# spaceman_spiff's reno journal



## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Hello friends.

I've started to go down the route of reno'ing my front yard. It's essentially a grass salad mix of TTTF, FF, and no clue what else.
It looks like garbage do to clumps of the fine fescue randomly and I hate it. I'm having 2 trees removed and the stumps ground in the next couple weeks, so I'll have some bare patches as well, so I figured this would be a good year to nuke it and start over. I'm only working with ~625 sq ft in my front yard, so this is being done on a pretty small scale.

Soil temps usually hit 80' or under typically halfway through September here in the Sacramento area, so I'm targeting a seed-down date of Sep 12 or so, give or take a few days. I'm slightly behind on the 8-week schedule outlined in the reno guide, but I'll try to make the best of it.

I had a soil analysis done and for my front yard back in June and it says I need:
4lbs N/ksqft -- Didn't do this since it's been 100+' for almost 6 weeks now. Waiting until the fall.
2lbs P/ksqft
5lbs K/ksqft -- Soil analysis said since I have sandy soil, to apply it at 1lb/ksqft rate, then multiple apps throughout the fall

*T-8 weeks (Jul 18):*
[ x ] Order seed -- Being delivered in a couple days. I purchased 25lbs of United Super Turf 2. 93% TTTF/7% KBG blend.
[ x ] Apply lime -- Applied 10lbs/ksqft of Earth Science fast-acting lime on Aug 8 (late)

*T-7 weeks (Jul 25):*
[ x ] Start mowing low and bagging -- setting 4 on my Greenworks Pro 80V, which should be right around 2.6"

*T-6 weeks (Aug 1):*
[ x ] Add P/K, if needed -- Applied 1lb/ksqft of 0-0-53 on Aug 8 (late). I had 18-46-0 DAP fertilizer on order from HD, but it got lost in the mail. Had to re-order and it also looks like it may have gotten lost in the mail. Not sure what the deal is, but I won't be able to get my P in order prior to seed down. Nor do I want to apply any N during this heat wave, so the P will have to wait. I have a 19-26-6 starter fertilizer from SSS that I can apply later if I can't get my DAP.
[ x ] Gly, round 1 -- Waiting until my seed actually shows up on my porch before I nuke the lawn. Should only be a couple days from now.

*T-5 weeks (Aug 8):*
[ x ] Start mowing and bagging at lowest mower setting -- This will be 1.375" on my mower

*T-4 weeks (Aug 15):*
[ x ] Add layer of top soil and level -- Added 1 cu yard of 70/30 3/8" top soil/compost blend.

*T-3 weeks (Aug 22):*
[ x ] Gly round 2

*T-2 weeks (Aug 29):*
[ x ] Check forecast and adjust seed-down date as needed -- we won't see rain until October or so, so this shouldn't be an issue unless it's still super hot out
[ x ] Get peat moss -- Have most of a bag from HD still, should be good here

*T-1 week (Sep 7):*
[ x ] Rake soil

*T-2 days (Sep 10):*
[ x ] Gly round 3

*Go-time (Sep 12):*
[ x ] Rent peat moss spreader/roller
[ x ] Rake soil
[ x ] Drop seed
[ x ] Rake again
[ x ] Roll for seed-to-soil contact -- I don't have a yard roller, so using the peat moss roller and walking over it will have to do
[ x ] Add P -- II'll have to use either my starter fert or the DAP if it ever arrives, but push it out until 14 DAG since both options will have N in them. Maybe I'll get one of those more pricey bags of triple phosphate, so I'll leave this step at the seed-down time.
[ x ] Spray Tenacity -- 4oz rate
[ x ] Drop peat moss
[ x ] Water and grab a beer

Post-germination
*14 DAG:*
[ x ] Apply 0.2lb N/ksqft urea

*21 DAG:*
[ x ] Drop more seed on thin spots, if needed
[ x ] Adjust watering to more, but less frequent based on weather

*28 DAG:*
[ x ] Tenacity, round 2 -- 4oz rate
[ x ] Apply 0.2lb N/ksqft urea
[ x ] When grass is >2", mow at 1.5" HOC for 4 weeks -- it's been over 2" for a few weeks now, ha

*45 DAG:*
[ ] Apply 0.2lb N/ksqft urea

*60 DAG:*
[ ] Apply P and K, as needed
[ ] Spray Prodiamine for winter Pre-M -- 3-month rate

Pics of from front yard, as of today:



I'm having the smaller 2 trees removed, hopefully in a few weeks. I'll probably throw weed fabric and mulch around the larger tree since the roots are near the surface.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

What are your plans for the area where you remove the trees? Bringing in topsoil? That area will continue to settle a bit as time goes on, so it may require further leveling/topdressing in the future.

