# ovojake's backyard PRG renovation- 10/5 UPDATE-LAWN IS IN



## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

What's up everyone! Excited to share this journey with you guys

My wife and I bought our first home last year, and I inherited a complete mess of a lawn. Every place I have lived prior had small patches of grass (less than 1k sq ft) that I throughly enjoyed taking care of, but our new home represented a huge jump in landscaping fun!.= Fully, our lot is just under half an acre with ~7,500 sq feet of lawn.

Overhead View of Lot- The plan is to completely renovate inside the fence and the small lawn in the back corner 

Front yard when we moved in 10/19. 

Front Area in May:



Small Front Yard 10/19

May:

The scene of the major renovation- 


I sprayed glyphosate 8/25 on the small yard and fenced backyard. Since then- I have replaced numerous sprinkler heads and adjusted the dialed in the remaining.

The plan is to rent a Bobcat loader and use Toro's soil cultivator to completely start fresh and level the backyard. The previous owner parked cars in this area and had an above ground pool, which has completely wreaked havoc on the leveling. Hard to even walk or mow the yard without breaking an ankle. I will run the cultivator on the small yard as well.

As for the front area, I am going to scalp, de-thatch, aerate, and over-seed. I'll re-evaluate in the spring to see if I am happy with the progress. If not, I'll rip it all out and throw sod down (I am not super motivated to throw seed down on that hill)


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

Picked up my seed today (doggo snuck in the photo): 




I wanted to use Champion GQ PRG but had to "settle" for Slugger 3GL. I am lucky enough to live so close to these seed companies that I had a myriad of choices locally to pick up good quality seed (Plus no shipping cost and wholesale price)

While I have the cultivator, I am going to throw down 50lb Lime per 1000sq feet and work it into the soil. I am going back and forth between renting an overseed machine- any thoughts?


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

Equipment picked up today- ready to tear everything apart tomorow!


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

First, beautiful property and i'm looking forward to seeing what you come out with. I'm up in WA and recently put down a blend of PRG which 30% was Stellar 3GL onto my bare soil front yard. I'll keep an eye on this to see how yours is progressing!


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

SOLARSUPLEX said:


> First, beautiful property and i'm looking forward to seeing what you come out with. I'm up in WA and recently put down a blend of PRG which 30% was Stellar 3GL onto my bare soil front yard. I'll keep an eye on this to see how yours is progressing!


Thanks! Glad this smoke is starting to dissipate!


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

Just settling down to update!

We rented the loader & cultivator on 9/5. The rental shop was closed over the holiday weekend, so we got to keep it for 3 days and only be charged for 1 day (8 Hour engine time) 


First pass was with the cultivator, second pass with the bucket to push all of the old turf off the surface that we could. Here is after that first pass 


We had to manually cut the sod around the edges & around the sprinklers, and do a heavy rake to get all the leftover thatch and loose debris off the surface we possibly could. The timing for all of this was perfect and also imperfect, as we wrapped up right as a historic windstorm came through the region, causing us to be inundated with smoke. Historically bad air quality and our home ended up in a level one evacuation zone for the wildfires. :bd:

Here is what the preliminary finished yard looked like before manually cutting around edges and the smoke setting in


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

After the windstorm blew in (40-50 mph for 2 days straight) I watered lightly a few times daily to keep dust down and prevent erosion. Once the winds stopped, we had a ton of debris to rake off the yard. It quickly turned apocalyptic with the sky being first yellow, then dark red, then ultimately black for the following days. Unfortunately the seasons don't stop because of smoke, and I had work to do, so I donned my respirator to as safely as possible continue the renovation/overseed.

First was scalping the entire front yard with existing grass (You can see the eerie smoke in the air) I did this on 9/11 


I am always surprised at how much grass comes off when you scalp. Next was tenacity at recommended rate, followed by Lesco 16-16-16 from my local Site one. For the overseed portion seed, I went on the heavier end with 8lbs per 1k (Front two yards total roughly 4ksq)

After just 2 days of water, water, and more water, I began to see the first signs of germination! 


This is the front lawn after 5 days (Air quality getting better!) I am seeing the bleaching from tenacity as well

Solid progress! :thumbup:


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

That brings us to 9/17- seed down day for the full renovation backyard. I began by doing a light rake of the top to remove debris, smooth out areas as much as I could, and loosen up the top as best I could. The soil is perfect after that cultivator. We rolled the soil after completion of the cultivation to avoid the settling that can happen with tilling/cultivating, and after almost 10 days of no action and daily watering, didn't have any trouble areas with settling. I reserved a Ryan Mataway Overseeder to have optimal seed to soil contact, but when we got to the rental shop, I found out the machine was broken.  I guess we have to do it the old fashioned way! Called an audible and ran to HD to grab a Scotts drop spreader and to rent a peat moss roller. I Began by applying tenacity at recommended rate.

Here is after 2 passes with the drop spreader :mrgreen: 


I went around and dropped some seed by hand on the edges and in thin spots. I wayyy overbought on seed on purpose, so I went over it with the drop spreader again for a 3rd pass to be safe. Applied some Lesco 16-16-16, hit it with a roller, then tucked the seeds in nicely with a layer of Peat. 


If you plan on using peat moss, renting a roller is a MUST. It made this process so much easier and it spread evenly. 


BOOM! My whole body hurts, but the tough part is done. Now we wait! :thumbup:


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

Great work! The peat moss spreader is such a great tool that i never see people mention. Looks like you lucked out without any large clumps that didnt fit through the holes! My peatmoss had a pretty decent amount of bark and larger clumps that ended up making their way out the door.

Grab a beer and sit back now!


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

Thursday into Friday overnight we had a freak storm that wasn't forecasted roll into the area. :x :x I heard that peat moss was a rain magnet. Here is the aftermath


Luckily I had leftover peat and plenty of seed, so I did a quick re application.


Fingers crossed for no more downpours!


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

Front yard that I completely killed is coming in nicely! This is the best part of the grow in 9 days post seeding 


We also have our first signs of life in the backyard after the washout 


Grow baby grow! :mrgreen:


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

Backyard coming in nicely-just over a week since I put the seed down!


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

SO pumped on the results so far.

Seed down on September 11th for the front yard- Here is today (10/4)


Seed down on 9/17 for the back yard, with washouts on 9/18 and 9/23. This is today- I am over the moon about the results considering the circumstances. 


I'll keep you all updated on the next steps!


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Love PRG seed throw and grow. In two weeks you have a lawn


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## ovojake (Sep 4, 2020)

Fresh cut last night! Going to hit it with some Sunniland 12-0-0 "double dark" on Monday!


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