# Nathan's Lawn Journal



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Hello, Let me start off by introducing myself. My Names Nathan I am a beginner in lawn care but I really enjoy working out side and the pride you get when you work on your lawn. 
So We just moved to a new home in Kearney, Nebraska where I am an IT specialist for a school near by. The new house is great but the lawn needs lots of help! I am thinking about doing a renovation on the yard. The back yard is where it needs the most help. it looks to be mostly dead, there is a really bad grub problem and the ground is so uneven I rolled my ankle.  I did put down a grub killer thats supposed to kill in 24 hrs. I also put down some fertilizer and now watering the crap out of it back there. The front yard is not bad but its been pretty neglected. I do have a reel mower (John Deere 180b) and would love to use it but the grass type I have is a tall fescue and some other really wide blade grass. I'm wanting to put down a Kentucky Blue and a Rye Grass mix. I also am thinking about installing a underground irrigation system myself. I submitted my yard to Rain Bird and they sent me back a diagram on where to install sprinklers. MAN I HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF Me! LETS DO THIS! Any ideas would be great. I love to learn. Thanks!


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Welcome TLF. I would start this year with just fall nitrogen (see Fall Nitrogen Blitz). It is too late for a reno now in Nebraska. You got rid of the grubs this year, but make sure you apply a grub preventer as soon as the grass greens up next year.

You can use the reel at the highest setting in your grass. Practice in the backyard once it is growing, you are going to like it.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Thanks for the advice g-man! I read up on your Fall Nitrogen Blitz. Great information there! I called my older brother because he works for a co-op he said he can get me some high in nitrogen fertilizer for pretty cheap. I do need to also get my soil tested. There is a company here in Kearney that will come out and do it for me so I plan on having that done here shortly.

I picked up the John Deere Greens mower a few weeks ago for 150 bucks. I felt like I had to buy it since it was so cheap. haha! I Still need to learn on how to set it up and use it though. Runs great after I cleaned the bowl of the carb and greased all of the zerks. I did also end up buying some lapping compound for it.

Thanks!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

So I overseeded the front yard about 2 weeks ago and put down some fertilizer last week. I got some 26-2-1 from my brother at the co-op and its greening up pretty good. I also rented an aerator when I overseeded. tonight I put down some Humic Acid, and liquid Kelp as a foliar spray. It's starting to look so much better. The back yard on the other hand I am not paying too much attention to because I am going to be doing a reno in the spring. Here is the latest pic of the front yard.


----------



## iowa jim (Jan 22, 2018)

Its up to you but a reno does better in the fall, hard to get the seedlings threw the summer sometimes. I have been threw Nebraska in the summer and i know how hot it gets. ( 104 in July one time i went threw)


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I think If I start it early spring it should be okay. I can always water mid-day a few times to keep the ground cooler if it makes it into the hot summer. We don't have any water restrictions here. Next month my brother and I are going to bring in the skidsteer in and level the back lawn. Or at least thats the plan so I can have a nice flat yard for the reel mower. haha


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Today I put down some Fert it was a 29 0 3 and also put down some humic acid, kelp, and Liquid Iron. We ended up getting snow last Sunday but its supposed to be decent for the next 2 weeks. I'm really wanting to install underground sprinklers and I got an a diagram on where to install them. I'm pretty handy when it comes to stuff like this but is it worth my time doing it myself or should I pay someone? where is the best place to by sprinkler stuff? I also want to kill the lawn because it has so much of the wide blade clumping fescue in it. I want to use my reel mower on it. what seed do you guys recommend for mowing low?


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I don't agree with the head locations. It is not getting head to head coverage.

Doing it yourself will save you money and you know it is right.

You could reel mow what you have and then pick a grass type in the future.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I will try and adjust the mapping of the heads. I filled out the online mapping thing from rain bird and then they sent me this back.

The only thing that worries me is that the poly pipe they said to use is 1" but my meter is 3/4". I'm also sure I will end up having a plumber come out to install the backflow because I don't know how to do that. unless its easy. I need to do more research. pulling the pipe should be easy. I'm just not sure how far down to put the pipe in the ground. I'm pretty sure If I end up doing myself I will rent a puller.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I got my soil sample back I'm not sure how to read it....