If you do get a peat moss spreader and want that to double as a roller, I'm sure you could add rocks or something heavy that won't filter through to give it some weight. Then again, for only 625 sq ft, you could step on every bit of that in no time.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

jskierko said:


> What are your plans for the area where you remove the trees? Bringing in topsoil? That area will continue to settle a bit as time goes on, so it may require further leveling/topdressing in the future.
> 
> If you do get a peat moss spreader and want that to double as a roller, I'm sure you could add rocks or something heavy that won't filter through to give it some weight. Then again, for only 625 sq ft, you could step on every bit of that in no time.


Yeah, I was going to dump top soil in where the trees were. Good point about it getting compacted over time. I was going to probably do 1 cu yard for the 625. That should give ~1/2" across the area, with some spots deeper than others, including where the stumps were.

Now only if my HOA would stop asking silly questions I've already answered about removing the trees... :roll:


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

- HOA finally approved my landscaping plans.
- Seed being delivered today. Will gly front lawn either today or tomorrow.
- Our contractor said he could tear out the two trees and do the rest of our landscaping work starting this Thursday or Friday.
- Ordered a 70/30 blend of 3/8" screened top soil and compost to drop and level that will be delivered next week. Grass should be nice and dead by then, and holes from the trees ready to be filled. Nothing like paying $40 for 1cu yd of 70/30 and having to pay a $65 delivery fee. I probably should have just rented the $19 Home Depot truck, but oh well. Hopefully they don't dump it behind my wife's car in the driveway :lol:
- Have 5lbs of triple phosphate 0-46-0 coming from Amazon today. Will probably drop it a day after the gly to help fix my P deficiency in the soil.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

- Dropped 1lb / ksqft of 0-46-0 triple phosphate. I need 1 more lb / ksqft according to my soil analysis, but I'll drop that during the fall since I have sandy loam with a low CEC. 
- Seed was delivered. It's go time!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Gly'ed today @ 2.4oz / 300 sqft rate. Neighbor saw me nuking my lawn and now they want to do something about theirs now. Might get roped into reno'ing their front yard as well :lol:

They've got a massive crabgrass and kyllinga farm, so it might actually do my yard some good to help them out. It's only 400-ish sqft.

Getting the trees in the front yard removed tomorrow, and the top soil is delivered next Wednesday.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Had 4 trees taken out.

Before:


After:




The stump grinder found my water main that feeds the back yard irrigation :lol: Great place to plant a tree.



It's been 3 days since the gly I think? I thought this stuff would work a bit quicker. Seems to be dying a very slow death. I might have to push my topsoil delivery back a few days.





We also had our RV access gate rebuilt and the attached fence moved closer to the house to give us more back yard space. 1 side of the door is WIP.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Now we're cookin! Gly going to town now!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Well that busted water main wasn't as funny as I thought. Turns out my front yard drip line runs directly underneth it, and that got clipped as well. I found that out quickly when it turned on last night and I went outside 15 minutes later to a flooded front yard and a river flowing to the sewer.

They came back and fixed it today on their day off. I then spent the morning disassembling all my irrigation valves, vacuuming dirt and rocks out of them, and flushing all my sprinkler heads and nozzles since crap was clogging them all up as well.

Fun.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Spot-sprayed some spots I missed in gly round 1. Lawn looking nice and crispy!

I'll scalp, and dethatch tomorrow, shortly before my top soil delivery.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Oof, what a day.

While waiting for my morning delivery of top soil/compost, I was looking for some surface roots of the trees we had taken out and their stumps ground down. Found a few and cut em out with my sawzall. Everything all good.

Went to start patting down my soil over the ground stumps and hit the tip of another root. No biggie, I'll just cut that out as well.

