# UltimateLawn's DFW St. Augustine Journal



## UltimateLawn

Well, I've taken over my lawn care this year since my previous lawn service created a number of disasters including fungus, weed growth and mutilated lawn at edgings. I'm in the DFW area with St. Augustine and am still working some of the issues. Here are some of the photos...

September 13th:
Clover in beds, now knocked down with some glyphosate...


Crabgrass growth on side yard, knocked back with two rounds of Blindside...


Virginia Buttonweed growth - also knocked back with two rounds of Blindside...


Nutsedge in Front Yard, now on third serving of Dismiss. Pretty good control, but still chasing them...


September 27th:
Fungus buildup in various areas in the lawn. I've been treating with Propiconazole and Azoxystrobin spray. I think it has helped but with the cooling weather, the grass has not yet rebounded...


October 11th:
Saw about 5 Earthball fungus growth in yards. Was able to remove most of them, but one did bust open to spread spores before I got to it...



October 19th:
Removal of an older (rotting) Silver Maple from the front yard...


October 21st:
Fighting with a significant outbreak of Bermuda, particular along the front curb line. Maybe blown in from the street...


Nutsedge still reducing...


October 25th:
Second mole hill seen in lawn. Saw one about three weeks ago. I haven't seen them in my front yard for some time. Maybe attracted to the various chems and Milo throw-downs?


Welcome to my lawn nightmare! Feedback is more than welcome.


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## UltimateLawn

I'm not certain, but I think some of the fungal growth and general thinner lawn is a result of my poor lawn mower. I proudly own a first-gen Ego 20" mower that I've been using (somehow) on the St. Aug here in DFW. I bought this mower when I lived in Colorado and it handled my cold season grass just fine on a lawn that was only about 1,000 ft2. Now I'm at 5,000 ft2 with St. Augustine and it struggles significantly.

I regularly sharpen the blades, but they are made out of some pretty soft metal so they don't hold their edge very long. Also I've been mulching - mostly because I was too lazy to bag, but I don't think this mower mulches very well and it is added a thick humic-type layer of thatch, helping to choke the living grass and contributing to the fungus(?).

I'm committed to a new gas mower as it rolls around to the new year. I'm undecided between a Honda HRX217HYZ and a Toro Timemaster or Turfmaster. I'm also looking at the Honda HRC commercial line, but they seem a bit more oriented to a business than a resident. There is also a Ferris 32 inch I'm considering, but it is pretty bulky to store.


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## ionicatoms

I'll be watching your journal! Good luck!


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## dubyadubya87

Makes me feel better that I'm not the only SA owner with Virginia Buttonweed issues! Stuff drives me crazy. My wife and kids make fun of me crawling around pulling it out by the roots!


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## UltimateLawn

@dubyadubya87 , I know what you mean!

It started popping up in a wetter section of the lawn this year. I had never seen it before in the lawn, and with the ground spread and unobtrusive little white flowers it looked like something from an alien outer space!

I hit it with Blindside and it seems to have controlled it well to where I can actually pull it up quickly when it shows up from time to time. Unfortunately the St. Aug took a beating where the Blindside landed.

Brutal weed to stop!

Somewhere on my list is to re-level some portions of my yard that have settle as little bowls that trap water. Maybe in the spring.


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## UltimateLawn

Rain has been brutal today and is forecast over the next three days, so not much lawn activity happening.

I purchased 2ea Fire Dragon Maples this weekend to plant in the front yard replacing two Silver Maples. Was supposed to plant today, but it will probably be Thursday given the rain.


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## UltimateLawn

So cooler weather has landed in the DFW area with lows in the high 30's and a lot of rain. Grass is pretty much going dormant. My lawn had a late feeding of Milo and the nitrogen is certainly showing through. I think I have the greenest grass on the street!

That being said, there is a pattern to the grass with a lot of shriveled brown grass leaves amongst the broader leaves. Is that simply dead leaves showing up as the grass grows dormant and growth slows? Or is it an indicator of another problem?


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## dubyadubya87

I have the same in mine right now. Curious to hear if anyone knows for sure what it is.


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## dfw_pilot

UltimateLawn said:


> I'm also looking at the Honda HRC commercial line, but they seem a bit more oriented to a business than a resident.


I tend to agree they are worth skipping. Some of the commercial Toro's in my neighborhood weren't any more robust and didn't cut any better. They were simply larger, with bigger fuel tanks for fewer fill-ups. They might be tougher on the wheel and handle area, but I doubt a home owner would ever recoup that extra expense.

IMO, I'd stick with Honda or Toro but purchased from a local dealer instead of a box store. Better service, and higher quality models are sold there. I'm shocked the EGO lasted this long - I know some gas mowers that have fits with St. Aug and Zoysia. You'll be happy with a new mower. Cheers.


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## UltimateLawn

dubyadubya87 said:


> I have the same in mine right now. Curious to hear if anyone knows for sure what it is.


I have a theory on the shriveled St.Aug blades. I have been fighting a fungal outbreak and this may be leaves and/or stolons attacked by the fungus and it was a full blade kill. I think they were there all season, but I tend to cut my StAug high and maybe these were leaves under the top of the turf that I did not see during the growing season.

Thoughts?


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## dubyadubya87

UltimateLawn said:


> dubyadubya87 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have the same in mine right now. Curious to hear if anyone knows for sure what it is.
> 
> 
> 
> I have a theory on the shriveled St.Aug blades. I have been fighting a fungal outbreak and this may be leaves and/or stolons attacked by the fungus and it was a full blade kill. I think they were there all season, but I tend to cut my StAug high and maybe these were leaves under the top of the turf that I did not see during the growing season.
> 
> Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Could very well be. I noticed mine only in one area and seemingly overnight. I was able to lightly rake much of it out. It was almost like 'hay' in texture, mixed in amongst my SA. I haven't bothered spraying for whatever it might be, as I'm dealing with St. Aug Decline anyway and will be slowly transitioning to zoysia via plugs.


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## Acaciakng

I have the same thing going on in my SA. I did a light rake and pulled a bunch of brown soggy blades out. Came here looking for some insight on what it could be. Or a better rake lol...


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## UltimateLawn

Planted 2 Shantung Maples in the Front Yard to replace the Silver Maples that were there previously. Honestly the Silver Maples were crappy trees that died quickly and were very susceptible to fungal development...



Also noticed about 5 mushroom outcroppings in the turf in a more wet area of the yard. I suspect it might be related to all of the organic material (Milo and N-Ext products) I dropped about 2 weeks ago as a final fertilization going into the winter. The rain over the last 4 days didn't help as well...



Time to put down fall tree spikes for these and others.


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## dfw_pilot

UltimateLawn said:


> Time to put down fall tree spikes for these and others.


You can do that, but when I planted my 12 trees, Fannin told me that Milo/N spread for the grass will feed them just fine.


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## UltimateLawn

Laid down tree spikes. Sorry but I missed the Milo recommendation. I will target for the Spring.


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## UltimateLawn

Dropped curative rate of Propicanozole fungicide. This is my third curative drop on alternating rounds of Propicanozole and Azoxystrobin. Hopefully after the last 6 weeks the broad lawn fungus will be greatly reduced. I plan on doing monthly preventative rates through the Winter and into the early Spring and see where things stand then.


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## UltimateLawn

First time to mow in about 3 weeks. I hate this mower. Bagged top leaves but the mower did not grab any lower leaves between the StAug blades. I hate this mower.

I dropped some Advion ant bait chasing some ants that had been tracking through my front beds. I can't see any mounds so I am pretty certain that they are building underground. I was initially thinking as temps dropped that their foraging for the season was complete but warmer temps prevailed and the drop looked good in terms of attracting them.

Also I have started to make an attempt to straighten a large tree in the front yard while it is going dormant.

The new maple trees are starting to color up nicely giving quite the show.


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## UltimateLawn

I am getting ready for some fall trimming in my beds and these grassy-like plants are notorious for wanting fall trims. I regularly forget to trim them and then I'm left with all of these brown leaves the following spring when the new green leaves grow in.

Does anyone know what kind of plants these are, when I should trim them back, and how I should trim them? Thanks!


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## UltimateLawn

I dropped 2oz each of N-Ext RGS and Humic 12 onto the new maples in a gallon of water drench, and then 4oz each for a larger tree. We'll see how it goes.


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## UltimateLawn

Raked fallen leaves two days ago and then today...enough already! For 5K ft2 you wouldn't think we would have so many leaves. One of the things I like about raking is it really pulls the leaves, acorns and generally dead St. Aug blades up and out. However, it takes forever and more frustrating, I get to do it again in 2-3 days.

What are some of the tricks available to make the process of dealing with large amounts of leaves easier? I've done the mower mulching technique, but all it does is choke up the grass and spit a ton of leaf particles in the air triggering my allergies.

I was also thinking that if I did mulch, then I could use the leaves for bed cover going into the winter months before I refresh with new mulch in the spring.

Thoughts?


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## Live Oak

Do you have bagging capability for your mower? I find that to be the most efficient way to pick up leaves and other organic debris on my lawn. It's almost like a vacuum for your yard. @UltimateLawn


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## UltimateLawn

I do but my mower is a first gen Ego with horrible vacuum suction. I am set to replace it soon. I was thinking this would be the best option.


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## 12620

UltimateLawn said:


> Does anyone know what kind of plants these are, when I should trim them back, and how I should trim them? Thanks!


Mondo grass. Not sure about maintenance, but a Google search will get you there!


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## UltimateLawn

So I picked up a new Honda mower today and used it to bag leaves...what a difference compared to the Ego mower.

Also dropped a preventative 2 fl oz. per 1,000 ft2 of Clearys 3336F fungicide. This is new on a rotation of class 3, 11 and now 1. Grass was full of fungal growth about a month before and it is looking better now.


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## UltimateLawn

Long time no post, so picking up in the new season. Did a 2ea 4 gallon water mix to drop 0.18oz/1,000ft2 of Prodiamine WDG and 0.11floz/1,000ft2 of Specticle Flo. This is my first time using Specticle, so we will see how things go. Specticle is crazy expensive for the 18 floz bottle, but each application is about 5$ per for my 5,000ft2 lawn.

I'm planning on another drop of this combo in about four weeks as things continue to warm.


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## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> Specticle is crazy expensive for the 18 floz bottle, but each application is about 5$ per for my 5,000ft2 lawn.


This made me laugh. Ever since I got in the lawn game my concept of "expensive" keeps getting "enlarged."


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## UltimateLawn

Well....a new season is starting, so I thought I would start to refresh my lawn journal.

St. Augustine remains dormant. Bermuda mix is still in dormancy...maybe a few sprigs are starting to green up.

I posted in the Weed Identification discussion thread. Looks like some Rescuegrass. I think I had some of this last season but probably wasn't looking as closely as this year. Fall pre-emergent mix of Prodiamine and Simazine didn't address the break though in the warmer soil closer to the curb.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=360259#p360259


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## UltimateLawn

Dropped some Celcius on some small outbreaks including a small grass strip on my neighbor's side. He didn't drop a fall pre-emergent and you could you see the difference from my side.

Targets are rescuegrass, ground ivy and hedge parsley. Only one hedge parsley and I don't see it mentioned on the Celcius label or Blindside (which I have as well). I guess we will see how things go.

The St Augustine is still dormant but things are heating up. Temp now is at 65 deg F with soil temp at 60 deg F.


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## leefjl63

I was thinking of adding 3336F to my rotation. But @2oz/1k it will around $8 per app for 5k lawn.

I need to reseach Specticle. Is this a pre to use instead of Pennant?

I've sprayed Blindside Nxt with mixed results. Once when daytime temp was 85F and it hit the St Aug hard. I thought it would be ok to spray to late evening when the temp (<85F) was lower. But it didn't matter. Lesson learnt! Now I will only use that when daytime temp is under 80F.

Celsius is my go to herbicide. It will take out the Buttonweed. Took around 4 weeks and I used a 2nd app.

Good luck with the upcoming season!


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## ionicatoms

leefjl63 said:


> I was thinking of adding 3336F to my rotation. But @2oz/1k it will around $8 per app for 5k lawn.


Keep in mind there is an annual maximum of 4 applications. That only gives you 8 weeks of coverage. I plan to rotate azoxy+3336 with azoxy+propiconazole for the 16 weeks when grey leaf spot is hitting me the hardest. It's not the cheapest per app, but 3336EG (5 lbs) is the right amount for me to not have multiple years worth of product sitting on the shelf / degrading.


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## UltimateLawn

My rotation includes Clearys, Azoxy & Propiconazole, so the chems are stocked.

Last year I sprayed as a corrective, not a preventative. It would be good to get ahead of this a bit. It seems that there are a lot of opinions out there as to when to apply these fungicides. To avoid any symptoms, how do you know when to start and end when to drop these?


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## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> To avoid any symptoms, how do you know when to start and end when to drop these?


I'm hoping to go based on trends in weather (temperature and moisture), but man I'm still quite junior. I'm leaning on my journal quite a bit to see when I first noticed symptoms last year and then pull in a couple weeks ahead of that.


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## UltimateLawn

Raked neighboring Live Oak leaves that always seem to blow on my yard! Lowered mower to 2 inches and 'scalped' a bit to open up the sun to the St. Aug passed the winter dead leaves.

Afterwards dropped some RGS at 5 floz per 1,000 ft² and Air-8 at 6 floz per 1,000 ft². Latest pics after...

Celcius dropped about five days ago on Ground Ivy and Rescuegrass. Growth looks slowed, but both are still around. I will spray another dose in about a week if they are not on the way out.


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## Redtwin

@UltimateLawn I'd give the Celsius a couple of weeks to do it's work. It is still pretty cool out so it may take a while to work.


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## leefjl63

In the middle of summer Celsius took around 3 to 4 weeks to work. The weed needs to be active.


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## UltimateLawn

Soil temps yesterday are varied between 56-63°. Makes sense on the slow response. I've had good results with Blindside, but it can really stress the St Aug. Since the St Aug is still coming out of dormancy, maybe this is a good time to hit the winter weeds?

Also planning on dropping some slow release organic fert this weekend. Nothing too heavy, just something to feed the soil and start to wake up things.


