# mopaNi's Lawn Journal & Intro



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

Hello!

So confession....I'm a long time lurker but this is my fourth post here. But some of you have taught me a lot even though you don't know it. This place is awesome and I appreciate the knowledge given.

This is 2.5" HOC with a Husqvarna HU800AWD rotary... Good but not great. 









I've got quite a few pics to dump at once so I am going to make a post for each section.


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

One thing we had been putting off fixing was having the downspout on the front right of the house fixed. Both of the aforementioned trees that needed taken down where on the front corners of the house. Right where the downspouts run out to the street. We started getting minor weeping in the basement after big rains so it was finally time to get it done.

In the end it required more piping than I thought. We basically just ditched the old line, ran the new one further off of the house, and then took it to the street. Fun, fun stuff. :roll:

Early May '19


The front lawn also had a pretty big low spot, likely because of the broken/clogged downspout line, that I wanted to fix. Since that section was torn up anyway now was the perfect time to do it. So I had 10 cubic yards of good topsoil brought in and we did a minor renovation on the front right section of the lawn.

Late May '19


Around this time is when I started coming here, youtube, and some groups to learn about planting new seed, best practices, etc. Then I found Connor Ward, Ryan Knorr, Ben Sims and got hooked. THANKS FOR THE LIGHT WALLET CONNOR! 

I planted a 50/50 mix of Bluebank and Mazama KBG on all of the new soil. It's VERY shaded there as you can see so I choose what I thought would be best. I gave it love, water, and it came in just fine. But even with 10 yards of soil that low spot was still very evident. And of course you know I kept watching Connor, Ryan, and Ben on youtube and once you go down that rabbit hole...well you just can't stop.


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

I started off using the SLS products from Amazon that Knorr joined up with. And to be honest they served me well.



Even though we did that reno in early summer it came in well. Water, water, water and it was strong. So strong actually that when compared with the other various grasses that composed the rest of the lawn it started to look off. Too good. So I just said screw it, let's do the rest over.

So late July I nuked the entire front lawn sans the new area. Glyphosate, scalped, thatched, aerated.

Btw the front is just short of 4k sq ft.







Then came the topsoil. We did an additional 12 cubic yards of the double screened stuff from a local soil company.



That was a lot of work. 22 total cubic yards for just the front last year. Thank God she helps where she can.


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

I had spent so much more than I had wanted by this point. The chemicals, soil, a roller, a backpack sprayer, seed. So I got creative with the leveling rake.

Old wire shelving, aluminum corner bead, and some zip ties. Worked great! Lol



In the end I got it pretty level. The areas that I didn't nuke, the new KBG, I made a few piles of soil to knock down and then it rained hard. That area did not level out as well as the others did. It's still pretty good but it's the only "not smooth" feeling area I have in the front.


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

Leading up to this bigger project I went hard on learning and ended up going with the N-ExT stuff from GCF. (Didn't everyone last year? Lol)



I also decided to go with a 60/40 blend of Grandslam PRG and Bluebank KBG.



So we threw down some seed, starter fert, and a healthy layer of peat. Too much peat to be honest and that's a mistake I learned from. But ultimately it still worked fine.









Literally the moment we finished putting out the peat my wife had a fawn practically nip at her belt. I knew it would all be fine once this happened!


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

From there it was pretty much staying on top of the watering. I was VERY diligent about watering. We don't have irrigation, yet, so it was mostly by hand. I think I woke up early for work and watered by hand three or four times a week until I didn't have to any longer. Lol. The neighbors would drive by at 6:30AM and see me out there with a hose and look at me like I'm insane. Of course seeing my blue dead lawn for weeks maybe had something to do with that too. 

The rye came up FAST. Seriously I was very surprised by how fast and hearty the rye was.

I don't know exactly but I'm pretty sure this was at or right before a week.



I decided to find a used manual reel mower online and picked up this bad boy for $15 from FB. Lol



10 days? Maybe two weeks...


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

I had some areas that got washed out a bit. So I just threw more seed and peat down. The same in some thin areas.