Turns out, it was f'ing HUGE. The more I dug, the bigger it got. To top it off, it was 102 degrees today, so my sawzall overheated every cut or two. It took me 4 hours to dig up this big root. I have no idea how it got that big. The trunk of the tree was half the diameter of this a-hole root.





Scalped, de-thatched, and mowed again.





In the meantime, my toddlers got sent home from daycare around noon because their power went out. Great. So I put em to work after my 1.25 cu yd of top soil was delivered. They helped spread it out.



Finally got the root out. What a PITA. It must have weighed 100lbs.



Got about 1/4 of the top soil spread and called it a day. I was absolutely beat by 5pm and I had a hockey game at 745pm. My body hurts.

Rest of top soil is a WIP. Maybe this weekend.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Laid down 1.5 tons of top soil/compost today. Still have some left over, so I'll probably save it for the back yard later. My back, hands, and feet hurt. It's time for a beer or 9. In addition to the Pacifico I crushed during.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@spaceman_spiff its great to have helping hands. I had to pay my 21 year old nephew to help me.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @spaceman_spiff its great to have helping hands. I had to pay my 21 year old nephew to help me.


Yeah I had my 17yo son load my gorilla wagon with dirt while I spread it today. Even after his XC meet. Helps a ton.

My toddlers make everything take 4x as long :lol:


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@spaceman_spiff after running in a race, wow.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Added some more top soil to some parts that needed leveled out a bit.

Also noticed a bunch of nutsedge popping through on the side strip near my neighbor's yard. Glad I decided to fallow the yard for a few weeks... I'll probably give this 4-5 more days to push through before I do gly round 2.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Gly is not the best against sedges. Ignore them for this year and deal with them next summer.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

g-man said:


> Gly is not the best against sedges. Ignore them for this year and deal with them next summer.


I've got Sedgehammer. Should I mix up a tank and hit them as they pop up?

I already have enough of a tough time with that shared strip with weeds creeping from my neighbor's yard that if I leave them until after seeding, I'll be dealing with a ton more.

The label for my gly shows nutsedge if used with the "tough weed control" rate, which I used:
https://www.raganandmassey.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/CNS_84009-27_16oz_02.pdf


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Check the seeding restrictions of sedgehammer. I've struggled to kill nutsdege with gly. It turns white and looks like it dies, but it does survive or return.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

g-man said:


> Check the seeding restrictions of sedgehammer. I've struggled to kill nutsdege with gly. It turns white and looks like it dies, but it does survive or return.





> FALLOW TREATMENTS
> This product may be used on fallow areas prior to the establishment of turfgrass or woody ornamental plants. Allow 4 weeks between
> application and seeding or sodding of turfgrass, or transplanting woody ornamentals.


Doh!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Gly round 2 today. Larger section looking great, hardly any green.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Checked weather forecast for seed down date. Looks like we're still a go for Monday, Sep 12. Air temps hit a high of 90' a couple days prior, for the first time in like 2 months. They look like they'll go down 1-2' every week after seeding.

I've got like 2.5 cu ft of peat moss on hand. I might just grab another 3 cu ft bag just to be on the safe side and I can use the leftovers on my back yard areas.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Arg, I have even more nutsedge popping up in my shared section. Frustrating. I'll probably mix up a small batch of gly and hit the new sprouts.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

And yeah, most of that green in the upper left of the photo is nutsedge with some crabgrass in my neighbor's yard. Sigh.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Reserved a peat moss roller for seed day. T-11 days now...
This nutsedge is making me nervous. Hopefully it'll be nuked next week and I won't have to place my hopes on my gly round 3.

If it persists through the gly and reseed themselves, then I'll just have to Sedgehammer them next summer or whatever.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Good news: Some of the nutsedge is finally getting smoked
Bad news: More sprouts

Gly round 3 in a week will be my last shot at getting it all before seed down.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

90% of the sedge is toast. Sweet! Have some new sprouts, but not a ton. Gly round 3 next weekend, then seed down a week from today.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Gly round 3 today. T-2 days.

Let's hope these California fires get contained. Everything is crazy up here right now.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Well, it's all done but the waiting. 
Home Depot annoyingly canceled my peat moss spreader rental at 9pm the night prior, so I had to reserve one further away. And they didn't have it ready until 10am instead of 7am, so I got a late start.



