# Eric's attempt at redemption!



## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Alright this isn't a renovation thread per say, it's me trying to fix what I messed up!!

A little bit of a back story. I'm going to repeat some for the other thread and I apologize for that. We moved into a new house on May 12th, the yard looked good and I was pretty happy with its condition. The yard is 16 years old and I have no clue what has been done to it over the years so that's all in hindsight.

About a week after moving in 1 put a full application of Milo down, all was good, yard looked good and things were looking up. Towards the middle/end of June I put a bag of forever green fertilizer from Menards down(don't ask me why but I did). After that it got real hot, real dry(drought), and it lasted for quite some time. In fact we are still in a drought but receiving some rain. I wasn't watering as I didn't have to at my last house and the yard stayed ok, but not great.

Middle of July still no rain I started watering the front because it looked bad(real bad), but after a couple weeks nothing showed life. I gave up and decided it was dormant and no amount of water I could put down would help. Two weeks ago the temps let up some and there was some rain forecasted so I put down another app of Milo and watered it in good.

Fast forward to the present, the back yard is showing some signs of life, minus 3 troublesome areas, but the front yard is toast. I've been asking lots of questions here, and I truly appreciate all the insight I've received. I spent the morning at Earl May asking tons of questions as it's time to make a decision and get moving on it. It has been determined that the fert app I applied in June toasted the yard as 1)it didn't get watered in properly, and 2)the high nitrogen toasted and stressed the grass. 
Front Yard


Rear Yard



Now for the plan:
Today I overseeded the front yard and troublesome spots in the rear with the following



Starter fertilizer is down, I'm going to water like heck over the next week using hoses, a melnor 4 valve timer, and MP rotator DIY sprinklers. Next week I am going to go over the front yard and 3 spots in the rear with Lawn Restore. And continue to water.

The rest of the yard I'm going to hit strictly using monthly apps of Full Milo pushing nitrogen. Since I screwed up this summer I'm hesitant to use Urea this fall so I'm sticking to Milo. Milo went down today.

I'm new to all of this and I hope some can learn as I go along not only by what I'm doing, but also from my major mistake which now puts me in the situation I am in!

Thanks for reading!!


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Eric said:


> rs. Next week I am going to go over the front yard and 3 spots in the rear with Lawn Restore.


Hi Eric,

By lawn restore, do you mean the organic fertilizer?
What was the percentage of nitrogen in your starter fert, and how much did you put down?
I'm asking because I did not expect to read that you plan to put down additional fertilizer in one week after putting starter fertilizer down today/yesterday.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Eric,

Seeing the images and your post is kinda telling me that drought was not your real problem. Too much fertilizer was. Mainly the Menards bag in June. Those sections look really gone. If you dropped an inch of water (measure it with tuna cans) and it shows no signs of coming back, then it is gone.

Going forward, start a log. Calculate how much nitrogen you applied per k sqft. Don't exceed 1 of N per rolling month if you could irrigate. If drought, don't use any nitrogen. Here is a post of the log Excel file I use. http://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=921

Like social port pointed out, your current plan shows too much nitrogen. The area that looks bare won't need too much nitrogen until those seeds turn into a young lawn. Water to keep the seed moist (light and frequent) and don't let it get dry.

Now the back, don't over water either since that leads to fungus. Try 0.5inches (measured) every 3-4days until the temperature drop a bit more, then switch to 1in/week. Milo is great, but it won't work all season. It needs active soil microbes and those go to sleep as temperature drop. You will need to switch for a synthetic fertilizer. Don't worry, as long as you keep a log and don't go over the 1lb of N/k you should be fine.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

The starter fertilizer was 15-23-10, for a 17 lb bag I put 10lbs down over 4000 sq ft. Which if my math serves me correctly that's 2.5lbs/k and .375# N. earl May suggested using the restore next week, as long as I watered regularly. But I can wait 4 weeks as well, I was kind of thinking that tonight. Ringer is 10-0-6, and a full app would add another .5# of N.

I have set up a Melnor timer watering the 2 zones in the front for 10min every 4 hours, the back I have set for 10min every 8hrs as there is more established grass around these areas and I was thinking about the fungus issues. After tomorrow I was going to turn the front down to every 6, just wanted to get the starter fert and seeds embedded well.