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## leefjl63

I don't know how I ended up with Dismiss NXT but it's tough on St. Aug as well @.35oz. and temp <85F. So now I'll use it at the lower rate of .234oz

It has Sulfentrazone @31.77% & Carfentrazone @3.53%
Blindside is @60% with 6% Metsulfuron

I've used Celsius and that knocks down all my weeds and the grass had zero damage. This was in the middle of Summer.


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## UltimateLawn

I had planned to drop some Azoxy this morning, but was thwarted by another round of leaves and very breezy weather. Maybe tomorrow morning if I can beat the weekend rain.

Took a look at the weeds I hit with Celcius a couple of weeks ago. This was my first application of Celcius.

Granted it is not that warm yet, but the Celcius seemed to slow the weed growth in a dramatic way. They are significantly weaker than some more recent weeds that popped up in the last week. I am giving the new weeds a bit longer to get some better leaf development and for the weather to warm up a bit further. Our last frost is now over in DFW and things are warming up for good by March 25th.


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## UltimateLawn

After mulching leaves into the lawn to open up foilage, I dropped the Azoxy 2SC at 0.38 floz / 1,000 ft². Next few days are rain, so I'll do my first drop of organic fertilizer after the weekend, but at low amounts.


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## UltimateLawn

March 13th update...

Planted some tulips and removed some (frozen) dead Indian Hawthorns and replaced them with some Butterfly Kisses...


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## UltimateLawn

March 15th update...

Planted two Gardenias on the back patio and installed a first-time drip irrigation feed to them...


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## UltimateLawn

March 21st update...

Planted some Asiatic Lilies and Salvias in the front entrance bed...


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## UltimateLawn

March 28th update...

Azaleas not dead but struggling after the Texas freeze and an RGS, Humic-12 and Air-8 first of the year app (mix compatibility testing)...


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## UltimateLawn

March 29th update...

Marking some final winter weeds (Rescuegrass and ???). There is some yellowing chlorosis on the St Aug blades. It seems a little early for any grubs. Roots still feel strong. I sprayed some Coron nitrogen fertilizer with some Chelated Iron. Response so far looks ok. Take-All Root Rot? :|


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## UltimateLawn

Today's update...

Nutsedge growing along front edge of beds. I'm planning on doing a Certainty application this weekend for these and the remaining Rescuegrass.


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## mjh648

thundergunexpress said:


> UltimateLawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> Does anyone know what kind of plants these are, when I should trim them back, and how I should trim them? Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mondo grass. Not sure about maintenance, but a Google search will get you there!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that is Creeping Lilyturf (Liriope). Does it sprout flower spiked from the center? Liriope is larger and not as dark green as mondo. Mondo spreads like wildfire in yards but I don't think that's what that is.


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## UltimateLawn

@mjh648, I did cut them back in Fall. I have not seen any flowering from them in recent years. They are coming up now and they look to be crawling a bit from where it started. Sounds like Mondo grass. Pictures below...


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## mjh648

@UltimateLawn Quite possibly. I'm still new to identifying plants but yours look very similar to mine at home.

Looking closely at the pic it appears the plant has black fruit. I'm of the belief liriope has black fruit and mondo grass is bright blue unless it's the black variety of mondo grass that will have black fruit too.

I believe the flowering or lack thereof is a factor of soil moisture and sun combo but I believe both Liriope and Mondo grass will both flower. For example a lot of sun and no moisture or full shade or too much moisture on the root system.

Whatever it is I'm glad it made it through the winter storm.


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## UltimateLawn

@mjh648, great point! I never even saw those flowers and berries. These never really appear to be any striking flowering, so I'm going to keep a closer eye on these. The beds they are in are typically very well watered...maybe too much for flowering.


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## mjh648

Here are some pics of what I believe are Liriopes.


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## mjh648

Here are some pics of what I believe are liriopes. Don't kill me on the black mulch. I have learned my lesson!

Notice the purple flowers. That plant gets partial sun all in the afternoon.


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## UltimateLawn

I have some that are full sun and others that are part sun. They seem to be happy either way. I'm not certain of it, but I think the part sun ones are happier. I'll watch closer this season for when or if they flower well.


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## leefjl63

The purple flowering one is liriope.

What's wrong with the black mulch. Looks good!


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## mjh648

@leefjl63 a lot apparently. I'll PM you so I don't hijack this thread with off topic material.


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## leefjl63

Thanks @mjh648


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## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> March 29th update...
> 
> Marking some final winter weeds (Rescuegrass and ???). There is some yellowing chlorosis on the St Aug blades. It seems a little early for any grubs. Roots still feel strong. I sprayed some Coron nitrogen fertilizer with some Chelated Iron. Response so far looks ok. Take-All Root Rot? :|


I have this yellowing happen every year I really don't know what causes it.


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## UltimateLawn

@CenlaLowell, as of my yesterday check, the yellowing has expanded to more square feet, but it also is much less of yellow color...starting to shift back to green. I don't know if the iron I dropped is helping this shift, but it's good to see it moving in the right direction.


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## mjh648

@UltimateLawn if you pull on the yellowing blades do they come out and is the root system black? I had a little bit of the same stuff and put down an app of azoxy to be sure.


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## UltimateLawn

@mjh648 , Not so much that it looks like any root fungus/rot. That being said, the entire lawn is just now coming out of dormancy, so most roots are not holding strong including the green areas. As of this morning, the yellowing has not vanished, but it seems to be getting some of the green mixed in so it is diminishing.

I applied some Azoxy about a month ago as a preventative. I'm planning on dropping some Propiconazole this weekend as a fungicide rotation for this cycle. I'm trying to stick with a good rotation of Azoxy, Propi, and Thiophanate-methyl (Clearys) since they are each a different mode of action.

For now, I'm watching how things progress. I'm also thinking about dropping a grub applications, but I'm waiting a bit longer to see if the yellowing areas grow further or die entirely.


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## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> @mjh648 , Not so much that it looks like any root fungus/rot. That being said, the entire lawn is just now coming out of dormancy, so most roots are not holding strong including the green areas. As of this morning, the yellowing has not vanished, but it seems to be getting some of the green mixed in so it is diminishing.
> 
> I applied some Azoxy about a month ago as a preventative. I'm planning on dropping some Propiconazole this weekend as a fungicide rotation for this cycle. I'm trying to stick with a good rotation of Azoxy, Propi, and Thiophanate-methyl (Clearys) since they are each a different mode of action.
> 
> For now, I'm watching how things progress. I'm also thinking about dropping a grub applications, but I'm waiting a bit longer to see if the yellowing areas grow further or die entirely.


I still have it as well. Insecticide is always good to start as I try to keep coverage on the lawn throughout the growing season. I'm going to hold off on fungicide for as long as I can.


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## mjh648

CenlaLowell said:


> UltimateLawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> @mjh648 , Not so much that it looks like any root fungus/rot. That being said, the entire lawn is just now coming out of dormancy, so most roots are not holding strong including the green areas. As of this morning, the yellowing has not vanished, but it seems to be getting some of the green mixed in so it is diminishing.
> 
> I applied some Azoxy about a month ago as a preventative. I'm planning on dropping some Propiconazole this weekend as a fungicide rotation for this cycle. I'm trying to stick with a good rotation of Azoxy, Propi, and Thiophanate-methyl (Clearys) since they are each a different mode of action.
> 
> For now, I'm watching how things progress. I'm also thinking about dropping a grub applications, but I'm waiting a bit longer to see if the yellowing areas grow further or die entirely.
> 
> 
> 
> I still have it as well. Insecticide is always good to start as I try to keep coverage on the lawn throughout the growing season. I'm going to hold off on fungicide for as long as I can.
Click to expand...

What's the reasoning behind that? Are you concerned all fungicides are growth inhibitors?


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## UltimateLawn

I'm wondering as well @CenlaLowell . I could use some guidance as to what type of products can be more stressful to the turf. It seems like fungicides might be less stressing than pesticides...but I'm not sure.

For my own fears, my level of PPE gets much higher when dropping pesticides. :|


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## CenlaLowell

mjh648 said:


> CenlaLowell said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UltimateLawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> @mjh648 , Not so much that it looks like any root fungus/rot. That being said, the entire lawn is just now coming out of dormancy, so most roots are not holding strong including the green areas. As of this morning, the yellowing has not vanished, but it seems to be getting some of the green mixed in so it is diminishing.
> 
> I applied some Azoxy about a month ago as a preventative. I'm planning on dropping some Propiconazole this weekend as a fungicide rotation for this cycle. I'm trying to stick with a good rotation of Azoxy, Propi, and Thiophanate-methyl (Clearys) since they are each a different mode of action.
> 
> For now, I'm watching how things progress. I'm also thinking about dropping a grub applications, but I'm waiting a bit longer to see if the yellowing areas grow further or die entirely.
> 
> 
> 
> I still have it as well. Insecticide is always good to start as I try to keep coverage on the lawn throughout the growing season. I'm going to hold off on fungicide for as long as I can.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> What's the reasoning behind that? Are you concerned all fungicides are growth inhibitors?
Click to expand...

Cost saving.... This stuff is expensive. Plus there's people who never spray in my neighborhood and they never get disease so why I'm I getting a fungus issue.


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## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> I'm wondering as well @CenlaLowell . I could use some guidance as to what type of products can be more stressful to the turf. It seems like fungicides might be less stressing than pesticides...but I'm not sure.
> 
> For my own fears, my level of PPE gets much higher when dropping pesticides. :|


Propiconazle is the only fungicide I can think of that I wouldn't spray on st Augustine.

Azoxystrobin, 3336, and eagle should be your go to fungicides


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## UltimateLawn

CenlaLowell said:


> Propiconazle is the only fungicide I can think of that I wouldn't spray on st Augustine.
> 
> Azoxystrobin, 3336, and eagle should be your go to fungicides


@CenlaLowell , what is your thoughts on why not Propiconazole? I can't find a label restriction.


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## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> CenlaLowell said:
> 
> 
> 
> Propiconazle is the only fungicide I can think of that I wouldn't spray on st Augustine.
> 
> Azoxystrobin, 3336, and eagle should be your go to fungicides
> 
> 
> 
> @CenlaLowell , what is your thoughts on why not Propiconazole? I can't find a label restriction.
Click to expand...

It has a regulation type effect on st Augustine. Greendoc can explain it much better than me and his advice is what I used.


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## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> CenlaLowell said:
> 
> 
> 
> Propiconazle is the only fungicide I can think of that I wouldn't spray on st Augustine.
> 
> Azoxystrobin, 3336, and eagle should be your go to fungicides
> 
> 
> 
> @CenlaLowell , what is your thoughts on why not Propiconazole? I can't find a label restriction.
Click to expand...

I want to say they is a warning on the label I'll have to take another look.


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## mjh648

CenlaLowell said:


> UltimateLawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CenlaLowell said:
> 
> 
> 
> Propiconazle is the only fungicide I can think of that I wouldn't spray on st Augustine.
> 
> Azoxystrobin, 3336, and eagle should be your go to fungicides
> 
> 
> 
> @CenlaLowell , what is your thoughts on why not Propiconazole? I can't find a label restriction.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I want to say they is a warning on the label I'll have to take another look.
Click to expand...

Bio Advanced doesn't give any warnings or restrictions related to that

https://www.bioadvanced.com/sites/default/files/2018-06/Fungus-Control-10lb.pdf

and yes I do remember Greendoc saying propiconazole was a growth regulator pretty much for SA. Then in other comments I see you in there is a temperature restriction AND HOC requirement possibly.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=238319#p238319

Will look into Eagle. Only had 1 bag left of the Bio Advanced so no big deal.


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## leefjl63

I use propiconazole on St Aug without issue. I goes with the low rate.


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## UltimateLawn

I've done several Propi apps on my St Aug so far. I've got a few more apps with the current inventory and will consider shifting off of it then. Thanks for the advice!


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## UltimateLawn

OK...dropped the Propiconazole this Saturday night at 1.4 floz / 1,000 ft². I'm letting it sit foliarly until the morning when I drop my last Spring pre-emergent of Simazine at 0.74 floz / 1,000 ft² and water them both in.


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## UltimateLawn

OK...Propi and Simazine dropped last Saturday. I'm still having yellowing in the grass as it comes out of dormancy. Overall growth is slower in some areas. I don't think I had this yellowing last year. Roots are still holding, so I don't think it is a fungus. A lot of the yellowing appears to be close to the curb and driveway...but not entirely. :x


----------



## leefjl63

I notice the yellowing on cold nights. One day of warmth and it disappears. I'm not sure if you're having the same issue.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@leefjl63, so far it seems to be consistent day or night. Hopefully this will work itself out soon. So far the yellow blades are growing at the same pace as the green ones. I guess I will just have to be patient for now.


----------



## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> @leefjl63, so far it seems to be consistent day or night. Hopefully this will work itself out soon. So far the yellow blades are growing at the same pace as the green ones. I guess I will just have to be patient for now.


This, my yard is still not all the way grown out. I'm thinking the ice storm knocked alot of my turf back.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Latest grass images after apply Azoxystrobin and Clearys tonight


----------



## UltimateLawn

The yellowing has been fading at a rapid pace after the Axoxy and Clearys fungicide apps. I'm not certain which is helping it, but there does appear to be a big difference in the last three days.

Last night temps dropped to about 38° F so things slowed down a bit. I'm going to keep a further eye on progress.

Honestly, I think my lawn has been fighting a variety of fungus species for years. I never laid a fungicide until the last 3-4 months. I did fertilize it regularly with Milo which probably fed the fungus as much as it fed the grass.

Here are the latest pics. I don't know if they show the difference correctly, but it is a lot better. The greatest yellowing areas are improving the fastest.


----------



## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> The yellowing has been fading at a rapid pace after the Axoxy and Clearys fungicide apps. I'm not certain which is helping it, but there does appear to be a big difference in the last three days.
> 
> Last night temps dropped to about 38° F so things slowed down a bit. I'm going to keep a further eye on progress.
> 
> Honestly, I think my lawn has been fighting a variety of fungus species for years. I never laid a fungicide until the last 3-4 months. I did fertilize it regularly with Milo which probably fed the fungus as much as it fed the grass.
> 
> Here are the latest pics. I don't know if they show the difference correctly, but it is a lot better. The greatest yellowing areas are improving the fastest.


