# Boots 3K Monaco



## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Started renovating my back yard ~3k sq ft by multiple rounds of gly starting in September 2020. Existing turf i believe was a common variety/ U3 potentially. Regardless, i had multiple varieties that had crept in over the years, and wanted something that could be mowed short and looked/felt better. New seed just went down 5/5/2021. Let me say that removing the existing turf via gly apps has proved more difficult than expected. i'm not sure if it's even possible to entirely remove it outside of multiple YEARS of applications. i believe the sod farm told me they have a minimum 3 years of apps before transitioning a field. Even after 6 blanket sprays over 7 months, i still had a handful of sprigs popping up. I'll keep everyone updated with the progress. I chose to go with the Monaco because it's a local company here in Oklahoma, and i've heard and read great things. Seed went down into a bed that was power raked multiple times and covered with a light dusting of peat moss. Fingers crossed for no torrential downpours over the next two weeks!

back yard after multiple gly apps/ 10/1/2020



Rye back yard/ 10/20/2020



back yard after multiple spring gly apps (spot spraying remainder) 5/1/2021



seed


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

What kind of soil do you have? I've got pure clay and have found monaco to be really slow growing in it.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

We're all clay base here in central Oklahoma. That's interesting because the breeding ground of Monaco is 40 miles north of me, and i would imagine their conditions are similar.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

5/16/21 (11 DAS) just got back from vacation and showing signs of baby germination. Weather has mostly been on my side. Below average temps for this time of year, but bare soil temps are ~65-70. Flooding rain forecasted the next couple of days, so I'm hoping my baby plants are taking root and can hold on. Put down generic starter fertilizer.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that these are the smallest leafs when they pop since the seeds are tiny.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

5/18/2021 (13 DAS)
Seeing more germination than seeds on the ground now. Weed pressure is not bad as of now. Some old common still popping up, but I'm pulling them as I see them. Yard still looks bare from above, but I have robust germination across the entire yard.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

5/23/2021 (18 DAS) 
A lot of two and three leaf development. Vertical stem development as well. Biggest concern is old common coming back. Quite a bit more than I anticipated. Trying not to panic on that front and I've read that the improved varieties can overtake the older varieties over time. I'll attempt to paint with gly. Plan on spraying .2 of urea/1k soon. We have been quite wet lately with below average temps and sunlight. I bet it will kick into gear when we have more sunlight and heat into the 80s soon.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

5/25/2021 (20 DAS)

A lot of emergence and growth if you get down on the lawn, but doesn't look that great visually from above. I only need a couple of sunny days for this stuff to take off. Green weeds are sprouting perennial rye. Not worried about those because they'll get nuked by the heat in a couple of weeks. Sprayed .2 urea. Weed pressure is not bad. I believe it's due to this being an enclosed back yard. Still below average temps (70s) and mostly cloudy for a while now. Good news is i'm under budget on my water bill  :lol: :lol:


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Starting a running list of seed pros and cons since i was quite torn on which direction to go for this project. I'll update over time.

*Seed Pros:*


Confined spaces. I didn't want to rip out my fence to get a sod transporter in. Cost$$ and headache.

Cost ($175 vs $1.5K (Tahoma) ~3Ksqft) water seems negligible at this point since it's been wet here.

Grade issues… what I mean by this is, if you throw down a couple thousand lbs of sod, you're going to have quite the time on your hands leveling that out over time to mow low given the volume of dirt that you're bringing in. With seed, it seems that you can really drill in your grade preparations to have a "flat lawn", then grow in. My lawn was quite flat prior to this seeding and I didn't like the sight of sodded lawns for the first couple of weeks/ months. We all know it takes time and effort to level lawns.

Genetic purity. I trust the seed harvesting from these Monaco/Johnston/Barenbrug fields more than I trust my local sod farms to produce a pure genetic blend. I've called and visited local sod farms and asked them detailed questions on their vegetative varieties and they seem quite uneducated about what they grow. Given the volume of turf they pump out, i just don't trust most of them to give me exactly what i want in a pure variety. I can also come back in 10 years if the seed is still available and re seed if needed from the same mommy and daddy plants that produced my original seed.

Ability to reseed trouble areas.

growing points/ nodes. With 1.5 million seeds per lbs, there are a substantial amount of growing points and nodes.

Fulfillment. This is the closest I'll ever get to being a farmer. There's something basic and fulfilling about putting seeds in the ground and growing crops.
*Seed Cons:*


Grow in. It takes time to have grass.

Wash out. Everyone's nightmare. If you have hills, consider sod. Washout can be mitigated with coverings, more robust grade preparation.

Weed pressure. Hasn't been too bad in my case. But this is a reality of seeding. You will have more weeds initially. Can be mitigated with proper post emergence practices. https://www.uaex.edu/publications/PDF/MP477.pdf

Mud. You don't get an instant lawn and there is a grow in period. This can be problematic for animals and kids.

Scalability. I'm not sure if i'd want to seed more than 3-5K sq ft at one time.

