# Practice Round?



## t_j (Jul 14, 2021)

TLDR;
I'm a newbie. Is there value in practicing lawn care with the crappy lawn I have before I spend $$$ on sod?

Longer version:
Just bought the house. 2,700 ft^2 of potentially nice turf in full sun. Currently overrun with weeds & multiple grass types. Nashville, TN (zone 7a, also transition zone), clay soil.

We didn't close on the house until April, and we'd been living in an apartment beforehand, so I was already behind the typical lawn maintenance schedule. Previous owner did nothing to maintain the yard, not even cut it.

I put pre emergent on it as early as I could (mid -May), along with fertilizer and biochar. I did another round of fertilizer (Milorganite) a couple weeks ago. I've collected soil samples and will send them out for testing this week. I suspect, like most yards here in Nashville, I'll need to apply lime.

I've been using Tenacity to spot manage weeds: Dandelions, thistle, dallisgrass, crabgrass, clover, buckhorn plantain, wild violet and a few others that just didn't look right to my uneducated eye. I've already used the max amount of Tenacity I'm supposed to for my plot, and there are still plenty of weeds to go. But now, also big brown bare spots. My hell strip has no living vegetation left.

I'm probably not mowing at the right height or frequency, but I don't know what kind of grass I have. I can clearly see runners, so I think common bermuda, but maybe also fescue? Definitely different seed heads when weather or my schedule lets the grass get that high.

I bought sprinklers and know how long to run them to get 1/2" of water down, and how to move them around for even coverage. I even have a rain gauge to keep up with rain fall.

The soil needs aeration. I'll do that in the fall. Probably top dressing, but I think I'm too late for that. Plus I had zero tools when I moved in, so my budget is already shot. And again quite a few bare spots left by weed control.

I feel overwhelmed. The fert has made the grass and weeds nice & green - at least those that aren't white from the Tenacity. I understand that mowing, fertilization, and irrigation are by far the most important things to make a healthy lawn. But as I read through lawncare forums and other articles, there is **so** much to learn. I followed a few people for a month before I realized they were giving advice for cool season grasses in loamy soil, while I had transition zone challenges in clay soil.

Ok - with all that background, here's my question: Is there value in staying the course? Learning, trying, failing, rinse/repeat, on this crappy, ugly, bumpy patch of dirt? Or would I be better served in hiring some folks to strip it down and sod it in the spring?


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

I think this is a "to each his own" case. I prefer going slowly; I have 3 sections to play with, so I can practice different approaches and learn from my observations at a comfortable rate.

I would personally hate to spend a bunch of money on a contractor renovation and then not have a good idea of how to sustain it with insecticide, fungicide, herbicide, bio stimulant, and cultural practices like mowing, watering, etc.

But lots of people go the contractor renovation route and are perfectly happy with the decision.

If you are into "lawn care process," I would say stay the course for another season and then see if you are feeling a greater sense of mastery and then decide if it's time for an upgrade. If you are more into "lawn care results," a contractor renovation sooner rather than later may be the least frustrating choice. I tell my neighbors who ask to try to avoid comparing their lawn with other people's lawns. I say focus on continual improvement instead.


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## david_ (Aug 22, 2019)

Can you share some pics of your yard? I vote for fix what you have. You'll learn so much about your property.


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## M1SF1T (Jun 1, 2021)

If you're at the application limit with Tenacity try a different herbicide, maybe a 3 way with quinclorac or triclopyr.

I absolutely think there's value in working with what you have and staying the course. At least that's my lawn care plan, learn on and improve the plot I took over for another year, get it leveled and as I nice as I can get it and then kill it and go with a choice variety.

I want to be there now, but it's a slow boat to getting there... incremental progress is the way it is.


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## t_j (Jul 14, 2021)

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Pictures as requested:


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I agree with the others here and just use this lawn as a practice lawn. Any mistakes you make here you can learn from and you don't have to worry about it too much. It looks like you have Bermuda and fescue so you will have to decide on which grass you are going to favor and care for as they both require different cultural practices.