I know the feeling been fighting for a few years.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@CenlaLowell , the yellowing is returning. The last several days cooler temps and overcast days seem to be making it hard for the StAug to recover. I'm still wondering what is going on. I'll just wait it out a bit further and see how things look in 4 weeks or so. No more fungicide apps until then.

I will probably start a low level fungicide maintenance program, particularly in the Spring and Fall windows.


----------



## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> @CenlaLowell , the yellowing is returning. The last several days cooler temps and overcast days seem to be making it hard for the StAug to recover. I'm still wondering what is going on. I'll just wait it out a bit further and see how things look in 4 weeks or so. No more fungicide apps until then.
> 
> I will probably start a low level fungicide maintenance program, particularly in the Spring and Fall windows.


That's what I do not want to do this season, spray when maybe I shouldn't have. I'm lowering my pH over time so hopefully that helps me in my fungus fight


----------



## UltimateLawn

Yellowing is still there after the peat moss drop yesterday...no change..maybe a bit worse? Things are warming up here in DFW. I'm just a bit bummed that my St Aug is not greening up very well. I do see the same effect in some other yards. If things don't improve in a week, I'll drop some synthetic nitrogen fert.

It is very strange to me. I just don't know. Maybe the extensive pre-emergents(?).


----------



## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> Yellowing is still there after the peat moss drop yesterday...no change..maybe a bit worse? Things are warming up here in DFW. I'm just a bit bummed that my St Aug is not greening up very well. I do see the same effect in some other yards. If things don't improve in a week, I'll drop some synthetic nitrogen fert.
> 
> It is very strange to me. I just don't know. Maybe the extensive pre-emergents(?).


I don't believe it has anything with pre emergent. I have the same problem, but I try to think by memorial day the yard will be beautiful. No fertilizer for me this season. Keep chugging along


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## TJ_FortWorth

Read your entire journal. I had Raleigh St. Aug sod installed 4/7 and some large patches of yellow were immediate and still not eradicated. 




Not sure what to think of it. Hopefully consistent warmer weather greens these areas up? I guess it's nice knowing we're not alone in this yellowing phenomena.


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## mjh648

Same issue here. Put down sod on 3/14 and still some yellow areas. I'm thinkin the fertilizer and lime applications had exacerbated the issue. Put down 2#/K Azoxy on 4/5


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## UltimateLawn

Latest images...yellowing persists after the peat drop on Sunday. I'm pretty much in a wait and see mode at this point. Grass is more yellow than what the camera captured. No weakening roots, no leaf damage.


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## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> Latest images...yellowing persists after the peat drop on Sunday. I'm pretty much in a wait and see mode at this point. Grass is more yellow than what the camera captured. No weakening roots, no leaf damage.


Look very close and make sure a disease is not setting in..


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## UltimateLawn

@CenlaLowell , So far this year...two apps of Azoxy, one of Clearys and one of Propiconazole. No difference yet. I can't find any leaf damage and the roots still seem to be strong. I think it is simply the cold Texas winter rebound at this point.

I am having a core aeration next week to loosen things up a bit at the soil level...if that will help. I'm out of ideas and time will probably solve this until I get another symptom.


----------



## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> @CenlaLowell , So far this year...two apps of Azoxy, one of Clearys and one of Propiconazole. No difference yet. I can't find any leaf damage and the roots still seem to be strong. I think it is simply the cold Texas winter rebound at this point.
> 
> I am having a core aeration next week to loosen things up a bit at the soil level...if that will help. I'm out of ideas and time will probably solve this until I get another symptom.


Definitely know how you feel as I got brown patch. Sucks sprayed Prostar the other day.


----------



## UltimateLawn

In an effort to keep the local mosquito and ant population down, I did my monthly application. This time I used Suspend Poly for the first time...

Suspend Poly @ 1.5 floz/1,000 ft²
Tekko Pro IGR @ 2 floz/1,000 ft²
Bifen XTS @ 0.33 floz/gallon - target of 4.5 gallons across 3,000 ft²

Last time I did Demand CS and it did help initially but by 30 days the effectiveness started to drop. We will see how Suspend Poly works out. I also added Bifen this time to have a bit faster knock-down. I figure my best check point is in about a week to see if the results are promising.

I also did some techniques adjustments to not only spray under shrub leaves, but also mulch surfaces in wetter parts of the yard as well as spray more vertical surfaces (Ex: wood picket fence nearby shady areas).

Ended up spraying 4.5 gallons with a Teejet AIC110025. FYI - Suspend Poly requires lower pressure and a coarser drop size. I believe this has to do with the encapsulation technology used. No worries...it worked well with the air inducted nozzle.


----------



## mjh648

@UltimateLawn i think demand says 30 days outdoor effectiveness so that's in line with what you're seeing. 90 days indoor.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@mjh648 , agreed. DoMyOwn claims up to 90 days but I could not confirm this from the product material. Bayer calls out very explicitly that 90 days can be achievable in best circumstances with Suspend Poly. I am hoping that I don't have to apply more than every 8 weeks. It is kind of a bother with excessive PPE and technique requirements on pesticides. I hate to have to do it every 30 days.


----------



## mjh648

Ask Greendoc what he's doing. He has said he has seen 60-90 day residual for Demand.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Dropped 1.33 lbs of Nitrogen / 1,000 ft² using the Lesco 24-0-11 granules. First time for me to drop urea-based synthetic nitro in some time.

Prepped my lawn for core aeration happening tomorrow. Marked all sprinkler heads and a quick mow to level the grass tips. After the core aeration is done I'm going to top dress and level a bit with a 50/50 mix of peat moss and mason sand.

Grass looks pretty strong and lush. Yellowing spots persist, but no root weakening or signs of fungus on the leaf blades.

After the core aeration, I'm dropping the glyphosate bomb on my most dense invasions of bermudagrass. Four weeks and multiple passes as necessary should hopefully obliterate it prior to new StAug sod drops.


----------



## mjh648

Fighting the good fight against Bermuda!


----------



## UltimateLawn

Core aerating service stood me up today! :x

So sprayed some Dismiss on remaining nutsedge and also on healthy looking ones I missed in a previous spray about 1.5 weeks ago. Hopefully this is the end of the nutsedge for this season. I'm surprised just how many (50+) there were in my beds. I'm wondering if there was some sedge carries in the mulch I dropped.

Oh well...problem will be solved shortly.

Tomorrow...core aeration and start dropping a 50/50 mix of peat and masons sand. Then...the bermudagrass glypho death march! I'll put some pics together on that one.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Latest updates...

Dropped about 1.34 lb/1,000 ft² of Lesco 24-0-11. This was my first drop of synthetic urea-based fert in a very long time. I've been on the organic path with Milo for 1.5 years. It has really helped my soil, but it has created other challenges.



Yellowing persists...perhaps this is just TARR, but I'm not seeing any other symptom. The Lesco has 2% iron, so we'll see how it responds to that.



I checked on the Dismiss application yesterday on the nutsedge in the beds. They have definitely slowed. Some of these suckers are about 10 inches tall. When did that happen?!

Had a core aeration service drop by today. Cores only looked to be about 1.5-2 inches deep, so a bit disappointed. I guess that they place the safe game in that they will really not strike anything other than a sprinkler head which I had to mark. I'll probably do this myself next time.



Latest pics of bermudagrass invasion. I hit it with Glypho today at the higher rate of 2.5 floz / 300 ft². The square footage for this target area is about 175 ft², so the concentration was adjusted. Surfactant and blue dye added for effect. Ended up using 56 floz of mix with a TeeJet XR8010SS for a target mix of 60-70 seconds of spray time, good drop size to prevent drift, but still small enough to give good foliar coverage. I tested this setup first with water in the pump sprayer. This sprayer is a steel tank and I rinsed the tank, the lid and the hose/wand about four times. I use this sprayer primarily for spot weed apps and pesticides. Hopefully the glypho won't stick around in it, but if it does...it should not be an overwhelming problem. This is the largest area for my to use glypho so I was very careful where I stepped and sprayed to ensure I didn't carry any of it onto other parts of the lawn. Now we wait and see.











I top dressed a mix of mason sand and peat moss today. 1 cubic yard of sand and 45 cubic ft (compressed) of peat moss. Interesting mix, but my soil is very dense clay and pretty much no sand so there is very little soil flow through to the roots. Hopefully this will help the soil hold a bit more water as we head into the summer. The peat moss, while lightweight, is a lot of work to get down past the grass blades. The mason sand dropped quickly without any blade coverage. Next time I'll probably just top dress with the sand since that is really what the soil needs most.


----------



## mjh648

Some big areas for Glypho! Interested to see how you go from here. Keep up the hard work!


----------



## UltimateLawn

Thanks @mjh648 ! This was growth in only about 3 of the hotter months last year. I'm going to try to keep St. Augustine but the sun here can be brutal in the summer...with limited humidity. When I lived in Houston, it was much easier to grow in full sun.


----------



## rotolow

UltimateLawn said:


> Yellowing persists...perhaps this is just TARR, but I'm not seeing any other symptom. The Lesco has 2% iron, so we'll see how it responds to that.


I believe DFW has a much more alkaline soil/water profile (similar to Central TX). I have the same issues with really chlorotic turf. Granular based iron may not have much of an effect on the color since it has to move through the soil and high CA may inhibit FE uptake.

I'm spraying Main Event this year and it's seemed to solve most of the color issue I was having. It's short lived, about 2 weeks.

Also I notice but less yellowing when we have natural precipitation as opposed to irrigation. High PH water here as well.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@rotolow , where do you purchase your Main Event from?

I've sprayed some SoutherAg Chelated Iron about a month ago. It didn't seem to make any difference. Only some of the yards in our area are facing it. My neighbors have no yellowing...so I'm bummed.


----------



## ionicatoms

@UltimateLawn, the yellowing in my yard disappeared after I sprayed 2.5 floz of Azoxystrobin and 32 floz of liquid iron supplement (Southern Ag) in 4 gallons of solution on April 22nd (see journal for additional context). I was thinking the yellowing would come back sooner, so I could try again with just one of the two products, but maybe this is the answer I was looking for?


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## UltimateLawn

Yep...did some Azoxy about 3 weeks ago. May have to hit it again. One thing at a time since my turf is probably overwhelmed with all of this!


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## UltimateLawn

Day 1 of Bermuda Glypho-termination. No effect yet, nor expected yet.


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## UltimateLawn

Dropping the 50/50 mix of mason sand & peat...







Almost there...


----------



## rotolow

UltimateLawn said:


> @rotolow , where do you purchase your Main Event from?
> 
> I've sprayed some SoutherAg Chelated Iron about a month ago. It didn't seem to make any difference. Only some of the yards in our area are facing it. My neighbors have no yellowing...so I'm bummed.


https://www.midwestarboristsupplies.com/product/main-event-dry-iron-3-lb-bag/

I sprayed about 1 bag per acre.


----------



## CenlaLowell

rotolow said:


> UltimateLawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> @rotolow , where do you purchase your Main Event from?
> 
> I've sprayed some SoutherAg Chelated Iron about a month ago. It didn't seem to make any difference. Only some of the yards in our area are facing it. My neighbors have no yellowing...so I'm bummed.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.midwestarboristsupplies.com/product/main-event-dry-iron-3-lb-bag/
> 
> I sprayed about 1 bag per acre.
Click to expand...

I use this website as well and I have nothing bad to say about the company.


----------



## UltimateLawn

4 Days after Glypho drop on the Bermuda....no effect.

Temps have dropped into the 50's, so I'll keep an eye on it. I did this previous application last Fall on Bermuda that had grown into one of my beds and it worked fairly well. So...I will continue to watch. If no slowdown effect by this weekend, I will probably do another application. If still not working I may have to go to the black fabric cover/bake technique.

This strain of bermudagrass is particularly strong.


----------



## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> 4 Days after Glypho drop on the Bermuda....no effect.
> 
> Temps have dropped into the 50's, so I'll keep an eye on it. I did this previous application last Fall on Bermuda that had grown into one of my beds and it worked fairly well. So...I will continue to watch. If no slowdown effect by this weekend, I will probably do another application. If still not working I may have to go to the black fabric cover/bake technique.
> 
> This strain of bermudagrass is particularly strong.


Gly used and no results give it seven days if not you had to do something wrong. I used quik pro to kill common Bermuda few years back worked every time


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## UltimateLawn

Many thanks @CenlaLowell ! I'll check it going into the weekend. I agree that something probably didn't go right. I think it might be because it was rinsed off by rain before full absorption.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Recent add of a large bed in a shady part of the back yard. Dropping Hostas and other shade plants...


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## UltimateLawn

Checks on other recent adds and previous bed plants...

New Lantanas...



Hydrangeas set to bloom...





Salvia's happily persist...



So does yellowing in the lawn...


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## UltimateLawn

Bermuda kill progressing nice after about 10 days. I did a second glyphosate spray on Friday. Is killing Bermuda in my StAug supposed to be this much fun? 





Yellowing persists. I did a second Azoxy drop and no positive effect. It seems when the sun comes out and it starts to rebound. Then cloudy days and it comes back.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Bermuda still on the decline. If the rain let's up I will hit it with a third and hopefully final glypho app.

Dropped...
RGS @ 3 floz / 1,000 ft²
Air-8 @ 6 floz / 1,000 ft²
Micro-Greene @ 9 floz / 1,000 ft²

Grass looks really green (except for the yellowing and dying bermudagrass). Depending upon how the weather looks, I'm dropping about 300 ft² of Palmetto StAug on a side yard that gets a fair amount of shade. After the front yard bermuda is toast, I'll be dropping some replacement Raleigh StAug. Should be about another two weeks for the bermuda grass to die off.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Hydrangeas doing well with all of the recent rain. Blooms are looking good...





Unloaded flagstone steps for the hosta garden...



Also dropped Round 3 of Glyphosate on the Bermudagrass - this time at 2.5 Floz / 300 ft² to hopefully finish things off. I'm set to drop Raleigh StAug to stay with the same for the rest of the yard. Maybe in two weeks?


----------



## dubyadubya87

Hydrangeas looking great. Mine are about to pop as well. Even a variegated one that hasn't bloomed in the three years I've been here. Has to do something with all this water it's getting I guess.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@Dubya1886 , I can't say with 100% certainty, but hydrangeas seem to be rather picky here at my place. If I fertilize intentionally I tend to get blooms. No fertilization = good looking shrubs but no blooms.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Death to Common Bermudagrass!


