# Ben4Birdies Lawn Journal



## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Hey everybody! Been lurking for a while, thought it might be entertaining to share my experiences here. Thanks to everyone for all the knowledge you all keep sharing, it has been massively useful considering how little I used to know about all this stuff!

So... I'll try to keep this backstory short. South Dakota, family farm, June 2020... we have a pandemic on our hands. I get the brilliant idea to cut an area of the lawn to be like a golf hole. Scalped it to the bone. Genius me even smothered an area with sand thinking it would help level the area around the hole I put in the ground. Bonus: You can even see a little stretch of "fairway" I scalped on the top right.


Result? Disaster! Summer heat = Lots of grass died and ALL KINDS of weeds took over. Grubs were plentiful and so were the critters tearing up the lawn looking for them. I did not take further photos. Looking back, the one example I have is the background from a photo. The one green anomaly is an area I tried to hand water to see if that would do any good.


As you can tell by my next photo, the hand watering plan was scrapped and I was in full amateur golf architect mode. Well... actually I thought I could pull off a "deep rough" area near the driveway, so I did water that. A tiller and a shovel is not an efficient means to build a golf hole. I did a fair amount of experimenting moving dirt around in the fall, but nothing too crazy. Oct 2020


Over the winter I looked up tons of photos of beautiful golf holes that inspired me. Even so, designing my first "golf hole" was a big head scratcher. In March 2021 I decided to put the old tractor to use and moved in at least 15-20 bucket loads of soil from a pile in the pasture. The yard slopes right to left, and it took way more than I thought to build up an area in a nice shape to be somewhat level. The "potential bunker" I dug by hand.


This is the final design I ended up using. Seemed to be the best approach for simplicity and worked with the slope of the land, plus the potential for a variety of different golf shots to be able to practice. Most importantly, I wanted it to look and play similar to a legit golf hole. The "bunker" did not get filled with sand, but it was considered an option up until the point I realized the farm cats would turn it into a giant litter box. 


I learned a lot from you guys and other websites over the winter. The majority of the rest of the yard I mowed short, dethatched, got rid of the debris, aerated, overseeded, and used the Scotts Starter Fert w/Mesotrione. Watering for germination I had this setup. The dog was loving chewing his brush under the sprinker that morning.


I know some of you nerds are like "What seed did he throw down?!" At the time, I had no patience to weed through all those stinking NTEP numbers, so I talked to a local golf course owner. Jacklin Overseeder ii (70%KBG 30%PRG) was the stuff he used for his fairways and rough that I admired. I ordered online from Pendelton Turf Supply. https://www.pendeltonturf.com/product-page/jacklin-overseeder-ii-70-bluegrass-30-ryegrass Since then I have been learning more about kbg cultivars. Found a website that said 3 of these could have been in that mix. (Award, Everest, Jackpot, Liberator, NuGlade)

My planting plan here was based on Ryan Knorr's youtube videos. I'm a very visual person and those helped immensely. The steep slopes I did add some extra seed to improve the density. The dog was upset he couldn't tear up the fresh dirt!


The rest of the yard was a concoction of weeds, bare spots, and every kind of grass that had been planted or survived since who knows when... Tenacity in the starter fert did help some, mostly relying on the kbg to take over as much as it can.


Planted the "green" on April 24, 2021
PRG germination May 2, KBG germination May 12
First Mow - May 20th!
Overall it turned out hugely successful. No washouts... who knew a drought in our area was actually useful?


Used a Scotts manual reel mower all year on this.
Started mowing at about 1.75" and gradually worked my way down to 0.75"
After the mesotrione wore off, some weeds did pop up, so I spent some time hand pulling them.


July 16 - A lot of filling in. The overseeding was a major improvement, but far from a uniform lawn, as I expected.
Height of cut for the rest of the lawn was 3.5-4" for the majority of the year. Did not want crabgrass to get any chances.


August 1 - Height of cut on the green is 1.125". The heat and humidity started an episode of rust across the lawn, but quite heavy in the grass bunker. Deep rough in that low spot didn't seem conducive to preventing disease. At some point I do need to research options to solve the drainage issues for this "grass bunker".


August 8 - HOC on green is 1". Practiced hitting some golf balls. Really happy with the design, the bunker sucks balls in like a magnet and makes for some challenging shots from this angle. Works well as a chipping and pitching practice area. I had done some research on what is involved in constructing a USGA putting green, and the effort, complexity, and maintenance involved was far beyond my reckoning. Perhaps someday...


