# Biggy's lawn journal 2019



## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Well, this is going to be a fun reno since it's a bunch of different things in different areas.

1. Reno a small hill that got monsooned this year and wrecked my new grass from the fall (last yrs reno) (pic 1).

2. Going to add a bunch of dirt and add more sprinklers to the same zone so I can go around a tree (pic 2 and 3).

3. Kill off a portion of the front, move irrigation to cover it and re-seed.

4. Level the backyard to reel mow next year.

5. Possibly remove some trees and move up my enormous hill.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Today, sprayed gly on the top 2 pics and last pic.

Located in NJ and temps over 90 for awhile. Lawn is green and thick elsewhere but under this tree the roots have come up and left the grass nowhere to go. This was fine before this rainy spring but mother nature is fighting me for the grass spot. Going to dump a bunch of top soil there and just suffocate the remaining grass.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

You got big plans and I love it! Welcome to TLF @Biggylawns :thumbup:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Some pics from my spring reno. Half my yard was destroyed by the patio guys installing pavers in Nov 2018 after a downpour. Multiple bobcats ripping up the yard.





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Today::





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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I can get really good compost for free so I picked up 2 garbage cans worth and started covering the roots. Going to just do this every sat for the next 6 weeks.



Gly in action:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Front is coming along nicely. getting dominated!


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I decided to expand the project and sprayed more gly in the back to get a better idea of the tree roots on the top of the hill. Since I decided to completely redo this sprinkler zone in the back of the fence I am also going to put down gly in the front on the other side of the fence as I will be digging up a good portion of it to install new sprinklers The previous owners did not have a fence so I guess the irrigation zone made more sense (not really) but it's a big mess as I can see they cheaped out on everything and the runs make no sense (lines aren't consistent height wise causing different pressure at the heads, inconsistent spacing, etc.)

On Sunday, I scalped the previous gly area to reveal a lot of moss - I put down some moss ex and that moss is now black after 3 days. After some good watering practices a couple of weeds are starting to pop up for round 2 of the gly.

I designed a new sprinkler layout that will provide better and equal coverage as well as being more efficient. I will be increasing the amount of heads from 4 to 10 on the hill side (zone 2) and increase the amount of heads on the other side from 6 to 9 in zone 3. I plan to cap off 1 head in zone 1 in the front yard and move it 50 feet to the street. If I'm feeling up to it, which I am, and my wife is onboard, which she isn't atm, I will install 4 new valves, trench the area to my larger hillside, install the sprinklers and turn a small reno into a 4/10 of an acre reno.

Sand levelling part 1 is also taking place this weekend on the backyard to prepare for my JD180b that I just picked up. Instead of paying 150sh for a leveller I plan to make one out of a drywall sander affixed to some metal.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Sand down and watering in. A yard of topsoil to cover some roots. Going to map out the spinkler layout tomorrow and dig the trench. Gly working its magic on some spot spraying to kill off some old kbg.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

How do you get free compost? Any pics of your homemade leveler?


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I get it free from my town. Not many people know about it so it's always there!

I'll take a pic sometime this week as I let my father in law take it. It worked ok - I don't have anything to compare it to so hard to say if it is actually good. The metal pieces I had seemed too small when I lined them up so I just cut up a metal dog crate and used zip ties to connect it to the drywall sander. Cost: 0.00.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Bag mowed the dead grass last night and put down some lime, iron, humic and kelp. It's coming along nice and I will dethatch more tomorrow to pick up the rest of the dead grass. Sprinklers come today so I'll be digging this weekend and expanding the zone -- 4 heads to 13. Going to hold off on the other side sprinkler install for a week as the grass that I'm keeping seems stressed. Hopefully, last night's cocktail and lower temps will give it a boost.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

So things are going rather well. Went from 4 sprinklers on a zone to 14 in total - added an extra one and plan to move 2 different zone head further away. 
Sprayed 2nd round of gly on the hill after refilling the trenches.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Picked up another yard of topsoil - will likely need a lot more. I can only dig down 4 inches before I hit the tree roots so I'll just add another 4 inches of compost/topsoil on top of that to get 8 inches deep.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I spent a good majority of my yard time last night dealing with tree roots (which I do not want to cut) and was very fortunate to discover the sprinkler line for the zone I'm working on(after digging up 3 different areas) was in a low spot that was to be dug up to level. I dug up about a 3x3 section, not part of the reno, and will alter the irrigation line appropriately saving me quite a lot of time. Digging so many holes on this slope has taught me a good deal about the compaction in this area and confirmed I need to til the area to allow air and water in as well as adding a lot more organic matter for unobstructed root growth. Tonight, I'll use a tiller to break up the hard ground and spray some humic.

2nd round of gly for the entire area will be done tonight too.

I'll finish off this irrigation zone and start on the other side, if time allows.

Tomorrow, I'll get 20 to 30 barrels of compost to form mix into the current soil to form about a 4 inch layer of amended soil and then put another 2 inches of topsoil down. Seeding should be in 10 days so I'll have enough time to finish it all.

Re-working the irrigation for the other side is a necessity at this point so that will be completed tomorrow too, including running pipe under sidewalks.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Changed 4 sprinkler heads to MPs and installed, ran the piping, for 9 more including several side strips. I have to say the MP side strips and right/left corner strips are nice. I also only got 10 barrels of compost, well below my expectation so I'll try and pick some up each before work.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

2 more hrs today to finish it off and just like that 2 complete sprinkler zones redone with 9 heads changed, and 17 new sprinklers installed to get full and complete coverage. Piping under the street for one of the zones. Wife was on my case about the patches wrecking the yard, of the old KBG i killed, so i went ahead and planted some seed - 3 days later and the babies have arrived (last pic).