I totally agree I dropped too much fert, not sure what I was thinking, wished I'd have found you all much sooner and I wouldn't have made such a dumb mistake.

I was going to do the ringer next week, again I don't have to, more than willing to wait, and then around 9/20, drop a full rate of Milo on the yard, was going to do the same around 10/20, and then use some sort of synthetic in November for the last run(looking for advice here as to a fast release N source besides Urea). Is it safe to use Milo in October or should that be a synthetic as well.

Moving forward I will be documenting what the heck I'm doing, my thought process was obviously scewd and it's never burnt me in the past so I guess I didn't know any better. I know now, pretty much after June 1st I'm done with fert until the temps drop in August.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Eric,
> 
> Seeing the images and your post is kinda telling me that drought was not your real problem. Too much fertilizer was. Mainly the Menards bag in June. Those sections look really gone. If you dropped an inch of water (measure it with tuna cans) and it shows no signs of coming back, then it is gone.
> 
> ...


That sheet is a great reference! Thank you!! Couple questions it appears you use Milo and cracked corn? I need to read up on that, it appears your Milo rate is around 6#K and your cracked corn is around 9#K, is that correct? See I have lots to learn. It also appears you go heavy during the month of May, give a small feeding .5K around the fourth then hold off til August, is that a fair assumption as well?

I've also been mowing around 2.25" the last 4 weeks(well the grass that's actually growing,lol) should I keep that height or go up a notch to around 2.75", currently mowing every 3 days trying to stimulate growth.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Eric said:


> The starter fertilizer was 15-23-10, for a 17 lb bag I put 10lbs down over 4000 sq ft. Which if my math serves me correctly that's 2.5lbs/k and .375# N. earl May suggested using the restore next week, as long as I watered regularly. But I can wait 4 weeks as well, I was kind of thinking that tonight. Ringer is 10-0-6, and a full app would add another .5# of N.


OK, that makes sense. You're going with lower doses per application. 
That sounds about right to me, but you should wait for someone else to chime in. The extra N from earlier in the year may change what is currently needed--just being cautious.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

How long does N last in the soil, meaning the earlier apps. Restless night busy thinking has me at the thought. In 4 weeks add Restore over the whole yard which would eqaul .313#N with it add an additional .5#N of Milo. This isn't a full #, but basically over the next month through watering and hopefully some rain, it will help leach out some of the old N from the summer. Actually got a nice steady .5" rain last night with more to come today/night!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Eric said:


> The starter fertilizer was 15-23-10, for a 17 lb bag I put 10lbs down over 4000 sq ft. Which if my math serves me correctly that's 2.5lbs/k and .375# N. earl May suggested using the restore next week, as long as I watered regularly. But I can wait 4 weeks as well, I was kind of thinking that tonight. Ringer is 10-0-6, and a full app would add another .5# of N.
> 
> I have set up a Melnor timer watering the 2 zones in the front for 10min every 4 hours, the back I have set for 10min every 8hrs as there is more established grass around these areas and I was thinking about the fungus issues. After tomorrow I was going to turn the front down to every 6, just wanted to get the starter fert and seeds embedded well.
> 
> ...


Are you working a night shift?  it looks like you stayed up all night.

15-23-10 is 15% Nitrogen by weight, 23% phosphorus by weight and 10% potassium. If you applied 10lb of the product, you then applied 1.5lb of N, 2.3lb of p and 1.0lb of potassium. Since you spread the product over 4k, then your rate is .375lb of N/k, 0.575lb P/k and 0.25lb of K//k. In the log file I sent, if you type the NPK value and weight of applied product it will calculate all of this. If you select multiple rows in the n/K column, it will give you the total for those rows (easy way to get monthly total).

10min every 4hrs means that at 11pm and 2am it is watering the lawn or are you turning off after 6pm? Night watering is not recommended since it promotes fungus.



