# Togo's 2021 Lawn Journal



## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Well with all of last years festivities I didn't have much time to be very active on here but let's hope for a better 2021!

I did however accomplish a lot last year in the yard. I finally fixed and found all my sprinkler heads including two that we're completely buried under trees. Moved them into the yard and that should solve the dry spot I was having where no matter what I did I never got good coverage. I also started the season with 4 failed solenoids so I replaced and rewired it all up. Consequently this fixed some gremlins I had been dealing with since moving into the house and was much easier than I realized. Wish I did that sooner.





I was also having lots of issues with drainage on one side of the house so at the wife's request I addressed that first which meant changing the pitch of the lawn to get water away from the house and built in a French drain that feeds to the front yard with a pop up. So this meant I'm doing a reno if I'm getting this in depth. I ordered 15 yards of top soil from Delea here on LI, and began spreading it in the back yard and re-pitching everything while leveling it all out as smooth as possible.





(Rented a sod cutter and took some of this grass here and moved to front yard instead of killing it)



I also redid the side area of my house which was mostly just some river stones that had been there for who knows how long. I put down about 3300lbs of crushed blue stone and really like how it turned out. There is a weed barrier underneath.







On August 20th I was seed down with equal parts Bluebank, Bewitched, Mazama. 


First germination on Aug 27!






September 21st




October 4th


October 19th


While doing all this I decided to dethattch the front and over seed with a TTTF mix on August 27th. Didn't take a lot of pictures of it but here it was at the end of the season. Ultimately it came out pretty good for it really being a last minute thought.

October 19th


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

On Thursday I got my soil samples collected and mailed out so looking forward to how it compares to last year. Tonight I got a 3 month rate of Prodiamine put down just before a .5" rainfall for tomorrow morning.

While getting my Prodiamine down I got a real good look at the lawn, both front and back, where I didn't do a fall pre-e. In hindsight I probably should have put one down after the seed germinated and matured enough to allow me to do so. End result is not much as far as weeds in front, just a few here or there but the back saw way more Poa A germination than I anticipated. I killed off the grass early in hopes of killing off any Poa and to stop the seeds from getting into the seed bed. Then I fallowed my dirt for a few weeks in an attempt to trick anything to germinate prior to seed down but I still see a good amount of areas with Poa. I'm gonna try to hand pull as much as possible this week as well as weed the beds, which is where all my other weeds are currently(hairy bittercrest mostly). I have a plugger so if any of the spots are too bad I can try plugging here and there to fill it in but most seemed to be small.

Lastly, the snow mold damage doesn't look too bad but I'll have to address that, I presume you just rake it out? Have some powdery mildew going on along the very shady side of the lawn but idk that there is a lot to do for that chemically, and possibly some red thread in the front. Was hard to tell as the sun was setting.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

I just read through quickly on some of your journey over the years. The transformation of your property is stunning keep up the great work. I'll be following you for some pointers.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

M32075 said:


> I just read through quickly on some of your journey over the years. The transformation of your property is stunning keep up the great work. I'll be following you for some pointers.


Thanks I appreciate it. Honestly the wealth of knowledge of so many people here is amazing and that's what's gotten me this far. It absolutely blows me away. I try to absorb it all but mostly end up with dozens of screen shots of people's recommendations 😆


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Yesterday I got back my results on the soil samples. I'm happy to see that between 2018 and now I've managed to raise my pH effectively getting it to my target of 6.5 pH. I'm referencing the  Soil Remediation Guidelines thread to pull info on what and how to address these results best I can.




In 2018 & 2019, my test results showed my K levels were low (2018 43ppm front & 70 ppm back; 2019 49 ppm & 71 ppm), so to amend I had applied SOP along with no phosphorus fert high in potassium at about 8.5lbs of K/M over the course of the year broken up into smaller feedings of .5-1lb K/M.

In 2020 I was much less deficient with 119ppm & 146ppm but despite using a a fertilizer with K over the year (24-0-11) I'm still showing deficiency again for this year, as you can see in the results (79ppm&94ppm). Definitely going to be needing some high K products this year, probably going to need a few bags of SOP.

Sulfur I often see listed as a product on many of the fertilizers I see so I'm a little surprised that hasn't risen more over the years but tbh I don't really know how much of an effect it has on the lawn, and I'm sure it's not nearly as important as correcting pH levels and a K deficiency so I haven't give it too much thought but the SOP should help raise it a little and I'll continue to search for it in ferts as well.

