# Fifth's Lawn Journal



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

Figured I'd start one of these so that, hopefully, I could look back on how bad the yard was when we moved in and feel like I've accomplished a little bit of something.

Basically we're looking at new construction here. The developer put down cheap tall fescue and the straw germinated a whole lot of perennial ryegrass and weeds. The soil test came back saying the dirt may as well have been dead. The top soil looked to have washed away in most of the front yard by the time we closed and moved in. I'll tell ya one thing, I'll never make this mistake again.

Since then I've scalped the farm land that wasn't "graded" (I use this term loosely as it was a terrible grade job) to knock down the overwhelming amount of broom sedge in the back corner of the lot. The biggest threat right now is the upcoming hurricane season. I expect the erosion is going to be pretty bad if we get a sustained multi-day rain. I picked up some North Shore and Highland Bermuda blend from Southern Seed and put that down on the front and road side lawn hoping the straw would keep it in place. I lost about half the seed to erosion in the first week from a pop up severe storm. The rest germinated great but coverage is very uneven.

Not wanting to repeat the mistake I tilled the entire interior side from the private road to the woods behind the house, leveled, spread a 10-10-10 fertilizer, bought a brand new spreader that would be a bit more even than what I had, spread the seed and covered with new straw. That was about 2 weeks ago and I'm looking at huge amounts of germination and great coverage all the way to the woods.

As it stands we've got a sort of patchwork of every kind of grass and weed you can think of but I've resolved to call this year a loss and keep anything that will absorb run off until next year when I can start a pre-emergent weed control schedule and get things a little more under control around May since I won't have the added hassle of also having to move into and organize a new home. Maybe I can check in sometime around August this year and report some great fill in and growth.

TLDR here's where we started:

Front yard





Back yard






Side yard


----------



## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Love to see someone going through the effort of seeding versus sodding. Good luck!


----------



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

dubyadubya87 said:


> Love to see someone going through the effort of seeding versus sodding. Good luck!


Yeah I don't know much about sod and have only ever seeded so I figured "well how much could it cost. It's just grass!" prior to moving in. When the guy told me it was around $25k to sod 1.3 acres with fine bermuda I had to pour a drink and started making a plan for seed lol.


----------



## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

fifthmanstanding said:


> dubyadubya87 said:
> 
> 
> > Love to see someone going through the effort of seeding versus sodding. Good luck!
> ...


It's a lot of hard work and patience and frustration, but the satisfaction of doing it from scratch makes your neighbor's soon to come compliments all the sweeter.


----------



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

Well. It's been awhile and I've been busy.

First I had a massive infestation of sickle pod that covered more than an acre. In about two weeks time it spread like wildfire. I picked up a few gallons of 2-4-D Amine and a 4 gallon backpack sprayer. 95 degree heat, 80% humidity and full sun the day I had available to spray _so that was just a blast_. I think it was something like 13 refills to cover the yard and it was only able to do a 1.5' wide spray. Then I discovered a tow behind sprayer from northern tool for about $150 more. That's now sitting in my garage. I'll never backpack spray like that again Lord willing. It's now been about 4 days and I'm blown away with just how aggressively effective Amine is against clover, dog fennel, random weeds and sickle pod. Very glad I used it.

The interior side of the lot that I tilled and seeded is doing well. The bermuda from Southern Seed is growing like crazy. I can't let it go more than 5 days without a cut or it'll be 6" tall. It's competing with what I believe is perennial rye so obviously coverage is not even close to perfect but it's holding down the dirt that was otherwise going to wash out. 
You can see it in the dense lighter green patches on the security cam photo here:

And from the ground


That was another _fun _project: pulling Ethernet cable for the whole house, setting up a network panel and getting security cameras installed in an attic that was pushing 130 degrees. Anyway, I'm awful glad I planted that second round of Bermuda when I did because tropical storm Elsa came through last week and dumped 4" of rain in two hours on that side of the lot. I'm getting water shed off the currently vacant lot beside me as well as what's coming off the gutters so it was over my ankles and flooding my hvac units. I had a drainage company give an estimate and come up with a plan to mitigate but their price point was beyond what I could do right now so I think I'm going to rent a Termite and put the drain and pipes down myself this fall.

Front yard isn't doing so hot but I've sort of given up on it for the time being. I think I'm going to get my neighbor to till it all up with his tractor at the start of bermuda season next year and just re-seed. That said, there's obviously some green up and improvement since the last photo:



The road side green up is coming along although very little of that is the Bermuda I originally seeded:


Over the next month I think I'm going to do another round of fertilizer, see how the Amine is working _and possibly re-spray_


----------



## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

You may be pleasantly surprised how much of those patchy spots fill in during these next two growing months. Lots of progress so far.


----------



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

Another year another project.

I managed to finish building the new deck over the winter. Few things left to do to it but otherwise I can check it off the list. Spring came out of absolutely nowhere this year. Ground temps are averaging 56 degrees for the last week so we decided to go all in very quickly and have planted several crab apple trees, about 10 gardenia bushes around the deck, muscadine vines, tayberry, blueberry bushes, figs and a cold tolerant pomegranate tree (for the hell of it) all in the last week. Soil temps are absolutely insane this year. I was soil probing clear through mid-May last year waiting for the mid 60's so that I could put bermuda seed down. 


I ordered some prodiamine and plan on putting that down as soon as it comes in. The crab grass has already gone hog wild along with henbit and chick weed because of the warm up in the last two weeks. Did the first scalping of the lawn last week hoping what's left of my patch-work quilt of bermuda from last year will spring to life.

In the course of building the deck I had to rent a lift to get the upper cross bracing in. The tires on that left some hefty ruts in the yard that my zero turn can't really deal with, as you can see from the photo below. 