August 15 - The day all this effort paid off. Had a family get together and obviously the guys were the first ones out hitting golf balls. Eventually a couple of the ladies wanted to join the fun, this I had not expected! Wow, so much fun watching everyone have a good time and the dogs went nuts chasing golf balls all over the place!


August 21 - The heat of the summer showed me just how poorly the old grass performs under stress. Temps were coming down, so I upped my overseeding game by using a SunJoe scarifier/dethatcher.
Left the green intact. Did the south half of the lawn. I really beat the snot out of it hoping to give the KBG in the Overseeder ii mix a better chance to take hold than it had this spring.


Sept 16 - Been letting the overseeding area grow out. I think I might have gotten the green down to 0.75" by this point. Also been working on the slopes around the green and in the bunker lowering the height of cut with the manual reel. I expanded the area on the right side of the green hoping the low height of cut would discourage the undesirable lime-green grasses and encourage the better kbg to take over. Not sure if that accomplished anything or not.


Sept 18 - The full yard is finally mowed. So far the best this yard has ever looked!


Sept 26 - The lawn improvement itch is real. This area was 90% weeds, terribly bumpy, not worthy of being called a lawn. No roundup, I just pummeled the crap out of it with this drag until the surface was powder.

This last second reno area was risky, there really wasn't much left of a seeding window. Didn't want to use premium grass in case it failed. Decided to put some Scotts Sun&Shade Rapid Grass to the test. Shade was of concern being in this back area with trees.


Oct 2 - This little mole vermin decided to resurface again. Last year he had gone to town in the yard, time to put a stop to him once and for all. No success in killing it, but it didn't resurface again. Will be watching like a hawk in spring.


Oct 10 - Germination was half-decent considering the conditions. Lucked out with a warmer than average fall.
If it fills in next spring, I could be hitting full swing wedges from back here.


Oct 23 - A different view to show ya.


Nov 4 - Dense fog that morning made some epic frost.


Nov 6 - Green is 0.75" and the slopes/bunker I finally got down to 1". If you aren't accurate, balls will roll off the sides like you're at Augusta National. My brother found this added challenge highly enjoyable.


Nov 9 - Thanks for following along. I hope it was enjoyable. I skipped over a lot and tried to give you some of the highlights. Major improvements from beginning to the end of the season. I learned a lot and am working on ideas for 2022.


God bless and I wish you all a great year ahead!
Ben


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Nice work!


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Nice project! I like the contour of the green and having the trees as a backdrop really makes the setting look fantastic. Welcome to TLF.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Nice write-up! Welcome to TLF!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Much appreciated @ionicatoms @Wiley & @Ware 
I'm looking forward to checking out what you all are up to in your lawns!

Some additional 2021 info I hadn't included:
May application of GrubEx
- Highly successful, didn't see any evidence of grubs compared to 2020.

Used the granular Scotts Weed Control product in July
- Should have done it sooner, but it did help beat back at least some of the weeds.

Also tried some Weed B Gon w/quinclorac spraying in spots
- I think I preferred those results to the granular herbicide

Used some Scotts Disease Ex in late July
- Worked like a charm on the rust disease
- A website I read said rust can be corrected through proper watering and fertilization, but I wanted to be sure the issues were cleared up before my planned overseeding.

Used Scotts Lawn Food & Winterguard products to push nitrogen in the fall.
- The green-up and filling in was a success, and hoping I applied enough to see additional benefit this spring.

*2022 Tenative Plans*
With the weed issues being so extensive, I fully understand the desires to renovate. Perhaps an area this fall.
Looking at the SS1100 mix with Bluebank, Midnight, Mazama & adding some Bewitched to the mix.

My most oppressive foes were large crabgrass and common knotweed. With the amount of just those 2 weeds going to seed in 2020, I'm sure I will need pre and post-emerge applications for a while.

-Early pre-emerge I am looking at granular prodiamine.
-Follow up with granular dithiopyr to extend the pre-emerge control through the summer and have at least 2 modes of action.
-I would like to try spraying tenacity and/or speedzone to see how much other undesirable stuff that will kill.
-Beyond that I will have to identify which weeds are avoiding the common weed control methods... I suspect that I may have some quackgrass that I may need to paint with glyphosate.
-May test out a PGR on the low cut green
-More GrubEx in May to prevent a re-invasion by those gross grubs. 
-Soil test and assess what improvements need to be made

I just hope for more weeds to die, kbg to fill in those gaps, and see how things progress.


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## hogmaster (Dec 29, 2021)

Fun read, thanks!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Jan 19 - The late reno to the north wasn't a complete failure, but still needs a lot of filling in.


Feb 15 - The dormant color of newer grass compared to the old old grass is very obvious… the nukes will be flying at some point!