Boron, idk what to do here. I saw a video once about using Borax on your lawn and I'll have to really dive into this one because I'm scared I'll screw this one up and kill something. It's a micro so I'm assuming it's probably not nearly as important as the other things I've been addressing.

Time to go fert shopping and see what's available. If anyone sees something I'm overlooking or misunderstanding please let me know, I'm trying to follow along with the info but it's still relatively foreign to me.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I would focus on SOP for the K and sulfur. Your CEC is towards the low side, so the K might be leaching out. Try to only mulch mow. I would leave boron along unless there is lawn specific issue that we cant explain by the other nutrients. Your pH is really good at 6.5.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

g-man said:


> I would focus on SOP for the K and sulfur. Your CEC is towards the low side, so the K might be leaching out. Try to only mulch mow. I would leave boron along unless there is lawn specific issue that we cant explain by the other nutrients. Your pH is really good at 6.5.


Thanks @g-man for the input. What should I be targeting as a CEC? I did notice it stayed about the same as the 2020s (9.3/8.8) results and mostly better than 2018 (5.2/7.5) & 2019 (4.8/9.1). Our soil is sandy here on the island and per waypoints soil texture analysis I did in 2018 I have Sandy Loam and Loamy Sand.



I mulch all year long, everything from the grass to the leaves. I'm assuming organic fert sources are gonna be the only other way for me to improve my cec drastically?

EDIT- so after reading through Ridgerunner's soil test posts I realize that I'm confusing CEC with OM and that organic ferts probably would not directly increase CEC based on being organic but would have an effect based on adjusting things like " Ca, Mg, K and often Na"



Ridgerunner said:


> Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) aka Total Exchange Capacity (TEC)
> Two methods are used for determining CEC/TEC: The Summation Method and the Measured Method.
> 
> The Summation Method
> ...





Ridgerunner said:


> Appropriate for a broad range of soils that have a pH <7.5.
> It is considered a "universal" extractant as it can be employed to extract a number of soil/plant nutrients and can be used for a number of regional soils.
> Mehlich 3 can be employed as an alternative to Bray and/or Olsen for the extraction of Phosphorous (P) and can provide useful (correlated) results over a wide range of soil pH levels. http://www.agronext.iastate.edu/soilfertility/info/ComparisonofMehlich-3OlsenandBray-P1Procedures.pdf
> 
> ...


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The only way to drastic change the CEC is to change the soil (more clay?). I heard you can have some effects with biochar, but it is not something I have done a lot of research. My soil is at 20+ so I dont need more CEC.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

So I did find this link talking about CEC and it references sandy soils, such as mine, so it gave a little extra clarity.AgSource Laboratories

Seems I can aim for 5-10 CEC (so 10) as a CEC goal with pH, clay content, and OM being the ways for me to adjust these levels. My pH is where I need it so I can maintain that now, cant really add clay to the soil, but can add OM (mulching as suggested and organics).

So my fertility goals are:

Add K

 Maintain pH

 Add S

 Add OM

and it appears that I could benefit by doing more frequent apps at reduced rates. I may just aim to spoon feed every two weeks.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

:thumbup:


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

g-man said:


> :thumbup:


 as always, thanks for your input @g-man


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Togo said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > I would focus on SOP for the K and sulfur. Your CEC is towards the low side, so the K might be leaching out. Try to only mulch mow. I would leave boron along unless there is lawn specific issue that we cant explain by the other nutrients. Your pH is really good at 6.5.
> ...


That took an unexpected turn in interpretation, :lol: but I think you got it right in the end. CEC is the amount of negative holding sites of the soil. Like a bucket. The size of the bucket is indirectly determined by measuring the amount of cations the testing extractant knocks off of the holding sites. Adding more cations (e.g. Ca, Mg, K etc.) like adding more water to a bucket full of water wont make the bucket bigger. In soil, the holding sites are due to clay and humate (well decayed OM). So theoretically, the more humate and clay, the bigger the bucket. Unfortunately, making the bucket bigger isn't easy. Some agronomist have estimated that adding 1% of humate (OM) will result in an increase of about 2 CEC. Based on that assumption, It would take 230 lbs/M of humate (OM) to raise CEC by 1. Much better and easier to let root cycling take care of any CEC adjustment unless your CEC is below 4.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Ridgerunner said:


> That took an unexpected turn in interpretation, :lol: but I think you got it right in the end. CEC is the amount of negative holding sites of the soil. Like a bucket. The size of the bucket is indirectly determined by measuring the amount of cations the testing extractant knocks off of the holding sites. Adding more cations (e.g. Ca, Mg, K etc.) like adding more water to a bucket full of water wont make the bucket bigger. In soil, the holding sites are due to clay and humate (well decayed OM). So theoretically, the more humate and clay, the bigger the bucket. Unfortunately, making the bucket bigger isn't easy. Some agronomist have estimated that adding 1% of humate (OM) will result in an increase of about 2 CEC. Based on that assumption, It would take 230 lbs/M of humate (OM) to raise CEC by 1. Much better and easier to let root cycling take care of any CEC adjustment unless your CEC is below 4.