Quality…? Remains to be seen. Recent NTEP trials have these new seeds very close if not negligible difference in quality to the best vegetative verities. https://ntep.org/reports/bg19/bg19_21-2/bg19_21-2.htm


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

5/27/2021 (22 DAS)

Estimate "good" coverage on 70-80% of the lawn. Put down .5lbs of AMS and we proceeded to get ~2 inches of rain in 30 minutes. My weed situation is perennial rye, carpet weed, and sedges. Holding off on chemical apps for a while at least another week or two, because I consider those in the easy category to eradicate and I'd like the biggest Monaco plants possible prior to apps. Re seeding a couple of thin areas and I think I'll have a good base to pull from for plugs if needed. I have plants in my thin areas, it's just not as dense as the good areas. I might not need to do anything to those areas but wait. I believe those areas were dry spots. Weather is still projected to be below average temps (70s) however we finally have some sunlight coming in. Debating between 2-4d or Celsius for the chemical apps. The sedges I can spot spray with Prosedge, and I know it will roast it. Also debating on pre emergent timing to defend against summer weeds, however balancing that with reseeding.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

5/31/2021 (25 DAS) 
Wet & cold


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

6/2/2021 (27 DAS) 
Trimec 2-4d will go down in the next 24 hours. Sure, I have weeds, but I can smoke them. Pendulum to go down in ~1 week. Trying to hold off just a bit to let my 2nd round of seeds establish. In other news, I heard on the news that it was the 2nd cloudiest May on record in OKC and we were on 5 degrees below average on temps. Very impressed with the growth I have and establishment so far. Texture is much improved over my existing strand. Seemed to really kick into gear after the 2 leaf phase. I plan to do first cut @ .75" here soon.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

6/3/2021 (28 DAS)
Opening day cut at .6250" quite aggressive, and I was probably about 5 days behind the first cut but let's be honest... we're all here for short cut green grass. Followed by .75 oz per k of Trimec 2-4d @78f evening temps(again probably aggressive right after a cut). Will rain fast for 24 hrs then .5 AMS and water this weekend. Sunny and 80s in the forecast.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

6/6/2021 (34 DAS)
2-4D yellowing. Bright yellow spots are from MSM where I attacked the ryegrass regrowth. Reseed areas are starting to sprout.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

6/10/2021 (38 DAS)
Just got home from a work trip. Color is improving from 2-4d app. That really cleaned up my weeds. What's interesting is the MSM turf spot sprays dinged my yard harder in those areas. Check out the difference between my Monaco and Common... left Monaco right common in both pics😍😍


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

6/12/2021 (40DAS)
Cutting at 5/8". Still feels too tall and will work down to .500" eventually. For now, the growth is out of control. Cutting every other day. Will likely get some PGR in these guys in a week or so, but waiting for some spots to fill in. Going to skip a week of fertilizer. It is impressive to me that one can have a full stand after 35-40 DAS.

I did find the article showing the impacts of 2-4d & MSM on Bermuda. Interesting to see that MSM is basically 2x as injurious to turf as 2-4d. According to the article turf recovers by 2 weeks. I think since mine were juvenile, they responded more to the herbicide. https://usgatero.msu.edu/v05/n03.pdf


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

6-13-2021 (41 DAS) 
.25 TNEX 4 oz ferrous sulphate / k


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

44 DAS
Lawn has basically recovered from the 2-4d. Bare spots are growing in. I did notice that the PGR app dinged a couple of spots, but PGR is a necessity under 1". I definitely noticed it put the breaks on the lawn, and I'm thankful because I felt like I was scalping mowing every other day. Lawn will adjust and adapt to PGR apps and I plan on reevaluating another app at 200-250 GDD. Problem is, with our heat, that's on a 10 day interval here. I would recommend going half rate on the first app, then gradually step up over time. I applied ~.25 oz. I'd recommend .1 oz for first app.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

49 DAS
I think we all owe the folks at Syngenta a beer for making primo maxx. Love love love love it and it is absolutely the number 1 tool in my lawn kit outside of the reel mower.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

55 DAS
255 GDD achieved and another app of PGR. ~.25 per k. Turf is really starting to show attributes in maturity and I think it looks great considering the cost and time component. I really only have this one spot that I'm allowing to grow in. Still cutting at 5/8 ~ 2x per week. Barely cut anything off the last cut or two due to PGR


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Haven't mowed in 10 days since my reel mower is broken. Turf looks pretty good all things considered. One thing of note, Monaco seems much more sensitive to drought/heat than my common/u3. I'll see dry spots/fraying if it goes a couple days without water. I believe irrigation is a must for this turf. Very little to no seedheads is also an observation (huge positive in visual quality). My PGR program could be assisting with that.

Also, at 255 GDD and need to spray PGR again.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Dropped the Predator onto the PGM 22 and ran around for the first cut in 11 days. Barely cut anything off 😮😮. Dumped water on after cut. Still cutting at 5/8".


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Monaco is doing great. I did a mini scalp to 3/8 last week and have a fair amount of new, clean growth. I haven't put any peremergent out this year. Quality wise it's where I want it. Only knock is drought tolerance compared to my U3 in the front. Not a big deal because I have irrigation. Even though it's not recommended on first year grass, I plan to overseed this fall.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Monaco did great and made it to fall. I scaled and verticut and put in ~15-20lbs/k of PRG. I'll run it through the spring and verticut/spray out in May. Here's one transition photo and two of today ~ 1 month after seeding. Love the PRG.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Back in business for 2022. Scalped and verticut rye/ sprayed with msm and Celsius. Pulled some plugs and analyzed soil for bermuda rhizome and stolons. Seems to be good to go.


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## boots4321 (Apr 3, 2019)

Recovery coming along. Amazed at how much common has come back. I will say my recovery has been rough since I was quite hard on it.


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