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Nathan:

This looks like a good soil. pH of 6.6 is at a great point for turf growing. The soil is at 17.6, so it will retain nutrients. Phosphorous is at a good level (70ppm) and lets not increase it (avoid milorganite). K is also at a good level and no need to increase it. Iron is also good. More soil interpretation info in this thread: RidgeRunner Soil Thread 

Therefore, all you need is nitrogen. This is exactly what they recommended. By the way, this looks like a good lab. Their results are clear with their test methods. It is NAPT and local to you in NE. Was this their S-4 Routine for $19?


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Good I'm glad everything looks pretty good. I will give the RigeRunner Soil Thread a good read. I want to understand more on soil health because people don't talk about it much around here. Yeah Ward Labs is a local soil testing facility here in Kearney and they use the NAPT Program. the S-4 Routine was $19. Here is a link to there website https://www.wardlab.com/index.php


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I'm having trouble finding a grass seed that I can use to cut low when I start my renovation. Any recommendations? I found some Perennial Ryegrass's but I'm thinking I want to do a Kentucky Blue because it is more heat tolerant. Even though its harder to establish. I guess I could do a mix of Rye and Kentucky grass. I just want to make sure i do this right and not have to start over again and again. I've been looking on seedsuperstore.com and a few other sites but recommendations and input would be nice too.


----------



## NoslracNevok (Jun 12, 2018)

I had great success with KBG in St. Louis, with the cultivars Bewitched and Mazama. Have you started using the John Deere yet?


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

NoslracNevok said:


> I had great success with KBG in St. Louis, with the cultivars Bewitched and Mazama. Have you started using the John Deere yet?


Thank you for the Input @NoslracNevok! I've been trying to do a lot of research and seem to be having a hard time for what would be the best grass to cut low for my zone here in Nebraska. I do really like that the KBG does better in hot weather than the PRG. It gets super hot and humid where I'm at in July and August because of all the irrigation from the farmers. I did end up getting to use the John Deere few times and liked it but there was a big learning curve for using it. I had to order a new throttle spring because I broke it when I took the carb off to clean it. Did you have a preference on what grass type you liked more? from what i've looked up the Mazama looks like its a bit darker of a green compared to the bewitched. but i'm also fine mixing seed too.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

every day I come home for work the first thing I see when I get home is our ugly landscaping around our tree. My goal is to make this look nice this summer. The tree is some kind of maple and the roots as you can see in the picture are way above the ground. what are some things I could do to make this look better? I'm worried when I pull the pavers i'm going to have above ground roots everywhere. I would love to get rid of the tree because a lot of it hangs over our house and maples are known for branches braking, also I cant really afford to get it removed. I thought about fixing the pavers so they look nice again but i'm just not a fan of them and I seem to always hit them with the mower when I get close. haha


----------



## samjonester (May 13, 2018)

Looks like a silver maple based on the trunk structure and shaggy bark. If it is, it has shallow, invasive roots. Hope you don't have any water or sewer lines on that side of the house! The roots can easily cause issues with anything in their path, out to the drip line: sewer, foundation, sidewalks, lawn... Just be aware.

My gut reaction is that the bed around the tree looks undersized and makes the nice mature looking tree seem cramped. Have you thought about extending it a bit?


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Thanks for the information @samjonester. I don't really have anything close to the tree the closest thing is the sidewalk. I'm installing underground sprinklers this summer and I bet its going to be rough to put in around this tree. I agree that the bed is to small and I think making it bigger is something that i'm going to have to do to make it look better.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I'm going ahead and going to start buying stuff for the underground irrigation so I can start an install this spring. I do have a few questions. So my meter is 3/4 but when I did the online Rainbird thing they want me to to use 1" poly pipe then use 1/2 inch risers for the heads? is this weird or is it normal? Just a little confused on it. I really want to do this on my own. I've been online a lot looking at tutorials especially this site. https://www.irrigationtutorials.com/


----------



## srmorris2 (Aug 31, 2018)

Nathan! Excited to connect some other Nebraskan's on here. I'm actually from Kearney (born and raised 25 years) but moved to Omaha a 3-4 years ago. Good luck this Spring!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

