# WizardStephen's 2020 Lawn Journal



## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

Happy 2020 lawn season everyone. Hope everyone is staying safe and finding some peace or at least a distraction in the lawn through these tough times.

*2020 Goal*: My goal for 2020 is to strengthen my existing turf and hope it fills in and thickens up.

*Lawn Stats*: 

*Front Lawn* = 1,500 sq. ft.

*Back Lawn* = 3,500 sq. ft.

*Grass Type*= TTTF, KBG, PRG

Two Dogs use the backyard, as well as what feels like a village of squirrels.

*2020 Soil Test*
Based on the below results, i'm going to skip Milorganite (for the second straight year) and any other source of Phosphorous. I did pick up some CX 24-0-4. I haven't used the carbon based fertilizers, but I've heard some good things on here about the product line. I also plan to give regular Iron feedings. I used FEature last year, and will continue that until I'm out. Any other Iron suggestions i should look into. Any other suggestions based on my soil analysis?


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*4/4/2020*

Mowed Lawn with Bagger

Edged Lawn

Urea down at .2lbs./m (For the overseeded grass from last fall)

Prodiamine 65 WDG down at .183oz/m

*Front Lawn After First Mow*
Observations:

Coming out of winter strong

Some bare/thin spots





*Back Lawn After First Mow*
Observations:

Dogs and squirrels did a number on the lawn

Lots of bare/thin spots

Right-side of lawn is either bare or wild onion. I plan to treat what i can and look for creative solutions (Mulch bed?)


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*4/10*

Got another mow in before the weekend rainfall.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*4/14/20*

No pictures today, as i was doing some last minute work in a tight window for sunlight:

Put down some extra Lesco 19-0-6 with Dimension that I had leftover from last year. Ended up being around 3.5 lb./k. I'm interested to see how it works in combination with the prodiamine I already put down 10 days ago. I know it was not needed, but wanted to get it down rather than storing in the shed for another year, and give a little N and K to the lawn (.67lbs of N/k).

Put down grub control at bag rate

Watered in Dimension and grub control

Extra Note - we got a dusting of snow over night. It was almost 80 this time last week


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*4/19/20*

Got the third mowjob of the season in. Ready for some more heat and rain to really wake the lawn up.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*4/27/2019*

Mowed the Front and Back before the rain (Put the Toro striper kit on for the front.)

We had 3" of rain this past weekend, and more rain in the forecast for the next week so i sneaked out get a quick mow in.

I have some CarbonX 24-0-4 and FEature 6-0-0 Iron on deck, just waiting a bit to apply. Perhaps after this upcoming week of rain.

*Post Mow Pictures*

*Front*


*Back*


*Weeds*

Starting to see some weeds.

In the front it looks like Clover (white?) and Wild Violet? Can anyone confirm?

Potential White Clover?



Potential Wild Violet?




In the back there's a mix of weeds, so a blanket 3-way will be coming soon. I am also seeing some Poa I believe, but not positive. Can anyone ID the light patches? You can see the light patches in the picture of the Back above as well.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*5/1/2020/*

Mowed Front and Back in the early afternoon

Did not have time to do any weed control. Hope to get to that this week




*5/2/2020*

Finally tore down the old chain fence on the north side of the backyard and replaced it with a wood privacy fence to match the rest of the backyard. Got it the tear down and new fence install done all on Saturday. Went smoothly other than the gigantic tree roots we encountered near the maple (perfectly planted right on the property line...)

Flower beds and garden work to come!


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

Good Morning TLF family. A LOT of work has happened since my last post and i'm excited to share some updates with you guys.

*5/8/2020* - Mowjob

I got one of the most satisfying cuts of the year. I'm not sure what made it so satisfying, but it was. The cut was clean and the turf was just looking really really good.





*5/9/2020* - Flower bed project begins

Work started early with a cup or four of coffee

The previous night the wife and I marked a general idea of where we wanted the new flower beds to be and their shape with spray paint. The new beds were along the North, East, an South-facing fences in the back yard, and along the house in the front yard.

I started cutting the edge of the bed that ran along our new fence








I then harvested some good turf and set aside. I wanted to dig up some areas of poa triv in the lawn and replace with some of this good turf that would otherwise just get tilled up. (The actual transplanting of this grass and digging out of the triv was a lot of work, wish i would have done it outside this project. Time will tell if it was successful or not)






Once we got the beds all edged out, we turned the dirt and grass over with a pitchfork and then used a small tiller to break up the grass and dirt a bit.




Then (because the lighting was right) I asked my wife to use spray paint to mark around poa triv in the lawn. I went up to the garage roof to help point out where they were.



*4/11/2020 - 4/12/2020* - Landscape Cloth and Mulch Day

Once all the beds were established, we covered the areas with black landscaping cloth and pinned it all down.(No photos of this work)

Then we went to pick up our first of four truckloads of mulch from a local nursery

Again, no pictures of this work, but the wife and I had a good system where I would fill up either the old-fashioned wheelbarrow or gorilla cart and she would go dump them. This allowed to make reasonably quick work of the mulch.

Once all the mulch was piled, I used a hard rake to level it out across the beds









*4/13/2020* - Flowers Day

Now it was time to add some color to all the new beds

At our local nursery we picked up a Dwarf Lilac bush for the front flower bed along with 3 Salvia-type plants, and 3 Summer Crush Hydrangeas.

At the home depot we picked up 3 Rhododendrons and 6 Azelea's for the back yard where it's mostly shade. We also got some flats of annuals for color as well.

Last we went picked up some vegetable plants as well - 3 types of tomatoes, 3 types of sweet peppers, jalapenos, serranos, chili peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini.