----------



## UltimateLawn

I meant to add as well...Dropped curative rate of Clearys 3336F at 4 floz / 1,000 ft² on Wednesday hoping to control the TARR.

About 1/4 of my lawn is afflicted with this. Lots of it in different yards in the neighborhood.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Bermudagrass kill-off progress so far after 3 Glyphosate applications. Pretty much there, but some still hanging on just below the foilage. I am going to mow the grass today after all of the rain in the DFW - so I'll lower the mower for a pass on the Bermudagrass to see what's left.





Also, with the lovely sun and 90° afternoon, the yellowing blades (from TARR fungus?) are starting to fade away. I applied the Clearys a week ago and it seemed to slow the yellowing during all of the recent rain days. We'll keep an eye out for it in the next week or so.



From now on...fungus prevention!


----------



## UltimateLawn

Started cutting out the Bermuda that I previously killed. I am picking up some fresh Raleigh StAug sod in the morning. Will drop it on Sunday after soil prep work.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Cut off the remaining bermuda in this front yard area. Laid some soil prep soil to elevate and smooth out the ground depressions. Dropped Raleigh StAug just after, but ran out of time for the trim pieces. I'll pick it up in the morning when I tend to some others bermuda spots I killed...


----------



## mjh648

Looking good. Once you get over the watering frenzy you'll be smooth sailing.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Sod is down...

I was not able to kill all of the bermuda spots in this first round, but I have another coming in about a month. This time I am going to keep a close eye on bermuda sprawl to get ahead of it before it gets out of control.

Some sod replacement lessons learned...


This was the first time for me to remove and lay new sod. Turned out to be a fair amount of work but not overly difficult. I am going to plan to do it again in future trouble spots rather than to hire out.

It is a lot of work, but most of the work is cutting out the original sod, not dropping the replacement sod.

I didn't find the pieces of sod that heavy. My sod supplier didn't overload them with a ton of soil. Just enough for the roots themselves. This was preferred.

Find a good sod vendor who sells fresh sod. If you have the truck capacity pick it up yourself so you can see what you are paying for.

Re-sodding is a very good time to level the ground in one quick fix rather than depend on numerous top dressing drops.

Build the sod level a little higher than the neighboring grass blades to allow for some settling.

Replacing sod allows for some soil conditioning that would otherwise be difficult with sod already in place.

Glyphosate kills previous sod/weeds really well, but it does take a full month and some grass is harder to kill than others. Plan for a month-long brown lawn so set expectations with the locals when they see it.

Do not attempt to remove sod that is well established and strongly active. It turns out to be much harder to cleanly remove compared to previously killed (and dried up) sod.

A quality grub hoe is a very fast tool to remove old sod with only taking a small amount of work. If you don't have one...get one! For jobs that are 150-200 ft² or less, it is ideal - no sod cutter rental required. Good cardio - your doctor would approve.

A sharp machete makes quick work of sod trimming and it is very accurate leaving minimal to no gaps.

Knowing that new sod isn't overly costly, I'll probably address the need in smaller batches rather than wait for a large sod replacement problem.

Laying sod is a game-changer in terms of landscaping awe and respect from the locals. Everyone stops on their walks to give compliments and it builds strong neighbor relations. Pretty much everyone around me pays for a sod service which costs about 4x-6x times as much as the grass itself costs.


----------



## mjh648

Good writeup. Going to the sod farms and hand picking each piece is pretty great. Some are torn to hell and you can discard them and get the good looking pieces.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mowed at 3.5" today. Keeping a close eye on the sod lay from last weekend. Things are progressing well. I dropped the RGS, Air-8 and MicroGreene when I put the sod down, but no Nitrogen fert. The lawn is probably hungry for it, but I didn't want to 'feed' the TARR as well.

The TARR is starting to fade away with the higher temps, so I'm thinking I'm ok to drop some nitrogen. Anyone know if it is too early to fertilize the new sod?


----------



## UltimateLawn

So the StAug is doing nicely after all of the rain. There is an area where I'm particularly happy with how dense and lush it is. I noticed a darker green spot a few days ago and I've been wondering what it could be. I haven't fertilized in the last 30 days, so it's not a hot spot. I can't see any damage there that would be inconsistent with the other areas. I checked the root and thatch layer and all looks ok. The camera may not show it as clearly as I see the darker green, but here it is...







After looking closer at the tips I would say it is time to sharpen the mower blade. Of course the entire area is affected by this so it can't alone be the cause of the darker green spot.


----------



## dubyadubya87

I had one of those recently in my zoysia. Never have figured it out and it's slowly blending back in.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Now that the TARR yellowing is on the decline due to the warmer weather, I went to drop some Nitrogen. Last drop was 40 days ago.

Combined the following for a good Nitrogen boost and a hardy round of Imidacloprid to welcome the grubs and chinch bugs.

CoRon 18-3-6 Plux 0.5% Fe - 33 floz per 1,000 ft² = 0.5 lbs of Nitrogen
Dominion 2L Imidacloprid - 0.6 floz per 1,000 ft²

This is my first drop of Imidacloprid. I was very intentional to ensure it was only on turf and no ornamentals, shrubs or flowering trees. I will keep an eye on results. I've traditional had a moderate grub issue, but chinch bugs have been a larger concern.

I used my My4Sons 4.5 gallon sprayer at full capacity across two full tanks (9 Gallons of Mix). TeeJet nozzle used was an AIC11015 Air Induction nozzle with a tested flow rate of 24 floz in 15 seconds. I haven't used an air inducted nozzle before at this volume of flow, but it worked really well. Not as fast as some of my TurboJets, but I like the better fan of the spray with these. It really gets the leaves wet but still permeates quickly to the soil level based on the droplet size.

I followed up the application with a little extra sprayed water on the developing sod. So far the sod is doing quite well. All the recent rain has really helped things out.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Death to Mosquitos!

I applied the following to control the explosion of mosquitos we have had in the last month of rain...

Per 1,000 ft²...
1.5 floz Suspend Poly
2 floz Tekko Pro IGR
0.33 floz/gallon Bifen XTS

Sprayed with my new Sprayers Plus YT25E. For a first spray I am very happy with this cordless 2 gallon sprayer. Used a TeeJet AIC11004 for a 8.0 floz / 15 seconds flow rate. Sprayed about 1,500 ft² and calculated 8 minutes of spray time.

Last time I did this cocktail I didn't find that it worked so well. I suspect all of the rains helped decay it faster. Four hours after my spray and three hours after night fall...only a few mosquitos found where previously there were thousands, so something must be working.

Coron Nitrogen drop last night seems to be showing a slight improvement...still needs more time. The good news here is that the Coron did not burn the lawn, including the new sod. Also hand watered some of the new sod to keep things wet now that the sun is hitting it hard.

The Dominion 2L is pretty much watered in at this point, so hopefully that will slow the regular grub and junebug attacks. This is the first year I've sprayed a preventative for grubs and hope to avoid the turf damage this year.


----------



## UltimateLawn

So I mowed this morning and the dark green spot remains and has gotten worse. The leaf tips are definitely more ragged than the neighboring blades, so it isn't my mower blade weakening the blades. Blades around it are very strong.

I looked a little closer and noticed that some of the leaves had this strange green-to-light green growth pattern closer to the roots. It wasn't every blade, but about 1 in 50. I've looked down into the grass where the root are and I'm not seeing anything that might indicate grubs or any other insect. I sprayed Imidacloprid recently and have been on a regular fungicide program to help battle the TARR down.

I'm not seeing any gray spot, but there is definitely some weak blades in here.

Here is one of the blades I removed to get get a closer look at it (front and back):





Here is the image that I posted on Tuesday, you can see some of these blades with the same pattern. Also this gives a view of the weak blade tips and some yellowing...



The pattern is very regular and it looks like it is growing up from the bottom. The tips don't seem to show it as much.

Maybe this is some sort of disease I haven't seen yet?


----------



## ionicatoms

I'm really curious to find out what this symptom indicates. I assume some sort of pest.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Imidacloprid was dropped on Tuesday, so maybe it will slow down.


----------



## Buffalolawny

See this before.

You have shocked the grass blade. Do you know what the weather was doing a week ago?

Dry spell, excessive sun damage or high humidity?


----------



## UltimateLawn

@Buffalolawny , perhaps higher humidity given recent rains. Wouldn't this have affected a larger area? This is the only spot that I am seeing this.


----------



## Buffalolawny

My grass was affected in 4 areas this year.

Around February i seen it happen where its coming out of the most humid time and the max sunlight (Solar Energy) of the year. The Lawn smells like its composting.

I just use my very light push reel mower to float over those areas to cut the "ripples" off and its gone by the 2nd mow. And i dont water again until the grass starts to change colour and curl.


----------



## UltimateLawn

I was laying sod today, so I went and cut it out and dropped in a replacement piece. I figured if I couldn't identify it with high confidence, just pull it!

I have a bunch of other spots where I am dropping new sod and some dying Bermuda grass so another brown spot wouldn't matter too much.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Dropped some new sod in places that had struggled before. Uneventful, but hard work. Temps above 90 deg cut my work short. Pics coming after it completes.

As for TARR, pretty eliminating daily due to the higher temps. I will not this happen again. Starting regular preventative fungicide program.


----------



## TJ_FortWorth

Good for you! I just bought some Clearys 3336F for my fungicide rotation. So I'll be doing a rotation of Azoxy (group 11), Eagle20 (group 3) and Clearys (group 1). I do have some propiconazole (group 3) in my shed I can swap in/out with the Eagle20 as needed.

The seasonal change this year was brutal with 100% more rain than normal forcing temps in the 70s at night. Now we in 90+ degree temps with humidity making it feel 10 degrees hotter.

Fungus among us no doubt. Keeping my eyes peeled until this humidity subsides if it ever will.


----------



## Live Oak

UltimateLawn said:


> So the StAug is doing nicely after all of the rain. There is an area where I'm particularly happy with how dense and lush it is. I noticed a darker green spot a few days ago and I've been wondering what it could be. I haven't fertilized in the last 30 days, so it's not a hot spot. I can't see any damage there that would be inconsistent with the other areas. I checked the root and thatch layer and all looks ok. The camera may not show it as clearly as I see the darker green, but here it is...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After looking closer at the tips I would say it is time to sharpen the mower blade. Of course the entire area is affected by this so it can't alone be the cause of the darker green spot.


Sometimes I get dark green spots like that from dog urine. Usually it burns down the grass pretty good but then bounces back much more thicker/greener than the rest of the grass. Although there have been a few times when it went straight dark green without any burn.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Sprayed some crabgrass in a neighbor's StAug. Celcius at 3.2g / 1,000 ft².
Sprayed second round of glypho on bermuda grass encroachment. Pics coming soon.

Not looking forward to the third sod cut out and replace job this summer given how hot it is. I'm thinking of just letting it be in a dead state until September. 

Seriously, my lawn hours have dramatically reduced with the recent heat wave. I'm only getting about two hours in the morning until things heat up. Tomorrow I'm mowing and to meet my work schedule I'm starting up my mower at 7:00am sharp. Hopefully it is not too disturbing to the neighbors, but I'm ok if they want to mow my lawn at high noon!


----------



## CenlaLowell

UltimateLawn said:


> Sprayed some crabgrass in a neighbor's StAug. Celcius at 3.2g / 1,000 ft².
> Sprayed second round of glypho on bermuda grass encroachment. Pics coming soon.
> 
> Not looking forward to the third sod cut out and replace job this summer given how hot it is. I'm thinking of just letting it be in a dead state until September.
> 
> Seriously, my lawn hours have dramatically reduced with the recent heat wave. I'm only getting about two hours in the morning until things heat up. Tomorrow I'm mowing and to meet my work schedule I'm starting up my mower at 7:00am sharp. Hopefully it is not too disturbing to the neighbors, but I'm ok if they want to mow my lawn at high noon!


Lol, its definitely been hot out.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Bermuda is pretty much wiped out for the third round of sod. I'm also wiped out from pulling and replacing sod given the heat lately. I'll re-sod the remaining area in the front yard, but the back will just have to wait a bit later in the year...maybe late August or early September. Hopefully either will be able to develop enough root mass to survive the winter.

Mowed this Saturday at 4" height. Finished out laying the remaining sod I had on hand. Grass is growing well, but I was a little behind in fert schedule, so I applied the N-Ext Micro-Greene and GreenePunch (double dark?) mix at...
6 floz / 1,000 ft² Micro-Greene
18 floz / 1,000 ft² GreenePunch

In my quest to kill all mosquitos, I sprayed my first round of Permethrin at the 0.5% emulsion rate across about 2,000 ft² of mosquito surface areas. Too early to say what the result is, but first evening mosquito hunts show reductions. I am planning to mix in Permethrin faster hits every four weeks rotating with my four week Suspend & Bifen apps.

I need to upload some recent pics, but...so busy.


----------



## UltimateLawn

First drop of Hydretain at 9 floz / 1,000 ft². Never used it before, but hopefully it will help some of my hotspots.

Also applied some Celcius @ 3.2 grams / 1,000 ft² a second time to a neighbors large crabgrass. They are looking fairly beat down since the last Celcius app, so this second one should pretty much finish them off.

Fighting a flea outbreak, so I dropped some Demand CS @ 7ml / 1,000 ft² and Tekko Pro @1 floz / 1,000 ft² on my backyard turf.

My new sod is starting to green up, but all of my constant watering to keep the sod from drying out have promoted some fungal growth on it. I haven't applied any fungicide to the lawn for about 20 days. Most of the lawn looks good and summer is really heating things up. I'm planning a normal fungicide app across the entire lawn in about a week. In the meanwhile the new sod is getting hit pretty hard, so I am going to spot spray some Azoxy at the curative rate (0.77 floz/1,000 ft².


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mowed today at 4". Only day recently where the high is less than 90°. Here are the latest pics...

Status of 2nd round of sod and 1st round from three weeks ago....







I've been over-irrigating over the last 5 days or so given the recent heatwave. Most of this is to simply keep the new sod alive. At times I was out watering the sod pieces about three times daily including evenings. I figured it was only a matter of time before some fungus showed up. Last Saturday I dropped some GreenePunch 18-0-1 and 0-0-2 MicroGreene. Then waiting for me yesterday...I believe this is Grey Leaf Spot...