Feb 20 - Regretting not solving a drainage option, but the dog doesn't seem to mind.


April 16 - I expect I'm seeing the difference in spring green up between the PRG and the KBG.


The area in the bunker could very well be dead… going to wait and see if anything revives at all.


Worst area of the north reno. Will likely overseed areas like this, or maybe leave it be to learn the rate at which kbg fills in.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

May 20 - The north reno area is looking a lot better than last fall. I spread some leftover starter fert with mesotrione and it started bleaching some weeds. When temps start getting warmer I need to hit it with some WeedBGon to take care of the broadleaf weeds trying to take over.

I think the biggest culprit not getting bleached by the meso is common knotweed.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

May 10 - The lawn isn't perfect, but at least it is dog approved.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Ben4Birdies said:


>


So cool!! Great work setting this up.

How's the bunker doing now? Have you thought about adding sand and using motion activated sprinklers to keep the animals out?


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

bf7 said:


> How's the bunker doing now? Have you thought about adding sand and using motion activated sprinklers to keep the animals out?


Motion activated sprinklers! 🤣 Hahaha, that had not crossed my mind. I love the ingenuity! Adding sand is not part of the plan yet, but I'll have to keep your idea in mind.

The bunker is facing issues. There indeed was dead grass in there from winter damage. Not much survived in the bottom. The surrounding area kinda drained water into it as the snow melted and then would freeze at night.

I'm working on ideas on how to better manage the surface drainage. I am hoping not to have to dig a deep trench to solve it by subsurface drainage pipe.

May 10


May 24


I used pre-emergent this spring and I expect seeding the bunker wouldn't turn out so well. I may need to invest in one of those propluggers I keep hearing about.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Still looks awesome even with dead grass!


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## BH Green (Apr 9, 2020)

Hey, Ben! Didn't know you had a journal here. Great stuff! You've made some nice improvements so far, and I love the putting green. Any damage from the recent storms? Hope you came out of that unscathed. At least it's nice to finally get some decent rain around here.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

BH Green said:


> Any damage from the recent storms? Hope you came out of that unscathed. At least it's nice to finally get some decent rain around here.


The rain was much needed. Some trees had sizable limbs break off. Some shingles went flying off the roof. All in all thankful, because it could have been much worse.

June 1 - Far north reno seems to be improving.


June 2 - If you look closely to the right side of the green I'm experimenting with an area of "deep rough".


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## lbb091919 (Apr 26, 2020)

Very cool project from start to finish and I bet a great conversation piece. I know at the beginning you decided not to fill the bunker with sand because of cats. Since you've seen the issues with keeping the grass alive in there with the drainage, have you considered making it an actual bunker? It would definitely add to the genuine golf hole effect and probably help the water move in that area too.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

lbb091919 said:


> Since you've seen the issues with keeping the grass alive in there with the drainage, have you considered making it an actual bunker? It would definitely add to the genuine golf hole effect and probably help the water move in that area too.


I have been researching how bunkers actually get built, and one thing they do is make sure that in general, the slopes in the surrounding area send water away from the bunker. Currently some of the yard slopes directly into it… oops 😳

After that, if it was to be turned into a bunker, I would for sure need a subsurface drain, and then some kind of liner that would let water drain out and keep the soil from contaminating the sand.

Bunker drainage


Bunker liner


Simple diagram of a bunker


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

I mowed a weedy area north of the reno I did last fall. This gives a pretty stark picture of the before and after of all the work that has gone into this area.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Haha that's a real testament to your hard work!


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## Wile (Sep 17, 2020)

Not going to lie. Until I started researching greens and bunkers a few years ago, I would have thought it was just sand in a pit. That is crazy to me how much goes into creating one. I also really like your grass bunkers. Not sure how you cut them but they look awesome. @bf7 did you do that for your bunker?


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Wile said:


> Not going to lie. Until I started researching greens and bunkers a few years ago, I would have thought it was just sand in a pit. That is crazy to me how much goes into creating one. I also really like your grass bunkers. Not sure how you cut them but they look awesome. @bf7 did you do that for your bunker?


LOL the diagram that Ben4Birdies posted is further reassurance that I will never have a real bunker in my yard. Until I'm retired and very bored.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Wile said:


> I also really like your grass bunkers. Not sure how you cut them but they look awesome.


I cut the steep slopes with a manual reel. It's light, maneuverable, and can follow the contours if pushed at the correct angles.

There is just one bunker in front. The area left of the bunker is just a slope that levels off with the surrounding area.


