# Carlson's 2021 Journal - Five Fescues



## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Hey All!

Starting up a new journal for this year. Up til last weekend things had mainly been cleanup work - dethatching, mowing/bagging up leftover leaves, more dethatching, etc...

Now that growth is starting up I decided to do a spring overseed to thicken things back up. Sliced 60lb of seed into the front on Sunday and added starter fert. Did a pass with Tenacity and some D-Thatch today.


I started seeding out back on Sunday, too, but the drive belt on my seeder got wrecked after 3/4 of the perimeter pass... (I had a 36" belt on when it really needs 36.5"... whoops). Back didn't take as much of a beating as the front, though.

36.5" belt *hopefully* arriving tomorrow and I can get the back done before we get a bunch of rain Thur/Fri.

As a final note I added Rowdy to my blend of seed from last year - so now it's five fescues instead of four. More shade tolerance should be a big plus for my yard.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

New seeder belt is in. Backyard overseed, fert, and spray is on for after work. (And after a couple hours of manual labor, pizza will be on the menu!)


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Welcome back sir! What type of fungus is that? I assume that most of the green still there is the Rhizing Moon!

Shame you won't be able to put down prodiamine this spring. Good luck with the overseed.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Welcome back sir! What type of fungus is that? I assume that most of the green still there is the Rhizing Moon!
> 
> Shame you won't be able to put down prodiamine this spring. Good luck with the overseed.


Thanks man! That winter felt long not being outside haha

Not sure what fungus it was that did me in in the fall - had some mycelium show up after a couple hot & humid days in November and I was out of propi & azoxy by then. Definitely had a fair bit of snow mold, too, but that has mostly grown out at this point.

No prodiamine, but I'm using starter fert with tupersan and following up with a light pass of tenacity. I'll do one or two follow-ups w tenacity and maybe spot check with quinclorac later in the season. There's not too much undesirable stuff coming up since I glypho'd everywhere and fallowed last summer.


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## Baretta (Apr 8, 2019)

I have the same dilemma. Didn't treat it when it set in the fall. About to overseed but also dealing with Poa.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Baretta said:


> I have the same dilemma. Didn't treat it when it set in the fall. About to overseed but also dealing with Poa.


Annoying thing for me is I did treat for fungus during the reno - just didn't have enough left to handle a late-season heat & humidity blast.

I noticed a fair bit of Poa A out back when I finished my seeding after work today. I'm gonna do tenacity tomorrow for seeding pre-m, but I'm prob gonna do a couple smaller follow-up passes in a few weeks to knock back the poa. Might do acclaim later in the season if I'm still seeing any or Poa T.


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## Baretta (Apr 8, 2019)

Bummer. I should have as well. I'm looking over the lawn the other day... it was coming up like there's no tomorrow. Then I thought...what would Connor Ward do? Pulled out about 25-30 plants. I now have a bumpy lawn. :roll:


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Good thing nothing has germinated yet...



Also that it'll be in the 70s again in a couple days.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Slice seeder? Any pics?


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Vtx531 said:


> Slice seeder? Any pics?


Of the seeder itself?


It's a Billy Goat OS552H. I love this thing haha


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Carlson said:


> Good thing nothing has germinated yet...
> 
> 
> 
> Also that it'll be in the 70s again in a couple days.


I can't decide whether I hate or love the month of April.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Carlson said:
> 
> 
> > Good thing nothing has germinated yet...
> ...


I'm trying to remain positive about it. The ground is thawed, but dry... snow taking a day or so to melt is a good way to soak in the fert / tenacity I had just put down. And soil temps have been warm so the ground won't freeze and the seed I just put down should still germinate.

This is just winter giving me the middle finger on the way out :mrgreen:


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Snow was nearly completely melted by end of yesterday - 100% gone now.



I'm pretty sure the worst part of spring seeding is having to wait the longer amount of time for germination and sprouting. Planting TTTF in the fall? Sprouts in 4 days. In the spring? 10+ days.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Still waiting for the seed to start coming up (cold nights aren't helping). Existing turf is getting some good color from the starter fert, though!

Decided to mow at 2.25" / mulch today - since I sliced in the seed I figured nothing would really get disrupted - and that seemed to hold true.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Finally seeing some sprouts from the overseed, along with some whitening poa from the tenacity. Warmer temps coming this week, too - so we should be kicking into high gear pretty soon!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Only took two weeks!

