# Justins 2020 3 Acre lawn Journal



## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Hello all!

After many questions answered throughout this site, I am starting the journey for my KBG yard. I planned on doing a mono of Bluebank however I have chickened out and plan on going with Bluebank/Bewitched/Mazama with the fear of disease killing my whole yard. With so much ground and investment, I feel the safer route is the best option for me. Anyways, I plan on installing my own irrigation when we gain possession between mid-July and mid-August when I plan on seeding. I have done one kill already and another is due any day. After that kill, I am having 700 CY of soil brought in to level out the back yard a bit. I will post pictures and update this as I go on but any feedback is welcomed! Thanks again to everyone who has helped answer my questions. It has been extremely valuable! A special shout-out to g-man for the cool seasons guide, I feel like I might have read it 7-8 times already. I am shooting for that tier 2 yard or better.

Thanks again everyone!


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Wow. Def following.

What equipment are you using/ planning to use apart from the spray rig pictured?


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

uts said:


> Wow. Def following.
> 
> What equipment are you using/ planning to use apart from the spray rig pictured?


If I am honest, I am new to the elite yard business. I pushed mowed my last house with a toro super recycler. I believe I am going to start out with a grasshopper ZTR mower. Their spraying attachment seems pretty solid along with the need for a snowblower (unless anyone has advice on a different ZTR mower that would provide a better cut?). I also need to add an injection system into the irrigation due to the hard water (don't want to stain the new concrete!) which will allow me to add my liquid fert and/or supplements too.

Our dirt started getting delivered tonight, so once that is leveled out I will use a skid and harley rake to work the stones out and level it the best I can.


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## rob13psu (May 20, 2018)

Tip of the cap. That's a lot of real estate to cover.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

What are you planning to use for the first few mow?

Also dialing irrigation and new seeding seem to be on a tight timeline. Not trying to be a buzz kill just thinking out loud


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

This is awesome! Can't wait to see it come together!


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

uts said:


> What are you planning to use for the first few mow?
> 
> Also dialing irrigation and new seeding seem to be on a tight timeline. Not trying to be a buzz kill just thinking out loud


As much as it will suck, I am going to use my trusted old toro push mower for a few mows. I figured if I created zones and broke the mowing up it wouldn't be too bad. I plan to start installing the irrigation in mid-July to give me a month. Are you thinking the actual install or the finishing touches to the system is cutting it close?


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

And I thought I had a lot of Turf. That is going to be a lot to manage. I am looking for ways to reduce the amount of grass I have. Are you on a well?


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Justin9314 said:


> As much as it will suck, I am going to use my trusted old toro push mower for a few mows. I figured if I created zones and broke the mowing up it wouldn't be too bad. I plan to start installing the irrigation in mid-July to give me a month. Are you thinking the actual install or the finishing touches to the system is cutting it close?


Yeah its manageable but it does take a decent amount of time. It will be in the hours for every acre to be honest.

As for the dialing of irrigation, i mean the adjustments. Seedlings are very finicky about getting watered properly so having a good irrigation setup is crucial, especially for a lawn that big.

Also, as above, what is your water source and what kind of pump are you looking at? With 3 acres of watering you are looking at a lot of time on watering, not just for the initial phase but overall so hope you have a big pump.

I'm saying this because when I looked at my irrigation nozzle charts, I was surprised that even with a big size nozzle at 50 PSI of pressure it takes about an hour to put down 0.4" of water. With that much water going out there are not a lot of sprinklers you can run simultaneously. That increases the overall zones and therefore run times.

Read this website. It will help you overall

https://www.irrigationtutorials.com/


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

uts said:


> Justin9314 said:
> 
> 
> > As much as it will suck, I am going to use my trusted old toro push mower for a few mows. I figured if I created zones and broke the mowing up it wouldn't be too bad. I plan to start installing the irrigation in mid-July to give me a month. Are you thinking the actual install or the finishing touches to the system is cutting it close?
> ...


I appreciate your insight! I actually have read that website maybe 4 times or so but put a lot of focus on the install part instead of any fine tuning, so I will have to revisit that. We do have a well and paid the extra money to put in a 3 HP pump that is a variable speed pump. That guide doesn't really discuss this style of well pump but from other sources I was able to find, this seemed like the best option. The well guy programmed it at 65 PSI (and 70GPM but I cannot test that until the plumbing is all done which should be tomorrow or Monday)but it is digitally controlled and said I could go pretty high before being concerned. I had them put a 2" valve right after the well before it even enters the house.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Yesterday I did another round of Gly. Weeds were getting fairly tall again (over 12") so I figured it was time. I am slightly behind schedule with the GLY but the builder graded a little late so I wanted an extra week for the weeds to start growing. Did get my soil test back and will be addressing both the Phosphorous and Potassium by the end of this week. All of the dirt has been delivered which should be graded by the end of next week.