> That sheet is a great reference! Thank you!! Couple questions it appears you use Milo and cracked corn? I need to read up on that, it appears your Milo rate is around 6#K and your cracked corn is around 9#K, is that correct? See I have lots to learn. It also appears you go heavy during the month of May, give a small feeding .5K around the fourth then hold off til August, is that a fair assumption as well?
> 
> I've also been mowing around 2.25" the last 4 weeks(well the grass that's actually growing,lol) should I keep that height or go up a notch to around 2.75", currently mowing every 3 days trying to stimulate growth.


The sheet is an example. I added different things to show examples. Don't read too much into it or use it as a guide. Weighting stuff takes time, so I avoid it if possible in the low risk stuff. I drop Milo by the bag (36lb) or the bag of corn (50lb) so i don't have to weight it or have partial bags of stuff.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

I will be shutting it off at night, think I'm going to adjust the times for all areas to run at 7, 1 and then 7. It allows me to wake my *** up turn it on and then shut it off before I go to bed, lol, yes I did sleep last night, just may not appear that way. I'm hell bent on fixing this mess I created!!!

Correction probably 8, noon, and 4. This will give it time to dry out before night falls


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Eric said:


> How long does N last in the soil, meaning the earlier apps.


I'm not sure. Most labs don't report values for nitrogen, presumably because nitrogen can vary so widely during even a short period of time. I don't think nitrogen values are all that helpful for that reason. It seems like we all plan for nitrogen apps based on more general knowledge pertaining to what is required for a given grass type in a given region.

Your plan, as I understand it, will give you slightly under one pound of N in a month. You should be fine. I was just putting out the qualification that a special recommendation _might_ be needed in your case because of the very heavy app earlier this year. I didn't want to make a suggestion that might possibly stand in the way of your...redemption.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Well crap!!! The day after I decide to overseed we get over an inch of rain with what appears to be more coming! Let hope the seed embedded itself in what grass particles were left and didnt all wash away. The upside I guess is I got it down early so I can add more next week if it doesn't appear I'm getting any germination!! Haven't had rain like this in probably over 3 months, so I am grateful for that at least. We will now be able to see if any of the trouble spots have any life left!!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Can someone help me verify that this is indeed bluegrass?


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Well pretty sure this is the culprit that I jacked my yard with! Looking at labels tonight I realized that it's 22% fast release Urea/ 6% slow release. Would be good for the fall blitz, not so good to drop on 6/26 with massive heat and heading into a drought! For anyone looking for a realatively cheap Urea source this may be the ticket. $12 for a 32 lb bag drops 1.12#N on my 8k


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Ok looking towards fall and developing a plan! On 8/20 I put .375#N on the overseeded areas and .72#N on the rest of the yard. I have devised a rough schedule to move throughout the fall, looking for insight if it is too much N for the overseeded areas, too little N for the rest, or a good compromise to help nurse the yard back. This is all based on 8k of yard.

9/3- 1 Bag Restore and 1 bag Milo=.54#
9/17- 2 Bags Milo= .45#
10/1- 2 Bags Milo=.45#
10/15-2 Bags Milo=.45#

Now the last app may not happen I have a 50% chance of frost by 10/3 and 90% by 10/16. At which point I'll stop fert, mow until grass stops growing and then before the ground feeezes I'll probably use the above culprit as my Urea source as I now realize it's Urea.

So let me hear it is the too much for the new guys or not, aggressive enough for the others?


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## Roosterchest (Aug 3, 2017)

Eric said:


> Can someone help me verify that this is indeed bluegrass?


Looks like PRG.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

I'm gonna take it in Saturday for ID, the blades are v shaped with a pointy tip, which leads me to believe it's still KBG, i just wonder if it looks like perennial Rye because it's so thinned out right now!


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Eric said:


> So let me hear it is the too much for the new guys or not, aggressive enough for the others?


I think this rule is your best guide.



g-man said:


> Don't exceed 1 of N per rolling month if you could irrigate


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

social port said:


> Eric said:
> 
> 
> > So let me hear it is the too much for the new guys or not, aggressive enough for the others?
> ...


