# J_nick's Lawn Journal



## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

2017 Renovation

2018 Lawn Journal

2019 Lawn Journal

We've had a very cold and dry winter so I haven't done any work on the lawn this year as green up is way behind last year. I do plan to remove and add some sprinklers in the near future along my south fence but that'll be another day.

For the last couple weeks I've been cleaning up what we call the north pasture. It's a fenced in area north of my main lawn that's about an acre. I've kept it mowed with a rotary and a small area gets watered via an I-25 I installed last year. That's all changing this year. I plan to keep it reel low, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle all the watering since I don't plan to install a irrigation system out there till it gets a full renovation (which it desperately needs). It will most likely be accomplished with a pair of Nelson Raintrains focusing on the 16000 sqft closest to the house/barn.

I've removed ~11 truckloads of limbs over the last 2 weeks. With at least 2 truckloads of small twigs, leaves and debris raked up to be hauled off tomorrow. I originally wasn't going to worry about them since the rotary would either go over them or mulch them up but since the decision was made to go reel low they have to go. Today my little helper and I removed 2 old stumps that the previous owners left. We I dug around the base to get the chain around the base of the stump, luckily they had been there a while and were rotting and came out of the ground fairly easy with the truck without falling apart.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

This thing showed up today. I'm looking forward to putting it to use this year.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

J_nick said:


> This thing showed up today. I'm looking forward to putting it to use this year.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

+1 @Ware!

Congratulations @J_nick!


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Congrats J_nick! You are going to love it!

@Ware The "GO GREEN or GO HOME" sign to the left of the mic drop is fitting.


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## raldridge2315 (Jul 1, 2017)

Sweet!!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Sweet. What would target the hoc?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Thanks everyone I'm very excited about it. @g-man the target HOC for my main yard is 3/8" depending on how the scalp goes but I think it'll handle it. Main yard is around 10k. What we call the north pasture has 30k of Bermuda I plan to cut around 1".


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Are you planning on using the 220b for the main yard and the 2500E for the North pasture?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Pete got to the source of my question. Adjusting the 3 heads between areas every mow would be a hassle.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

The QA cutting units would definitely make it easier, but I agree, he should buy another triplex - because 2 is 1 and 1 is none.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Pete1313 said:


> Are you planning on using the 220b for the main yard and the 2500E for the North pasture?


Probably a mix of both for the main yard. The bench HOC vs actual HOC will be different between the 2 mowers with the QA5's being lighter than the 220B I think the QA5's will need to be set lower than the 220B to equal the same HOC. I plan to experiment with it. In the end the main yard is the priority so the QA5's will get set up for it, but I still want to use the 220B for certain directions as the triplex would be a little cumbersome. When it's time to mow out north I'll just raise the front roller to 6-7 and see how it goes, if the cut is unsatisfactory I'll adjust the rear roller worm gear to get a better angle of attack. It would just be so much faster to change the front roller as I wouldn't have to remove the heads from the machine. This year will be a trial of how I can use it best.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

J_nick said:


> It would just be so much faster to change the front roller as I wouldn't have to remove the heads from the machine. This year will be a trial of how I can use it best.


Either way you adjust it whether front roller or back, you can leave the heads on the 2500E. There may be an issue with the rear slowly dropping until you get the lift arm leak fixed, but the heads will stay in the up position for a while when in transport mode after you shut down the machine. You can get under there to check Bedknife clearance as well without removing them.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Thanks Pete. I already placed an order with greenfarmparts for the seal kit and some misc. things.

If it ends up being too much work switching HOC I'll just set it up around 1" and continue mowing the main yard with the 220B. Like I said this year will be a trial year to see what me and the machine can do.


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## OutdoorEnvy (Sep 27, 2017)

Very cool J_nick! I'm looking forward to seeing that huge yard that low! Nice work with the stump pulling too! I think you sold your helper short though. You always need a good supervisor...


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## HoosierLawnGnome (Sep 28, 2017)

Congrats on a beautiful machine, J_nick! Here's to years of enjoyment! :beer:

The question I have, is when that boy is old enough to ride that horse, will you actually let him???


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Holy crap..... &#128077;!!!


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

Nice!!!!
Congrats.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Congrats on the new mower J_Nick!! I am sure it's going to open a whole new world of possibilities for you


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Wow, Christmas in March for Reel Low owners!