Still waiting on landscape plans/irrigation design, those should be done by next week but it makes me nervous that it is so close to my seed date. The good news is I am on vacation for two solid weeks starting in mid-July so hopefully, I will have those in and I can push thru the irrigation install, which I am predicting that it won't be fun.

One detail I haven't fully decided yet is how do people do their final grading (i plan on using a Harley rake) after irrigation install? Don't install heads and just plant flags or just try to avoid the heads and use a hand rake?


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

^^ glad to hear that you have that time off. From what I have seen, starting from seed is always nervous, so you are not alone.

As far as your soil test goes, keep in mind that when you put down starter fertilizer you will have ALOT of P in that.

There is a recent video by Pete @gciturf where he leveled his yard with heads. That should help.


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## gatorguy (Mar 13, 2020)

Dragging around a lawn level lute with your ATV or doing circles will help. Connor Ward has a video on how he made his. If you have a welder then it's super easy. 10ft long gives a nice wide swath.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Appreciate the info from both of you. Just getting antsy to get started but a month or so to go. I did get my first bag of seed in though! The landscape plan should be done Wednesday so I can finalize my irrigation plan to order the PVC in. All coming together.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

What a wild ride. I would have never thought that COVID would have impacted my yard plans... Either way, it is all coming together, maybe a week late or so. My goal was to plant today actually however due to a shortage in sprinkler equipment, and the seed taking significantly longer than expected. Today, I used a Harley rake to prepare the yard for seed and to level it out. I plan on installing irrigation next weekend (hopefully parts are in by Thursday). I actually might do my seeding a little backward but my current plan is to seed first, then install irrigation. I feel with a mechanical seeder, it would be best to do it before the sprinkler heads are in the way. I think I will have some spots to seed next year but at least we will have a yard. One downside which I am bummed about is the seed came in with .08% weed. I guess my error was just assuming with Bluebank being a high quality seed it would have just come in like my Mazama or Bewitched with zero seed. Ultimately it is what it is, but I think it will force me to use tenancy when I was on the fence about it.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

I had to cut my expansion in half due to not being able to get irrigation parts as well! Crazy I never thought this would be a thing either. Your going to have an awesome yard when it all comes together!!


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Worked on the drainage tiles for the gutters today. Fingers crossed the irrigation parts start to come in. Either way I'm dropping seed this weekend because I feel I can't wait any longer.

Trencher broke multiple times. Hit a super wet spot by the house that I am going to have to keep an eye on. Strange thing is we haven't gotten any measurable amount of rain like most of the Midwest yet there was maybe 6" of water at one point. Guess clay really holds on the water, especially in the shade.

Always a journey.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)




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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Well, more roadblocks... I was SO excited to get this project started. Was able to get all the parts today for the irrigation. Brought the last load home, about to hook up the trailer to get the skid loader and Mother Nature slammed the door unfortunately. Two positives, I didn't seed so it is not a washout and it allowed me to see which areas needed a little extra leveling done. On the flip side, I will now be planting three weeks behind schedule . I sure hope it stays halfway warm.


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## BBLOCK (Jun 8, 2020)

oh man, when I first looked at the pics before I began reading I was just hoping your seed hadn't gone down!

im glad it didn't! hope you have a set of harrows or a leveling drag. may be a blessing! you can fix the low spots before you sow!


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Yes that will be the plan. News said we received 3.1 inches of rain in a little over 2 hours. Pretty crazy!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I keep forgetting you are in Indiana. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday look like storm chances.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

g-man said:


> I keep forgetting you are in Indiana. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday look like storm chances.


The plan is to plant Friday if all goes well. What's your experience tel you from when the point of no return date is. When is "too late" to plant KBG?

Is there anything I can do to be more aggressive to speed things up before the frost comes?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Purdue recommends 01Aug to 01Sept for seeding in northern Indiana. You are only off by a few days. I don't think you have dogs/kids that will be playing in the 3 acres. Hope for warm weather and you should be fine. You might still have some thin areas, but it will be ok in the spring.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

g-man said:


> Purdue recommends 01Aug to 01Sept for seeding in northern Indiana. You are only off by a few days. I don't think you have dogs/kids that will be playing in the 3 acres. Hope for warm weather and you should be fine. You might still have some thin areas, but it will be ok in the spring.


As always, thanks for your wisdom and expertise.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Glad to see that you didnt have a washout. Acreage looks good, nice and flat. Quick question, where did you source your seed from?


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

uts said:


> Glad to see that you didnt have a washout. Acreage looks good, nice and flat. Quick question, where did you source your seed from?


Thanks! A few low spots that I will try to get squared away by next weekend. I had to source my seed from three different places. I bought the #300 of bluebank from a place called Burch seed out of NW Ohio. I reached out directly to United Seeds and that's who they referred me to. The bewitched was ordered from Indysod and the Mazma was ordered from CJFord.com.