Thanks for the info Ridgerunner and your example really puts into perspective how much adding humates to the soil will adjust things at the quantities I'd be applying. Basically the biggest thing I could do to improve it was to get the pH in range and just continue to make sure my macros are all in order.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

:thumbup:


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Togo said:


> Ridgerunner said:
> 
> 
> > That took an unexpected turn in interpretation, :lol: but I think you got it right in the end. CEC is the amount of negative holding sites of the soil. Like a bucket. The size of the bucket is indirectly determined by measuring the amount of cations the testing extractant knocks off of the holding sites. Adding more cations (e.g. Ca, Mg, K etc.) like adding more water to a bucket full of water wont make the bucket bigger. In soil, the holding sites are due to clay and humate (well decayed OM). So theoretically, the more humate and clay, the bigger the bucket. Unfortunately, making the bucket bigger isn't easy. Some agronomist have estimated that adding 1% of humate (OM) will result in an increase of about 2 CEC. Based on that assumption, It would take 230 lbs/M of humate (OM) to raise CEC by 1. Much better and easier to let root cycling take care of any CEC adjustment unless your CEC is below 4.
> ...


I agree totally with this plan. Stay the path keep mulch mowing. Adding OM is a long process.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Haven't had a lot of time this week to do much but managed today to spend a few hours in the back yard cleaning out the beds of weeds, picking up sticks and decided to give a quick cut with a fiskars push reel I picked up a few weeks ago. The mower wasn't cutting paper when I got it but I adjusted the reel to bed knife and back lapped it and now it cuts paper very nicely. Overall I thought it came out pretty nice and clipped off a lot of the brown on the grass tips but a lot of areas haven't really started growing yet. HOC was set to 1.75".


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

M32075 said:


> I agree totally with this plan. Stay the path keep mulch mowing. Adding OM is a long process.


I was browsing online at the inventory of SiteOne I usually go to for ferts and they have a product by Lesco called CarbonPro-G that supposedly adds a lot of OM to soil and improves CEC. My only concern is it says it helps to optimize pH and I don't want to add to my pH but merely maintain its current level. So I'm going to email Lesco about it and see what they say.





Going to be grabbing 4 or 5 bags of this 19-0-19 for my nutrients this year and spoon feed every two weeks to maintain levels in the lawn as well as spray a 0-0-25 I picked up super cheap a few years ago and never used.





Planned to pick up a bag of this and apply at the maintenance application setting.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

I'm looking at the 19/0/19 . It's almost all slow release my concern with spoon feeding is It's almost impossible to control the nitrogen release. If you want to spoon feed go with a quick release so you can hit the brakes if needed or just drop the 19/0/19 but don't spoon feed it. I'm far from a expert I would bounce this off a few of the pros here. The other products are interesting but the big question is I have a site one in the next town I can buy from them?


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

They've sold to me at two locations no problem.

I know most of it is slow released but I figured each dosing would be in a different state of breaking down but idk maybe it won't actually work like that? I'll do more looking into it...


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

M32075 said:


> I'm looking at the 19/0/19 . It's almost all slow release my concern with spoon feeding is It's almost impossible to control the nitrogen release. If you want to spoon feed go with a quick release so you can hit the brakes if needed or just drop the 19/0/19 but don't spoon feed it. I'm far from a expert I would bounce this off a few of the pros here. The other products are interesting but the big question is I have a site one in the next town I can buy from them?


So after doing some reading it seems like the slow release would not work the way I was thinking it might plus I'd probably have it still releasing in summer months which Wouldn't be ideal, so good catch @M32075 :thumbup:

Lebanon makes a 19-0-19 that's only like 3% slow release so that may be my best bet but I'd have to go to a different location to get or get SOP, also a different location and harder to find, and use with the bag Urea 46-0-0 that I currently have.

Right now I think the first doses I'll apply will be spoon feeding the 0-0-25 and 46-0-0 I have already, all of which will be quick release and then worry about trying to source a solution for after summer.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Did you drop any fertilizer yet?


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

M32075 said:


> Did you drop any fertilizer yet?