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## Wile (Sep 17, 2020)

Oh, it looked like two at first. Does that Scott's Elite manual reel get down to a ~.5"? I'm thinking about getting one so I can touch up some hard to get areas around the playset. My Scott's Classic only does 1" and it doesn't seem cut much lower than ~1.25".


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Hey @Wile, it claims to cut down to 0.5in at the lowest setting, but I haven't tried it much. My low cut area of turf is not level enough to cut that low and not scalp in certain spots. In fact scalping is not the correct term, a manual reel doesn't have enough power to scalp the grass that close to the dirt, the blade just gets jammed/stuck hitting the dirt/thatch if your yard isn't level enough.

One annoying thing is that you have to take the mower apart and put it back together at a different setting to be able to mow really low. Other than that, I've been happy with it. It's the only reel mower I have owned so far.


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Looking good. Finally got to read through your journal. Excited to follow along.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

I don't think I've shown this angle before. This gives you an idea how steep the back side of the chipping green is.

It can be a tricky shot to get back on the green from the lowest area in the corner.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Renovation time has begun!!! You can probably see the blue marker dye starting the area roughly 3600 sqft that I'm killing off and starting over.


Here you can see the stark difference between this area and the area I did a reno late last fall.


I sprayed my first app of glyphosate with ams and surfactant on July 9th. Hopefully this will give me enough time to fallow out this ugly area before August 15th.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

July 14th - First kill is looking pretty good.


Thankful I only missed just a couple spots.


July 15th - Scalped and removed a lot of dead material.


Now it's time to focus on watering and killing everything that pops up!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

July 30 - Some of the smooth bromegrass came back after a dose of glyphosate.


It's hard to get a picture that shows all the random plants popping back up all over the place. They got hit with roundup/ams/surfactant again. If that doesn't wipe them out, I'm going to up the rate of glyphosate to try and knock out all the stinking rhizomes. I'm thinking a regular dose might run out of potency if there are several growing points of a plant underground.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

August 1 - Roundup dose #2
August 5 - Used drag on the reno
August 14 - Dragging #2
August 16 - Dragged Yet again to loosen soil and make it more smooth

Aug 17 - Used tiller to really loosen things up.


- Spread 100 lbs of gypsum to help loosen the clay soils because the magnesium percentage is way too high
- Pulled an i-beam behind the lawn mower to really smooth things out

Aug 18 - Seed goes down!
3-way mix of Bluebank, Mazama & Bewitched


- Lightly raked in the seed before rolling everything (built the roller myself a while back)


- Added Scott's starter fertilizer with mesotrione
- Began watering!


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Nice. Looking good.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Sept 24 - First germination noticed - 6 DAS


Sept 25 - More germination happening, but not happening everywhere consistently. This is one of the better areas.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Aug 26 - This is the worst area where the smooth bromegrass survived. I had hit it with roundup 2 times, pummeled the area with the drag as well as a tiller and some of the stupid stuff still survived 😭

I'm going to have to paint this stuff with straight roundup by hand… 😡


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Sept 2nd - 15 DAS, 9 DAG
Germination on the kbg doesn't seem very consistent. How long do I wait before adding more seed?


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Sept 10 - 23 DAS, 17 DAG
More seed or let it fill in?
Definitely some weed pressure. Would there be any harm in applying tenacity before the recommended wait time of 30 days to reapply?


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Not sure on the tenacity other than lilly harming the new grass. I don't have exp so I would follow the label unless someone else has exp. Looks like you need more seed. Wish I would have put more last fall on mine. Took al season this year to fill in and still isn't all the way there


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

This would likely fill in the spring with some aggressive N. I wouldn't have the patience though and would probably drop a quarter to half rate of seed.

I'd wait another week or so for tenacity. I chickened on using it on the baby grass until October, but I didn't have this many weeds.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

bf7 said:


> This would likely fill in the spring with some aggressive N. I wouldn't have the patience though and would probably drop a quarter to half rate of seed.


Yeah, I agree with you. I've been thinking about doing a half-rate of seed in the worst areas. Maybe I could hire @Stuofsci02 to garden weasel it all in for me! 🤣

I've been trying to think of a way to get good seed to soil contact without having to resort to that kind of effort/time. Maybe I can spread some seed, and then as I start mowing what grass is growing, me walking around will press the seed into the soil, plus the grass clippings could act like a mulch?

Sept 12 - 25 DAS, 19 DAG


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

I wouldn't do anything on that. That it solid even coverage. Ride this out and you will have good coverage over the next few weeks and a respectable lawn by seasons end..


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Ben4Birdies said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> > This would likely fill in the spring with some aggressive N. I wouldn't have the patience though and would probably drop a quarter to half rate of seed.
> ...