Hopefully the new grass'll be grown enough that I can mow the rest by the weekend of May 8th...

I'll also note that a lot of what I thought was poa is actually fescue that's just a bit bleached from the tenacity. There's certainly a bit of poa but the situation isn't as dire as I though. :bd:


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Congrats!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Had to get a mow in since the existing lawn has been growing pretty well post-fert. Went at 1.75" and bagged so I could collect as many poa seed heads as possible. Color is looking good, but I would really like to see more new grass sprouting... hopefully the short cut helps there too.


I am expecting to need a light overseed in the fall at this point, but maybe things will improve more with the warmer temps coming.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Carlson said:


> Hey All!
> 
> Starting up a new journal for this year. Up til last weekend things had mainly been cleanup work - dethatching, mowing/bagging up leftover leaves, more dethatching, etc...
> 
> ...


I followed your 2020 journal and your cultivar selection. If you don't mind me asking, what were your obstacles from 2020 to 2021? Fungus? Winter die off?


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

@Scagfreedom48z+ I think the main culprit was fungus. I treated for it in September and early October, and used up my supplies of propi and azoxy. Unfortunately we had a heat & humidity spell in late Oct or early Nov and I had fungus spots show up all over the front yard when that happened w no means to treat it properly right away.

It wasn't quite as bad as it became by spring then, but it definitely did some damage. I also had a bunch of rodent damage along the woodline late season too.

It is starting to look pretty good again at this point with the new seed filling in. I'm gonna stock up on antifungal treatments pretty soon here and hopefully keep it in good shape thru to next year this time.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Carlson said:


> @Scagfreedom48z+ I think the main culprit was fungus. I treated for it in September and early October, and used up my supplies of propi and azoxy. Unfortunately we had a heat & humidity spell in late Oct or early Nov and I had fungus spots show up all over the front yard when that happened w no means to treat it properly right away.
> 
> It wasn't quite as bad as it became by spring then, but it definitely did some damage. I also had a bunch of rodent damage along the woodline late season too.
> 
> It is starting to look pretty good again at this point with the new seed filling in. I'm gonna stock up on antifungal treatments pretty soon here and hopefully keep it in good shape thru to next year this time.


Thanks for the feedback! I'll continue to follow to see how your cultivars do throughout the year. Hopefully everything works out for you


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Front yard starting to look decent. A little crater-y from the spots damaged by fungus in the fall, but the overseed is coming in those spots (however slowly due a cool spring so far).

Mulched at 1.75" this evening and probably just nicked some of the new plants. Hopefully some tillering will get rolling and we'll have more uniformity pretty soon here.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Man, you've made so much progress since winter. I think you definitely made the right call with the overseed. Looks great.

Hopefully you're able to dodge the crabgrass. Assuming you couldn't use pre-em.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Man, you've made so much progress since winter. I think you definitely made the right call with the overseed. Looks great.
> 
> Hopefully you're able to dodge the crabgrass. Assuming you couldn't use pre-em.


Thanks man - I did use tenacity - but it's getting about time for a re-treat. Gonna do the 2-weeks in a row poa A scheme starting next weekend.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Man, you've made so much progress since winter. I think you definitely made the right call with the overseed. Looks great.
> 
> Hopefully you're able to dodge the crabgrass. Assuming you couldn't use pre-em.


I used tenacity - but it's getting about time for a re-treat.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Back yard looking pretty good, although it definitely needs a mow. I sprayed tenacity for poa yesterday, along with some humic12 and rgs. Gonna mow tomorrow, then spray tenacity again next weekend. Might do propiconazole with that app too as it is starting to get hot out.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Hey Friends

Been neglecting the lawn - and by extension posting here - due to a bunch of overly hot weather for a good while plus spending most of my outdoor time working on a chicken coop. Roof aside, the coop is done!


I'm planning on shingling this weekend if it stays cool enough to spend a couple hours up there.

Onto the lawn! On the 14th, it got it's first mow in just shy of a month. Definitely had some fungus damage in a few areas as I didn't get heritage down soon enough to prevent it, but it doesn't look like it really killed anything completely.