Still unsure of timing here, maybe 3 weeks? A month? There are a few thin areas, some bird and squirrel damage, but overall I was very happy so far.







The season was odd last year in Central Ohio. We had no rain for like 40 days, the heat stuck around a long time, and then all of a sudden the night temps totally changed. Because of this and not paying attention with the watering schedule, I had a fungal outbreak. Literally from perfect to near dead in less than 24 hours. But I caught it and simply treated the entire front lawn with some of the hose-end BioAdvanced stuff. Looking back I would have been better off to be proactive and do it when laying seed.


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

It was looking pretty good to me at this point but was still thin....until the bluegrass decided to join the party. Late bloomers! Once that happened and I started to mow the density really changed. I think the cooler temps also played a big part in that.





I ordered some required goodies...


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

And now for the good stuff...

HELLO DENSITY! Man I love the rye because of the color but once the blue woke up it was just like a rug. :shock:

I think I let it go to 1.3/1.5" all of the rest of the season. This is all manual reel mower. In fact, until just last weekend this front lawn had never had a powered mower used on it.







Footprints lol


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

That's really about it for last year. I kept up on the frequent mowing. :bandit:

It was a little bumpy at the end of the season. Likely because of the fungus problem.



Using a normal spreader instead of a drop spreader like a total noob, plus the KBG being a creeper, totally wrecked all of our beds. Lol. More work yay!



This was my domination line on my neighbor....in early January. :lol:

I'm not sure if I should expect that with these grass types in general, because it's a fresh reno, or if it's because I pushed it so hard with ferts so late. But hey...I was green all winter. Lol


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

I kept the leaves and debris off of it all fall and winter long. It's gotta be clean to use those manual reel mowers or they won't cut anything. :x

Winter overall was very mild here. We had several periods of actual heat where we were outside drinking beers on the deck in shorts for several days in a row. So I actually went out and did a cut somewhere there mid February or so. I also snuck in a couple small apps of products.

Then the new 2020 season officially started (for me at least)! Mid to late March and I was mowing. The color was just amazing coming out of the cold. This was still at 1.25/1.3" HOC I think. Carpet!





Once I was happy that the cold was truly gone and we had reliable growth, albeit slow, I decided to start taking the height down. I did so pretty fast to be honest. I went from 1.25" to 1" to 3/4" in no more than 10 days. Mowing every day or every other. And I had little to no resistance from the turf.


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

For an experiment I took my manual reel down to as low as it could go and went for the small front side yard. It's the flattest area I have. I'm not sure what the hoc actually is, .5" maybe, but it did hurt it a bit. I just wanted to see the difference of going low low all at once and letting the plant recover to force lower lateral growth as opposed going down slow.



So I specifically spoon fed that small area extra water and some extra humic and this was just a week later.



I threw down some CarbonX and have been spoon feeding with NEXT products and so far the color has continued to be outstanding!


----------



## mopaNi- (Apr 22, 2020)

Then this happened. I had been looking online forever for one of these, or a JD 220, and most of the time they were either too expensive or too far away. But I kept at it and one eventually turned up!

It's a 4052 Toro GM 1000. So early...like 97/98?



Sadly it doesn't have the transport wheels, or the grass catcher, and isn't in the prettiest of shape. But she runs fantastic and seems to be cutting like butter, even with the 11 blade reel at 3/4". I did all the maintenance, all the checks, gave her a detail, and then did the first cut.





And that's pretty much where I started to where I'm at. 

Sand for leveling is coming soon. As is our mulch for the year. I still haven't edged yet. I don't know, I wanted it to be as strong as it can be before I dice the edges up. I'm also trying to figure out how to convince the Mrs I need one of those sweet Ego multi tools. :twisted:

So this has all been the front yard only. I do intend on doing a reno in the backyard this fall if I can convince her of it. This time however I will be going pure PRG and will be doing the Barenbrug RPR product. I can't wait!

But before I can do that we are replacing the fence and likely doing an addition on our back deck.

Stay safe people!


----------



## mmaer (Mar 19, 2020)

Enjoyed the read. Looking forward to seeing more throughout the season! :beer:


----------