Not yet. I'm debating when to start the first app. I ended up finding straight urea & sop so I think my best bet will be to spoon feed .25lbs/M per week but not sure if I should start now or wait another one more week.

Did you drop yet?


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Togo said:


> M32075 said:
> 
> 
> > Did you drop any fertilizer yet?
> ...


I didn't drop yet my lawn is just starting to wake up this week with some warm weather. On the fence when I'm doing it.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

M32075 said:


> Togo said:
> 
> 
> > M32075 said:
> ...


My front is awake, growing, and is in need of a cut (it's first of the season). The back is still slowly waking up but you can see areas that haven't started growing yet. My original plan was to start fert next week sometime because it should be growing pretty good then I think.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

That looks great for early April your way ahead of me. I did a quick front cut yesterday zero clippings


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

M32075 said:


> That looks great for early April your way ahead of me. I did a quick front cut yesterday zero clippings


I set my deck height at 3.25" for the front and it took a fair amount off in some spots. It's definitely awake there. I hit the the back with the rotary quickly just to suck up any small sticks etc and then blew it all out. Got all the small rocks and sticks out of the grass. Gonna reel mow it again tomorrow and see how it responds. I also want to get a blanket spray of tenacity down as well as some Bifenthrin because the ticks are out already.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Got down an application of lime at a maintenance rate and put down some of the Lesco ProCarbon. I don't think I'll do a second lime application even though the bag recommends two apps, spring and fall, I'm worried it'll raise pH instead of maintaining. I'll possibly do another soil sample in fall to see but I don't know yet.

The ProCarbon spread pretty well in the spreader, no clogging issues whatsoever. 


Got out and edged up the beds in the back. Gonna finish up this week in the front.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Didn't have a lot of time this week with work but managed a quick mow with the push reel at 1.75" in the back yesterday. It's definitely starting to grow more but there are also spots that aren't growing at all yet. Hopefully next week it really starts to go since it's supposed to be in 60s at least all week. I guess this is the "slow green up" of KBG I'm experiencing.

I've also noted that the Poa a is much worse than I initially thought so going to have to think of something for that. Luckily the grass that I suspected was Triv has not been seen again in the yard so the Glypho timing last year was good.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Finished up all the edging today and did my first reel mow in the back with the Toro set to 7/8". Overall I'm happy with how it went. Things are still not really going yet so I'm going to try and drop some fert tomorrow, about .25lbs N I think.





Probably the worst of my Poa a


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Got in another quick mow at 7/8" in the back and 3.25" in the front. Put down my first app of fert for the season on the reno, .25lbs of N & K per M then watered it in. It's a little yellow/brown in a few spots so hoping the fert helps.


At the moment it's definitely more difficult to see where my last pass but hopefully as the season goes on it'll be more apparent.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

You should see a good pop I'm thinking this week with warm weather and a light feed. Beds look fantastic nice and crisp keep up the good work


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

M32075 said:


> You should see a good pop I'm thinking this week with warm weather and a light feed. Beds look fantastic nice and crisp keep up the good work


Thanks for the compliment on the beds and that was exactly my thoughts/hopes on the lawn.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Haven't done much in the yard this week other than watch it, the fert is making a noticeable difference and causing it to green up a bit although the last two days have been much chillier so idk if it's gonna slow down the top growth a lot or not. I decided to make a HOC adjustment tool and since I have access to a welder at work, I welded my nut on instead of using epoxy. I don't know how to weld though so I watched a couple YouTube videos about the machine first but overall I'm happy with how it turned out(it's not pretty).


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I think you should weld another piece in the back to make it like T to prevent it from bending.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

g-man said:


> I think you should weld another piece in the back to make it like T to prevent it from bending.


If it flexes a lot I could do that as the piece I bought was three feet long and I cut in half.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Cut the front today at 3.25" then cleaned out the deck, sharpened blades, installed stripe kit and cut again. I think the front is looking good given it has large patches of Triv and Annua. I want to reno it next year possibly but I think if I do it'll have to be TTTF due to the slope of the yard and the slow germination of KBG. I'd really love KBG but I just dunno it'll take with that slope. Trying to figure out if I should nuke the triv now and deal with bare spots until fall just to make sure I don't have any come back next year when I go to reno it or just make sure I get a good early kill next year?





Cut the back three times and there are still stragglers all over but I think that's just gonna be the case given the FOC, HOC, combined with an 11-bladed reel. Also seeing lots of brown and yellow in the grass which looks to be just dead grass from last year and some thatch build up maybe. It's not in the whole yard but just some sections. I'm thinking maybe do a dethatch this week. Probably should have done it sooner but I don't think it's too late yet considering it's only just started to really get going.