Yeah I'm basically making sure I don't break that rule, if anything I'm going a bit under!! Just didn't know if it is less stress to go every 2 weeks instead of once every 4? Some articles say you can push harder at a # every 2, bit since is stressed from the summer though I would go a pound per month and kinda spoon feed it, even though most articles I've read say spoon feeding is weekly.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

So it turns out my yard is actually some sort of fescue blend and not KBG, I'm feeling super smart right now! I've already overseeded with a KBG PRG blend and now I'm gonna need to decide what to do. Options are just ignore the fact and keep fertilizing and watering, spread more of the blend over the rest of the yard, or go buy a straight fescue mix and spread that over the whole yard! Really leaning towards option 1, the damage is already done, I guess I need to see how everything bounces back and fills in


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

It is called a Northern mix. With proper fertilization and care it will look awesome. Go to pete1313 reno thread and look at the before roundup picture. Use this lawn to learn how to take it to the next level and then maybe do a reno in a few years.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

I was real frustrated at first and then kinda had that same thought! I'm gonna learn through trial and error and in a couple years once I have a better understanding and know exactly what I'm doing I'll kill it off and start over, gives me time to put irrigation in as well over that time period, which will tear up the yard anyways! Thanks for the boost of confidence!!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Dropped more seed over the whole yard last night, this morning noticed the first signs of new life! Doing something right,lol! Excited to see how it all looks in 30 days!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Slow and steady but I feel I'm making progress in the right direction, especially from 1 week ago


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Weekly front yard pic! Some of the old grass is coming back, it's taken 2 weeks of constant irrigation, but once all the new stuff germinates I'm hoping it fills in nicely!

Gonna get a quote on irrigation this week, if the price is right I may cave. While hoses and sprinkler work it just isn't as effective/efficient for my liking. I'm afraid though the price will be higher than I want, so we shall see.

Actually mowed the front yesterday as well, first time in over 6 weeks!!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

I want to get a soil test done, is there any benefit to doing it yet this year with all the fert I'm going to be putting down, or would it be better to do first thing in the spring?


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## Fronta1 (Jul 11, 2017)

Eric, I don't know what the official recommendation is for testing with regard to fertilization, but my educated guess is that your soil is your soil. Any added fertilizer becomes part of that. Take a 0 through 4 in depth, and you'll get a representative result of where your soil stands at that moment.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I wouldn't do it. By the time you get the results, at most you have 1-2 months to try to address it. Do it next year as soon as the ground is not frozen.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Well irrigation is out for now, at least professionally! The bid came back at 5k for 7 zones plus another $500 for the meter. I'm really intrigued by the Hydr-Rain blue lock system that Eric used so I'm researching that heavily. I honestly think for less than $1500 I can put together a pretty sweet hose bib in ground system. I'll probably start a new thread in the coming weeks over in irrigation to outline my thoughts, look for opinions and let others see what I'm planning as I've had a hard time finding comprehensive ideas regarding this topic pretty much anywhere on the internet. That's not to say it doesn't exist. I just can't seem to find anything saying "here's how I built this!" I hope to be able to do that!!


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## Roosterchest (Aug 3, 2017)

Eric, interested to here about your hose bib irrigation thread. I've been considering one.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Something like this works really nice. The hose bib feed the pvc manifold. The manifold has hunter valves connected to a rachio.





You could also use a orbits timer with multiple leader hoses to each of the zones.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Something like this works really nice. The hose bib feed the pvc manifold. The manifold has hunter valves connected to a rachio.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's exactly what I'm thinking, running a 3/4" pipe from the hose bib to the manifold, probably have 4 valves in one box, run a 3/4" pipe to the backyard with 3 more valves in it. Tonight I'm researching how to hook the hose bib into the manifold, and get that all set up.

Like I mentioned the Hydro Rain blu lok connectors and pipe are a bit more expensive, but it's kind of a turn key solution, manifolds, valves, connectors, and pipe.

On question I have is can a person bore underneath a 20' Drive the same as boring under a sidewalk, or is it better to just run the pipe around the house?

This is what I'm looking at as far as the manifold goes, I can run 1" pipe from the hose bib to a T then 1" to the valve box with 4 and 1" to the valve box with 3. I really wish the laterals off the valves were 3/4" instead of 1", but they make couplers I could run the pipe out of he box a foot or so and drop the laterals down to 3/4". I just think 1" is overkill for the laterals being I'm going to design the system to run between 6-6.5 GPM.
https://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HR%2D4HRP%2DPUSH&CartID=1


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Menards sells the pvc garden hose connection.