Burch Seed and CJFord were great to work with and gave a fair price. However Indysod clearly didn't need my business and it was pulling teeth to get them to ship the seed to me.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Justin9314 seed down?


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

@g-man yes sir! I am fine tuning the irrigation still, however. I underestimated the irrigation project to say the least lol however it was worth saving the amount of money I did by doing it myself. Seed went down last Sunday. I see the 80s all of this week so hopefully, a few green spots coming up soon! Since my timing is off, I am assuming I will be skipping PreM for the fall and just jump on it in the Spring?


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

We have germination! I really was trying to keep my emotions in check and kept faith that all of the roadblocks would not turn this into a failure and a missed season (prob the most important part because the mud tracking into the house is about to send my wife over the edge haha). Day 16 after seed down (Seeded at 11 PM though so maybe day 15?).

The real question, do I throw down the starter fert I have in the garage from Lesco or do I source Urea to spoon feed it to try to jump-start it? The weather has been unseasonably cold, but this week is lining up to be a really nice week from a weather perspective. In the 70s and some days near 80, until next Wednesday where it dips back down to the low 60s.

@g-man


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Justin9314 said:


> The real question, do I throw down the starter fert I have in the garage from Lesco or do I source Urea to spoon feed it to try to jump-start it? The weather has been unseasonably cold, but this week is lining up to be a really nice week from a weather perspective. In the 70s and some days near 80, until next Wednesday where it dips back down to the low 60s.
> 
> @g-man


Your P was low from the soil test that you had put up. I would put down starter.

Need pictures.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

I will try to snag some pictures tomorrow night when I am home. They are extremely hard to see during the day but they are there at night for sure. Hopefully, with this warmer weather, I can get a nice pop over the next week.

As always, thanks for the insight!



uts said:


> Justin9314 said:
> 
> 
> > The real question, do I throw down the starter fert I have in the garage from Lesco or do I source Urea to spoon feed it to try to jump-start it? The weather has been unseasonably cold, but this week is lining up to be a really nice week from a weather perspective. In the 70s and some days near 80, until next Wednesday where it dips back down to the low 60s.
> ...


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Hopefully more starts to pop through. This is the lightest section but I am kind of doubting the 2 lb rate I did. Likely will need to add additional seed next year. Either way, considering the size of all of the projects that were going on, I am just excited to see green lol.



uts said:


> Justin9314 said:
> 
> 
> > The real question, do I throw down the starter fert I have in the garage from Lesco or do I source Urea to spoon feed it to try to jump-start it? The weather has been unseasonably cold, but this week is lining up to be a really nice week from a weather perspective. In the 70s and some days near 80, until next Wednesday where it dips back down to the low 60s.
> ...


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Starting to really gain some traction with the grass popping through. Much larger patches of grass now.

I do have two questions for those with experience. Since I am behind schedule from a planting standpoint, should I still mow? Obviously does not need it now, but any guesses if it will actually needed mowed before the season is over? Second question is advice on balancing watering the new yard and winterizing the irrigation system. When should I pull the plug without jepordizing the grass?

As always, I am thankful for everyone on this forum! I cannot wait til next year already haha.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)




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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)




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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

That green fuzz is all good news. What are the tire marks from?.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Ha, yea those are from a bobcat that needs raked out (its how I seeded the yard). The picture makes it look worse than it truly but I am not too concerned about it because I plan to install my own pool off the back patio next spring. To do this, I will need a concrete truck to drive on that side of the yard. So I already have plans for a small reno next year to fix whatever damage happens on that side when the pool install comes. I was ultimately hoping to install the pool first but due to COVID, it has delayed the parts from arriving. (Hope to get the final parts this Friday however it is too cold outside to install).

Two questions for you though uts, Since I am behind schedule from a planting standpoint, should I still mow? Obviously does not need it now, but any guesses if it will actually need mowed before the season is over? Second question is advice on balancing watering the new yard and winterizing the irrigation system. When should I pull the plug without jepordizing the grass?


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## HomerGuy (Jun 5, 2017)

I'm not too far from you in south east Michigan.

I seeded a 35k new construction home a few years back with 100% KBG. I too had a very late seed down date (Sept 17th), and I did not mow the first season. I pretty much made it through germination, go to the pout stage, and then the cold weather hit. The next spring was my first mow and I also hit it with a three way herbicide for the first time in the spring.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

HomerGuy said:


> I'm not too far from you in south east Michigan.
> 
> I seeded a 35k new construction home a few years back with 100% KBG. I too had a very late seed down date (Sept 17th), and I did not mow the first season. I pretty much made it through germination, go to the pout stage, and then the cold weather hit. The next spring was my first mow and I also hit it with a three way herbicide for the first time in the spring.