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## FRD135i (Oct 15, 2017)

That's next level stuff right there! Legit stuff man. Started my 220b today, can't wait to get it on my P77


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Thanks everyone. I was kind of in he market for one if the price was right. Prices were great on the last Weeks Auction so I took the opportunity to pick one up. They had quite a bit of stock at that auction with around 11-12 John Deere 2500 series triplexes and more walk behinds than I would want to count. I think some other members here also got some really good deals.

@HoosierLawnGnome he wasn't happy when I pulled it in the driveway and wouldn't let him drive it. He's 2 and a half and I was going to pick him up and let him ride with me to the shop. He said no and was demanding me to get off of it so he could drive it himself


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I wouldn't call it a scalp but I took the north pasture down from around 2.5" to 1" this afternoon. I plan to take it down a little more before PreM and some postM go down. I'll maintain it at or around 1". Don't make fun of my rainbow stripes I'm a rookie on the new mower.










It's lumpy out there but the 2500E handled it pretty well. There are a few spots I knew would give it trouble so I'll be spot leveling the bad spots throughout the year. It desperately needs a reno but that'll have to wait for a few years.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Today after I got off work I started my scalp. Took the fixed blade power rake across the lawn in 2 directions. Then cleaned up all the material with the Honda rotary. It was my first time using the fixed blades and I was happily surprised by how well they performed. Tomorrow I plan to take it down to at least 3/8" and maybe 1/4" if time allows and it's going good.



















The square pattern wasn't showing up very well in the photos like it was in person so I took this pic of some still dormant Bermuda that's in the north side of the house.









Cleaning up with the rotary









I'm not sure how much material I got out of the lawn today but my long bed truck was mounded where I really couldn't get much more in there.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

How long did it take to mow your pastor with your 2500E?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Tellycoleman said:


> How long did it take to mow your pastor with your 2500E?


I have no idea. I was being cautious and watching the heads during the undulations and turns to see how they did. Half the time I had a 2.5 year old on my lap running the raise/lower lever for the heads so it took longer than it should have.

I would say it's faster than my 48" lawn tractor but probably comparable to the 50" ZTR I used to mow it with.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Yesterday I finished my scalp for the most part. HOC was probably a little over 1/2" to start with. I then set HOC at 3/8" and gave it a cut followed by a double cut at 1/4". The lawn looks better than I anticipated. I figured it would start getting thin at 1/4" but it's still thick and more green than I thought it would be.

Front yard 









Back yard









You can tell where our walking path is from the back porch to the garage. It's greening up its just a little behind the rest of the lawn.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

After the kids went to bed last night I went out and worked on the triplex. I replaced the brass bushings that hold the head onto the lifting arm and the bushings where the lifting arms attach to the frame. Today my little helper and I put it back together. While he was under it on the creeper making sure I put everything back together correctly I set the heads up at 1/4". We then took it out for a test spin and double cut the lawn 45° from yesterday's double cut at 1/4". Lawn is extremely smooth and I can't wait to see it at 3/8".

There's one spot in the front yard I might go back over with the power rake but we will see, cold front swooping down tonight and tomorrow the high is in the 30's. I'm wanting to get my PreM down on Monday as I know I'm already late to apply it. On the bright side my Celsius arrived in the mail today.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Sprayed Pendimethalin and 2,4D.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

J_nick said:


> Sprayed Pendimethalin and 2,4D.


Hope it rains. :thumbup:


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Tellycoleman said:


> How long did it take to mow your pastor with your 2500E?


Roughly 30,000 sqft, 36 minutes


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

When could we see pictures of the stripes with the 2500E?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

g-man said:


> When could we see pictures of the stripes with the 2500E?


Ummmm when I learn to drive straight :lol: the grass is less than 25% greened up out there, once it starts getting more green than tan I'll post some pics

Edit: it won't stripe as well as @Pete1313's


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## OutdoorEnvy (Sep 27, 2017)

The rain we are getting should do wonders on your lawn! Can't wait to see it. Looks like you've got the hard part out of the way.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

OutdoorEnvy said:


> The rain we are getting should do wonders on your lawn! Can't wait to see it. Looks like you've got the hard part out of the way.


Yes the rain has been nice. 3/4" over the weekend and we got 6/10" last night. After such a dry winter and the fires going crazy it's nice to see some moisture.


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

Glad the little helper got you straighten out. :lol: Can't wait to see it green up as well.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

J_nick said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > When could we see pictures of the stripes with the 2500E?
> ...