Do your calculations, but error in the side of larger pipe (1in instead of 3/4in) if it is close to pushing the limits of pressure loses.

I would not dare to bore underneath 20' driveway. I would go around the house.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Never mind just saw your post, I'll probably run 1" laterals all over!


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## LawnNerd (Sep 2, 2017)

Stick em up, this is a hijack...

G-man, question for you. Most hose bibs are 1/2" and your running 1" laterals, isn't there a psi loss when you transition into larger pipe? This is the part I can't wrap my brain around to install my own dyi.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

My hose bibs are 3/4 pex. This is almost the same as 1/2 copper. Pex internal walls are thicker, so there is less area for the water to flow.

The main issue with pressure losses is the distance. You will lose more pressure flowing 10gpm thru a 3/4 in for 20ft than 1in for 20ft. It has to do with the speed of the water going thru the pipe. Since the 3/4 is smaller I'd, the water has to go faster, so it rubs with the walls more, so there is more energy lost due to friction. In a larger pipe, the speed will be reduced, so less energy loss. The equation is to the power of 2, so the difference in speed is to the power of 2 less as the delta in diameter. Google fluid dynamics or flow thru a pipe for a lot more info.

If you have a 1/2 bib and you measured you gpm from that bib (5 gallon bucket test), then design not to exceed that flow and to have 45psi at each head and you will be fine. This is a trade-off, more zones at lower gpm vs a proper connection to the house main at 3/4 or 1in pipe that will yield a higher design gpm per zone.

I hope I'm being clear.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Weekly yard pics, we are making progress in some areas and moving like a snail in others, I would say the front and certain areas of the back have made great progress over the past three weeks. Took the lawn down to 1.75" and absolutely love it! Only one notch left on my rotary and that's 1.25". Didn't have any scalpinh either so that's a good thing.

Wish Mother Nature would throw us a bone, had an inch of rain 3 weeks ago and the rest has been with my sprinklers, kinda hard to keep up with the drought.

Front yard is still real wet so I think it's time to back off to 30 minutes every 2 days, may go every three. With the spray heads on its soaking the crap out of it, not sure that's a good thing.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Something like this works really nice. The hose bib feed the pvc manifold. The manifold has hunter valves connected to a rachio.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Is this your system?


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

So I roughly laid out my back yard using PGP Ultras and the dimensions are 54x85. I put 1 in each corner, on the short side one in between and the long sides have 2 in between. Using 1.5 blue nozzles flowing 1.5gpm I would need 3 zones because I'm trying to keep it at 6-6.5gpm, out of the spigot I have 7.5 GPM. If my math serves me correctly at it would take me 9 hours to water this area to 1", each zone for 3 hours. Does that sound about right?

Edit that I think I need 2 heads in the middle running 360 as well, which would take the time down to about 7.75 hours. I laid it out the same way with mp rotators and running all mp 3000s @ 40 psi it puts me at almost 21 GPM, regulating them down to 30 would make head to head invalid. I don't want to push the limits of the system, and dont want more than 3 zones in the back for effeciency. I will be running all 1" poly pipe with 1/2 going to the heads and my psi at the bib is 70psi.

I haven't laid it out with 2000s yet but afraid I'd have to put between 20-24 heads to equal the 12 of these other 2 options, or maybe just put 4 2000s in the middle at 30 psi to cover the areas the outside heads don't hit

Ps I can't type, hence all the edits!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Here's pictures at day 35 from when seed was put down! I'm very happy with the progress being made considering I thought the whole thing was dead just a month ago! The front has amazed me the most!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

What a difference! I'm glad things worked out for you.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

While it's far from perfect, I'm still amazed every time I mow the front how quickly it turned around! Just goes to show with some $$ and hard work, it doesn't take much to turn a blah lawn into something to be proud of!


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Eric said:


>


Looking great! Well done!


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## HoosierHound (May 1, 2017)

Amazing transformation! Thanks for sharing your experience.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

2018 Update thus far:

August 22, 2017




June 19, 2018




The yard has turned around nicely, we didn't have much of a spring this year and we have already had weeks of dry hot weather, so the yard is showing some stress but overall it's ok!