I'm currently hunting for a landscaper that can fill and grade that soon. Seems like pulling teeth to get one to answer a phone call.

Heavy rain this winter has weathered the front yard area pretty well. I'm hoping the bermuda from last year will spread a bit this year and slowly take over that arid, destitute hinterland we call the "front yard".



In the course of laying the footprint of the deck I managed to tear up a good spot of what was left of the cheap contractor fescue that the builders spread before we closed on the house. I plan on tilling that area up some and spreading more bermuda seed.



The interior side of the lot, weeds and all, have held down a lot of the erosion that was problematic last year. The builders have finished the neighboring home as of last week. Looking forward to meeting the new neighbors soon. They had landscapers out last week seeding and strawing the yard so I'm interested to see what crazy crop of grass is going to pop up over there as my yard tends to take the run off from the neighbor's lot and we had 3 days of rain immediately after they seeded. I expect to have inherited a good bit of the seed they paid for :lol:



All in all, probably going to be another year of a lost cause of a lawn but ultimately I'll be chowing down on figs, grapes and whatever else manages to fruit this year so it won't be all that bad lol.


----------



## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Not a lost cause, just another step towards a yard you can be proud of. You'll have tons more pride and accomplishment versus the quick route of sodding.


----------



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

dubyadubya87 said:


> Not a lost cause, just another step towards a yard you can be proud of. You'll have tons more pride and accomplishment versus the quick route of sodding.


not to mention the cost savings :lol:


----------



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

Finally got a reasonably priced quote by a local lawn company that wasn't booked out for 8 months to get the construction damage filled in. Had a guy put 50/50 mix topsoil compost into the ruts and grade it. Rain has caused some channeling but nothing that serious. Waiting for ground tempt to stay solidly above 65 for a week or two before I put down some bermuda seed on it.


----------



## dubyadubya87 (Mar 10, 2020)

Looks primed and ready.


----------



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

Well. End of another season. The year is starting to slowly move into colder weather. We made some good strides this year.

*April*: Got the ruts from the construction equipment filled in and had seed on the ground by 2nd week of may. I had half a bag of Southern Seed's champion Bermuda left over from last year that I'd kept tightly packaged and stored. I was hesitant to expect it to germinate. It did take a few extra weeks to get there but it finally took off. The fill-in dirt the landscaper used was contaminated with crab grass so that took over most of the side yard but not a big deal. I'd rather have crab grass than 1' deep ruts or serious erosion. I also managed to get several bags of Lesco fertilizer down before everything started popping up as well as the first seasonal treatment of Prodiamine.

*May*: This year we wanted to focus on fleshing out the flowers in the yard. We also wanted to start our fruiting plants this year. I make a bunch of different alcohols, liqueurs, wines and meads from local produce and we thought it was time to start making our own. I started out with 3 prairie fire Crab Apple trees along the roadside. Discovered a fruiting plant nursery a few hours away and picked up Blueberry, Elderberry x 2, Tayberry, Golden Italian Fig, Brown Turkey Fig and, as luck would have it, the last Salavatski Pomegranate tree that was available there. I'm very much looking forward to making a pomegranate wine in a few years. I also planted more Gardenia bushes around the new deck and several White Drift roses in the front.














*June/July:* We had some pretty serious drought this summer, though not as bad as the rest of the country of course. Despite that I was able to run the sprinkler for 30 min each morning and the drought resistant Bermuda cultivar I planted last year absolutely exploded in the side yard and towards the front. I got the bright idea to use the security cameras to snap a photo once a month and turn that into a gif to show progress. I missed a few months of photos but you get the idea. By then the salvia, butterfly bush and gardenia we planted last year were in full swing.










http://imgur.com/fYeuaKw


*August:* Wife and I headed up to Afton VA, nearly on the WV border, to a wonderful fruit nursery called Edible Landscaping. Seriously if you're within a few hours drive of the place and looking for an incredible amount of fruiting trees, this is the place to go. I picked up two Paw Paw trees that they sourced from the KY State U. cultivation program. Hopefully we'll get some fruit in 2-3 years. I'm looking forward to both eating it as well as making a paw paw mead from it. You can see the shade cloth and wire cages pop up on the gif if you look close, that's where those are planted. I also picked up a black currant and red currant. Those will make some nice jellies and creme de cassis likely next year since they're 3rd year growth. The garden I planted in the raised beds this year did pretty good too. We went with heirloom cultivars from Baker Creek Seed Company and weren't disappointed.


http://imgur.com/IUCq1hR

*September/October*: The pomegranate tree managed to produce a single fruit though it was too heavy and likely too dry this summer to be supported by such a small shrub. Beautiful coloration on the fruit though. We also planted several Limelight Hydrangea as the weather finally brought planting to a close. I put down a treatment of 2-4-D, Prodiamine and Fipronil. My neighbor's been fighting biting ants all year and I figured the rain from Ian coming over as a tropical storm was only going to stir them up more. It was a good call. Since the storm I've only seen 2 very small anthills. I bought it from domyown.com as I buy most everything there. If you're trying to get rid of ants this is the stuff that'll do it.














​I picked up a drone last month and have been playing around with it. Did manage to get one photo of the grass from above. Clearly it needs some fill in 50/50 to replace the topsoil and that's something I think I'm going to chip away at next year. The pre-build farmland area Broom Sedge has held it's own pretty well against everything I've thrown at it but I'll admit that my concern has been mainly around getting the bermuda on either side of the house established enough to cut down on erosion and water shed. Ignore the fat guy in gym pants on the deck. He's just trying his best out here.


----------