Got some 10-0-1 and heritage G down over the weekend, and mowed/bagged today at 2.75". Looking decent in spite of the neglect.


Here's some of the fungus damage:


I have some thin areas in the back from a tenacity mishap, so I'm probably gonna overseed again in the fall. I'm thinking I'll just grab some extra Rhizing Moon and Titanium for this fall so I don't have to source as many varieties.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Ordered some seed!

I have 25lb left from the spring, which has about 5lb of each variety listed in my signature. I'm planning to kill a couple spots with major poa out back this weekend - will use the full blend to patch those areas.

For additional seed for overseeding I grabbed 25lb each of Rhizing Moon (from Hearne), Titanium, and Valkyrie (both from United Seeds).

I'm planning to slice seed the spots I hit with gly, but for the general overseed I'm going to do some core aeration and broadcast the seed. Doing the whole yard with the slicer, while it does an outstanding job, is truly exhausting in August.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

I think it still looks great despite the neglect. Fescue is tough as nails.

I'm jealous of the seeding project you have going on. Renos and overseeds are the most fun parts of lawn care, IMO.

Shout out to Hearne!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Got the roof done and mulched around the coop yesterday. We can call that project complete, finally!




Planning to start my fall lawn work pregaming next weekend... Gly a few heavily-poa'd areas and do some soil leveling in others. (Notably, the area of the lawn near the coop needs some extra soil as you can see...)


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Got in a mow & bag at 2.75" today. Still have a fair bit of fungus pressure out front... may have to get my next dose of ppz down soon.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Another mow & bag at 2.75" today.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

So I figured out a week after applying propiconazole that it is not labeled for pythium blight, which is what I have been fighting...

Put down fosetyl-al 80 wdg @ 8oz/k yesterday and then mowed/bagged today. Did the particularly damaged areas at 1.75" in prep for the seeding I'll need to do in a couple weeks. Did the rest at 2.75".





The back looks pretty OK at least. A few weeds here and there but nothing that won't get knocked out by the fall tenacity app w my seeding. 

So at this point I'm planning to core the yard next weekend and top-dress a few areas w composted soil, then seed/overseed the areas that need it over labor day weekend.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Wound up pushing my lawn projects to this coming weekend - took my 3-day weekend from work and added a few days off for a 6-day weekend. MA is getting Ida leftovers tonight, so I'm gonna have 3" of rain by mid-day tomorrow. Gameplan from there looks like:
Friday - Mow a little shorter than usual in areas I intend to overseed. After that I'll core aerate while the soil is still plenty moist.
Saturday - Add composted top-soil to areas that I killed off, are uneven ground, or the grass is thin.
Sunday or Monday - Bust out the slice seeder.

I'm not even going to add starter fert this time since my soil is in good shape... Maybe some azoxystrobin as an insurance policy. I will spoon-feed urea once things start growing and temps are consistently cooler.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

The rain ended earlier than expected which let me get an initial mow-down in this evening - took the whole thing to 2.25". I'll mow the areas that need particular seeding attention shorter still, tomorrow, before aerating.

One such area would be where I used the nuclear option on a poa patch out back.

Another will be the areas where the PB did the most damage.

The healthy parts of the yard should be fine staying at 2.25" I think.


Tomorrow is supposed to be a primo outdoor work day (high temp of 70° and partly cloudy - yay). I'm going to see how much of my overall list I can get done in one day.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

This long weekend has not gone to plan at all. Got food really bad poisoning Thursday night and was tapped out all day Friday. I was able to mow-down the areas needing more seed on Saturday and aerate yesterday - planning to move soil and possibly seed today. Should leave me enough time to spray tenacity tomorrow before going back to work.

Current state of the front yard fungus-ravaged zone. Continuing to green back up but more seed will definitely help.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Got my top-dressing finished up before noon today.

Had to take one call for work (even though I was on vacation), but got the slice seeding done late afternoon. Planning to spray tenacity and maybe some d-thatch tomorrow... and will apply a fresh dose of heritage G on Friday or Saturday just before germination starts...


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Fall overseed work is near completion.

Seed sliced in on Tuesday

Tenacity and D-Thatch Wednesday

1" of Rain Thursday

Off to a good start! Gonna get a final pre-germination mow in after work, and get some Azoxy down afterwards to help make sure the pythium doesn't come back for my seedlings!

