# rockwalltxguy's 2022 Lawn Journal



## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

So figured I would start a lawn journal for this year. I have a little over 10K sqft of lawn. Turf is Tif419 and 3 years old. Took a soil test in the fall. This is where I stand. My pH is a little bit high. I will check it again later this year as I need to use a starter Fert to get the Phosphorous levels up.



Prior to this year I always used a rotary and kept my grass at around 2.5". This past fall I bought a Mclane Reel and will be using that going forward. Started out last weekend reducing my HOC from 2" to 1 1/2". My grass used to be slightly lower than the neighbors so a definite drastic change this year.



That was (2) 39 gallon bags just on the front yard alone. And really could have been more.

Then this morning took everything down to 1". A Total of (5) 39gallon bags today



We have a super long backyard, about 175ft across so absent of that trampoline my kids insist upon its a perfect fairway.







Plan is to take next weekend off as it will be a bit cold and then cut down to 3/4" the 1st weekend in March. Then finally my full scalp height of between 1/4" and 1/2" by Mid March which is when we typically see all risk of freeze gone. Plan is to maintain a HOC this year between 1/2"-3/4". I will likely be mowing 3 days a week but If that becomes too much will start a PGR schedule. Will be taking an extended vacation in Summer sometime so will likely do a mid summer scalp and then also start some leveling.

Right now I have a company doing my weed control and Fertilizer treatments. They use PGF Balance and PGF Complete Fert and im not sure for weed control but I can say whatever it is its working as I haven't had 1 weed in my entire yard in 2 years. I have been happy with the results thus far so will likely keep them as its 1 less thing to do. If I start to see I need to change I will likely take that over myself as well.

Thanks for looking and feel free to provide suggestions along the way.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Could someone move this to the journal section for him.

Thanks


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Ahh thanks for letting me know. I didn't realize there was a separate sub forum. @Ware could you perhaps move this to the appropriate sub forum?


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

Very smart to break the scalp down into different levels. You're going to love the look of you 419 at sub-inch heights. It's a completely different grass below .75".


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

So yesterday my weed control guy came by and applied 5oz of Prodiamine over my 10K sqft of lawn. Shows it was diluted into about 16gallons of water. Im assuming that's ok? I should be good for Spring weeds now. I haven't had any weeds in my yard in over Two years now so they must be doing something right. They are a local company and I am paying around $500 total for 8 treatments a year(Fert and Weed Control) Not sure how much cheaper It would cost me to do it on my own but I really feel the price is reasonable for me to not have to mess with chemicals.

You can see versus my neighbors on both sides I have zero issues.





Also noticed a pleasant surprise this morning. Im already starting to get some greenup. I haven't even gotten down to my true scalp height yet.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

It's all about AI per 1000sf so no harm using more carrier (water). It probably just helps to get a more even application.


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## robbybobby (May 15, 2017)

rockwalltxguy said:


> So yesterday my weed control guy came by and applied 5oz of Prodiamine over my 10K sqft of lawn. Shows it was diluted into about 16gallons of water. Im assuming that's ok? I should be good for Spring weeds now. I haven't had any weeds in my yard in over Two years now so they must be doing something right. They are a local company and I am paying around $500 total for 8 treatments a year(Fert and Weed Control) Not sure how much cheaper It would cost me to do it on my own but I really feel the price is reasonable for me to not have to mess with chemicals.


It would be exponentially cheaper over a 2-3 year span but time is money as well. 1st year you would have the initial investments, depending on what kind of sprayer you get - Backpacks are typically capped around 4-5gal so you'd be looking at 3x refills per lawn app. Whereas a 9-12 gal walk behind can get into the $600-$1000 range.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

robbybobby said:


> rockwalltxguy said:
> 
> 
> > So yesterday my weed control guy came by and applied 5oz of Prodiamine over my 10K sqft of lawn. Shows it was diluted into about 16gallons of water. Im assuming that's ok? I should be good for Spring weeds now. I haven't had any weeds in my yard in over Two years now so they must be doing something right. They are a local company and I am paying around $500 total for 8 treatments a year(Fert and Weed Control) Not sure how much cheaper It would cost me to do it on my own but I really feel the price is reasonable for me to not have to mess with chemicals.
> ...


Ya I figured a good backpack sprayer would run me what about $200-$250+, I figured on the Fertilizer running me around $50 a bag. the Chemicals I probably would get a significant amount of treatments with one bottle. I figured for me to do what they do I would end up spending around $50 a treatment so really only saving say $100 a year. Not worth it for me at the moment. If now that I am cutting my grass significantly shorter I see what they are doing is no longer working I might pick it up myself.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

@rockwalltxguy Did the prodiamine get watered in?