I started the season mowing the first 2 x's at 1.75", then moved up to 2.5" then 3" then 3.5"! Honestly I felt I "lost" the yard going from 3 to 3.5", the color seemed better at 3 and it seemed stuck on seeding forever which I believe is when I lost the color some. We are actually getting cool weather this week with 2-3" of rain so I'm probably am going to drop it back to 3". This leads me to believe most my yard is PRG and KBG! It just doesn't seem to enjoy being at 3.5"!

Here's what I've done this year, I've been slacking some, got busy in the spring and fell off planet earth for a few months!
-4/28- start fert(.51N) and 2 bag Milo (.45N)
-6/1-3oz RGS, 3oz MicroGreene, 6oz air 8
-6/3- Ideal EQ(Menards Milo) (.54N)
-6/11-3oz RGS, 6oz Humic 12
-6/19 Disease Ex

Plans for the rest of the year!
-submitting soil test this week 
-3oz of each RGS, MicroGreene, Humic 12 (1 app each month July-October)
-6-9oz Air8 in September
-100 lbs soybean meal going down end of August
-3 apps of Urea in Sept, Oct, Nov

I debated on aerating and overseeding PRG or TTTF, but at the end of the day I want a 100% KBG yard and it will be at least a year or 2 before I can do that. So I am going to push this one hard this fall and see how it responds!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Get your soul tested. The lack of color could be due to pH. Awesome work overall and I like your plan going forward.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Get your soul tested. The lack of color could be due to pH. Awesome work overall and I like your plan going forward.


Yeah the soil test slipped my mind this spring, and I just know somethings not quite right! I have mowed 2.5-3 times more than any of my neighbors have this year (basically every 3-4 days) and the color should be darker than theirs because they all do absolutely nothing! My yard is definately the thickest on the block though, so I'm doing something right!

Is this the correct waypoint form to fill out? I want the SM3 test correct?

http://www.waypointanalytical.com/Docs/samplesubmittalforms/WaypointSoilInformationSheet-Iowa.pdf

Or is it this one?

http://www.waypointanalytical.com/Docs/samplesubmittalforms/WaypointLawnandGardeninfosheet-Iowa.pdf


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Do you have hard water in your area? If so, then I would send it to the Waypoint in TN and do the SW1 (better test for high pH). Otherwise the SM3.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Now I know why I went up to 3.5", mowed Friday @ 3.5" and today @ 3". The yard is so thick at 3" that my mower can't mulch the clippings fast enough!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Sent my soil test off to Waypoint yesterday, anxious for the results! Hopefully it will shed some light on why my grass is thick and growing like crazy, but at the same time lacking the color most of you seem to have! I'll post it as soon as I get it!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

So I'm totally changing course.......went to one landscape supply place today that decided to close early so I thought what the heck I'll stop at SiteOne!

It was a great experience and the guy was impressed by all that I've learned here! Big shout out to many here who have helped me along the way! But he didn't like my plan of using the 13-2-13, for now. I brought 2-3 samples of grass from various places in my yard and he informed me that I really don't have very much bluegrass and that feeding it aggressively won't help it "spread" and accomplish my goals. He asked me what I want out of my yard and he said I really have 2 options to get what I truly want, nuke it and start over, or overseed with TTTF. He isn't opposed to PRG per say, he just laughed and said while it's awesome he prefers to leave it on the golf courses here in Iowa!

So I purchased 50lbs of Lesco TTTf seed and a organic fert they sell, he wants me to put one bag down sometime in the next few weeks when I know rain is for certain then he wants me to aerate heavily end of August/September and drop all 50 lbs of seed, then 2 weeks after seed down drop another bag of the organic fert. I asked about starter fert and he said my soil has enough P already that he doesn't want more applied. He has a pelletized compost I may go back and purchase, but haven't decided! It's a unique product made here in Iowa from expired food from a local grocery chain that is then heated to 165 and turned into pellet form.

This is totally different than I originally planned, but the guy seemed to know his stuff and seemed knowledgeable regarding turf!