Pics later...


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Good to go! I think we'll see germination on Sunday so no more mowing for the next 10-12 days.

Couple of benchmark pictures of areas that got particular seeding attention.



And the mostly-fine rest of the back yard.


Looking forward to the area by the front path filling back in!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

New grass starting to come up in the fungus-ravaged area out front...


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Overseeded area out front starting to look halfway respectable again...


Out back is also coming in nicely - just harder to find a safe walking path to get a photo just yet haha


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

That was fast! So much progress from the picture just 5 days ago.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> That was fast! So much progress from the picture just 5 days ago.


Haha yep - tall fescue doesn't like to keep you waiting! :thumbup:


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Benchmark spot behind the veggie garden is greening up!

I *might* be able to mow on Sunday... worst-case mid next week.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

First mow today after the overseed/reseed. 12 days after seeding / 5 days after germination.


If everything goes according to plan, I'll mow 1-2 more times this week and then give a spoon feeding spray of urea next weekend - maybe 0.1lb/k.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

0.1 lb? Double it!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> 0.1 lb? Double it!


Alrighty - I'm planning to repeat feeding every weekend til the end of the season. I have a 50lb bag which should get me around 1.25lb/k over the whole yard by the time I'm done.

Maybe 0.1lb just for the first weekend then 0.2lb going forward? I'm a little hesitant to put too much on the baby grass too soon.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Don't let me be a bad influence if you want to take it easy on the babies haha. Your call!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Haha I got ya. Yeah I'll keep it light for the first feed.

I've only given the lawn something like 0.4-0.5#/k of N so far this year. If your soil chemistry is in order, these are definitely some low-input cultivars. The 1.5lb I'll be feeding going into winter dormancy will probably take me into next July lol


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Dang I didn't realize these TTTF required so little food!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

2 mows in as of Tuesday. We're looking almost filled back in now. Once the tenacity bleaching gets mowed the rest of the way off in another week or so we should be looking mint.


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## simplesimon (Aug 25, 2021)

That looks great, I hope my lawn can get there!


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## Baretta (Apr 8, 2019)

Nice work on the repair. Looking forward to seeing how in looks in the coming weeks. :thumbsup:


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

I mowes at 2.25" again today - it keeps looking better. The bleached grass is almost fully grown out. The spot behind the veggie garden is indistinguishable from the rest of the lawn now.



I was going to spray some N, too, but everything is growing well. I'm more afraid of feeding the pythium blight and bringing that back than I am of the grass needing food. I would love the blast of dark green though!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Another mow at 2.25" today. Temperatures are cooling off so prob about time to get that first spoon feeding down in the next day or so.


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## simplesimon (Aug 25, 2021)

How much grass are you taking off with three days between mows? I'm trying to follow the 1/3 rule (mowing at 3" to get to 2") and it took about a week to grow the 1". Wondering if I should mow more frequently or do something to get the grass growing faster.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

simplesimon said:


> How much grass are you taking off with three days between mows? I'm trying to follow the 1/3 rule (mowing at 3" to get to 2") and it took about a week to grow the 1". Wondering if I should mow more frequently or do something to get the grass growing faster.


Probably .25-.5" tops. The 1/3 rule is more of a maximum than a target - cutting off less is OK. I'm mowing frequently to spur tillering & filling in. More mowing = more lateral growth.


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## Baretta (Apr 8, 2019)

Do you find optimal cutting height @ 2.75" while still maintaining a thick dense feel to it? My Honda only allows 2.5" or 3". With my varieties, it doesn't look as dense cut at 3".


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Baretta said:


> Do you find optimal cutting height @ 2.75" while still maintaining a thick dense feel to it? My Honda only allows 2.5" or 3". With my varieties, it doesn't look as dense cut at 3".


Does it look more or less dense at 2.5"?

My timemaster also has half-inch intervals - it just starts at 1.25" and goes up from there. My lawn tends to look pretty thick for the most part regardless of height - I just prefer the 2.75" cut.