We also used hostas that we dug up from my mom's garden in this project as well.

We everything was bought, we brought it home and got them all planted.

We used a a water soluble "Blooming and Rooting" fertilizer that we watered in to each hole we dug before putting the plant in.












Once all the landscaping was work was done, I put down Carbon-X at about a 4lbs./m rate. i intended to go about 3lbs./m but got a little heavy handed. Will dial back the spreader next time. The lawn took a lot of abuse from being walked on and having wheelbarrows ran across it for 4 days, so the fert will be gladly welcomed by the grass. Also we got about 1.25 inches of rain on 5/14 so all this work was great timing.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*5/25/2020* - Memorial Day Mow

Got a nice mow in on Memorial Day. Good weather throughout the day, and then some more heavy rain at night (2.5 inches in about 2 hours time.

We've added some hanging baskets in the backyard.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*6/2/2020* - Second Application of Prodiamine

Put down my second application of Prodiamine at a rate of .183oz./m

I've really been enjoying my time in the lawn lately. The mows have felt great and i'm seeing the turf thicken up.

Also, I'm really satisfied with my operation experiment I did a few weeks back where i dug out some poa trivalis spots in the back and filled it in with good turf i dug out for the flower/garden beds. More to come on this as i see how it continues to root and settle in


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*6/7/2020* - Preventative Fungal Application

Put down Scotts DiseaseEx at Bag Rate for Preventative control

Put down BioAdvanced Fungas Control at Bag Rate for Preventative Control


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*6/24/2020* - Mow and setting sprinklers up for morning watering

Got a mow in Wednesday evening

Lawn is taking a beating from high temperatures and lack of water

I hand dropped some CarbonX in the worst spots in the front and hand watered. The thought is to see if it can help give some nutrients to the turf and getting healthy

Ran Sprinklers this morning and dropped .75" of water

Is it okay to spray iron on stressed turf? I don't want to stress it any more that it is, but I also want to avoid having a brown lawn summer. I'm willing to water and have been watering in the dry spell, albeit, not enough.






Bonus, Veggie Garden is loving the heat and really filling in and starting to produces some snacks.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*6/30/2020* - Mowjob + Iron (FEature) + Mosquito/Bug Control (TalstarP)

Ran sprinklers in Front yard only - roughly .75" of water applied

Picked up sticks and other debris in the yard

Mowjob - mulching clippings

Applied FEature at 1.75oz/m

Applied TalstarP at .75oz./m









*7/1/2020* - Ran Sprinklers

Watered in both front and back yards


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## jabopy (Nov 24, 2018)

I like the transformation WizardStephen, you've done a great job.&#128077; Also your pet joining in all the time&#128522;


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

Thanks so much @jabopy ! And yes, Scout, (the yellow lab) loves helping me out.  Barley, (the dachshund mix) likes to help too. Especially when Scout is all wore out....


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*7/4/2020* - Independence Day Mow


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*7/17/2020* - After about 7 inches of rain I got my first mow in since 7/4

Grass was tall, but not too much growth.

The flux in rain definitely greened up the backyard

The front is still getting fried from the afternoon sun. Will have to set sprinklers up again soon...


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*7/23/2020* - Another mow and edging job. 

Hand watered some spots in the back that needed extra attention

Also set the sprinklers up for a 7/24 AM watering (about 1 inch of water)


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*8/14/2020* - Mowed on lunch break
- Continuing the debate in my head of Fall Overseed vs. Fall Nitrogen Blitz and pre-m. I'm leaning towards Nitrogen Blitz and Pre-M, just curious if i'll get the same success with my TTTF/KBG/PRG mix, vs. folks who have 100% KBG. I have some barespots in the back i will have to seed regardless. 
- I put down TalstarP on Wednesday and watered it in this morning. Mosquito's were getting bad again..

*Front*





*Back*


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Are you mowing at the same height all year? Looks great


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

@Vtx531, thanks! And yes, I have been mowing mainly at 2.5" in the back and 3" in the front. I find that the taller I leave it, the less I enjoy it - especially in the back where I am walking/playing around in it the most. I also find the taller I cut it, the more it lays over after being walked on, and I have to fight to get it looking healthy again.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Blitz


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

If @g-man says blitz, then blitz I shall do.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*9/3/2020* - Fall Nitrogen Blitz Starts Today 

Did a double cut on 9/2/2020. Some leaves are falling already so got them all mulched up

Put down Prodiamine at .183oz./m

Put down CarbonX at .25lbs. of N/m (I plan to spray Urea with FEature once I run out of CarbonX)

*Front Yard*





*Back Yard*


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*9/9/2020* - Mow and Fert

Temps have dropped and we've gotten 2.5" of rain in the last week.

Mowjob - mulched

Put down CarbonX at .25lbs. N/m

Additional Note, my father-in-law gave me an Agri-Fab push lawn sweeper, and i'm surprised how much I've enjoyed using it in-between mows. Gets up spare leaves, sticks, and other debris, and lets me get some steps in.


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## wizardstephen (Sep 21, 2018)

*10/7/2020* - Mow and Fert

It's been about a month since my last update. I've been putting down around .25lbs. N/m each week and trying to make sure the lawn sees about .5in. of water per week.

The Front yard is really looking strong and has good color.

The back looks good, but still quite a few bare spots, and I'm starting to see Poa Triv in some of the sections where i dug it out in the spring - very sad. Debating glyphosating it yet this year and reseeded those areas...Need to make my mind up fast.

I plan to keep up the fall blitz until temps get too low.


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