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

t_j said:


> I put pre emergent on it as early as I could (mid -May), along with fertilizer and biochar. I did another round of fertilizer (Milorganite) a couple weeks ago. I've collected soil samples and will send them out for testing this week. I suspect, like most yards here in Nashville, I'll need to apply lime.


Unless you collected those soil samples before your fertilized, I wouldn't waste your money sending them off for testing. They won't give you an accurate picture if you recently fertilized.


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## JayGo (Jun 13, 2019)

I say fix what you have. &#128077;&#127995;


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## FrankS (Jun 19, 2021)

You learn more by fixing problems than by maintaining the already good.

Now is your chance to learn the most. You might, eventually, end up starting over, with a full renovation, but you'll be doing it from a well developed knowledge base.

If you're 70 years old, kill it now and start over. If you're closer to 30, keep learning with what you have.


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## Thejarrod (Aug 5, 2018)

i would suggest working with what you have for now. also consider moving away from Tenacity. Tenacity is a specialty chemical and it has its place, but its not the best choice for most applications, especially for a novice. Its easy to do damage to the turf.


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## t_j (Jul 14, 2021)

Thejarrod said:


> also consider moving away from Tenacity. Tenacity is a specialty chemical and it has its place, but its not the best choice for most applications, especially for a novice. Its easy to do damage to the turf.


Yeah, I was following advice from various YouTubers, who seem to be fairly well respected. As a novice, I heard the advice and followed it. It was weeks later that I learned their advice wasn't applicable to my situation 🙄. They were all dealing with cool season grasses, which seem to be more resilient to Tenacity than bermuda.

In the end it turned out OK. As you can see from the pics above, I had large swaths of dallisgrass and crabgrass (the current brown/bare/white patches). I targeted only the big spots, and a few thistles. The second application was 2 weeks after the first. Last application was 2 weeks ago. So far nothing harmed but the weeds.

Regardless, you're right. I'll be expanding my inventory of herbicides.

Based on the encouragement above, I'll be core aerating and top dressing the small front yard soon. Probably with a manual core aerator. I just can't see renting a machine for that patch only. And I don't quite have any interest in top dressing 2,700 ft2 in Nashville's July/August heat.

Side question - is a pickup truck a necessary tool for this hobby? It seems challenging to get core aerators, power rakes, and other equipment transported without one.


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## SodFace (Jul 17, 2020)

t_j said:


> Side question - is a pickup truck a necessary tool for this hobby? It seems challenging to get core aerators, power rakes, and other equipment transported without one.


It costs me $60 CAD to have someone drive out to my house to aerate 3500ish sq ft. Tennessee must be a lot less.

I opted out of power rake and into the sun joe dethatcher as a reasonably priced alternative. Not as powerful but works great for a home lawn.

Get some Q4 plus or Weed B Gone or something as your day to day weed killer. I just did my second spray of 3way this year. You need so much less once you have thick turf.


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## ShadowGuy (Nov 20, 2020)

t_j said:


> Thejarrod said:
> 
> 
> > also consider moving away from Tenacity. Tenacity is a specialty chemical and it has its place, but its not the best choice for most applications, especially for a novice. Its easy to do damage to the turf.
> ...


 I use my wife's mini van to move my Mclanes. Removed a middle seat and loaded it through the side door.


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## david_ (Aug 22, 2019)

I don't think you need a pickup.

I think verticutting and aerating are overrated and 95% of results come from cut, water, herbicide, fert.


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## ColeLawn (Nov 11, 2020)

When was the last time you put down PreM? If not since May, I would personally just overseed it this fall and then get back on schedule (PreM, water, fert, mow 2-3x per week) next year. Re-evaluate Fall '22.

If you are leaning toward a reno this year, you need to get some Gly down ASAP.

I'd advise an overseed with TTTF, but I'm biased


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

whether to get new grass is based on what you expect.

I tried overseeding and while I did have a mostly weed free and great looking lawn, I was unhappy with the differences in color, texture growth rate, and triv/bent issues. 
Plus I wanted to level somethings out...

I do agree though to get your practice in... dial in the sprayer, get a routine down, mess around with PGR, iron, foliar N.


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