Why not? It's the same machine.. is it because KBG is a superior grass??  :lol:


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@Pete1313 haha I don't know about superior. I always thought it was because cool season grasses are weak and will flop over with the breeze. While Bermuda is a strong, resilient grass, a man's grass.

All joking aside Bermuda just doesn't stripe that well unless you burn in a pattern. My reno area last year stripes way better than the unimproved grass I have out north but the Riviera will still only hold stripes for a few days


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I've been slacking on the lawn updates.

I dropped 1#N/M of 26-0-2 with 7.8% iron on May 3rd. The lawn has responded nicely to it and finally getting some H2O. Other than that no real updates other than mowing. HOC 3/8"


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

I somehow came to your renovation thread and thought to myself, "I wonder if I should have gone with Riviera"...


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> I somehow came to your renovation thread and thought to myself, "I wonder if I should have gone with Riviera"...


I've been extremely happy with it. Color and texture are nice. I would highly recommend it to anyone that's considering doing a renovation.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Sprayed PGR at .20oz/1000 sqft on the main yard. I hope it turns out better than it did last year


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

J_nick said:


> Sprayed PGR at .20oz/1000 sqft on the main yard. I hope it turns out better than it did last year


Well, you're not asking for much, are ya? :lol: You got a 1 year old lawn, you're killing it. Any signs of goose grass?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> J_nick said:
> 
> 
> > Sprayed PGR at .20oz/1000 sqft on the main yard. I hope it turns out better than it did last year
> ...




Nothing yet... fingers crossed


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

:rofl: Holding your expectations pretty high now.

I read your post in the "Spring?" thread, where you had a 70° swing in temps in one day. That's pretty extreme!


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Yeah it was nuts. Some SW desert air made its way up here. 4% humidity, 102° with 30+ mph winds. The firefighters were not having a good week.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2018/04/29/us/oklahoma-wildfires-hay-cattle.amp.html


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

J_nick said:


> Yeah it was nuts. Some SW desert air made its way up here. 4% humidity, 102° with 30+ mph winds. The firefighters were not having a good week.
> 
> https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2018/04/29/us/oklahoma-wildfires-hay-cattle.amp.html


  I'd like to say that at least we have the infrastructure mostly in place where another Dust Bowl won't happen.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Not much to update I've just been mowing, mowing, mowing. PGR is keeping me sane trying to maintain 3/8". Next mow will be on Monday and I'll try to snap some pictures to make the thread prettier.



Colonel K0rn said:


> Any signs of goose grass?


So.... I've found around 15 or so. I haven't seen 1 in the yard where the grass is thick but along my southern fence where the Riviera didn't germinate has some goose popping up. I plan to add a sprinkler over here to get better coverage sometime this spring. Basically it's only popping up in spots where the grass is non existent or very thin. I noticed them last weekend while mowing. On Monday as soon as I got off work I mixed up 1oz MSMA with medium rate Celsius per 1000 sqft. I'm very happy with the results so far. Idk if the MSMA speeds up the Celsius but after a few days I could tell the broad leafs weren't loving life anymore and no noticeable damage to the turf.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

J_nick said:


> Not much to update I've just been mowing, mowing, mowing. PGR is keeping me sane trying to maintain 3/8". Next mow will be on Monday and I'll try to snap some pictures to make the thread prettier.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I found a few that were hiding beneath the canopy of the grass that is near the North side of the fence that were tillered out at least as large as my hand. Some were near efflorescence, which made me angry :evil: I'd like to try some MSMA, but I have only found it in 2.5 gallon jugs at Site One. The price was pretty substantial as well, and I really can't justify the expense of using it just against that one pest. I had good results with Dismiss last year, it smoked it, but I'd like to try MSMA, as its cost per application is less.

I guess I could say that I'm in a better spot than I was last year because I'm no longer dealing with a litany of weeds, and down to only a few species that I can readily identify.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Mowed the north pasture at .825" with the triplex. It's been mid to high 90s this past week with some humidity, in other words as soon as I leave the comfort of my house it's a sauna. I guess summer decided to kick it up a notch for the end of the week.


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## PHXCobra (Mar 20, 2018)

That weather looks gross. It's been fairly mild here. I'm sure the grass is loving it.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I got a cut in this morning and plan to spray PGR and my second round of PreM this afternoon sometime. I also need to fertilize sometime soon I just don't have anything on hand I want to use.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Looking good! How is the triplex working out?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Pete1313 said:


> Looking good! How is the triplex working out?