To do list this coming week/weekend:

1. Get some more compost;
2. Get 1-2 yards of topsoil;
3. Move sprinkler line in front zone about 5 ft.
4. Put down the seed.
5. Drink some beer and work on my reel.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

A couple pre-seed, after sprinkler reno pics. Mowed the front and back and put down a propi/humic/kelp cocktail on the non-reno back part. The babies are really taking off and are almost 2 inches at this point. Going to put down some N this coming weekend on the babies. Pulled back on the watering and adjusted the timing to 3 hrs 15 min between intervals 3x a day. Also threw down CX, .6 N/m, on the front to start to revving it up for N blitz.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Put down some seed tonight on a couple patches in the front were I had pythium. Taped off the yard since the mailman, ups, etc don't give a sh*t and walk all over it. My wife thinks I'm nuts but between the time I put the peat away and got the tape out an amazon guy walked right through a section. I bet my wife that the mailman would walk in our garden bed rather than using the sidewalk. His/his vacation cover's record is busting 2 sprinkler heads and trampling a small perennial. Good times.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

On an every other day mow since I'm at 1.1 lb N/m in 2 weeks. The grass is super dense and growing nonstop atm, even with 90+ temps and no rain all week. The KBG is pushing hard to fill some gaps. Going to put down .5 lb N/m this weekend and then do that every 2 weeks. Reno is 99% done with sprinkler zones adjusted for new seed this coming Friday. Just have to seed and relax. Weather is looking fantastic with no rain in sight (rain is bad for me since I'm seeding a hill)


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Put down a .5#N/m of urea today. Mowed yesterday. Seed down was this past Sunday. Put peat on top and I thought I had great sprinkler coverage. Apparently, a 9 sq ft area at the top of the hill by the fence is bone dry. Short term - I have a drip line that runs along the mulch bed so I'll tap into that. Long term, I'll trench a new line and add a new head. Rain expected tomorrow which I am praying misses completely. If it doesn't miss this might be a disaster given the slope and lack of erosion control (weather at seed down had zero rain for 10 days).


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Babies everwhere!! 6 am flash test.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Day 10 from germ. Put down some map.
Also, dethatched the rest of the yard and overseeded.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Mowed the front and back tonight at 2.5. Going to mow tomorrow at 2.5 and then drop it down to 1.75 Thursday am.

I also put down .5 lb N/m on non-reno and approx. .1 lb N/m on reno. Some 6+ hr sun parts in the reno area are about an inch high. The heavy shade parts are half that and sparse. I'll probably throw some more kbg down tomorrow, step on it and cover with peat.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Put .25 N/m, .4 map/N and 3 oz feature per m on reno and .5 N/m on non-reno this past weekend.

Was gone for a week so had to up hoc. Back down to 2.25 on today's mow.

It's coming along and filling in quickly.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I've been spoon feeding weekly across the entire yard. Reno area is 95% filled in. Some shaded spots are still a little bare but will fill next year without issue.

Had some clover pop up so did a 2 week 2 oz split of tenacity. Seems to have to killed it off as its shriveling.

Cut is 1.75 to match my front and I've been mowing it every 2 to 3 days with a manual reel.

Image of non reno:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I figured I'd just go for it and took it down to .75 in the front to see how it looks. I was a little worried/reluctant at first since I scalped some areas with my rotary but there was no scalping at with the reel. I need to work on my skills with turning but think the stripes came out okay for first time use on the front. I've been using it in the back but there's no concrete walkways, driveway etc., and it's not sloped so it's a bit easier to manuever. I have like 2 or 3 more mows so hopefully the stripes get better.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Colour and density look great!


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Biggylawns said:


> Put .25 N/m, .4 map/N and 3 oz feature per m on reno and .5 N/m on non-reno this past weekend.
> 
> Was gone for a week so had to up hoc. Back down to 2.25 on today's mow.
> 
> It's coming along and filling in quickly.


How did your new lawn respond to the 3oz per 1M of feature? I'm going to apply some this weekend and wasn't sure on how much to apply.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

@Scagfreedom48z+

It handled it without any issue and greened up rather well. At this point, it matches the color of the rest of the lawn rather well but looks so much fresher.

Thanks @Harts. Real credit goes to g-man, pete1313 and this forum. I read a good majority of the popular threads with their posts and just followed instructions to the tee.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Biggylawns said:


> @Scagfreedom48z+
> 
> It handled it without any issue and greened up rather well. At this point, it matches the color of the rest of the lawn rather well but looks so much fresher.
> 
> Thanks @Harts. Real credit goes to g-man, pete1313 and this forum. I read a good majority of the popular threads with their posts and just followed instructions to the tee.


That's great! This forum has been absolutely fantastic. It's been about a year since I've joined and everyone here has been incredibly helpful. I'm going to try 3oz per M this weekend to get the grass to blend in and darken. How long did you leave it on the foliage before irrigating or rainfall?


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

@Scagfreedom48z+ Since I sprayed it with urea I let it sit for about 3.5 hrs before watering it in.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Figured I'd put up some pics since I haven't for a while. Back is mowed at 1 inch and front is at .6. Had some sprinkler coverage issues with a side strip on hell strip, think that qnd a downpour washed away the seed where it's bare.

Front:



Back, with close up:





Hell strip, with close up:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Raised front HOC back to .75 since I had some scalping at .6. I thought it was going to be a charity mow since lows have been in 20s/30s this week with soil temps in the high 40s but I was still cutting off a good amount.

I get so many leaves in my backyard that I'm stuck using a rotary. I need a double pass to completely mulch up the leaves and then 2 days later my grass is covered again.


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