If I was paying somebody for pre-emergent weed control, I would be inclined to ask them to use Tower.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

ionicatoms said:


> @rockwalltxguy Did the prodiamine get watered in?
> 
> If I was paying somebody for pre-emergent weed control, I would be inclined to ask them to use Tower.


Yes we had some rain yesterday and today. I'm not running the sprinklers yet this year.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Updates for today. Took my grass down to my scalp height which ended up being right around 3/8" on the Mclane's lowest "A" setting. The manual says that's supposed to be 1/4" but my lawn is really uneven so it was slightly above that. I'm going to attempt to maintain my HOC between 1/2"-5/8" this year. Plan is to cut twice a week. We will see if that's doable, otherwise I will move to 3 days a week. I work from home 3 days a week so that should be fine with the time change now.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Starting to get some nice green up and not a weed in sight. In front of the house needs a bit of a boost. Hopefully when we get to May or June the thin spots will start filling in. It's crazy to me to see how many thin spots my lawn has when cutting it low like this. I had a great looking yard the last 2 years at 2-2.5" HOC but maintaining 1/2" you really see how leggy and thin the grass was. Oh well all the other yards in the neighborhood are weed infested and about 2 weeks behind me. Had a gully washer last night which gave mine a boost.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Mowed today, getting some good green up. Have only had one fert treatment so far. Fert guy applied 16-4-8 PGF Complete about 2 weeks ago. Still have some weak areas but so far pretty happy for my 1st year cutting at 1/2"


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Amazing the difference a week makes. About 90%-95% green now. Now I'm going to start pushing it so it will thicken up.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

2 week update. Really coming in strong. Only had 1 fert treatment so far with 10-10-10. I'd say I'm looking pretty good. Backyard is a bit stronger than front but overall I'm pretty happy for 1st season cutting at around 1/2" with my reel.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Looking good!

I used to live in rockwall until '19. Loved it, and miss taking the boat to the harbor.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Thanks @DFWdude . I've been here since 2007. Love the area, hate the traffic. No boat here so the lakes purpose is to make me feel like I live on an island going over the bridge.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Yards really looking good. Guy is coming by tomorrow to put down the 1st high nitro fert treatment. So hopefully will get a nice rich dark green color coming through soon. Currently having to mow 3 days a week. Next year will def start PGR treatments. Also got the shed installed.


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## monsonman (Dec 9, 2020)

Its looking really good! What is your HOC?

and also, just curious, why wait til next year to start PGR?


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

monsonman said:


> Its looking really good! What is your HOC?
> 
> and also, just curious, why wait til next year to start PGR?


Right now I'm maintaining at about 5/8". I don't want to mess with PGR this year for a couple reasons 1) I don't have a sprayer yet 2) I'm a little intimidated by the potential for over use and 3) Cutting so short this year has revealed just how uneven my lawn is so I need to figure out how to attack some leveling this year.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Update. Starting to notice color variation in my grass. Not sure what the cause is?


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Updates. Fighting seed heads still but starting to really green up. Im about 3 weeks post High N Fert Application. Mowing 3 days a week. HOC is 5/8". Will be doing a midseason HOC reset next week as I will be going out of town soon and I want to prepare.


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## jstephens (May 22, 2019)

Looking good! What's that grassy bush in the front left corner of your flower bed? I like how the blades sag similar to hakone grass


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

jstephens said:


> Looking good! What's that grassy bush in the front left corner of your flower bed? I like how the blades sag similar to hakone grass


I have no clue. I call it Donald Trump because after I cut it down in the fall it grew back with a combover for awhile.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

No measurable rain since early May. I've pretty much given up for this year.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

No measurable water for 67 days until this past Wednesday. Seemed to help just a bit. Bumped up the HOC to 0.75" will likely Leave it here till fall and then hit 1" for my final Height going into winter. Been dealing with runners ever since I bumped up the height to 0.75"


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

Well after the monsoon I got hit with a really bad fungus issue. Fert guy came out and applied Heritage G at a curative rate about 2 weeks ago. I will probably do one more application of spray fungicide in the next week or so. I'm pretty much calling it quits on the yard for the rest of this year after that. Will be mowing till the 1st freeze. Then I'm shutting down.

The Fert guy has a few more Treatments for fall early winter (weed control and pre-em). Overall pretty happy with everything but hoping for a better 2023 season. 
Next years plans are 1)doing some major leveling in the front yard and 2)will be using PGR for the 1st time next season. Hopefully I'll have good luck with that. Im sure I'll post at least one more time in this journal in 2022 before settling down for the long winters nap.


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