@srmorris2 That's awesome that you are from Kearney. It's a good little town. My wife and I really like it here. Thanks for the luck! I'm going to need it! It's going to be a busy spring. I put down some granular Tenacity today because all of the grub damage I had last year so I need to seed in some spots and I also don't want crabgrass. Although I think it's still a little too early to apply a pre-emergent yet.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Yesterday April 9th I did my first mow of the season and today the 10 we are in a blizzard warning. What the heck! I thought we were done with winter. haha I guess not. I'm pretty sure everyone says this about there state but I'm going to say it. "Only in Nebraska you can have 75 degree days for a week and then have a blizzard the next day." I also started getting the reel mower ready. I have to order a few parts for it like a new bedknife and some adjusting bolts to rase and lower the reel because they are seized and I cant break them with any penetrating oil. On a good note I found a golf ball in the roller of the greens mower haha!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I'm looking for a new bed knife and I'm not sure witch one to get on R&R there a few different options. One is Micro Cut, a low cut min .79, and a tournament bed knife. I'm hoping to cut around 3/4 to a 1/2 inch and have a 10 blade reel. So I'm not sure what one I should get. They don't really have a description for them.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Go with the thick one, fairway high cut. It is less likely to bend. Here are JD numbers.

http://www.deere.com/en_US/docs/pdfs/parts/golf/bedknife_compatibility_chart.pdf


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Hey @g-man I have a question about my John Deere 180b. To adjust the reel to bedknife you rotate the adjusting knobs. mine are seized. I tried penetrating oil but no luck yet. Should I replace them or just keep trying to get them free?


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Are you sure of the direction? Counterclockwise gets the bedknife closer to the reel because it is on a hinge. To get it away from the reel you need to go clockwise (opposite of normal).


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Wait. That might be wrong advise. Check the technician manual here:

http://www.gaturftech.com/service-manual

Edit: yes I was wrong. Page 145. Make sure B is loose.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Thanks @g-man. I did loosen that bolt to the clamp. I took some vice grips out and I could wiggle the knobs just a little bit so maybe I need to work them free for a bit more, it does look pretty rusty. I believe when you rotate them they are supposed to click. I not hearing or feeling a click when I move them.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

@g-man I ended up breaking it free last night. I had to use a torch and vice grips to break it free. But now I can move like it should! Now its time to backlap it and we will see if it can cut! so excited!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Yesterday I mowed and the lawn has never looked this good. I still plan on doing a reno this fall but for now its looking pretty decent even my neighbor said something. He told me thats the best the lawn has ever looked and he's lived next door for 35 years. that made me feel great!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Well I have been pretty busy lately so here are some updates I have been working on. The front tree I tried to make it look better by pulling the small retaining wall around the tree and planting creeping flowers for ground cover. also my dad got a new mower and he gave me his old one. It's so much nicer than the one I had. Also I am about to plant the vegetable garden. and I started edging some spots in the back yard because its hard to mow and I plan to put flowers in the beds.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

This weekend my wife and I finished the flower bed. We planted some day lilies, Razzle Dazzle Sedum, and some other perennial that I don't know the name of. haha I sprayed some weeds and put down some fert. And I also got in my vegetable garden (a little late here in my opinion) but its in. Reel mower update I had to change the carb on it because the float bowl bolt was stripped and I couldn't get it off and the fuel shutoff started leaking. only having one problem with it. when I start it up its full throttle the whole time. I think the governor arm is set up wrong.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Well I haven't posted in a while an I thought I better. The yard is coming along pretty well so far this year compared to last probably because we have had a boat load of rain this year. fun fact we had a huge flood here in Kearney last week were we got 10+ inches of rain. Luckily my house didn't flood but we did have some nasty wind and it snapped the 4x4 post at the base of the fence. I am also trying to sell my old car so I can install a sprinkler system. Anybody know anyone that wants to buy a 93 Toyota Celica convertible GT? :lol: I today I worked on the John Deere 180b and put a new bed knife on it I used the High Cut bed knife like @g-man recommended. I had a really hard time trying to the rusty screws out of the bed knife! I bought a manual impact on amazon it didn't work. I need to send it back. My neighbor was nice enough to let me barrow his 1/2 inch battery impact. Holy cow I need to get one of those! On the new screws I had some Anti-Seize and put them on the screws. Is that okay? I don't think it would hurt it. I also have two questions do the screws need to be torqued to a certain torque pound? and I have one wire dangling on the front of the engine, does it go to anything? I was thinking maybe a low oil sensor? I don't know if this engine has one or not. I also am gearing up for the reno. I ordered the grass seed!