It's working good. I've been using it on the north pasture and for the quality of grass and unlevelness of the ground it's doing good. Desperately needs a reno out there to use it at its full potential.

We had a couple bad storms come through earlier this week and with all the limb removal/ stick cleanup it kinda got away from me out there. I ended up mowing with the rotary at 1.5" then hitting it the next day at .825" with the triplex. I'll probably raise it to 1" before the next mow.


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## JacenHunt (May 30, 2018)

Nice renovation! Just start my renovation in the back yard with Riviera too, put seed down yesterday . Fingers crossed! Did you put down any fertilizer with your seed? If you did what?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

JacenHunt said:


> Nice renovation! Just start my renovation in the back yard with Riviera too, put seed down yesterday . Fingers crossed! Did you put down any fertilizer with your seed? If you did what?


Thanks, I didn't put anything down with the seed. My soil has adequate P&K. I put some 10-20-10 down around 2 weeks after seed down at .5#N/1000. Then again 2 weeks later.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Sprayed PGR and round 2 of Pendimethalin. I was ~3 days late for my reapplication of PGR but hadn't seen a rebound yet, greenkeeperapp still had me at 54% suppression. I also spread Bifen and some 40-0-0 at 1#N/1000.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

A couple shots of the north pasture HOC .825". I've been having a lot of seed heads pop up and being a real PITA. The color looks better in person but after taking the pictures I went ahead and threw some 40-0-0 down with 4% Iron to darken it up.





Main lawn is going strong, sorry no recent pictures. I've been thinking about verticutting but I'm afraid I'll make it look horrible and with PGR in full effect take forever to grow out of it.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Today I used my fixed bladed power rake to do a little slicing and dicing of the lawn. I've been thinking about doing it for a while now but was concerned it was going to be rather destructive on the grass. I set it up on the concrete where the blades were just touching the concrete. I took one small pass to see how it was going to turn out and ended up doing the whole yard in 2 directions. I removed quite a bit of material and the lawn doesn't look terrible so I call it a win in my book. If the recovery goes well I will keep doing it every month or so during peak growing season or on an as needed basis. Anyways off to the pictures.

Post double verticut, not a whole lot of material on the ground. My power rake does have a bag and I dumped it around 3 times per direction. 






During the clean up mow. 




Finished product, I need to look into getting some sprayable iron for my next PGR app. My soil is lacking it and I'm just not getting as good of color as I was last year but I'm also 1/4" lower than I was back then.









It wouldn't have been a bad idea to go over it with the rotary before mowing it with the reel. There are still some stolons out there that didn't get sucked up by the reel.


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## Ral1121 (Mar 19, 2018)

What kind of verticutter do you use?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Ral1121 said:


> What kind of verticutter do you use?


It's a Bluebird PR18 that I made some custom blades for. It's nothing special. The first sentence of my last post I linked the thread where I converted it.



J_nick said:


> Today I used my fixed bladed power rake to do a little slicing and dicing of the lawn.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

That looks really great @J_nick, especially that clean-up pass after the verticut. Quick! You should pick up a bag of FEature before they sell out. My box of 5 bags arrived day before yesterday, and I did a double-dark application with GCF and FEature... man it is going to be bananas.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@Colonel K0rn I actually bought a bag last night to try out. It should be here before my next PGR app.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

J_nick said:


> @Colonel K0rn I actually bought a bag last night to try out. It should be here before my next PGR app.


 :thumbup: Should'a got the 5 pack


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Sprayed PGR at .16oz/1000 and FEature at 1.6oz/1000. l'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

J_nick said:


> Sprayed PGR at .16oz/1000 and FEature at 1.6oz/1000. l'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.


Sooooo, you've had a month. Tell us how you liked it!


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> J_nick said:
> 
> 
> > Sprayed PGR at .16oz/1000 and FEature at 1.6oz/1000. l'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
> ...


Well I've had 1/4 of a month :mrgreen: I can definitely tell the lawn is darker. My spray trailer might not be the best thing to use with the FEature since I have to drive through already sprayed areas the tires must pick up some product. I can tell where I drove as the tracks are a shade darker. I've never noticed it with any PGR or herbicide app before. I'll try to remember to take a picture after my 4th of July pregame cut. All in all the product works and who doesn't want a darker green. I also sprayed a foot or so onto my back porch and no staining whatsoever. I'll give it 👍👍

I mixed it a little light at 1.6oz/M so I could get 2 applications with the 3# bag. I'm considering buying another so I can see what 2oz/M would look like as I think that's the recommended dosage.