I spot sprayed some Azoxystrobin yesterday at 0.77 floz / 1,000 ft² curative rate. The fungus is pretty much everywhere but it is worse in the new sod section due to overwatering there as compared to across the full lawn. I will be dropping Clearys 3336F at a 2 floz / 1,000 ft² rate. Hopefully things will clear up soon.


----------



## ionicatoms

That looks so bad I would spray Daconil on it.


----------



## dubyadubya87

ionicatoms said:


> That looks so bad I would spray Daconil on it.


Second this. Did a great job on my recent outbreak.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@ionicatoms & @dubyadubya87 ,

What's so special about Daconil (Chlorothalonil) as compared to Azoxy, Propi and Clearys? Most of these show grey leaf spot remedy on their labels. Looks like Chlorothalonil is a M5 mode of action. Is there something more effective about an M5 fungicide? As it is I'm spent out on fugicides so far.


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## ionicatoms

It's a cheap contact fungicide that will help protect what isn't already dying. 3336 pairs nicely with it.


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## UltimateLawn

Nice. It seems pretty affordable. Given how much I'm applying fungicides and considering maximum annual rates, I could use another option in the mix.

According to the label it seems more like a regular preventative and not a curative. Correct?


----------



## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> According to the label it seems more like a regular preventative and not a curative. Correct?


Bingo. I use it to "stop the bleeding" and "play for time" when the systemic fungicides are not getting the job done. It's not labeled for lawns anymore, supposedly because it's not safe for kids. So I don't spray it around the pool. And tell my family to wear shoes for the week after. No big deal for us.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Latest pic of the Common bermudagrass kill-off…



I have some spots in the backyard as well.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Ordered a bag of Chlorothalonil 82.5DF. Going to try it out next foliar outbreak.

Applied Cleary @ 4.0 floz / 1,000 ft² and Bifen XTS @ 0.15 floz/1,000 ft². I haven't applied Bifen on the lawn before. I typically apply it as a home perimeter spray close to the foundation. Irrigated after both since they were mixed in one tank. Sprayed with a Teejet Turbo Floodjet at 1.6 floz /second...fast rate.

With the new sod I am going to start to cut down on watering from 3x a day to 1x a day. The roots seem to be starting to grow into the underlying soil. It is hard to get new sod to grow in this extreme heat. We are headed into 4-5 days with highs above 95° so we will see how things progress.


----------



## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> Ordered a bag of Chlorothalonil 82.5DF. Going to try it out next foliar outbreak.


Man the warnings on that are frightening! Better look into eye protection.


----------



## UltimateLawn

ionicatoms said:


> UltimateLawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ordered a bag of Chlorothalonil 82.5DF. Going to try it out next foliar outbreak.
> 
> 
> 
> Man the warnings on that are frightening! Better look into eye protection.
Click to expand...

I'll give it a try and see what I get on the next outbreak. I pretty much always use eye protection these days.

I'm committed now to get on a preventative rotation of fungicide. Sounds like every 14 days with MOA rotations is the trick.


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## mjh648

@UltimateLawn some fungicides last longer than others, specifically Azoxystrobin which IIRC is 28 day rotations.


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## UltimateLawn

@mjh648...makes sense. I really need to up my fungicide game for a good strategy.


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## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> @CenlaLowell & @ionicatoms , my StAug continues to struggle in my area...very hot, very dry, no shade, on a slope so challenging irrigation and it shows with the sensitivity of StAug. Having a more drought tolerant grass would help here. We don't have an HOA in my area so the renovation choice is there.
> 
> This year is my final test year for StAug. I feel I can grow a great yard, but it is very challenging to get StAug to do it.


What do you consider drought tolerant? If you're okay with the grass going dormant during a drought, Zoysia would be a good option. At least it will grow back! St. Aug just dies.


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## mjh648

@UltimateLawn im on the eagle, clearys, azoxy train until it does me wrong. Tired of using my pump sprayer apply so i did the last eagle app in my hose end sprayer. Doing it every 14 days is going to be a PITA.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@mjh648 , which hose end sprayer are you using? I picked up the usual Ortho dial-n-spray recently. We must be thinking along the same way since mixing up 2ea 4.5 gallon backpack tanks is too time consuming.


----------



## mjh648

I ordered the one @ionicatoms just got.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HAO0C6K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

so for my yard I have 2200SF, 650 in the back and 1550 in the front which is approx. 30% and 70% for each portion. So for Eagle @ 1.2oz/K x 2.2 = 2.64oz and then I'll fill it up to about the 20oz line and then spray 6 oz (30%) in the back and 14 oz (70%) in the front and find a setting where I can go over the yard twice to get it as even as possible.

Easier for me to do two passes with a smaller yard but you may find a good liquid and setting to do one pass.

If i don't have enough carrier per the label then I'll kick on the sprinklers for a little to get it into the soil. If I want it to stay on the turf blades longer I'll let it sit on it for 24 hours and then run the sprinkler.

I'm trying to find good ways to cut down time for apps that are so frequent like this. If it was herbicide I would be a little worried but im thinking I can do this for insecticide and fungicide.

I have the 4 gallon field king hand pump which is fine but the prep, marker dye, application and cleanup is just so damn time consuming.


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## ionicatoms

@UltimateLawn my first one leaked through the anti-siphon valve, but Chapin sent me a free replacement so now I have two. Second one doesn't leak. :thumbup:

Edit: the quick connect is a must for these hose end sprayers, IMO.


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## mjh648

the only time mine leaks is when I have the product and water in there and I want to shake it to get it even but I figured there's no way to circumvent that.


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## UltimateLawn

@mjh648 did you remove the screen mesh at the bottom tube or is it working well? I keep thinking that mesh will gum up.


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## mjh648

Haven't removed it yet. Have used it maybe 6 times already


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## UltimateLawn

I will give it a try on a micro-nutrient drop I have coming up.


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## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> I will give it a try on a micro-nutrient drop I have coming up.


I had a little bit of trouble using the hose end to spray MicroGreene. It could be tolerated, but decided I wouldn't do it again. Good luck!


----------



## UltimateLawn

The 2nd round of sod has been struggling whereas the first one rooted quite nicely. The first round had Scotts starter soil (with fert). The second round was with some top soil and bedding/pot mix. I needed to get rid of these. I don't know if it the lack of starter fert or simply the soil.

So, I dropped some Scotts Starter Fert to see if it will help.

The Clearys drop on Wednesday seems to be helping, but not certain yet. How long does it take for a systemic fungicide to help?

Mowed today at 4".


----------



## UltimateLawn

Latest front yard sod pics (before & after)...

I believe the Clearys is making some positive effect since the fungus growth appears to be slowing with the grass growing some fresh blades. I keep having to constantly water the new pieces or the soil underneath dries too fast. The good news is that even if the sod is struggling through this heat, it does appear to be rooting. This is encouraging.

Most of the lawn is struggling in the afternoon, but from the lawn already established it seems to have deep enough roots to survive the hottest part of the day. In the morning and evening the StAug looks really good.


----------



## UltimateLawn

New purchase at the beginning of the season…rite of passage?


----------



## ionicatoms

What brand is that?


----------



## UltimateLawn

Planted some dwarf mondo grass to define a line alongside some flagstone.

Also sprayed some Medina Plus soil conditioner and Medina Plant Food on the hostas. Used the Ortho Dial N Spray for the first time…not so bad.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@ionicatoms , Izod from Costco. Fashion statement...maybe. Rugged...not.

I have some Scarpa hiking boots that I know will hold up better, but the Izod pair had a smoother sole. I was thinking it might be better for the grass than the hiking boots. The Scarpa sole is like teeth, but I am going to try it anyway to see how things go.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Dropped some Lesco 24-0-11 mixed in with some Milorganite. Total Nitro 0.5 lbs per 1,000 ft2.

Washed it in with some RGS & MicroGreene via the Ortho hand sprayer. Not a great experience for broadcast IMHO.


----------



## UltimateLawn

OK...some updates having gotten behind in the journal...

Results from Lesco and Milo mix look pretty good. Solid dark green response in about 4-5 days and still holding nicely. I am definitely going to try this mix again.

6/29 - Mowed lawn at 4"

6/30 - Maintenance Propiconazole - 1 floz / 1,000 ft² (Grey Leaf Spot Diminished) Trying to now start a 4-week maintenance schedule for fungicides

7/2 - Mowed lawn at 4". Doing what I can in the hot days to trim, edge and mow in a manner such as to try and maximize my available shade.

7/3 - Permethrin drop in the backyard patio area. 1.67 floz / 1,000 ft² I am now spraying all of my mosquito applications with the XRC80015 - the finest XR nozzle. I think it is working pretty well with my 2 & 4 gallon sprayer without having to get a mist blower. New mole activity found...I set up some scissor traps.

7/4 - Dropped Humic-12 at 6 floz / 1,000 ft². Used the Ortho sprayer again. What a mess trying to do the entire yard with the Ortho sprayer. I have come to the conclusion that the Ortho sprayer is good for one small section or maybe a garden. If you have a broad lawn with a whole bunch of hose management issues, then it is not for you. Honestly the only value I see is that you can spray micro-nutrients or fertilizers and have the mix of water in. Well, I would never use one of these for any of the "ides" chemicals. I think I can effectively get the same effect by spraying what I want to apply in an area and having the sprinklers come right behind me as I walk through the lawn areas. Going back to my backpack sprayer and only using the Ortho for my back garden area. Sorry Ortho!

7/5 - Mowed at 4". Getting to be around 3 days required for each mow.

7/6 - No luck on the mole traps, so I pulled them. While I have been avoiding doing it, I may have to use some poison worms. These moles are ruthless and my lawn is full of earthworms so they love working the area. These moles have left so many uneven areas and even place to twist an ankle. They have got to go!

Upcoming...mole slaughter, irrigation tuning and 3rd round of sod. I'm thinking of waiting for the 3rd round of sod until things cool a bit...maybe late August. We have good warm weather all the way through October, so I think it is enough time for it to root before the winter.

Latest lawn pics (photos taken in the evening so color is off)...





Also moving over to Doc Martens boots. Very similar to my last boots (see earlier destruction photo) but a lot stronger. I'll give some updates on how they work out.


----------



## leefjl63

Have you tried pulling the entire hose out then spraying with Ortho? Hose management is not too bad.

Spraying with backpack is definitely quicker but I still like using the Ortho. I feel it gets watered in properly.


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## UltimateLawn

@leefjl63 , yea. I just have front beds around trees, cars in the driveway, Eley hose connectors that require pressure to be released for connect/disconnects, Etc.

I have found that it is a great little device for a single reasonable hose length that does require so much hose movement. Great for a garden with a 50 ft hose.


----------



## SeanBB

Thanks for going to the Doc Martens, nice upgrade!


----------



## H12Mike

How is the 4" cutting height working for you? I recently reset my HOC to 2.5" from 3.5" and the St Augustine has really tightened up. I reset because of all the recent rains causing the taller grass to take longer to dry out which set the stage for the fungus invasion.


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## ionicatoms

H12Mike said:


> How is the 4" cutting height working for you? I recently reset my HOC to 2.5" from 3.5" and the St Augustine has really tightened up. I reset because of all the recent rains causing the taller grass to take longer to dry out which set the stage for the fungus invasion.


@H12Mike How often are you mowing? I haven't seen SA tighten up solely due to cutting lower.


----------



## UltimateLawn

About every 3 days now that temps are regular 90° plus. The height is really helping the StAug deal with the heat since it gives good heat protection at the stolon level which helps the St Aug survive the dry heat.

The only result is that the lawn looks bumpy sooner so you have to mow more frequently...is that a problem? Not too much!


----------



## H12Mike

I mow every 3 days and water every 3 days based on the transpiration rate of the soil.


----------



## UltimateLawn

To deal with my nutsedge problem beyond my beds and into spots on the lawn I used SedgeHammer+ (halosulfuron) for the first time. I picked up the 13.5 gram packet because I wanted to see how the StAug responded to it as well as how effective it was in killing the nutsedge.

Sprayed at the rate of 13.5 grams / 1,000 ft². Ended up using half of it for a 500 ft² target. Mixed up 32 floz and wanted a spray time in my 2 gallon sprayer @ 30 psi. So used the TeeJet XRC8004 since it had the finest droplet size while meeting my spray time requirement and a reasonable volume for the area.

I've used Dismissed before and it hits pretty hard but the StAug will get discolored. I've also used Certainty and it helped control the nutsedge, but it didn't really eliminate it.

Something tells me I will be chasing my nutsedge issue for many seasons - similar to my quest to eradicate the local mole population.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Sprayed Permethrin in the backyard to deal with another mosquito flare-up. Rain yesterday excited them to come back strong this evening. Shortly after spraying the Permethrin the kick was in and no mosquitos were found. Excellent and cost-effective product, if you have to spray more often. Good to apply about 2-4 hours before a backyard party.

Mow in the morning and start finding the issues with my irrigation to start eliminating hot spots not getting effective irrigation.

Again...mow at 4 inches. I'll try to grab some pics for the latest views.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Latest pics after 4" mow...also cleaned up the front and back beds...





Dealing with a bunch of dry hotspots in the lawn. I picked up some catch cups so I'll see what I can do to adjust. I'm getting tired of running out daily to hand water during the hot summer months.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Glyphosated areas where common bermuda grass was are pretty much dead. I've waiting to drop new sod until the weather was not quite so hot and the previous sod drops were well grown in. I don't know exact timing, but this sod drop is not too far away. Or at least the front yard section.

Killing the bermuda grass was so much fun! 





Lantanas planted about a month ago are looking quite strong. This is a very sunny and hot area of the lawn, so I think I made the right choice...


----------



## UltimateLawn

Saw some foraging ants so dropped some Advion ant bait.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Hand-irrigated hot spots in the lawn. Took a look at where there were potential head issues. I picked up the Orbit measuring cups today, but did not do any specific testing. I did wonder if the measuring cup was accurate. It is showing about 0.5 inches near the top of the cup which seems a measure that is way too small. More to come.