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Yes you are supposed to use antiseize per the manual. There is a torque spec in lb* in (not lb *ft) in the manual too.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Ahhhh Found it in the manual its 58 lb-in! I had my drill on 10 lbs. So I torqued too much I'll get my small torque wrench out and set it on five lb foot, thats pretty close in inch lbs. Is there something I can do to keep it from rusting that bad like it was before? like after I clean it spray it with WD-40 to prevent rust? sorry for the stupid questions.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I am starting to gear up for the lawn reno next month. I'm super nervous and excited at the same time. I plan on killing the yard around the 1st or 2nd weekend of August. Just so I can give myself time to level and grade my yard right. I bought a blend of bluegrass from United Seeds out of Omaha. I bought 25 lbs of there Sure Shot Blend it has Arrowhead, Blueberry, Blue Note, Everest and Nu Glade Kentucky Bluegrass. I also ended up buying 5 lbs of Mazama because I saw how nice @NoslracNevok Mazama turned out. It looks so good! I'm excited to use the John Deere more! Thanks for all the help guys! I'm sure I'll have a billion questions coming up!


----------



## NoslracNevok (Jun 12, 2018)

Awesome, looking forward to your renovation!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Well I have not posted in a while so why not now. I didn't end up doing a reno on the yard this year I had some big life things pop up so I was not able to get started on the plus side I detached, vertacut and leveled somewhat in back yard. Then over seeded pretty heavy with some leftover Champion GQ PRG from last year. So my KBG I bought is going to have to wait next year. Whats the best way to store seed? Air tight container? The front yard is doing well we have had a lot of rain this year so I haven't had to water much but I do think I have some Bermuda invading from the neighbor. At least thats what it looks like. So in total I have got to use the reel mower about 3 times. I think it needs a new reel on it because I cant seem to get a great cut on it. I've tried back-lapping but its not enough. I've also called some golf corses around here to see if they would be willing to grind the reel. It does look pretty warn so it's probably time.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I never did an update on how the yard recovered. We ended up having an earlier winter but it's been really mild so far this year. The Pics are maybe about 2-4 weeks from the scalp, dethach, and leveling. I have a lot of plans for the spring/summer yet. I'm not sure if I can put in irrigation yet this summer like I want to so I still plan on still using the faucet controller with hoses yet. Pretty excited to keep reel mowing and ready for the season to start. I also trying some liquid fertilizers this year so that will be new to me.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Hello here is the current state of my yard. I am cutting the back yard at 3/4 of and inch. I have been using the JD 180b but lately I have been having trouble with the engine on it. So I am having to use the Manual Reel on it. The problem i'm having is when I set it the mower for the reel to run and press down the lever it wants to die. I can get it by pressing it down slowly but its really annoying to do that. haha I bought an OEM carb kit from Honda Im hoping this will fix it I also going to change the gear case oil and change the oil in it also. One other thing I bought was a compression tester to see if it has enough compression. I put new oil in it last year about mid way threw the season and it still looks good but I have the oil so I might as well do it. The front yard is still ugly but getting there. I plan on building a planter box around the tree and filling it with flowers to make it look somewhat better. You will see below my amazing attempt to photoshop a planer box around the tree. haha. I also detached the front and there was so much thatch build it was nuts I filled my compost bin and 2 40 gallon trash cans. it was crazy thats only 1300 sqft of yard. I also have some projects later this summer. I am planning the irrigation install later this summer I finally got the OK from the wife! also I am only working 2 days a week and if teachers need help remotely I work from home on that. If I didn't mention I'm the Tech guy for a small school in Nebraska. Its been a pretty weird year with this stuff. anyway here are some photos of the yard.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I compression checked the engine today Its around 80 PSI cold I looked up the service information manual for a Honda GX120 and it says its good between 71-100 PSI. So i'm assuming the engine is still good I could check valve clearance but I would need to order a valve cover gasket for it. witch is no big deal I'm sure they are cheap. I ordered a Carb rebuild kit for it it should be in tomorrow in the mean time I pulled the carb of trying to clean it. Everything went well except I had a hard time trying to get the emulsion tube out. I ended up using an easy out drill bit to grab it and pull it out. It was really stuck in there. Anyway I will do an update after I rebuild the carb and get it running again. some other stuff I am doing is changing the oil, filter, and the transmission oil in the gear box. Hopefully I can start using the mower again soon. I'm already tired of using the Scotts manual reel mower.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