Before:






Started off with putting weed fabric down around the tree, and mulching it.





I'll eventually put some sort of brick or something around the mulched area to separate it from the grass.

Raked
Seed down, 10lbs / K for 625 sq ft
Raked again
Stomped it down
Put down 1lb P / K of 0-48-0, as per soil analysis 
Put down 1lb K / K of 0-0-53, as per soil analysis. Need to put more down later in the fall. 
4oz / acre rate of Tenacity, while spilling blue dye everywhere :lol:
Spread 5 cu ft of peat moss. SO glad I spent the $17 to rent the spreader. It would have taken many hours to do it by hand.

After:







Need to swap out a couple short radius MP800 nozzles for standard MP1000 on the side strip. Need a couple more feet on the throw.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Not much to do but wait. Watering 6-minutes every 2.5 hours as it's still 85-90 here. Hopefully will see some sprouts by the weekend.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

I have little baby sprouts all over today! Woohoo!

No pic because I noticed it at 1am after coming home from my beer league hockey game. Will grab a pic tomorrow.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Yeah! I've got good coverage, even in the area where my neighbor waters daily and washed my peat moss away.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Time for some flashlight sprout inspections! :thumbup:


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Chris LI said:


> Time for some flashlight sprout inspections! :thumbup:


Ha, I was pulling out of my driveway at 10pm last night and my headlights caught the sprouts. I got out and checked ''em out with my phone flash light. Hope my neighbors didn't see me admiring them.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Have some pretty decent rain at the moment. Just about all the TTTF has sprouted up, so hopefully it all stays in place. The rain just seems to be moving my peat moss, so hopefully the KBG seeds are staying put.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Not a part of my front yard, nor a reno, but I did a bunch of the same stuff to my back yard and pool areas today.

Top soil
Seed: SSS 90/10 custom mix of SS1000 and midnight KBG. Left over seed from last year. 
0.5lb P per ksqft
1lb K per ksqft
Tenacity
Peat moss







Did essentially the same to the area around my pool that my dog ripped up this summer when he went swimming. Using my new United Super Turf II seed for here. Hoping it has a bit more wear and tear resistance. Probably not though.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

These bad boys are 1-1.25" already! Growing super fast.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Every time I'm out front, neighbors walk by and say "your grass looks amazing!"

My wife is a lucky woman.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Since the grass is getting up to the first mow level, I had to take my Checkmate striper off my mower. Man, that is super annoying to remove since it's bolted onto the handle frame. I'll probably have to mow in 4-5 days. This grass is taking off like crazy.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Geeze, might have to mow tomorrow or Saturday! Grass coming in like crazy!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Most of the grass is around the 2" mark today. I'll probably give it a few more days before I give it a mow. Still trying to keep that KBG seed moist, so I don't want to cut the watering back yet.

I used the same Super Turf II seed around my pool and just got germination after 6 days. It's about a week behind my front yard.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

14 days after seed, 9 DAG


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## macattack (Nov 2, 2020)

spaceman_spiff said:


> Arg, I have even more nutsedge popping up in my shared section. Frustrating. I'll probably mix up a small batch of gly and hit the new sprouts.


Next time I do a reno i will water heavier to bring the nutsedge up and smoke it. Uphill battle right now, and need 30 days after germination to hit it with sedgehammer. Been hand pulling as it causes the tuber to use up energy growing new shoots, and give the baby grass more space.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

macattack said:


> Next time I do a reno i will water heavier to bring the nutsedge up and smoke it. Uphill battle right now, and need 30 days after germination to hit it with sedgehammer. Been hand pulling as it causes the tuber to use up energy growing new shoots, and give the baby grass more space.


First of all, whoa at the new UI for the forums. Neat!

I still have some nutsedge in the smaller strip (second pic of my last post). It's all turning white from the Tenacity, which is good, but it's still super annoying that it's there. It's pretty wild how it can keep spreading while under 2-week rotations of gly, and some random spot-sprays too.