I'm seeing some sod webworms in the lawn, probably busy laying eggs. I'm going to give it a bit longer (2-3 weeks?) and then drop some bifenthrin. Anyone know how long to wait until the eggs hatch or any recommendations for when to spray bifen?

Checked on the Advion I dropped yesterday and most of it seems to have found it's way into the ant homesites. Now rain or sprinkling can occur again in those beds.

Mowed a neighbor's yard to pay it forward.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Small but new molehill in the yard today. After clearing the dirt the tunnel goes down at a 45 deg angle. No scissor trap potential so I tried a different approach…water hose down the hole. I can tell that it took on about 2-3 gallons before it stopped. I looked around to see if I created pressure that might highlight some other tunnels but no luck. No moles showing up for air either.

My mole safari hunt continues.

Mowed at 4" today. After seeing some consistent leaf tearing I sharpened my Honda HRX blades fir the first time. A bit detailed to do it given the dual blade system, but not overwhelming. I guess it was mower maintenance day so I also changed the oil after about 25 hours on it.

Spraying Imidacloprid, Bifenthrin and Azoxystrobin to help with the latest invasives...

Talstar-P (Bifenthrin) - 0.5 floz / 1,000 ft²

Dominion 2L (Imidacloprid) - 0.6 floz / 1,000 ft²

Axozy 2SC (Azoxystrobin) - 0.38 floz / 1,000 ft²


----------



## UltimateLawn

Results thus far from the SedgeHammer+ app on July 7th...

Only slight impacts to St Augustine.


----------



## dubyadubya87

Yellowing at least. Slow acting, but once you see the yellowing, it's in the roots and killing them. That's where its MOA begins.


----------



## leefjl63

Did sharpening the blade help? I've been seeing tears on my cuts as well. My blade feels ok but I will sharpen for the next cut.


----------



## UltimateLawn

I will let you know soon since I have not done a cut since I sharpened it. I should know by either this evening or tomorrow morning.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Chasing down irrigation hotspots after a few days of not watering...


----------



## UltimateLawn

Sedgehammer impacts..StAug is weakened but it doesn't look like it is dying. Nutsedge in the flower beds are getting weaker.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Moles are ferociously invading the yard. I picked up some TrapLine mole traps so we will see how those work out.


----------



## UltimateLawn

New Lantanas are growing fast and blooming quite nicely...

Before...(May 17)...





After...(July 17)...


----------



## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> Sedgehammer impacts..StAug is weakened but it doesn't look like it is dying. Nutsedge in the flower beds are getting weaker.


The Certainty didn't hurt my St Augustine.


----------



## UltimateLawn

leefjl63 said:


> Did sharpening the blade help? I've been seeing tears on my cuts as well. My blade feels ok but I will sharpen for the next cut.


@leefjl63 , yes...the blade sharpening has helped reduce the tears in the blade cuts. I sharpened the blade with my handheld power grinder with a flap wheel. Then I finished it with a hand file. I couldn't get it razor sharp but it was definitely better than before the sharpening. Next time I'll probably use a carbide tip honing item I have.


----------



## UltimateLawn

ionicatoms said:


> UltimateLawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sedgehammer impacts..StAug is weakened but it doesn't look like it is dying. Nutsedge in the flower beds are getting weaker.
> 
> 
> 
> The Certainty didn't hurt my St Augustine.
Click to expand...

@ionicatoms , I've used Certainty as well with good success in knocking back nutsedge without any significant StAug damage. I've also used Dismiss in certain situations knowing that it will impact the StAug turf. Right now I'm getting tired of chasing these things when they continue to popup and continuing to spot spray something on them. I guess I was thinking the SedgeHammer with the slower kill might help drive further nut and nut spread damage.

In the end I was a bit surprised that the SedgeHammer/Halosulfuron affected the StAug as well. Everything I had heard so far was that it was particularly friendly to StAug.


----------



## leefjl63

@UltimateLawn thanks. I sharpened mine as well and did get a better cut.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Latest...

July 21st...Mow at 4".

July 22nd - Irrigation testing with the Orbit catch cups. Not really insightful. I'm not that fond of the design of these. Also drop of Hydretain at 13.5 floz / 1,000 ft²



July 23rd - Mosquito spray with Suspend Poly, Bifen XTS and Tekko Pro (IGR). Mixed results so far. Prefer the results from the previous Permethrin app.

July 24th - Mow at 4", Edge and Trim. I did some more irrigation nozzle testing and shifted some nozzle out to help things. As for Rain Bird nozzles I am not a fan of the R-VAN rotary nozzles. I just can't get consistent results, so I've been using the HE-VANs with good results. Less mist but good distance and coverage.

After some further investigation and new nozzle heads, I am most likely going to have to add about 2-3 heads to fix the hotspots. In the meanwhile...more hand watering (for now).

July 25th - Did some lawn leveling in low spots. Filled in with Scotts Starter Fertilized Soil. Most of these low spots are due to height difference where new sod was laid or previous mole damage.

Also dropped some Yard Mastery Stress Blend (7-0-20) at 5 lbs / 1,000 ft² so it contributed...

0.35 lbs / 1,000 ft² Nitrogen
0 lbs / 1,000 ft² Phosphorus
1.0 lbs / 1,000 ft² Potassium

Grass seems a bit yellow overall, so we will see if the 7/20 Lesco/Milorganite and today's app help things out.







Lawn hotspots continue...over 100° F outside today for the first time this year...



Hot, hot, hot here in DFW.


----------



## leefjl63

What do you think about Hydretain?


----------



## UltimateLawn

leefjl63 said:


> What do you think about Hydretain?


@leefjl63 , Well...so far so good. I think it is helping, but hard to tell. One thing is for sure in that I am keeping a much closer eye on things during this summer season. I am two apps into a three app bottle which I'm set to drop around mid-August. Might be better to ask me after the season.

As a negative, the cost seems rather high and the instructions are rather complex to apply with the whole wet grass first, then just after spray, then just after wet. Seems a bit complex to where you might wonder if it did not make a difference that it was your improper application.

Would I buy some again? Probably but I would like to try higher amounts next time in the hottest part of the summer to see if that made a big difference and if there is a drop in effectiveness sometime thereafter.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mowed on Wednesday evening at 4 inches. Always bagging compared to last year's always mulching. Mower blade really needs another sharpening. I think one of the blades ended up being sharp enough but the other did not. I picked up a Sharpal sharpener to supplement by grinder and hand file. More to come on this topic.

It appears that a good number of my latest sod drops carried quite a bit of Dallisgrass seed with it. They are popping up everywhere within these new pieces. You would think the sod farm would treat these better with a pre-emergent.

I'm planning on dropping a round of sod in other areas, so I will probably have to glypho some of these Dallisgrass areas and replace the sod pieces. In the meanwhile I'm pulling them as I can and grabbing those seed heads before they mature. All mowing is bagged, so hopefully the seeds won't spread. Pre-Emergent apps should control the new season, but it's the ones already there that are worrisome. 

Chasing Nutsedge, Kyllinga and some other various culprits so I mixed up a Celcius and Sedgehammer+ spot spray for 250 ft² at these rates...
Celcius @ 3.2 grams / 1,000 ft²
Sedgehammer+ @ 13.5 grams / 1,000 ft²

Dry irrigation spots are really damaging the lawn in this summer heat. Iv'e got about 15 ft² of turf death even with chasing them with a hose. The days are really hot and what used to be enjoyable as an end of day activity is now miserable with a sweat and mosquito frenzy. I'm having an irrigation company come tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty certain that while it can be tuned a bit with new nozzles, there really are a couple of locations where new cans are needed to address some of the dry spots.

I also ordered a Rachio 3 and Orbit B-Hyve XR as upgraded sprinkler controllers. I'm leaning the way of the Orbit for now, but others are welcome to suggest otherwise.

Mosquitos in the backyard are brutal. Sprayed an app of Permethrin, Tekko Pro and Bifen for another mosquito attack. Levels below...
Permethrin - 1.67 floz / 1,000 ft²
Bifen/Talstar-P - 1 floz / 1,000 ft²
Tekko Pro IGR - 2 floz / 1,000 ft²


----------



## UltimateLawn

The corrugated ridges continue on my StAug. It is not on every leaf blade, but about 1 in 50. I have NO idea what it is and I've not seen it before. Does anyone know WHAT THIS IS?


----------



## UltimateLawn

I installed the Orbit B-Hyve XR 16 zone controller. Very nice. It is a great benefit to control the sprinkler zones without getting up off the patio chair!

An irrigation company came in with some head and nozzle adjustments. $375 later I'm not certain that it is making a difference. It might just be moving the hot spots. I really think I'm missing some heads to resolve some of these issues, but I couldn't convince the irrigation guy. If you want something done right...well you know.

Edged, trimmed and mowed at 4".

Pulled a couple of the dallisgrass weeds out of the new sod. Left some bare spots, but I don't want to deal with the dallisgrass later in the season. I'm planning some new sod drops at the end of August, so any bare spots I'll just fill in. Since new sod is coming in about a month, I'm thinking of apply some Glypho on the small dallisgrass plants. It might be easier to just do this and fix the patches with the new sod...maybe then I can feel comfortable that 'dead is dead'.

The soil leveling I did with the Scotts Starter Soil is working well. The nearby grass seems to be responding to it nicely. Too early to tell, but I see the grass poking through and a few some stolons starting to make their way across.

Mosquito spray two days ago of Bifen, Permethrin and Tekko Pro IGR seems to be holding nicely. I'm getting close to that perfect mix, frequency and affordable cost. (Weekly Thursday nights = Permethrin + Tekko Pro + optional - Bifen). More to come on this journey.


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## Amoo316

Did those leaf tips start before or after you started trying Hydratrain?


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## UltimateLawn

@Amoo316 , it was there before I started to apply Hydretain and it is remaining. I wonder if it is related to my watering cycles(?).

I'm rethinking my Hydretain strategy. I will probably not buy a refill this season. I may purchase some next season, but we will see how things go.

I have one more month of Hydretain in mid-August so that will finish out what I have.

Applying Hydretain for the greatest effectiveness is rather cumbersome...sprinkle the water, but not too much...apply the Hydretain before the grass blades dry (chasing around the zones in a specific times sequence behind the sprinklers)...then water in heavily after that. Most of my chemicals are either spray for foliage and water later or water immediately thereafter. I don't need that extra complexity since Hydretain in this method is really neither foliage or soil, but it's own application needs.

Honestly, good watering practices/timing and well placed heads and nozzles seem to be the most effective at water control and soil retention. This state is balanced in the spirit of the cost of water vs the cost of Hydretain and the bother of another chem mix each month. If I 'overwater' to adjust for the lack of Hydretain, it probably evens out to the cost of Hydretain without having to do the app.

In the latest 24 hours, I've been adjusting the Orbit B-Hyve XR sprinkler controller and it is raising my expectation of a more effective sprinkling plan.


----------



## Amoo316

@UltimateLawn My line of thinking was somewhere along the lines of water and how it's being evaporated off the grass....etc. That was why I was curious if it started before or after adding in the hydretrain. St. Aug is for sure known for trying to stand straight up and it looks like something is keeping that from happening on some of the grass. It's weird in that it looks like it's being pushed straight down

The one thing I noted was how there is a darker green part of the grass that dips to right below where the rippling starts.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mosquitos are back strong after the 1.3 inches of rain. Dropped the below as a knock-back...

1 floz / 1,000 ft² - Tekko Pro IGR
1 floz / 1,000 ft² - Talstar-P Bifenthrin
1.67 floz / 750 ft² - Permethrin 36.8%

Ugh...found an outbreak of Virginia Buttonweed in the same backyard spot I was troubled with last year. Pulled as much as I could. I'm going to be laying a second round of sod in the back yard so I might so a little glypho clean up before hand. The problem is that the buttonweed is all through the St Aug. It's almost hard to tell where it starts and ends.

I used Blindside last year but it stress the StAug to the point of dying. It seems I am doing glypho, resod, glypho, resod too much to get these killer weeds under control.

Speaking of, I'm set to glypho the dallisgrass that came in the last batch of sod. So disappointing - I reached out to the sod vendor to express my concerns...if it even helps.

Also the Yard Mastery Stress Blend drop on July 25th seem to be helping out. Grass looks dark green but also strong. The leveling I did with the Scotts Starter Soil is also showing promise. Grass blades are poking through or taking steps to grow over. I have been impressed when I use this soil, particularly in growth trouble sports.


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## leefjl63

I've used Celsius with great results for buttonweed. Dismiss label said <85F but I say <80F. I tried it early this year and it didn't stress the St Aug.


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## dubyadubya87

Buttonweed hides so well in StAug. Good luck


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## UltimateLawn

leefjl63 said:


> I've used Celsius with great results for buttonweed. Dismiss label said <85F but I say <80F. I tried it early this year and it didn't stress the St Aug.


Celcius it is! I'll give it a try. Buttonweed seems to hide amongst and below the StAug blades, so it makes it harder to spray.

Best to try and see what happens. I've had no issue with Celcius impacting the StAug. It has been a good herbicide to use in the DFW area.


----------



## Amoo316

Have you thought about dropping the blindside on the Dallasgrass in the evening and watering it in the next morning? Might minimize damage to the St. Aug and give better long term control of it over Gly. If you're risking losing the St. Aug anyways, might be worth a shot.


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## UltimateLawn

@Amoo316 , good idea. Too late to try this approach since I applied the glypho this morning. I figured since I had some sod work to do in an area without sod, might as well add a few more pieces in to clean up the dallisgrass attack.

Items today...

1. Glypho the dallisgrass in the morning.
2. Mowed at 4" high in the evening.
3. Applied RGS, Air-8 and Micro-Greene in the evening. Will let it sit on the foilage and the sprinklers are set to water it in at 4:00am.

Hopefully I can get some pics posted soon. Other than the dallisgrass, thinks are looking pretty good. StAug is dense and strong.


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## UltimateLawn

Latest pics. The hotspots are starting to fade with the irrigation adjustments.







Of course I am expecting dead spots with the Glyphosate app on the dallisgrass. Timing is to lay some more new sod at the end of the month…if it ever drops below 90 degrees.


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## UltimateLawn

Top dressed in spots a bit more with the Scotts starter fert soil.

