some dry weather, which looks likely to be end of next week fingers crossed.

Also picked up the new EGO rotary scissors attachment and I actually enjoy edging now. :shock:


----------



## liamjones (Apr 29, 2020)

Looks really smart. Nice and thick! You've tempted me to increase HOC. I'm at 18mm.

Re. Sand, yeah it looks a little fine, looks like plastering sand. I used sharp sand (coarser) on last years level. I think you'll probably be fine, Fine is only an issue with clay as it binds to it and makes it even more claggy, coarser suffers less from this problem.


----------



## amartin003 (Apr 30, 2021)

Those rotary scissors look like a lot of fun!!


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

@liamjones I am liking how it looks at 22mm, I might try going a bit lower after levelling. I picked up some coarser sand a few days ago so will be spreading that at some point over the long weekend.

@amartin003 They certainly are fun, but are difficult to use without scalping spots or missing bits. They are harder to use than people on YouTube make it look. :lol:

Got in a cut today. Finally manage to get a few days without rain, next couple of weeks look to be good as well. Temps around 21c (70f) and dry so will be perfect growing weather.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

It's been a while since the last update. Everything has been progressing well and I managed to get the 1 yard of sand spread and levelled liked I planned.

I didn't take any pics while levelling as I rushed to get it done before going away for the week. I have a few pics though.

I scalped to 15mm from around 25mm. I expected it to look worse.




I used 1.5kg/100m2 CSI CORSICA rye to overseed and fill a couple of bare areas.


11 days after seed down, grass babies in the middle. At this point I started maintaining 26mm HOC with the manual reel.


High humidly and lots of water caused a bunch of mushroom to pop up.


And now a jump forward to present day and I'm maintaining at 20mm.


----------



## Mark B (May 30, 2019)

Love how you keep those circular stepping stones so neatly trimmed, do you use the rotary scissors for them?


----------



## jabopy (Nov 24, 2018)

I for one am very disappointed that you didn't find time to take pictures of keeping your lawn so lovely!! Maybe next time eh.?


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Mark B said:


> Love how you keep those circular stepping stones so neatly trimmed, do you use the rotary scissors for them?


Yep. The rotary scissors are great, tricky to use at first, but so so good after some practice.



jabopy said:


> I for one am very disappointed that you didn't find time to take pictures of keeping your lawn so lovely!! Maybe next time eh.?


It still feels bumpy so I might have another go later this year.


----------



## Alowan (May 25, 2021)

Awesome. That looks amazing. Any tips on getting stepping stones as clean as yours (those edges are sharp).


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Alowan said:


> Awesome. That looks amazing. Any tips on getting stepping stones as clean as yours (those edges are sharp).


Rotary scissors. You get a nice clean cut and it's quick so you can do it every mow.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

This is the 5th or 6th mow in this pattern and the stripes are starting to pop now. Still at 20mm (.75").


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Starting to pop? Wow! I really like your choice of pattern with using singles and doubles to split the stepping stones.


----------



## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Your PRG lawn looks fantastic. My opinion PRG can compete with KBG with the right weather and care.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

@Chris LI Thanks man. I think splitting down the stones turned out great, want to try single checkerboard next.

@M32075 I agree 100%. The new elite PRG cultivars can outcompete KBG in the right conditions, if it had the same creeping ability of KBG it would be the ultimate cool season grass type.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Last few days are been warm but everything is holding up well. At 294 GDD today so reapplied PGR and have irrigation set to run in the morning.

8mL T-Nex + 10mL Azoxy + 0.15lb N


----------



## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

This looks fantastic. Wish I could do a pure PRG lawn…. Wouldn't do well in July and lose a lot to winter kill.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

kdn said:


> Last few days are been warm but everything is holding up well. At 294 GDD today so reapplied PGR and have irrigation set to run in the morning.
> 
> 8mL T-Nex + 10mL Azoxy + 0.15lb N


Per Ksqft or sqm?


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

@Stuofsci02 You should setup a PRG test plot and see how it does. I think it would be ok in summer but winter would be tricky.

@g-man per Ksqft


----------



## DeepC (Aug 12, 2020)

I really like your wood edge/steps! 
Does it not rot? Do you treat it with anything?


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

DeepC said:


> I really like your wood edge/steps!
> Does it not rot? Do you treat it with anything?


It's pressure treated timber so it should last a decent amount of time. I recently painted and used beeswax for extra protection.


----------



## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

That is some really nice grass. I can tell that you took your time aligning the circular stones. Real craftsmanship here.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

@Jeff_MI84 Thanks!


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

On and off storms for the last week which has caused some color loss. Temps look to be ok (21c/70f) over the next 2 weeks so I'm going to get some N down.

0.5lb N via AMS / Ksqft
10mL T-Nex / Ksqft
30g Ferrous Sulfate / Ksqft

Dug up a couple spots of Poa or at least what I think is Poa based on the seed heads. These were darker and appeared to have rhizomes.

Is this Poa or KBG?


----------



## RCUK (Jul 16, 2018)

Possibly the CSI is spreading? Doesn't look like Poa A to me. Do you have KBG in your mix?


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

That looks like kbg...no squiggly leaf blades that Poa A tends to have. It doesn't look like Poa T, either. Seedhead and rhizomes look like kbg.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

@RCUK The initial mix I used last year was 100% PRG and I overseeded with pure CSI. Shouldn't have been any KBG in there but I don't think KBG would have been able to establish after the rye.

@Chris LI That's a good point on squiggly leaf blade.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

No update in a while but I have been keeping up mowing at 19mm (3/4") and 10mL T-Nex / Ksqft apps. August was a poor month for the lawn as it was dry and cloudy almost everyday, but luckily September has proven to be much better.

Typically by mid/late September I start having issues with wormcasts and this year has been no exception. The shady areas were suffering so I ended up applying a saponin based soil conditioner which has reduced the amount of wormcasts.

Here's a couple of pictures from this month.

Sept 8th



Sept 26th


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

Applied granular urea app (0.5lb N / Ksqft).

Managing to stay mostly wormcast free.


----------



## kdn (Aug 26, 2020)

No journal posts so far this year. I thought I'd add a few recent pictures as I plan to do a KBG monostand reno soon.

17 days ago this was scalped from 25mm down to 6mm. 25mm hoc now.


----------



## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Looking mint!


----------



## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Bluegrass mono in the UK. Interested to see how that turns out.


----------