I really need to just Sedgehammer my neighbors section that we share. It's where 99% of my weeds come from.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

I used a custom SS1000 TTTF/Midnight KBG blend in my back yard in the spots I manually cored. It’s leftover seed from last year that I used in the same area. Going over my notes, I had germination in 7 days with this mix. I’m 8 days post-seed and still not a single baby sprout. Starting to get curious on whether it’s all toast, but will give it a few more days before I just toss my Super Turf II seed down over it. I scalped the existing grass on the same day as seeding, and the water is making it take off like crazy.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

10 DAG

First mow @ 2.1”. Got more clippings than I expected. Lawn looks great so far.

Tossed some seed down in a few spots that looked like they had a bit of washout from the rain we got a few days after seeding. 

Applied 2.5lbs/ksqft of Headway G fungicide to the whole lawn as a preventative.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Very nice!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

14 DAG

Some brown spots showed up a few days ago. Not sure if it was fungal or irrigation related. Hopefully the Headway G took care of it. I tinkered with my irrigation to water a bit less frequently, but a few more minutes at a time. While re-seeding and peat mossing a few of the brown spots, I noticed the turf was a bit mushy at a few spots, so hopefully the change in irrigation helps.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

15 DAG
Hit it with 0.2 lb N/ksqft of urea today.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

16 DAG

Second mow & 2.1”. Got a bunch of tips, so it’s still growing despite me checking it every 30 minutes and not thinking it is.
I’m at 3 days after seed on the patches, so I should see some baby sprouts in 2-3 days.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

18 DAG

5 days after re-seeding the brown spots, I'm starting to see baby sprouts. Woohoo!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

22 DAG
Another mow @ 2.1”
0.25lb N/ksqft
Front yard is getting all leopard spotted with dark green. It looks funny. I’m assuming it’s because I’m using granular urea.

I’m getting sprouts in my bare/thin patches but they’re definitely coming in slower than expected. The side strip is most concerning. It’s getting hit hard with nutsedge too. Few more days and I can finally hit it with some Sedgehammer.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Pool area update: 14 DAG and the grass is going absolutely ham.

Before/After:


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Nice progress to date! I'm getting hit with nutsedge as well. I've never seen any on my property before this season.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Wiley said:


> Nice progress to date! I'm getting hit with nutsedge as well. I've never seen any on my property before this season.


Thanks! And yeah, the nutsedge spreads like crazy. It's wild. 

23 DAG 
Put some seed on a few thin spots in the front yard.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

24 DAG
Applied 2.5lb/ksqft of Headway G fungicide, preventative rate. Went a bit heavier on a couple spots where I think grass went brown due to some fungal infection. Once these couple remaining spots I re-seeded start to sprout (around 29 DAG), I'll probably cut my watering back to once a day. It's currently twice a day, at 11am and 4pm. 8 minutes each.

The label for Headway G (azoxy and prop) says to not use more than 3 apps in a row to avoid resistence. Only problem is that only fungicides I have are Headway, DiseaseEx (azoxy), and Prop. Not sure what I should do after my 3 apps are up. It seems like getting a third class is pretty expensive. Hopefully by moving my irrigation to once every day or two, it'll reduce the need for them since the lawn isn't constantly moist.


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## macattack (Nov 2, 2020)

spaceman_spiff said:


> Hopefully by moving my irrigation to once every day or two, it'll reduce the need for them since the lawn isn't constantly moist.


I probably cut back early on watering more than once a day. Only watered before work, though your climate looks quite different, even though at almost the same latitude. It's been much cooler here too overnight, and the nutsedge has retreated, as it hates the cold but loves wet ground. No need to spray now, and fingers crossed I have not had any fungal issues. The Superturf II has really thickened up, now at 35 DAG. Hoping it turns good for you once the grass matures, as it looks like good grass growing weather.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

macattack said:


> I probably cut back early on watering more than once a day. Only watered before work, though your climate looks quite different, even though at almost the same latitude. It's been much cooler here too overnight, and the nutsedge has retreated, as it hates the cold but loves wet ground. No need to spray now, and fingers crossed I have not had any fungal issues. The Superturf II has really thickened up, now at 35 DAG. Hoping it turns good for you once the grass matures, as it looks like good grass growing weather.


Yeah it's still regularly 90-95' here during the day, so the soil dries out pretty quickly. Which is kind of annoying because I've regularly re-seeded a handful of patches and I'm sick of dragging the hose out and spraying them all vs watering the whole lawn. I'm ready for it to start cooling down a bit already.