Tuned a couple of sprinkler heads to eliminate some wasted water and better grass hot spot elimination. The Orbit B-Hyve XR controller is really making this easy from my cell phone. I'm still trying to tune the Smart Watering automatic scheduling feature. Not so smart yet.

I need to rethink my fert approach. The grass is fairly green but I think has more to go. I am still troubled with some yellow spots. Can't be TARR this late in the season(?). I applied micros with iron foliarly and fert granules have also had their share of iron. Hmmmm.

My last soil test was the end of last year. I keep telling myself to do another one then I always have something in the lawn that ends up being a higher priority.


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## UltimateLawn

Dropped sod in all but one of the spots where I sprayed glyphosate earlier to kill large spots with bermudagrass. It was a lot of work over two days...tough in the heat.

Before...





After...


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## leefjl63

So how long will the Bermuda stay away?


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## UltimateLawn

Not long enough. Even with the spot sod replacements, there is still Bermuda lingering in different areas of the lawn. I killed the Bermuda and laid the sod in particular areas where it was pretty much 90%+ Bermuda. Once the sod was laid (assuming it took strongly), it is slowing the Bermuda growth down.

In really healthy areas (I cut at 4"), the bermuda does not grow very fast and I can see it having looping stolons popping up above the St Aug. Nothing makes me happier than to pull these out!

I have come to the conclusion that I will be chasing it constantly and am planning to do a drop of about 500-750 ft² StAug sod in the most pressured areas and hope for the best to continue to slow the Bermuda growth each year.

In the end, I might do a renovation and move to Zoysia. I've heard that maybe it has a better resistance to Bermuda. If not...then throw in the towel and do a reno to move to Bermuda. If I can't control it, then I will probably make that reno decision late next year.

Here is my relax from the sod lay picture this afternoon...brutal in the heat!


----------



## leefjl63

You look at bit too clean and there's no evidence of sweat. Maybe you were dreaming about the hard work &#128513;

I'm leaving the Bermuda alone and having the the St Aug battle it out.


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## UltimateLawn

Mowed at 4". Temps are bearable at 7:30am.

Some sod webworm moth sightings and loads of fungus on the new sod. Dropped the following...
Clearys @ 2 floz / 1,000 ft²
Bifen/Talstar-P @ 1 floz / 1,000 ft²
Dominion 2L/Imidacloprid @ 0.5 floz / 1,000 ft²

Also some current state pics and turf density in the backyard (which needs a lot of various landscaping work)...


----------



## H12Mike

Have you been applying fungicide as a preventative or as corrective action?


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## UltimateLawn

Both. I am now on a preventative schedule - low rates every 2 weeks. Also on a curative as needed when I run into breakthrough spots. In the example on the new sod when I can clearly see the infection I target higher levels.

The preventative schedule has been going about two months and I have had little breakthrough in established turf.


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## UltimateLawn

Mowed at 4" and dropped about .75 lbs / 1,000 ft² Milo and about .25 lbs / 1,000 ft² Yard Mastery Stress Blend.

Latest mow pics and glypho spots where the sod Dallisgrass is looking to be killed. New sod by next weekend. Poor irrigation spots next to the driveway and curb are recovering a bit...but slowly.


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## UltimateLawn

Received 1" of rain (finally) in less than 30 minutes. Very nice for those hot spots where the irrigation struggles.

Latest lawn pics after the rain. The StAug is really going to love the water since I dropped the Milo and the Stress Blend on Thursday morning. Given the rain forecast, I probably won't be able to mow until at least Monday morning...crazy high I'm sure.







Filled a hole with Scotts Starter Soil where I pulled up a tree root. I meant to drop some fungicide on the new sod before the rain but the timing didn't work out.



The new sod is looking healthy.



Really love the new Orbit B-Hyve XR controller. It predicted the rain this morning, delayed sprinkling until Monday morning then after the actual rainfall, it recalculated until Tuesday morning. I really like how it calculates the state of the soil moisture and then uses sprinkling, heat and time to calculate when and how much the next sprinkling will be. It is a little tricky but once it is dialed in it works really well.

I don't want to be an Orbit salesman, but this is really changing my irrigation strategy.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Dropped Certainty on some nutsedge in my beds that continues to trouble me. Hard to knock down. I did some Halosulfuron before and the knock down was extremely slow. By the time it was killing some of them, neighboring ones had popped up and grown to the 4-5 leaf stage. Wow...these things really grow fast.

I think I am going to fall back to using Halosulfuron for broadcast turf apps as I can keep the aesthetics good as long as I mow frequently - while the Halosulfuron works its magic (4+ weeks).

As for the beds I dropped Certainty. I've had pretty good success with it and wanted to try it again. Drop rate was at 1.25 oz/acre = 0.81 grams/1,000 ft². Here are some pics of these buggers post spray today...


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## Amoo316

UltimateLawn said:


>


What is this variegated plant/flower in this photo? I'm a sucker for variegated plants.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@Amoo316 , It is a butterfly weed. I planted them after several of our Indian Hawthorns died in the Texas Snowpocalypse.

They have grown well. I wish the branches were a bit sturdier but they bloom regularly.


----------



## Amoo316

UltimateLawn said:


> @Amoo316 , It is a butterfly weed. I planted them after several of our Indian Hawthorns died in the Texas Snowpocalypse.
> 
> They have grown well. I wish the branches were a bit sturdier but they bloom regularly.


That's interesting, I was really shocked to see red flowers, wouldn't really fit with our landscape. Still a cool little plant though.

We actually have one of these:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Spring-Hil...gvs-li-uSHtVMiitL_IaAkdzEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Bought the thing and it was legit quart size pot. Grows like a darn weed. We legit have to trim it 2/3 times a year and it grows out to about 6 feet then we cut it back down to about 3 feet.


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## UltimateLawn

Rain, rain, rain....finally. StAug is very lush.


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## UltimateLawn

Two days of heat since the rains. Backyard sod dried up pretty quickly so I did a hand sprinkle going into the evening. The Orbit B-Hyve Smart Water schedule seems fairly good, but I still need to make some adjustments to it.

Set to do a final Hydretain app tomorrow morning.

Mowed at 4", edged and trimmed.


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## UltimateLawn

Latest lawn pics after the Hydretain app. I also added in the last of my Humic-12 so that finishes it off for the season.

Darned tired of the nutsedge. Halosulfuron after a number of weeks and Certainty about 5 days ago have both not delivered my results. I would like to get rid of them and push back the nutlets a bit before the season end. So...dropped some Dismiss. I've had very good results with it before, but it stressed my St Aug unless I dropped it at the roots. The nutsedge I was chasing are all in the beds so I'm ok there. Hopefully my ornamentals won't be affected.


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## UltimateLawn

Checked on the Nutsedge app yesterday evening. I am starting to see some effect, but it has only been about 24 hours.

Mowed @ 4" and dropped a maintenance app of Heritage SC Azoxystrobin 22.9% @ 0.4 floz / 1,000 ft².

I'm still dealing with the same hotspots. The irrigation adjustments only helped a little, but did not fix all. Pics as of today with the Honda mower and Ego blower...


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## UltimateLawn

Summer is coming to an end soon, but it gets me thinking a bit forward to Fall. Pre-emergent time is about 30-40 days away and I would like to apply some learned lessons that might adjust my approach.

Last fall and spring I did a pre-emergent plan including Simazine, Prodiamine and Specticle Flo. It was very effective in eliminating almost all weed breakthrough.

However, when Spring broke through this year my grass was very slow to start growing. My yard is in full sun where my neighbors are all in shade and their grass was greening up sooner...about 30 days sooner.

I'm not certain but I think the pre-emergent mix I applied in the Fall and early Spring stunted the StAug growth a little at the start of the year. Of course it is growing quite nicely now, but given my full sun yard I wanted to have the first green up of the season.

Any thoughts on pre-emergent delaying established turf green-up?


----------



## UltimateLawn

Laid 15 yards of sod today. It turned out to be quite a bit of work as it was a number of smaller spots, so a lot of time was spent prepping each soil location and dealing with a lot of trimming.

Hopefully this will help those hotspots and get me through the summer with reasonable readiness for winter.

Also the nutsedge is feeling the hurt from the Dismiss app on Sunday.


----------



## UltimateLawn

I saw a webworm moth this evening. First one I've seen in a few weeks since my Aug 9th app of Bifen and Imidacloprid. Could be another wave.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=425931#p425931


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## UltimateLawn

Mowed at 4" high today. New sod laid yesterday is looking good. The tilling and starter fert method seems to really make a difference as compared to the previous sod lays. The heat is significant, but regular watering shows a good response.

Next Ups...Fert + Bifen & Imidacloprid.


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## leefjl63

You just like to lay sod! &#128516; I'll fight the bermuda.


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## UltimateLawn

Still sprinkling the sod...so far so good.

Another check on the Dismiss nutsedge kill progress. I am regularly amazed at how the Dismiss/Sulfentrazone kicks these things back. I am going to do a second app tonight to take them out in full.

The only thing I don't like about Dismiss is I am usually spot spraying with it and it can be very cumbersome to measure such small amounts. Last app was only 3 ml. That's as much liquid on the sidewalls of the glass measuring tube, as is in the tube.

Does anyone know if Sulfentrazone actually kills and provides pre-emergent actions to begin to eliminate the nutsedge?


----------



## Amoo316

UltimateLawn said:


> Does anyone know if Sulfentrazone actually kills and provides pre-emergent actions to begin to eliminate the nutsedge?


Short answer is yes, long answer is, It's way more complicated then that because you have to completely kill the nutlets and tubers:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20GHnEa8L0Q[/media]


----------



## UltimateLawn

@Amoo316 , so will Dismiss take out the nutlet? I'm starting to wonder if Halosulfuron, Sulfosulfuron, or Sulfentrazone are truly effective at killing the nutlet and hopefully the neighboring ones in the soil.

I guess my strategy is to look for them to popup, drop some Dismiss as they do and then hope that after a year of so of this they will be eliminated. Wishful thinking?

Most of these are in my beds because they receive more water and hold more moisture in the mulch. Whoever put in my irrigation system decided to have beds and lawn on the same zones. For next year, I'm planning on putting in some drip lines for the beds in the hope that will help eliminate the broader and extra moisture in the beds.


----------



## Amoo316

Sulfentrazone has a better pre-M effect then any of the sulf-ureas. It also definitely kills off more tubers then Halo per the study in the video. Less tubers should lead to less nutlets.

Because you're just playing whack-a-mole with sedges as they pop up, I don't know the extent of the damage you're actually doing to the nutlets and tubers.

Just something to think about, I had never treated for sedges or kyllinga before this year. The centipede was too thick to allow them through. I'm assuming you're seeing the same with your St. Aug. They are there, they're just not able to get through the grass. As soon as I decimated a majority of my Centipede, I immediately had loads of kyllinga and sedges. What I'm suggesting is you probably have more healthy nutlets & tubers then you realize, but they are only able to surface in the beds for the most part.

Killing the nutlets and tubers is a multi year process no matter what product you use.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@Amoo316 ....thanks for the insight! Yes, I do know that I have some nutsedge in my StAug, but it mixes in with the turf.

Maybe I can use the Halosulfuron as a broadcast on the StAug and the Sulfentrazone as spot in the beds. Here are the latest nutsedge photos 6 days of using Dismiss...


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mowed At 4", Edged and Trimmed. Moderate temps today with some cloud cover. Lawn is looking good with a break from the heat. Also turned over some of the Spring mulch to get it a bit fresher looking and ready for the Fall.

Applied the below with my backpack sprayer...

RGS @ 3 floz / 1,000 ft²
Talstar-P - Bifenthrin @ 1 floz / 1,000 ft²
Eagle Fungicide - Myclobutanil 19.7% @ 1.2 floz / 1,000 ft²

Teejet AIC11003 (blue) nozzle @ 60 psi, flow rate of 0.8 floz / second.

The new sod continues to root in so good results thus far.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Dropped the last of the CoRon 18-3-6 + 0.5% Fe. I'm still working out the differences it is making, but I want to push growth and green a bit before we get too far into September. It is very easy to mix and spray. Very low viscosity and no overwhelming smell afterwards.

I applied 0.5 lbs of Nitrogen per 1,000 ft². This is 33 floz of CoRoN per 1,000 ft². I get just a bit over two apps @ 0.5 lbs on my 4,500 ft². This app finishes it out for the season.

Sprayed with a TeeJet XRC11015 (light green). It laid out a nice coarse drop at high pressure on the grass blades. I call it a 'spray paint' sort of experience. Sprayed in the evening at about 90° F and will let it sit foliar and then sprinkle in at 4:00am tomorrow morning.

It reached 100° F this afternoon. Brutal. The replacement sod is bearing it, but I'm having to chase it with regular hand watering.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Grey spot fungus is coming on again. We had some relief rain earlier today and I was caught in it during the mow. Was able to finish without too much concern (other than the neighbors looking out of their windows).

I think I am going to start sticking with limited foliar applied nitrogen for fear that it is promoting leaf spot fungus. Between the bermudagrass and fungus, I'm thinking of giving up on any nitro-based fert. Or at least go to a granular application only.

Planted some Hibiscus, Coleus, Sedum and still looking for a spot to plant a Mexican Bird of Paradise tree that my wife had to have.







Today's mow @ 4" with edge and trim...


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mowed last night at 4". Wonderful cooler weather and rains this morning. Lawn is responding favorably.

Dropped some Azoxy and Bifen the evening of September 6th. This year I am running with a full TARR strategy going into Fall and early Spring. This season it was a brutal beginning chasing the TARR symptoms.

Latest pics from the flowering plants drop and transplants on September 4th...









I am in app-withdrawal, so I'm thinking of dropping some micro-nutrients. I want to finish out some of my remaining micro-nutrients before the season end.


----------



## leefjl63

What's the TARR strategy?


----------



## UltimateLawn

According to my informal research...multiple preventative Fall apps of Azoxystrobin. I will also blend in some Myclobutanil (Eagle) - also at preventative rates. In very early spring I'll drop two more apps. Only if I see the yellowing effects or root rot, then I'll do a curative app. Here is an excerpt from a Bayer article on TARR...


----------



## UltimateLawn

Also ran soil temps today. Shady areas are coming in at 70° soil temp, so dropped the first of two Fall rounds of pre emergents...


