# Lawn Reno - OH - 5k SF - Bewitched/Bluebank



## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Renovating 5k sq ft backyard that backs up to tree line. I've used 2/3 Bewitched and 1/3 Bluebank.

Process
-Removed trees/shrubs and destumped (Jun-2020)
-Tilled Soil and existing grass 4 passes (Jul-2020)
-Installed 30 sq yards of soil (60% pulverized topsoil, 20% sand, and 20% comtil)(Sep-2020)
-Drag plated soil for a few days(Sep-2020)
-Yard roller over soil for a few days(Sep-2020)
-Applied Starter Fertilizer and Tenacity on Sep 19th, 2020
-Applied grass seed (mix of Bewitched and Bluebank) on Sep 21st, 2020
-Applied peat moss over grass seed on Sept 21st, 2020
-Yard rolled over peat moss

Attached are pictures from Day 8 after heavy storms last night which created some washout that may need to be addressed in a day or two.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Welcome to TLF. These cold temps will help with watering, but not with growing.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Yeah, waited too late in year. Hopefully i can salvage as much as possible before first freeze.


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## gregfromohio (Aug 14, 2019)

Fear not fellow Ohioan. Hit it with .25 lbs per K of Urea now or maybe another round of starter fertilizer in 10 days (go less than bag rate, maybe half). I wouldnt drop more seed on any washed out areas though. I'd save that for next year, it prob wont survive the winter. I'm pushing my mazama, bluebank, bewitched reno hard to drive root growth before the freeze . Good news is, other than cool temps this weekend the NWS shows good probability of above normal temps through October. Declining hours of sunlight is becoming a problem though.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Is it ok to walk on it? is pretty soft when i step on it. also, which brand do you recommend for the urea?


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 9


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## gregfromohio (Aug 14, 2019)

I dont walk on seedlings unless I have to. But if I do walk or mow, I do it very carefully and dont make any turns or pivots. Urea is generic. You will probably have to call around to find it. .25 lbs of actual Nitrogen per thousand square feet is a pretty low rate. Alternatively you could go to Lowes and get their 13-13-13 fertilizer. The triple 13 isnt as "hot" as starter fertilizer. Here is what I've been doing :
-august 6th dropped seed
-August 14th dropped Scott's starter w mesotrione at the bag rate
-sept 6th dropped 13-13-13 at bag rate
-sept 18th dropped .25lbs urea per K
-sept 27 dropped another round of Scott's starter with meso. 
- future applications will be .25lbs nitrogen (.5 lbs actual urea) per K (starting prob Oct 9 )until grass stops growing or we get multiple hard freezes.

I think you would be good to drop a low rate of urea or something else like triple 13 this weekend.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I think it is too early to be dropping urea.


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## gregfromohio (Aug 14, 2019)

g-man said:


> I think it is too early to be dropping urea.


Go with G-mans recommendations. My recommendations are aggressive. Just telling you what I would do this late in the game. It's going to be hard for it to get through the winter regardless. We are running out of hours of sunlight quickly.


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## gregfromohio (Aug 14, 2019)

gregfromohio said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > I think it is too early to be dropping urea.
> ...


If you are too afraid to hit it with anything hard, you can always just go heavy on a milorganite application. Milorganite wont hurt it.....it may not be enough either.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 10 Update


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## cleohioturf (Jul 20, 2020)

I think you are ok right now, wouldnt throw fert yet, especially since you put some down to start.

I did a similar process and I am north of you, in Cleveland, so cooler and did 9,000 sq ft with 90% KBG 10% rye. I did seed down on 18th of Sep with a slit seeder. I was very worried for 5-8 days after because the slit seeder was very difficult to maneuver, wasnt sure I was burying deep enough or too deep and potentially wasted all the seed. Now I think it has helped me with a more uniform germination. I bet you will see more and more seedlings continue to pop up given its KBG and some taking upwards of 20-25 days.

We both have some cool temps for the next few days that doesnt help much, but then mid Oct we are in the 65's which will help. Have you been taking soil temps around the yard? Mine are still holding at 60 degrees even after some of these cool nights so I have hope we have two more weeks of growing/germination.

I have conceded there are sections that will come in light but we have great springs for grass in Ohio too so you can overseed then to fix.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 12


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Looking good hopefully warm weather for a couple more weeks


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Thanks. Fingers crossed


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 13


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 14. Should I blow off the leaves now or will it damage the new lawn?


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## KoopHawk (May 28, 2019)

Leave the leaves. They shouldn't hurt anything unless they get matted down.

You've got really, really good even coverage. How much seed did you put down?


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

@KoopHawk Thanks for the advice. I'll hold off on the leaves for now.

I pretty much doubled the recommended amount. I think I put down 6-7 lbs per. Hopefully it doesn't die off b/c I put down too much.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

@KoopHawk how long should i wait before walking on lawn?


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## KoopHawk (May 28, 2019)

I like to stay off of it as much as possible but if you need to be on it you should be fine. Just make sure your walking like you're walking on baby grass. Deliberate steps, no twisting, etc.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 21 - october morning dew


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Seems to be filling in very nicely. When are you planning to mow?


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

@uts not sure. i need to do something soon with the leaves. any advice on when to mow?


