# The GDD's Lawn Journal



## The GDD (Aug 23, 2019)

Greetings fellow lawn enthusiasts!
I found this forum about a month ago and I'm still trying to soak it all in. I thought I knew a good bit about keeping a lawn but wow, I was wrong!

I have just over 15000sqft of mostly fescue. Built the house 4 years ago, lawn was fully sodded with sprinkler system. I overseeded 2 years ago with Southern Belle TTTF and the Southern Belle hybrid with KBG. It came in really nice and the following spring the lawn looked great. About the time I overseeded I started using a local lawn care company for fertilizer and weed control due to crabgrass, dallisgrass and nutsedge. Last summer, 2018, the yard looked good all summer with the new grass and treatments. Decided not to overseed or aerate last fall, I think that was a mistake as weeds have returned, even with the service. I've decided to take it back under my control and will not be using them anymore. Hence, the research leading me here - after reading through many posts, I'm not sure if want to cuss this forum or cheer it! :lol:

I also had some fungus this year, mostly recovered but still some spots. I've identified more weeds as well:
Dallisgrass, spurge, virginia buttonweed, nutsedge and Green Kyllinga (not sure how to tell if false green Kyllinga or not). I also have some bermuda as well.

One issue I've been fighting with is several "dead" areas in my yard. Meaning no matter what I do nothing, except weeds, seems to grow well there. When I overseeded 2 years ago I spread peat moss over those areas and while they did respond well for a while, they still aren't as nice as most of my yard.

Soil test done 2 years ago by VT extension, attached.



Planning to put down Humic this coming weekend, 9/7, with emphasis on the dead areas.

Planning on aerating and overseeding weekend of 9/14.

Last week sprayed nutsedge and Kyllinga with Sedgehammer. Nutsedge seems to be yellowing, not sure yet on the Kyllinga.

I have also ordered Tenacity for overspraying entire yard.

This is where I'm still confused:
Should I wait to seed to see if the nutsedge and kyllinga are killed or go ahead and seed and address those later.

I'm hoping the Humic will help with the dead areas and overall thinkness of the grass. Is there anything else I can do to address those dead areas?

Am I understanding that it's ok to put the tenacity down same time as overseeding? Don't want to kill off the good grass.

I used to have a pump backpack sprayer but it broke. Yard is too big for small hand pump sprayer. I've been looking at the tow behinds from Northern tool. Any concerns with using that to put down the tenacity and other chemicals going forward?

Any suggestions for other TTTF for the Tidewater VA area? Southern Belle seems to be most prevalent.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Welcome to TLF @The GDD! Glad you're here!


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## The GDD (Aug 23, 2019)

Thanks Ware. Looking forward to learning how to have the best lawn.


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## The GDD (Aug 23, 2019)

Thanks to Hurricane Dorian I had to postpone lawn prep a week.
This past weekend I was able to:
Cut twice to get to lower HOC. Bagged
Used tow behind dethatcher over entire yard
Bagged thatch - total 51 bags. City has 25 bag limit, thanks to some neighbors for letting me place bags in front of their house!
Put down Humic DC over entire yard and watered in.

Looks like I have more of a Bermuda grass problem than I thought. I always cut at the highest my mower will cut. Cutting lower exposed several areas where Bermuda is prevalent. I'll try later to add a photo.

My plan for this weekend is to aerate, seed, roll and apply Tenacity.

I'm also wanting to spray the larger Bermuda patches with glysophate prior to this weekend and next spring aggressively attack it.

I've read on other posts that it's recommended not to aerate when you have Bermuda you're trying to get rid of. Should I skip aerating and just seed?

Does anyone have any concerns with this plan or other recommendations?


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## The GDD (Aug 23, 2019)

Pics of yard while I'm dethatching. Front sections finished.


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## The GDD (Aug 23, 2019)

Larger area of Bermuda in back yard by steps


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## The GDD (Aug 23, 2019)

Ordered 4th Millennium, firecracker and spider, delivery tomorrow. Should be a busy weekend!


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## The GDD (Aug 23, 2019)

I seeded on 9/21 and was watering 4x daily (5-10 minutes a zone) until this weekend and dropped it to 3x daily with the 1st watering a little longer.
I've been monitoring my sprinklers and identified a few that were not watering areas properly and have adjusted or replaced as needed. Word to the wise: Do a thorough sprinkler check BEFORE seeding.
As it is, several areas have less germination than others, or appear to since those are the area's I sprayed Roundup on to hit the Bermuda.
Also, I ran out of time and was unable to apply Tenacity within a few days of seeding. I have a few weeds like clover but other than still having some Bermuda nothing terrible.
So I'm trying to plan best course of action to address the area's not coming in and also wanting to get a dose of Tenacity before it gets colder here in SE VA.
I'm planning on first mow this weekend.
I can either overseed areas after mowing and wait 30 more days until Tenacity treatment (or skip altogether this year) or I can wait until my original 30 days if up to overseed and apply Tenacity then. The wrench in that works is that I'll be on vacation and won't be able to see/treat until Monday, October 28th at earliest. That's getting a little late but I know of some of my neighbors that are not reseeding until later in October.
Any suggestions? TIA


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