The ST II looks great so far! Looking forward to it thickening up. There's a few spots I look at and I think "hmmmm it looks a bit thin, let me toss more seed down" but I'll probably just sit on it and let it do it's thing.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

26 DAG

Another cut @ 2.1". Couple recently-seeded spots have a decent amount of sprouts coming up, so that's good news. I've got a couple more that I'm waiting on sprouting before I go to 1x/day watering. The soil is a little too moist/wet in the morning for my taste. I did move my irrigation to 12 minutes in the morning and 4 minutes in the late afternoon.

I've got my 30-day Tenacity spray due at 28 DAG, but I also badly need to hit my side strip with Sedgehammer. I'll probably Tenacity tomorrow at 27 DAG, and Sedgehammer the next day.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

27 DAG
Hit it a day early with 4oz rate of Tenacity yesterday. Will hit the nutsedge with Sedgehammer tomorrow.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

29 DAG

Screwdriver test while putting up Halloween decorations yesterday showed only 2" of moist soil, as expected, so I gave the front yard a regular, deep soak this morning. Soil seems to be staying moist throughout the day so far.
Adjusted irrigation to do 20 minutes, only in the morning, daily.
Hit the side strip with Sedgehammer+ to try to get control of this nutsedge and couple spots of kyllinga. May also have hit my neighbors section as well.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

edit: Found the answer to my question!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

31 DAG
Soil amendments based upon my spring soil analysis

0-0-53 SOP 1.18lb @ 1lb K/ksqft -- 2lb/ksqft more to go throughout the fall
Earth Science Fast-Acting Lime : 6.25lb @ 10lbs/ksqft -- 14lbs to go out of the 33lbs total needed


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

32 DAG

Progress pics. This light/dark green spotted look is weird and I’m not sure why it’s not going away. I figured it was because I use urea granules instead of foliar spray, but I’ve done 3 apps by now and figured the green would be more uniform. In my back yard and pool areas where I planted the same seed, the grass is a uniform green across. Kind of stumped on this, but I'll just let it go and see if it fixes itself.

Couple spots with fungus still growing sprouts, so it looks a little patchy here and there on the side strip.

Have one spot that's not getting hit much by irrigation (lower right of first pic), but that's because the head is in a stupid location and I really don't feel like trenching and funny piping it to another spot. Head is about 2 feet to the right of the dry spot instead of the corner.

Moved irrigation to 40 mins every other day, as the soil is still moist the day after watering.


















The really light portion of this pic is just the morning sun reflecting off a neighbor's house. No fungus or die off.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Can you post some close ups? From this distance it could be poa a.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

g-man said:


> Can you post some close ups? From this distance it could be poa a.


Oh good grief, don't put that fear into me. I never had poa A in my front yard and have used Prodiamine religiously for the past few years. I'll grab some close-ups a bit later.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

@g-man

It's United Super Turf II (93% TTTF, 7% KBG), so there are different cultivars. Just strange that it's only happening in my front yard.

Light and dark patches:









Light patch:









Dark patch:









Light (left), dark (right):










Light:









Dark:


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Hmm, it does look like there’s some minor spotting around my pool as well. Never had poa A there either though.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

34 DAG
Nothing exciting except another 2.1” cut. I’ll probably raise it up a notch next mow. The nutsedge is starting to turn colors, so that’s good.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

35 DAG

Applied 3lbs / ksqft of Earth Science IronPro
Applied 0.5lb N/ksqft of urea


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

39 DAG

No real update besides watering every other day and mowing every 3-5. Still some light green spotting. I was hoping the iron would clear some of it up. But I guess after comparing today to a week ago, it does look like some of the spots are darkening up.

Here's what it looked like at 32 DAG:










Today, a week later:










So maybe is actually the granular urea? There is a light green ring around the tree/mulch area. I'm guessing that doesn't get hit as uniformly with urea as the rest of the area, so I'll make sure to go slightly heavier in that part during my next urea drop this weekend.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

41 DAG

Mowed at 2.6". Will probably bump it up to 3" next mow.
Dropped 2lbs/ksqft of DiseaseEx (azoxy), preventative rate
Changing irrigation to once every 3 days, as the soil still stays pretty moist at day 2

With the temps dropping (daily highs of low 70s), it'll probably be the last fungicide I drop.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

43 DAG

Applied 0.5lb N/ksqft, with some extra around the light green spots. Hopefully they green up in a week or so!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

46 DAG


Received a frost warning for tonight. Holy moly, we never get frost this early.
Changed Rachio irrigation back to the 'whenever needed' schedule since we actually received our first rain in like 5 months, and seem to have a few rainy days in the next few weeks. Woohoo!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Progress pics. Looks like it’s slowly greening up!



