The Poa A in the back is driving me nuts, I'm contemplating attacking it with Tenacity like this when I get back from Texas (mid May) and seeing if it dies off come June heat. Also put down some fert spikes for the evergreens, weeded a couple beds, and did some pest maintenance by refilling the bait boxes along the property.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Quick mow tonight, used the fiskars push mower set to 11/16" (17mm) vs the 7/8" (22mm) yesterday. Also dropped .25lbs N and P via Urea and SOP in anticipation of the rain we are getting tonight into tomorrow.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Mowed again on Monday after dinner. I had some wash boarding going on from the fiskars push mower but a good amount disappeared after cutting with the greensmaster.





You can see the massive Poa spot in the second picture. I'm hoping to kill this off this spring and that I can plug and laterally fill most of it through the year. Possibly put down some extra seed this fall if need be.

Here are a couple more shots of the Poa infestation and the areas I'm hoping I can fill in come fall. Still a work in progress. I also need to fix this edge in the first picture not being straight after the angle change because it's driving me nuts. 






I also need to level the lawn with a top dressing of sand but I think I'm gonna wait until fall to do just because I won't have time until middle of May, I don't have a drag level or leveling rake yet, and it may be too much for the lawn with everything else this spring and rising temps by the time I get to it.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

So after two weeks away I came home to a relatively over grown yard. The front looked like it was closer to 5-6" and the back seemed to be mostly around 2-3". I broke the 1/3 rule yesterday and cut most everything in half and then gave the front it's first fertilizer of the season and gave .5 lbs of N & K in the reno area. Tomorrow I'll try to give the back another cut and stay it back down to about 7/8"-1".

I'm pretty sure this is Triv and I may cross post it in the weed ID thread but if anyone can definitively confirm feel free to comment. It appears that maybes 25% of my front lawn may contain this.











It's driven me crazy for the longest time and I'm contemplating what's the best course of action to rid myself of it mostly because I don't want it to spread into my backyard.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Mowed yesterday and today at 15/16", trying out a bit taller to see how it does. It looks a good bit better slightly taller until I level out some of the rough spots. Did double wides today and certainly like that better.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Would anyone know what might be causing this one spot to be yellow/brown and not grow? It hasn't grown at all yet this year and won't green up. It doesn't appear to be spreading though.


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## bosox_5 (Jun 20, 2018)

I would guess foot traffic coming off the stairs.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

bosox_5 said:


> I would guess foot traffic coming off the stairs.


I thought about that but the kids and wife never go over that spot and when I pointed it out to my wife she said the same thing, "no one ever walks right there".

Personally up until now I was thinking it was a watering issue, as in it's getting too much. Basically that the water may be running to that spot and pooling. I'm gonna have to audit my sprinklers to tell though.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Just been trying to maintain the 15/16" cut. Put down PGR for the first time the other day, it seems to be having an effect. I wasn't sure if the dosing was enough but I wanted to be cautious so I figured less is best and it seems to be working well so I will probably keep it the same.





Also had a swing set installed for the kids, which will inevitably lead to some bare spots but it is what it is. I took plugs from under the set out to put else where in the bare spots because I'll be putting a sand box over that grass.









I think that bare spot by my steps may be caused by dry soil and soil compaction. That side of the house was alway excessively wet which I tried to combat by regrading the soil when I did my reno and adjusting my sprinklers to put out less water. I may have to tweak the sprinkler coverage a bit more as I may have gone too far in the wrong direction.


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## The Lawn Monk (Mar 15, 2021)

Wheeew, those double wides looks fantastic man! Looks like a race track coming around the bend like that. Hope you're enjoying the mower! Just did my first app of PGR the other night too, was a little nervous, I went half of a half of a half a dose haha. Did you sign up for the greenkeeper app to keep track?


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

The Lawn Monk said:


> Wheeew, those double wides looks fantastic man! Looks like a race track coming around the bend like that. Hope you're enjoying the mower! Just did my first app of PGR the other night too, was a little nervous, I went half of a half of a half a dose haha. Did you sign up for the greenkeeper app to keep track?


Thanks and I'm loving the mower! I did start using the greenkeeper app this year specifically because I wanted to use PGR. It looks like it'll be a big help with tracking the effects of the apps.


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## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Nothing much to report. Just been maintaining the HOC at 3/4", which I think may be my favorite height I've tried so far.

Need to apply PGR, Urea, and some iron, hopefully I can manage to get it down in the next few days.


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