He did agree that the 13-2-13 would be a heck of a maintenance fertilizer once I get this established, even though he doesn't carry it, he told me exactly where to go to get it. Personally he used it when he worked in the golf industry and said it's pretty phenomenal, but being greens grade he said expect to pay $55-60/bag!

Fert-

http://www.sustane.com/index.php/products/turfgrass/sustane-18-1-8

Seed-


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Well saw rain developing on the radar, so quickly went out and put one bag of the Sustane down! Nice 3/4" rain just watered it in for me, curious to see how my yard reacts to this product, seems very interesting in how it works, swore I was never gonna put fert down this time of year ever again, but he said I should, so I'll either love it or curse myself! Time will tell!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Not sure what exactly is in this Sustane, but it's almost like magic in a bag! This is one week post application!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Right in the label. Turkey poop and synthetic fertilizer (AS)

composted turkey litter, polymer coated sulfur coated urea, methylene urea, ammonium sulfate, sulfate of potash and ferrous sulfate.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Right in the label. Turkey poop and synthetic fertilizer (AS)
> 
> composted turkey litter, polymer coated sulfur coated urea, methylene urea, ammonium sulfate, sulfate of potash and ferrous sulfate.


Lol! I was be sarcastic! Didn't expect my yard to respond the way it did, color came in nicely!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Well it was the nicest yard on the block! 1.25" in the front and 1.75" in the back! Amazed how much grass comes off, it was cut at 2.25" 3 days ago! Hopefully seed goes down tomorrow!


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Wow, if your lawn was any bigger, it looks like you would need a larger truckbed.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

social port said:


> Wow, if your lawn was any bigger, it looks like you would need a larger truckbed.


Hmmmmm.....may need a bigger yard then, or start doing the neighbors! Good idea!!!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

For all the new people out there....don't give up hope! Just one year ago my yard was shot, major understatement! I've employed many tactics from here, with minimal irrigation compared to a full system! I haven't overfed my yard this year, scalped it Monday so I could throw seed down Tuesday, and I may have to mow on Saturday to bring it back down to 1.75" so it doesn't over grow the new seed before it germinates. I expected the grass to be in shock with the amount of material I removed, but I think it actually liked it. I have lots to learn still,!bit just getting your turf and soil healthy is 90% of the battle! I have not gone longer than 7 days between mowings this year whereas I have neighbors that have gone 3+ weeks!

For all those in the fence, hang in there, take baby steps and the rewards will be tenfold!!!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

So I scalped my yard down Monday, and due to watering the new seed along with over an inch of rain over the past 3 days my grass is perking back up quickly. Should I knock it back down this weekend before the new seed germinates or should I just stick to my original plan of waiting 2 weeks regardless of how much my original grass grows? I put zero fert down at seed, as I'm planning on doing that at 2 weeks as well? I don't want to risk damaging my work that I've done!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Seed went down Tuesday 14th, 50 lbs of Lesco TTTF

8/20- 6oz/k of Air8
8/20- 3oz/k of Humic 12

Brought the yard back down to 1.75" and the back to 1.25", 5 more bags of grass off the back!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

Well it's been 2 weeks since seed went down! Think the new grass is coming in, but man is she thick! Haven't put fertilizer down yet either so it will be going nuts! Can't cut at 1.75" anymore, mower struggles to mulch! Gonna let it dry out tomorrow, according to the weather I have 9 days of rain ahead and highs right around 80. Hope to put sustane, sop, rgs, and MicroGreene down between the rain this weekend!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Eirc that looks great and dense. It might actually be too dense. Be careful with the lawn not being able to breathe and dry out fast. We are approaching the Rust season.


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Eirc that looks great and dense. It might actually be too dense. Be careful with the lawn not being able to breathe and dry out fast. We are approaching the Rust season.


Yeah scalping the yard I believe may have worked in reverse for me the existing grass is loving it, couple that with the new seed and it's thicker than I would like in some spots, perfect in others!


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

9/2- 25 #s of Sustane
9/10- 25#s of Sustane 
-25 #s SOP
-RGS and MicroGreene

Yard actually looks really good! Last week had a butt load of rain, but it's finally dried out and looking top notch!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Pictures?


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## Eric (Aug 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Pictures?


Sorry forgot to take some last night!


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