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## Baretta (Apr 8, 2019)

At 2.5" it's dense. I think it's where the Chantilly Red Fescue likes to be cut at. Anything higher and its trimming the TTTF only. I would like to have it grow taller in the summer months while maintaining the dense look. I'll just add TTTF from now on.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

@Baretta single species does make an even cut easy to achieve.

That said, I'm actually considering adding microclover to my lawn next spring. Maybe just a test patch...


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Got a spray in just before dark-
For the full 18k:
-18gal h2o
-9lb urea
-36oz propiconazole
Front 9k only (where the pythium was):
-4.5lb fosetyl Al

It's cooling off enough I felt good putting down the N. And the fungicides should keep me safe til the weather is definitely reliably cool.

Only concern I have right now is that I believe I have a new mole out front this year. I'll set up my traps in the morning.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

First post-N mow today. Filling in is looking really good and the color is getting pretty close to consistent between the old & new grass. Next dose of N should do it.




I definitely have one or more moles out front this fall. It's weird, though - they seem to be tunneling deeper than last year. I'm getting the bumpy pushed up soil areas, but the grass isn't being killed. So while it's nice the grass is being spared, it's a total PITA to figure out where to set up my traps.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Got in a mow at 2.25" and then sprayed N today.

I had a 50lb bag of Urea of which I had used 9lb so far. I was planning to do 0.5#N/k (so putting down 18lb) today, but decided to just use half of the remainder of the bag (about 20.5lb). Probably put about 0.55#/k. Will fert once more in a week or two.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Mowed @ 2.75" today. The N is doing it's thing for sure...

Got a little bit of pythium showing out front. Might put down some heritage again tomorrow... but it is supposed to go back to cool weather so not sure yet...


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## simplesimon (Aug 25, 2021)

@Carlson I was back and forth on the fungicide because of the humidity this week but I think I'll just hold off now.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

This is looking fantastic!

Weather has been nuts this year. Didn't think we would have to debate doing fungicides in mid October.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Got a mow in today. The color is really popping off now that its getting cooler out finally.




I haven't been able to put down my last dose of N yet - hoping to do that next weekend.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

That AM color in back :thumbup:


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

DARK!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> DARK!


Look who's talking! I'm amazed you didn't win LOTM!


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Carlson said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> > DARK!
> ...


Not a great month to be in the running. Too much quality competition.

When do you think your last mow will be?


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Carlson said:
> 
> 
> > bf7 said:
> ...


Last mow cutting any real amount of grass will probably be in the next week or two - but I'll keep going to mulch up leaves until we have snow on the ground. Yesterday I bagged and emptied the bag 8 times for probably 1 bag's-worth of grass clippings and 7-worth of leaves/pine needles. I think I was mowing into early December last year iirc.

How about you?


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Haha props for dealing with all those trees. They are nice to look at though.

Last year final cut was around Thanksgiving, but November was warm. This year, it turned from hot to cold on a dime so I don't know what to expect.

Have you been below freezing yet? I haven't which is odd. I think last year we had a freeze in mid October. The grass looked better after that.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Haha props for dealing with all those trees. They are nice to look at though.
> 
> Last year final cut was around Thanksgiving, but November was warm. This year, it turned from hot to cold on a dime so I don't know what to expect.
> 
> Have you been below freezing yet? I haven't which is odd. I think last year we had a freeze in mid October. The grass looked better after that.


We've had one night with frost which certainly resulted in darker green. No below freezing yet, although the remaining nights this week are looking like we'll get there.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Mowed today. First time striping and mulching since the spring, what with all the fungus pressure over the summer.




Laying the stripes was _extremely_ satisfying after months of not doing so.

Now if I can just manage to keep mowing and stay ahead of the onslaught of oak leaves...


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Still mowing. Took it down to 1.75" and sprayed my final dose of urea last weekend, mowed at 1.75" again today. I've been mulching the leaves in - it had been a while with today's mow so it looks kinda messy still, but with 90%+ of the oak leaves down now, my next mow will probably mulch the last few in and clean up the bits left today at the same time.

1.75" should be a good over-winter height, too. Next mow might be the last for the season.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

I didn't hear no bell...


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Still hanging in there! How did the TTTF perform with winter color last year?


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Probably a little better last year as I went harder on the N - but by the end of winter snow mold had done some major damage. I'll take a slightly washed out color in favor of a faster recovery in the spring!


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