# brplatz's desert journal 2020



## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Newbie to the site and lawn care, but have been deep into research and youtube watching, so figured i would start my journey into the world of chasing the perfect lawn.

Local sod farms sell a Park Blend and KBG. https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H508.pdf this link from NMSU has a nice look at NM turfgrasses. I chose KBG.

Moved into this house 5 years ago, had some grass that i barely took care of early, lawn was super lumpy, not sure what kind of grass at the time. Fast foward to 2 years ago, I now have a puppy GSD that destroyed the back yard. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, I have dedicated myself to fixing the back yard now that he is grown and doesnt dig anymore...



Yard as it existed 2 weeks ago. Dirt in various levels of crap. Digging into the soil shows lots of earthworms(I hear that is good)



Valve box that has always been below the grade, and way to large, has been on my to-do list for some time.



Planter bricks going in featuring my pops and GSD. There was too much dirt in the lawn area, so we used the excess dirt to fill these.



Fixed valve boxes, I eventually dug some of this dirt out and put mulch in.



My GSD Buzz, inspecting the work being done. Ground was flattened with a rake more times than i care to admit.



Brick in, and some sprinkler pattern testing.



Desert Plants, cedar mulch, and more testing of sprinklers.



This was this morning, ~300 sq ft of KBG sod, went in pretty quick





Feels good to have this done. Looking forward to learning and keeping this lawn as nice as it can be.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Very nice! You've been busy. Welcome to TLF @brplatz!!!


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Thanks @pennstater2005 !

I might be super impatient, but its starting to look greener. Watering 3x per day for at least a week. I have an odd desire to mow the lawn that i have never had before.....

Temps are low 40s at night, upper 50s during the day, breaking into low 60s


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

That is looking a little greener. First mow shouldn't be too far off. What mower do you have?


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

I have a few year old Scott's push mower. Lowest cut was 1.5" so i decided to mess with it during this quarantine....

Took off the old wheels.



Have leftover longboard wheels



2ft x 5/16"-18 threaded rod



Notched the wheel bracket



Also cutout the adjustment bracket for clearance



4 wheels spaced evenly-ish



New low cut is 1" or a little more, possible to go lower but its unlikely i want to.

Center wheels are a bit floppy, due to the threaded rod being not as strong as i would like. May redesign it


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Nice project! Can you score some more wheels to fill in the gaps? That should reduce the flex on the rod.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Chris LI said:


> Nice project! Can you score some more wheels to fill in the gaps? That should reduce the flex on the rod.


I could, not super cheap though, about $40 for the 4 if i remember correctly.

Will do a one week update photo tomorrow


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Ended up letting the dog out last night for 30 min.... terrible idea. Pulled up a corner of sod. Managed to fix it, but definitaly didnt make me happy.

Sod hasnt taken to the soil yet, but not a huge suprise. Looking much greener.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Week 3 of Sod install,

Grass seems to be taking root, watering 2x per day, need to verify amount, but my one test showed about an 1/8" of water.

Also put some starter fert down, not sure if this really was needed after doing more research.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Week 4.

Grass is growing quick, but multiple dead spots have arisen since i moved to once a day watering. I am thinking dog pee?

Also picked up the 7 blade 16" mower from Earthworks, seems to spin faster and cut better than the Scotts 20" (same parent co)

Finally picked up some humic, maybe drop some in the next few weeks.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Week 5

Lawn Looks pretty good, cutting around 2.5". Decided to add ~300 sq ft of grass to the front yard aswell for a total of 600 sqft.

Cleared rocks on about half of the front yard. Irrigation supplies ordered. Going to have a removal company come take the gravel since i have no where to put it.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Week 6 and front lawn update.

Been a busy week. Making the most of COVID based working from home and getting this project going.

Hired a contractor to remove the remaining 4 tons of rock from the front yard, had help from my pops installing a "extension" of the driveway in pavers, and started trenching.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Week 7

Back yard is thicker and looking excellent. Few dog spots will be cut out and filled with sod when i get the new sod for the front yard. Dog is nearly trained to go on the side rocks.....










Decided to add another sprinkler, center-ish










Re-read my city code on allowable grass sq-ft (desert rules) and had to shrink the front yard by ~3ft from sidewalk. Silver lining is that the overspray will hit the rocks and one less chance of getting cited for water waste.










Rock in, and center tree surround put in. Little bit of mulch.










Added some compost and light till to get it incorporated to our clay-ish soil. Flattened, tamped and watered in. This flattening and tamping process will happen a few more times, but we are ready for sod, at long last.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Mid week 7 update because i have almost doubled the SQFT of grass on my property! Neighbors probably hate it, but i love it.

KBG (Sandia Blue Blend). Bet my wife i could do the front yard project in two weeks or less, and suceeded.

This is some of the most dense, dark green and evenly cut sod i have ever seen.


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## brplatz (Mar 17, 2020)

Long time update.

Front Yard Looks incredible, handled summer heat like a beast, not really sure how.










Back yard had trouble. heat and shade issues, pocketed areas of dead grass and heat stress.


















Decided to use a variation on this DIY lawn leveler. https://ifoughtthelwn.wordpress.com/2020/04/09/unveiling-the-lute/

Used 4x of 4' of 1" square aluminum tube, 2x 1" angle, 2x 1.25" angle, a rake replacement handle. only change would be bumping up the thickness of the 1.25" angle from 1/16" to something thicker.

Final Product










Square frame





































Plan is to work on topdressing/overseeding/etc this weekend.


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