I got the mower running great it cuts pretty and I cleaned it up pretty good too. I haven't updated in a while but here is a current pic of the back yard its cut at 1/2 but I'm moving it up to 5/8 for summer its been in the upper 90s already with really high humidity. Also I have built a planter box around the tree out front to kinda hide the eye sore of the roots. I still need to fill it with mulch. I was going to put dirt in it but I did some research and I can suffocate the tree if I do that and I don't really want to kill it. So i'm filling it with mulch and putting potted plants in the mulch to add some color. In my opinion it looks better already and made it easier to mow around too.


----------



## chrisb1983 (May 25, 2020)

That back yard lawn looks a million miles away from the pictures at the beginning of your journal. Well done. Looks really good.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Thanks @chrisb1983 ! I have done so much to it! I should post some pics of what it the back yard looked like before I moved in! there was no yard it was dirt/weeds and random bushes everywhere! I filled the box around the tree with black mulch and some potted plants. I also killed the front yard to start over. My neighbor was not happy with me killing the yard. i think he was scared i was going to kill his yard when i was spraying. I was pretty carful and used marking dye and used some cardboard to make sure I wouldn't overspray on his property line. And i'm adding a pic of the back yard its been in the upper 90's the past month so i'm getting dry spot, but I think its holding on pretty well!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Here is a little update on how the renovation is going. its not too bad I've got 2 mows on it so far with a manual reel and that is set at 3/4 of an inch. I'm thinking I'm going to be pulling out the JD 180B on it this weekend I think the grass should be able to handle the weight now. I also have a few spots that I need to throw down some more seed. It might be too late for that because our first average frost date is coming up but seed is somewhat cheap and I bought way more than I needed. I also worked on the back yard about 2 weeks ago. I dethatch it and over seeded like crazy.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Its the end of the year for me and my reno didn't go the greatest but I still had a good results. I'm not disappointed with it. I got hit with a really early hard frost one day this year and I saw a lot of my bluegrass die. I even tried to water it in the morning to help get rid of the frost. I honesty didn't know if that was a good idea or not so I went with it. I plan to to over seed in the spring to get some of the bare spots to fill in. I'm sure in one spot next to the tree there are some tree roots making it hard for the grass to establish. I also didn't get to aerate the back yard this year and I know some spots are really compacted. I tried the screwdriver test and I could hardly shove it in the ground. You can tell in the pics where it's not full it's really compacted. This was a tough year but also a good year. My wife and I had our first baby so more of my time with them. so the lawn got neglected a bit. I didn't take a recent photo of the back yard but that one was pretty close to the end of the season


----------



## NoslracNevok (Jun 12, 2018)

Congratulations on your new family member! This will be a great starting point for next year, cool to see your steady improvements!


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

So this is the first year I'm going to start using PGR on my lawn and I think it will be a learning curve for that. So I have been looking at PGR trackers. I had a hard time finding a free one and was not willing to pay a monthly fee to use the Green Keeper App. Luckily my own state University UNL had a really old one that runs in excel, you have to manually put in the high and low temp of the days. And thats not really want I wanted. So me being the tech person I am I converted it to a google sheet and with some Java Script and a Weather API I have it pull and add the weather for me so I don't really have to do anything. I'm now currently trying to figure out a way to have it email me when it is time to apply PGR again. Thats been the rough part of the build. So far I have been testing it for about 2 weeks and it has been working well! I also manually added some good temps to see it wit was working since its winter. So if anyone wants a copy let me know and you can try it out too. I'll leave some how to set up instructions on it so you can get it working also.


----------



## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

G-man has something similar set up that I utilize. You can check it out here if you want to incorporate some of the things he uses.


----------



## nathan99218 (Jul 18, 2018)

Thats pretty sweet! G-man has a lot more stuff going on in his than mine. I'm going to add a link of mine if anyone wants to use it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17b0PrBiUcHPvAtpu_hSVky00pRdm_Wq15lxSdgox6jI/copy


----------