It does look like you are still getting germination in the 25 DAS vs the 23 DAS pic. It's looking good. Maybe give it a few more days before making your call, or only re-seed bare areas larger than dinner plate size.

What you described is almost what I did when I re-seeded over the whole lawn. I made sure the soil was moist (not wet), dropped seed, and rolled right away. Had good success that way and not a ton of work. If you have a greens mower so you don't need to rent a roller, even better.


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## Bob Loblawn (Apr 10, 2020)

Agreed with the folks above. That looks great and will only get better especially once it's ready to put down some N and cut it.

I think we are a group of perfectionists…so we will always find the bare or lighter areas (I'm guilty). But we just have to remind ourselves that those of us using KBG use it because of it's spreading ability. I had to re read g-man's reno guide a million times to reassure myself that the spring after a fall reno is when things will really shine.


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Bob Loblawn said:


> Agreed with the folks above. That looks great and will only get better especially once it's ready to put down some N and cut it.
> 
> I think we are a group of perfectionists…so we will always find the bare or lighter areas (I'm guilty). But we just have to remind ourselves that those of us using KBG use it because of it's spreading ability. I had to re read g-man's reno guide a million times to reassure myself that the spring after a fall reno is when things will really shine.


KBG will for sure fill in. Just look at my Reno. I should have put more seed as it ended up taking me a whole year for it to come in. I just added seed in the spring since I started too late with the initial seeding.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Thanks @livt0ride , @bf7 , @Stuofsci02 , @Bob Loblawn! I much appreciate your encouragement and advice.

Sept 13 - 1.5lbs seed added to thinnest areas
- Added Starter Fert w/meso
- Added some organic slow release

Sept 17 - Started mowing even though not every area needed it.

Sept 19 - 32 DAS, 26 DAG
It is filling in more, just really hoping for a long warm fall before winter.


Sept 21 - 34 DAS, 28 DAG
The crabgrass is getting bleached by the tenacity, and as expected the smooth bromegrass is not.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Oct 3 - 46 DAS 40 DAG
Look how amazing the reno looks compared to the area next to it at the bottom!









I’m mowing it at roughly 0.75 inches. Some areas are really filling in nicely and feel 90% of the way to a full lawn. Other areas are lagging quite a bit by comparison.









I am pleased and expect spring will bring full coverage or close to it, but there’s still a little bit of growing season left and it would be nice to see much less bare dirt by the time the snow flies!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Oct 9 - 52 DAS, 46 DAG
Hoping there’s still a chance this year for it to fill in more, I can sense things slowing down.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Oct 22 - 65 DAS, 59 DAG
Still seeing some gaps, but it has filled in more. Spring should be fun to see it fill in the rest of the way. Also enjoying the color I’m seeing in the new grass. Excited to see it mature more next year!


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Looking great 👍


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Fantastic! Have you given the reno any nitrogen after 9/13?


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Looks amazing. Next year it will darken further too…. Well done!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

bf7 said:


> Fantastic! Have you given the reno any nitrogen after 9/13?


Oct 3
Half-bag Scott’s Starter Fert w/meso
(0.45lbs N/k)
1 Bag Ironite
Spread 25lb of Gypsum

Oct 8
Half-bag Starter Fert w/meso
(0.45lbs N/k)

Oct 22
12 lbs AMS
(0.63lbs N/k)

I’m not spraying nitrogen, so I’ve been trying through granular to push nitrogen without risking injury to the young grass.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Oct 29

9.5 lbs AMS (0.5lbs N/k)
6 month rate of Prodiamine to help prevent common knotweed that germinates basically as soon as the snow melts in spring.
I loved the results from the 0.63lbs N/k with AMS a week earlier, that I decided on another push of N this week. The grass seems mature enough to handle it, and with perhaps a final week of nice temperatures, I thought a one last push would be worth it.

Oct 30 - 73 DAS, 67 DAG


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## rhart (May 7, 2020)

Looking really good!!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Nov 5 - Chipping green looks pretty good considering that it has been neglected in comparison to the reno.









@Stuofsci02 I found out what cultivars I planted this with. Turns out I had Award, Everest & Jackpot in the mix! Found an old picture on my phone I forgot that I took of the seed tag.


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

@Ben4Birdies …. That is basically the mix I created myself minus the prg. I was supposed to have 50 Award and 25 of each of the jackpot and Everest although I end up with something like 40 award, 45 jackpot and 15 Everest..


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## Wile (Sep 17, 2020)

That mix sounds awesome. Can't go wrong with anything labeled Top Gun either.


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