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## wfgScott (Aug 7, 2018)

New to Board. You are near me and a fellow Riviera owner so I pick up alot of info from your posts. Much appreciated. I stopped by seed store today and they have Riviera sod. Just an FYI in case you didn't know. They have also released their new Bermuda seed "Monaco" guy said no noticable improvement except better germination and earlier spring green up.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I bought my seed from Johnston's in Enid. They had sod available at the time but I had done all the research I needed to seed and it's way cheaper. If I end up renovating my front hill I'll most likely use sod as it's not a very big area and it has a significant slope to it. Glad to have a fellow Northwestern Okie on the board, welcome to TLF


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## wfgScott (Aug 7, 2018)

I seeded mine as well. Almost 3 acres. That pic was at johnstons, buy all my crop seed there as well. Have a 7 acre horse farm and another 400 acre farm to tend to so I'm in there all the time.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

After breaking just about every piece of lawn equipment I own over the weekend I got everything repaired and started my scalp.

I first used my fixed blade power rake, with new belt, to thin out the canopy. I went one direction and it was starting to sprinkle. I wanted to do 2 directions but I figured I better get the rotary out before everything got wet.

I got my HRC215 rotary, with new throttle cable, out to pick up all the debris. The rotary was picking up a ton of material. I was doing 2 passes and my bag was full. Halfway through the backyard and it started raining. After that I went from having a bag full after 2 passes to having a bag full after 6-8 passes. It was frustrating but I'll let it dry out and hit it in another direction with the power rake and vacuum it all up then.

Since everything was damp and the rotary wasn't doing much I set the 220B to .4". I ended the season at .625" last year and the .225" jump down was a little aggressive but the mower powered through it.

I'm looking forward to getting out there again when there's no rain in sight and getting it down to .250" or so.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I was able to get back on the lawn yesterday and power rake 90° compared to the other day. I then got the rotary out and sucked up what the rake didn't catch. I'm still st .4" so hopefully today after work I'll be able to take it down to ~.33"

It always amazes me just how much old grass you end up taking off. This is the second truck load so far for ~10,000 sqft


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## N LA Hacker (Aug 17, 2018)

More pics of truck pls. I know those sexy body lines from a mile away.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I'll see if I can get them lined up this weekend. I have 3 Silverado's '87, '00 and '06.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@N LA Hacker found these in the archives. She gets treated rough.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I was able to cut the lawn twice today. Went from .4" to .33" then to .25". The 220B had some trouble at .25" but when it would bog down I would lift the front end ever so slightly to help it out. I plan to give it 1 more cut at .25" 90° compared to the direction I mowed today. After that I'll spray my preM and some 2, 4D for some broadleafs I have.

I still have around 4,000 sqft I keep mowed reel low with my TruCut that I haven't even started on. It is common Bermuda so it's not nearly as thick as the Riviera. It should only take me a couple of hours to knock it out.

Backyard @ .25" and my baby gate around my pellet grill to protect the 1 year old.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Yesterday I sprayed my pre emergent and some 2,4-D on my lawn. Better late than never I guess. Still need to do the north pasture. I'm going to try and do it Friday before the rain comes in on Saturday.

Mowed at .33" for the first time yesterday and will need cut again tomorrow. Green up is going full throttle but on Thursday a cold front is coming in with close to freezing lows for a few days.





You can tell where the pine tree's shadow tracks across the back yard. It's normally a little slower to green up.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Gave the lawn another mow at .33" today then spread ~1# N/1000 of fert.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

4% iron. NICE


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## BakerGreenLawnMaker (Mar 13, 2018)

I can't wait to see you break out the John Deere riding reel.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

BakerGreenLawnMaker said:


> I can't wait to see you break out the John Deere riding reel.


I sold it to a company that takes care of local high school football field. I couldn't keep up with maintaining that much grass reel low with work and the kids. I'll get another one some day.


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## BakerGreenLawnMaker (Mar 13, 2018)

Sometimes you just gotta make sacrifices man


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

It's been a while since an update but not much goin on expect mowing. I moved some plugs around this evening in a spot the grass doesn't like to grow. The soil here is completely opposite of the sandy loam throughout the yard. It was hard to get a 4" plug from a few of the holes.







I was a few days late on my monthly fert but with the downpours we have been getting I didn't want it all to wash away. Tonight I put down around 1# N/1000 of 50% slow release. I have enough for one more app but I think I'll throw down some CarbonX for the next couple apps.