And my nutsedge is starting to get smoked. Bummer I can’t re-app Sedgehammer for 6 weeks.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

50 DAG


0.5lb N/ksqft
Getting some nice rain this week!
Leaves are starting to fall from my tree, so I'll probably switch to mulching vs bagging next mow


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

51 DAG
- Applied 5 fl oz/ksqft SLS Humic Acid & Kelp before the rain tonight. Trying to get this soil as healthy as possible for the spring.

I'm due to drop Prodiamine in 10 days, but my Ryobi backpack sprayer just died on me. The hose cracked and leaked Humic Acid down my back and legs. I had to resort to the crappy 1gal hand pump sprayer from Home Depot that I hate. Great.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

52 DAG

We got a nice 1” of rain yesterday. Looking dark green today!


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

57 DAG


Put my Checkmate striper back on my mower. I’ve never super been a fan of this kit. It doesn’t seem to give good, defined stripes, even at 3.5-4” HOC. I think part of the issue was with my salad grass mix, so maybe they’ll look a bit better now that I have some elite grass cultivars now. I’m still cutting at 2.5” and will continue through the winter, so not expecting wicked stripes until I let it grow taller in the spring.
Applied 0.5lb N/ksqft










Pretty much no stripes here on the below pic, only mower wheel ruts, haha. I cut the above and below at opposite angles, so it's probably just the angle of the sun.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

64 DAG

0.5lb N/ksqft
3-month rate of Prodiamine

66 DAG

Tried horizontal and diagonal stripes @ 2.9”. Not super defined, but not terrible. Definitely way better than my old grass.
I have to mow every couple days to mulch the leaves from the tree or else they blanket the yard


















This portion definitely doesn't stripe as nicely. Lots of short grass where the nutsedge was. I'll have to work on it in the spring.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

70 DAG
- 0.5 lb N/ksqft

81 DAG
- 1.0 lb N/ksqft. Last app of the year as my growth is starting to slow down significantly.

I've put down a total of 4.7 lbs N/ksqft since October. Probably a bit on the high side, but whatever. I feel like the seed needed a large amount of N to push it to a dark green color from lime green. Also, at 625 sq ft for the reno, the urea probably cost me like $9. One of the advantages of having a small lawn I guess. I've never done a "winterizer" application of N before, so I figured what the heck, let's see what happens. Not really worried about wasting the urea since the last 1lb N was probably a dollar.

Lawn still looks like the pics above. No notable change. That probably wraps up my reno and this log. I'm pleased at the results and can't wait to see it take off even more in the spring. I'm actually debating a spring reno for my back yard, but mostly because we regularly have 30 kids on our back yard during the fall, so fencing that off will be next to impossible.

I'll probably pull some cores and get another soil analysis sometime in February and maybe start another log. Looking forward to seeing how much my soil amendments have changed over the course of these past 6 months.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

Alright fine, one more update. Haven’t irrigated in probably 5-6 weeks. Every lawn in my neighborhood is yellow from dormancy or their crabgrass/Kyllinga farms died off and mine is still super dark green. I almost feel bad for this domination line.


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## macattack (Nov 2, 2020)

Is that the Superturf II representing or what? Color much more uniform now and full, looks great. Mine looked good until it got covered by two inches of snow with below zero temps.


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## spaceman_spiff (Feb 5, 2021)

macattack said:


> Is that the Superturf II representing or what? Color much more uniform now and full, looks great. Mine looked good until it got covered by two inches of snow with below zero temps.


Yeah, I’m loving it after it’s initial lime green then leopard spotted look. It easily looks better than everyone else’s in my neighborhood, including my one neighbor who actually takes care and fertilizes his lawn.
Can’t wait to see it take off in the spring.


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