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## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Honestly i'd mow now and bag up everything. Its clearly past the pout stage somehow with how tall it is? and frequent cuttings will cause it those blades to tiller and fill in more space. Get out and cut it every day you can when its not soaking wet and you risk damaging/matting/ripping at it with your mower. Even if your not cutting off much, more frequent cutting really does help it thicken up quickly IMO.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

@FuzzeWuzze thanks for the feedback. i need to buy a mower. i don't want to use my old hand-me-down push mower. I'm going to try to buy one tonight and then mow tomorrow...if it dries out a bit. I'm thinking of getting the TimeMaster.. based on what I've read on here.


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## cleohioturf (Jul 20, 2020)

use a cheap manual reel mower. Depending on what eventual height of cut you want, there is a $100 earthwise 7 blade reel that gets down to 1/2"

Either way, you can get a cheap one at big box store, they are light and wont leave ruts, especially as you continue mowing through the fall with softer ground.

You can probably wait to get a gas mower until spring if you just do quick reel mows on it.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

While it's difficult to assess how long exactly the grass is it seems to have filled in well so I would assume it can be mowed. I am not sure what height you want to keep it at.

I have not done a lot of reno but this late in the season I would remove every leaf on the ground if i can safely (avoid ruts) to give maximum sunlight to each blade (mow or blow). I think the manual reel options is great if you dont mind spending an extra 100 but if you want you can just take the timemaster on it. On my reno I turned either on the concrete/sidewalk/driveway or my neighbours section. This meant a curvy line cut BUT no or minimal turn marks. I have mowed with my push mower from the start on my TTTF/KBG reno, mowing every 2 or 3 days.

I am a huge fan of bagging.. people so not like that but as a famous YouTuber said "I pay for my nitrogen " .. lol. Jokes aside I would honestly bag if you can and reel mow if you want.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Started mowing to suck up leaves, but decided to stop b/c the groud was too soft IMO. I'll not water for a day and then blow off with blower.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 26 first mow


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 29. Should I do anything before first frost?


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## MDJoe (Sep 16, 2019)

Looks great! I'm rusty on both Ohio and KBG (used to live there). I do know I've had lawns at that stage, around this date, winter over just fine. Do you have a frost/freeze in the forecast yet?

I'm in central MD (zone 6/7 border) and so far, we've only had light frost a couple times (*maybe* get a freeze around Halloween this year from what I'm seeing in the long-range).


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## LawnDetail (Apr 15, 2020)

I'm in NE Ohio and I'm at day 45 since the start of my renovation. We've had 5 frost in the meantime, When I knew we were getting a frost I wouldn't cut it the previous evening and wait the following day after a couple hours to dry out. I have lost count how many times I've mowed since germination, the more you mow the more it grows. This is PRG cut at 5/8, started cutting as soon as it hit an inch.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 31


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## LawnDetail (Apr 15, 2020)

That is coming in great, nice and lush.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

roehrenbeck8 said:


> Day 31


This looks great. Congrats.
Your 31 day KBG is better than my TTTF.. lol


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Looks awesome! I had my doubts with how late in the season you started the reno, but it looks like you will be going into winter strong :thumbup:


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

@jskierko 
@uts 
@LawnDetail

Thanks guys


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

@LawnDetail what kind of mower are you using ? how wide is it ? lawn looks awesome


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## LawnDetail (Apr 15, 2020)

Thank you. It's a 21" Swardman. That cut was a double wide strip.


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## PrisizhuhnRedNek (Sep 30, 2020)

@roehrenbeck8 man absolutely stellar results my friend! perfect. It looks like you went a bit heavy on the seed amount as did I. We will see if any dies off! It might be more of a high input lawn to keep it all fed and watered but we shall see?


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Day 43. Seems to be maturing


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## cleohioturf (Jul 20, 2020)

Looks incredible, knew it would make it. This week will continue helping! Keep cutting it.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Put down some milorganite and made it spotty... Made some areas really dark green and grow crazy and others more yellow


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## cleohioturf (Jul 20, 2020)

What height are you cutting that? Could just be pics but looks long for KBG, especially young.

It's certainly thick, wow


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Likely the last mow


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

The newly installed lawn has been slow to wake up and with a decent amount of weeds. I haven't done anything with the lawn other than having a lawn company treat it 2 weeks ago.


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## OnTheFence (Apr 27, 2021)

@roehrenbeck8 
Looking good! How much sun does your yard get? Looks like a few pretty mature trees surrounding the yard. Considering a KBG Reno for the front next year.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

I think the yard gets a lot of sun. It hasn't been through a hot summer so I'm not sure how it will respond.


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

I added a green-up product by Andersons and it made a meaningful difference in a few days. pics attached.

My two key learnings from my first renovation...
1. I would have gone with a mono strand, instead of Bewitched and Blueback. They are starkly different strands.
2. I put down too much seed. There are a few areas that may be struggling at the start of spring due to this.


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## JHOOV4 (Feb 24, 2021)

What was your seed rate? Highland heights here. Thinking of a mazama reno here soon.


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## cleohioturf (Jul 20, 2020)

if you are going 100% KBG you are seeding between 1-3/lb per 1ksqft

Dropping percentage of KBG by weight, you would get up to the high end of that or approaching 4-5 as you begin to lower the KBG weight below 50%

Most seed providers will give a recommendation for that specific seed and conditions (residential, sport turf, etc.)


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## roehrenbeck8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Update from seeding sept 2020.


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