Homer, I really appreciate the post. I just read through your whole post and it appears I have followed your path to a T almost. Your yard looked great in the pictures I saw. Makes me excited for next year to see what it will look like, especially in the fall.

Since you have irrigation, I am curious on if you would have started your nitrogen blitz sooner if it would have had any ill effects? I was reading on a post here that KBG can handle pretty much as much as Nitrogen as one could throw at it?I will likely circle back around to this next year, but I wonder if I did .25N weekly pretty much all season long what it would look like?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

You won't mow this year. We are going to get really cold. Winterize your irrigation before you get a hard freeze that could damage your above ground pipes.


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## HomerGuy (Jun 5, 2017)

@Justin9314 Just temper your expectations in the spring and have patience. Mine looked pretty rough coming out of winter, but once the warmer weather hit, the grass took off quickly and filled in well.

I can't really comment on the .25 N question too much. When I moved to the larger property, I started using urea as my primary source of N, and found that I could realistically only apply it as low as .5 N with my spreader. If I closed off the hopper on my spreader any more than nothing would come out.

I did put down a lot of N that first full season though and by the fall it was looking super nice.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Just a quick update. We have a decent amount of coverage coming in. I think it will pretty much all fill in next year except for the large square area that has not germinated yet. I am not sure if it washed out or if there is something else happening. If I had to guess this area is maybe 60' x 40'. I was reading through this site of people growing pots of grass in the winter. I was thinking of doing this to plug the large area come spring. Thoughts?

Also there appears to be some clover coming in. It is only growing in on the areas where top soil was brought in. At this point, should I just address it come spring or take action now?

Happy Friday!


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

I looked over your journal a few days back to see if there was any update, glad to see this.

I would leave the weeds be. Treat them in the spring as needed.

For areas that are absolutely bare, I would dormant seed them in late winter, come spring you should have good germination.

Edit: for fertilization next spring I would do anywhere between 0.25lbs-0.4lbs of N per M every 7-10 days. If you are comfortable spraying I wouldn't shy from spraying either since that will promote lesser top growth. Use the cheapest source you can find and go at it.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Thanks @uts . At this stage in growth, will I be able to tell the difference in cultivars? I am out of my bewitched and mazma which I planned to order for next spring. Since I mixed it myself, I was worried about patches of mono stand and patches of mixed turf.

I think I am going to attempt to spray. I hope it's common but for some reason I'm extremely nervous to spray lol. I feel like the room for error is smaller but there is a cost savings from what I can tell too.

As always, thank you for the insight. As@HomerGuy mentioned, I'm trying to keep my expectations low, but dang am I excited to have a yard again.


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Is it sad that I am ready for it to snow now??? Finally got my mower in!

I do plan to seed in late winter to try to get some bare spots to come in. My question is if there is an easy way to tell the mixture of cultivars through-out my grass that has germinated? I mixed my own seed (Bluebank, Mazama, and Bewitched). With that said, I used 60% Bluebank, 20 % of Mazama and 20% Bewitched. I will need to order additional Mazama and Bewithced for the next seeding but wanted to make sure things were as uniform as possible.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

That grasshopper is a breast no doubt. I would be excited to mow as well if i had that. Bought it new?

As for the cultivars, I dont think I would be able to identify them. I wouldnt worry and mix them again and dormant seed as needed.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Justin9314 said:


> I do plan to seed in late winter to try to get some bare spots to come in. My question is if there is an easy way to tell the mixture of cultivars through-out my grass that has germinated? I mixed my own seed (Bluebank, Mazama, and Bewitched). With that said, I used 60% Bluebank, 20 % of Mazama and 20% Bewitched. I will need to order additional Mazama and Bewithced for the next seeding but wanted to make sure things were as uniform as possible.


I probably would not be able to differentiate based on looks. Maybe someone with more experience with all cultivars would be able to point out differences based on differing growth rates, but in a freshly mowed lawn, probably darn near indistinguishable. If you already plan on ordering more Mazama and Bewitched, why not just mix again in the same 60-20-20 ratio? Whichever cultivar is most apt to survive in a certain area/condition will thrive the most anyways, no need to overthink it.


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## gatorguy (Mar 13, 2020)

That is one sweet winter rig!


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

Spring is here! I have attached some pictures of how the yard has progressed into winter. I did do some dormant seeding in the large bare spots right before we got 15" of snow. Nothing on the germination side yet however the soil temps are hovering around the high 40's and low 50's right now. It is supposed to get into the 70s next week so hopefully, something will pop then. I did spray my first round of tenacity since I can't do a pre-em yet last week. I do have a decent amount of weeds showing up in the front yard but everything where else is minimal. I got my soil test back today and need to develop a plan to work on the conditions that are fixable. I plan to spoon feed this spring at .5/lbs every 10-14 days using Urea. I also have a 0-52-34 leftover from last year that I think I might put down as well.


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