I've been needing to put down some PGR but I wanted to schedule it when I spray my second app of preM. It'll be due by June 1st so I'll go ahead and mix it in then.

I need to find someone to sharpen my reel. It's been tearing the leaf blades 2-3 mows after backlapping with more reel to bedknife pressure than I'd like.

When I get up in the morning the zone of the yard where the plugs are is getting watered. I plan to run out and throw a little Panterra down while the sprinklers are going off to try and get some water penetration there.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Sprayed my 2nd round of pre-emergent and 1st round of PGR at .17oz/1000, also added in some FEature.

I plan to put a heavy app of CarbonX down a week before the 4th of July so it's looking pretty. I will also raise my HOC to 3/8" (.375") from the .350" I'm currently mowing within the next 2 weeks.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@J_nick

How often are you having to cut your lawn with that HOC?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

ENC_Lawn said:


> @J_nick
> 
> How often are you having to cut your lawn with that HOC?


It needs mowed ever 2 days without the PGR but sometimes life gets in the way and it's 3 days in between cuts. It hasn't been very hot here yet mostly 70-80 with a few days getting above 90.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

The lawn turned 2 years old today so I gave it a birthday mow.


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## TheTurfTamer (Aug 8, 2018)

Bravo sir Bravo!


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## DR_GREENTHUMB (May 24, 2018)

Looking good! What did you think about the FEature when you applied?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

DR_GREENTHUMB said:


> Looking good! What did you think about the FEature when you applied?


I'll update with some pictures after I mow this evening. Started noticing it getting darker within a few days but I swear it keeps looking darker everyday. Here is what it looked like last night but there wasn't much light.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

TheTurfTamer said:


> Bravo sir Bravo!


Thanks man


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@DR_GREENTHUMB here's some post mow pictures from this evening.


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## Austinite (Oct 4, 2018)

That is ridiculously beautiful. Looks very flat as well.

Very well done.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Austinite said:


> That is ridiculously beautiful. Looks very flat as well.
> 
> Very well done.


Thanks man, I had many days of sweat and blood into smoothing the lawn out before I planted 2 years ago. She has some undulations but they are very gradual.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Looks awesome as always!


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Sprayed PGR/FEature/Fert. PGR worked its magic the last few weeks. I went from cutting every 2-3 days with 4-5 catchers full to mowing every 4 days with 3.5 catchers full. She'll need a cut tomorrow then that will put me on a 3 day rotation preparing for the 4th of July. Still have the HOC @ .35". The grass is getting thick with the heat we've been having. I plan to verticut sometime after the 4th to mid July whenever I can find a few hours to spare.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

J_nick said:


> Sprayed PGR/FEature/Fert. PGR worked its magic the last few weeks. I went from cutting every 2-3 days with 4-5 catchers full to mowing every 4 days with 3.5 catchers full. She'll need a cut tomorrow then that will put me on a 3 day rotation preparing for the 4th of July. Still have the HOC @ .35". The grass is getting thick with the heat we've been having. I plan to verticut sometime after the 4th to mid July whenever I can find a few hours to spare.


Now that lawn is dense...you still fertilizing .5 N per 1k every 15 days or just dropping 1 pound once a month?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@ENC_Lawn I only fertilized every 15 days when the seed was young at .5# N. Once it hit 100% coverage I went 1# a month. I'm still doing around .8-1# N a month but it's 50% slow release. I sprayed around .15# N last night and around 1/3 of it was slow release N.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

@J_nick, I might have missed it earlier, but what are you spraying as your N source.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@Pete1313 I used 46-0-0. I should have mixed it with warm water as not all of it got dissolved and clogged my strainer. For the slow release I found a liquid at a local farm store and it's main ingredient is Urea Triamide. I went 4oz 46-0-0 and 6oz liquid per 1000


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Thanks for the info, I'll look into the Triamide. I've been spraying urea by just dissolving the granular in a bucket but pour it thru a 50 mesh screen before it goes into the tank.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

I've admired your lawn for the past 2 years. You've got me thinking about smoking my Royal Bengal, and going to Riviera...


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> I've admired your lawn for the past 2 years. You've got me thinking about smoking my Royal Bengal, and going to Riviera...


That's probably gonna be hard to do. They discontinued Riviera and are replacing the fields with Monaco. It's almost impossible to find the seed right now.


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