Prodiamine WDG (65% Prodiamine) - 0.183 oz / 1,000 ft² - Only drop for the Fall 1 app, not Fall 2

Princep (41.9% Simazine) - 0.37 floz /1,000 ft²

Specticle Flo (7% Indaziflam) - 0.138 floz / 1,000 ft²

Temps are starting to come down from 95°+ and the St Aug is responding nicely. Hopefully the pre emergent app doesn't slow things down before outside temps really cool down. Given the multi-MOA pre-em app and a bit heavy Specticle Flo and Prodiamine drop, I'm thinking I will wait 45 days (~ October 22nd) before the second app.

I did end up spraying the edge of a front yard bed before realizing that I was set to plant some bulbs as we go into winter. I'll probably mix up the mulch/soil and amend before the bulbs go in the ground. Hopefully that will help. All other beds were untouched. I also hit some traditional weed-heavy areas with a double pass.

This officially marks my third time to drop liquid-based pre emergents. I'm having fun with it, but learning more and adjusting technique each time.


----------



## leefjl63

Looks like azoxy + propiconazole combined would be effective

https://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/take-all-root-rot-in-turf/


----------



## UltimateLawn

@leefjl63 , I've pulled Propiconazole out of my rotation and replaced it with Eagle/Myclobutanil. It is the same FRAC Code 3 - Cell Membrane Disrupters. It is also a recommendation from Texas A&M (see excerpt below).

I keep hearing that Propiconazole has a growth regulation or slow-down effect on St Augustine, so I figure just shift to what is recommended as an option. I also add Thiophanate-Methyl as well. I ran out of my TM for this season, but will pick some more up as we enter early Spring.

@Greendoc mentions about propiconazole and warm season growth regulation impacts - https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=230263#p230263


----------



## UltimateLawn

Dropped some fresh cedar mulch in our backyard garden beds. Also sprayed my pre emergent mix on a neighbor's lawn. She has had a traditionally heavy winter weeds including rescuegrass, oxallis and henbit. We'll see how things turn out this year.

Mowing tomorrow, but starting to give some real thought as to what to do with my front beds. I picked up some tulip bulbs. Hopefully these will work out. Seems pretty complex, but I figured why not.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mowed at 4" on Sunday morning.

Cooler temps and less heat stress is really helping the lawn. The full extent of bermudagrass growth is now apparent. I'd say about 650 ft² of StAug will need to be replaced in the Spring to keep it back. Too late in the year for any sod drops and I have some spaces and level adjustments that need to be made. Most of my leveling I do in the Spring before growth kicks it. It is a lot easier to cut to a lower level, see the soil condition and do leveling from there. Trying to level StAug when the blades are at 4" just doesn't work. My leveling plan is to top dress just as before with a mix of Peat and mason sand. This worked really well this past Spring.

The Hosta garden is starting to rebound. Many of the hosta plants simply could not thrive in our hot north TX sun. While there is shade in many part of the area I have the hostas, there are still about 4-5 hours at the height of Summer when they just get blasted with the sun. Some did better than others. Once they go dormant I am going to move some around to help things out.

Recently planted Hibiscus, Coleus and Sedum are doing quite well. My transplanted Salvia's are surviving. I think they are going to handle the change in time before winter sets in. A transplanted Lantana moved from my back yard to the front yard is pretty much dead - as is the Mexican Bird of Paradise tree. Another victimless plant killed because my significant other felt it looked really good at the nursery but I didn't have a place to plant it where it would thrive.  My Lantanas planted in the Spring have really done well this year. Fantastic plant.

Some grey leaf spot persists. I'm dropping some Myclobutanil Eagle before the end of the week to help keep things under control.

Laid 0.5 lbs Nitro / 1,000 ft² of Lesco 24-0-11 on the lawn with the hand spreader. Also dropped some Milo in the garden beds. Kind of a last feeding as we approach cooler weather. Both of these should be my last Nitro drops for the year.

Putting my tulip bulbs in the fridge tomorrow in prep for an early December planting.

Some latest pics...


----------



## dubyadubya87

Very nice variety and well cared for. I'm a lantana fan myself. Especially in Texas, almost a plant it and forget it species.


----------



## UltimateLawn

@dubyadubya87 , I'm so busy with the grass that I really like low maintenance shrubs!


----------



## UltimateLawn

Put down 2ea yds³ of Aged Finely-Ground Pine Bark Mulch. This was applied for Fall bed prep. This is my first time to use pine bark mulch, but I hear it is very popular with local gardeners.

Planting Pansies in October and Tulip & Narcissus bulbs in December (already chilling in the frig). This will be my first year for both and my expectations are probably higher than they should be. All is going well, but my biggest concern in attack by the squirrels. They really like my front beds for digging and retrieving their pecans and acorns. I may have to construct a physical barrier that doesn't look too bad. Still working through this option, but I have until December.

Sprayed my last pesticide app of the year, Talstar-P *Bifenthrin) @ 1 floz / 1,000 ft².
Also sprayed my last Eagle / Myclobutanil @ 2.4 floz / 1,000 ft². Wow, this stuff is odorous. I sprayed it in the early evening and they are both sitting foliar. Hopefully the neighbors aren't too upset at the odor. If I could find another similar Group 1 MOA then I could change. At least I emptied the bottle. I'm set to water in at 4:00am.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Mowed at 4" this morning. Hopefully last 100° afternoon for the year.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Been a bit occupied elsewhere for journal updates....

Soil temps in the high 70's. Leaves dropping. Planted some pansies in the front beds.











Tulip and Daffodil bulbs get planted in early December.

No plans in the Spring to kill the common bermuda. I'm going to spend my money and efforts into other ways. Bermuda...you win. When the opportunity comes up for a reno I will probably shift over to Zoysia.

Hmmm....if Bermuda wins, is it time to purchase a reel mower?


----------



## leefjl63

Dude...you told me to fight the Bermuda and now my lawn looks like crap &#128516;.

I'll let you know how my experiment is going.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Yep....about to give in. Just too hard to keep fighting against Mother Nature. In full sun yards through the neighborhood, bermuda continues to thrive.


----------



## UltimateLawn

Howdy folks! I hope your winter break was good. Here in DFW I'm starting my prep for warmer weather. Most of my winter work has been in landscaping paths, picking up leaves and ornamental shrubs work. I'm now ready for some Spring lawn planning.

Here are some observations and thoughts...

Diligent pre-emergent app in fall 2020 and spring/fall 2021 have really knocked back just about every weed. I've been combining Simazine, Prodiamine and Specticle Flo in various amounts and usually two apps in the spring and the fall. I've followed the usual 55° and 70° soil temp in Spring and then 70° soil temp in Fall. Since I've been hitting it pretty hard the last three rounds, I'm going to roll back a bit with smaller dosages. Last Spring my grass was very slow to green up, but there was nary a weed to be found. I'm looking to speed up green up and I think it was heavier pre emergent apps that slowed it down in 2021.

*Spring Pre-Emergent Schedule…*
Spring Round 1 - Estimated Feb 1​ Quali-Pro Prodiamine WG (65% Prodiamine) - 0.061 oz = 1.72 grams / 1,000 ft² = 1 Month of Protection
Specticle Flo (7% Indaziflam) - 0.023 floz = 0.68 ml = 13.6 drops / 1,000 ft² = 1 Month of Pre-Emergent Protection
Simazine stopped.​ Spring Round 2 - Estimated March 15​ Quali-Pro Prodiamine WG (65% Prodiamine) - 0.061 oz = 1.72 grams / 1,000 ft² = 1 Month of Protection
Specticle Flo and Simazine stopped.​
I still battle against nutsedge popping up in wetter spots, particularly against landscape bed edges. My plan there is a Spring app of Halosulfuron or Certainty. I haven't decided yet. Any other broad leaf weeds that emerge, I'll just hit with Celcius or if applicable Glyphosate.

TARR is still a worry. I've applied a couple of rounds of Azoxystrobin in the Fall and will start applying mix rounds of Azoxy and Clearys as Spring approaches. I hope I don't have to struggle with it creating extended yellowing like I had last spring.

As for the fight against wild Bermuda...I think I will give up in 2022. I spent a lot of time and a fair amount of $$$'s removing patches of bermudagrass and by the end of the year in very sunny spots, it crept back in. I don't want to try chasing it with a bunch of chemicals. I've decided to 'go with the green' and focus on fertilization, cut, fungicide and when necessary, pesticides. My time is better spent just embracing the bermudagrass until such time as I want to do a renovation. Not this year.

I will probably stick with using the biostimulant products on a regular fertilization schedule. Given constant fungicide battles, I will eliminate high nitro liquid fertilizers and shift to slower release organic nitrogen apps. I'll apply some synthetic nitrogen granules when the opportunity is needed.

Moles hit my backyard hard this year. I tried my two different types of traps...no luck. I hate these rodents!

I have focused a lot of work in the Fall and into this Spring for bed ornamentals, not the lawn. I'll probably shift hard back into lawn work starting in mid-March.

@ionicatoms , @leefjl63 , @DFWdude , @CenlaLowell , Others...Thoughts?


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## CenlaLowell

That's the best problem I experienced with st Augustine, fungus. I never could understand how some people NEVER get it and I would get hit every year.

As far as pre emergent everything looks good, bit I will say pay attention to the types of weeds you have through out the year and you mad be able to eliminate using prodiamine.

Good luck


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## ionicatoms

Everything you said makes sense to me. "Less is more" down to a point; I do think a light touch applied at the right time(s) works better than big doses of synthetic chemicals in the long run. I haven't been able to tease out the exact cause of yellowing in my lawn, but I'm pretty sure that going with smaller, less stressful doses has played a part in my good luck in getting rid of them.

Accepting the Bermuda is a practical decision. There's only so much in the budget and fighting Bermuda is exhausting. I expect to learn that shade is the only way to get rid of it.

Furthermore, when I first found the forum, I was attracted exclusively to the idea of a super green, monoculture yard. These days I have a wider appreciation for the functional role that grass plays in the ecosystem, so even though I don't love my Bermuda, at least I appreciate it on some level.


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## UltimateLawn

Thanks @ionicatoms and @CenlaLowell ...great advice as always!

Here are the year-starting pics of the lawn and beds...

Front Lawn...St Aug is pretty much dormant. Bermuda has shut down entirely...







Front beds...yes, those are tulips in DFW! The pansies are suffering, but I'm waiting until the spring to see if they pop back up...



Hydrangeas and lantanas pruned...



Rear lawn...significant no-grass spots from summer shade and walking wear during the fall and winter...moles hit me hard without being able to trap a single one...





Backyard beds...

New perennial corner bed...



Cleaned out corner bed and used for leaf mulch composting...



Backyard flower beds...wrong plant selections, so cleaned out for 2022...



South side yard - new limestone and paver path to eliminate mowing where there was simply too much traffic through the back fence and also limited sunlight. I'm still working to complete it...but shortly...



Addition of a new Snow Queen Oakleaf Hydrangea on south side. Hope to see it do well for the next two seasons...


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## UltimateLawn

Latest....mostly working on gardening items before winter finishes...

Backyard bed with some new perennials including Hot Lips Salvia, Passion Vine, Knockout roses, Skullcaps, Black Eyed Susans and a Coreopsis Grandiflora...



Tulips and Daffodils were popping through the surface in mid-January...



Tulips and Daffodils today...they took a freeze hit and the foliage was weakened but the flowers are starting to produce. The Daffodils bloomed strongly first and have been able to handle the freezes fairly well. The tulips have been a lot more delicate with these freezes...



January 14th and the pansies were looking really poor. I've seen them bounce back with warmer days, but in the end they have been too inconsistent so I will probably just avoid them next year...



As for the lawn...still dormant... I'm planning on doing a Clearys fungicide drop in a few more days to stay ahead of any TARR outbreak this year.







Snow in early February...



My large front bed Vitex suffered a broken limb in a fall windstorm, so I've pruned it back for the spring season. It was really getting too large for what it's branches can normally support...



Slight change in my pre-emergent strategy. I had a timeline for a late winter and early spring pre-emergent app, but I have decided that the last year has created a lot of herbicide stress and there are no weeds in sight. I don't want any slow green-up, so I am skipping a pre-emergent app this year and will only spot treat any weeds that popup. I'm not expecting a lot of them, but will keep a pretty close eye for them as the warm-up comes.


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## leefjl63

Howdy partner! So this year I'm definitely looking to minimize chemicals. So far the lawn is off to a great start.

Last fungus treatment was end of Oct and so far I don't see a need to treat. But I will probably start soon.

I'm down in S Fla and the grass didn't stop growing. Still cutting once a week &#128516;. I will start fertilizing soon and go with low N - high P to kick off the year.


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## ionicatoms

There's some rumors going around that RGS is enough to fight some fungus. Dunno man. Good luck!


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## leefjl63

@ionicatoms where was that mentioned?


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## ionicatoms

https://www.lawncology.com/2017/08/06/lawncology-29-understanding-rgs-whats-n-ext/

Edit:

Here's the other post I saw (related because RGS has potassium):



leefjl63 said:


> I think 1 to 2 lb of 0-0-50 should be ok. This pro told me to try it when fungus appears before using chemicals.


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## leefjl63

Lol...oh I forgot about that! The pro said that what he does 1st to see if the grass can get back healthy.


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## UltimateLawn

Latest lawn pics...

Lots of pruning and general bed maintenance. Tulips are blooming...in DFW!

Applied Clearys Thiophanate-methyl 41.25% at the rate of 2 floz / 1,000 ft². Trying to get a head of any TARR yellowing this Spring. The St. Aug took a lot of wear this winter with all the various bed gardening work. I'm slowly building walking paths to accommodate this going forward.

Also planted 3ea Paniculata Hydrangeas.


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## UltimateLawn

Planted some climbing roses, Diamond Spire gardenias and dragon prince cryptomerias. Had to fight some crepe myrtle black scale last year, so adding some imidacloprid drench to them tomorrow. Also adding a bit more acid to the magnolia, hydrangeas, and azaleas.

StAug and Bermuda are still dormant. Next up...some RGS/Humic Acid - very low Nitrogen to start things slowly.

High temps this week look to be in the mid-70's.


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## UltimateLawn

Dropped two rounds of fungicide so far. The first was Clearys on March 4th @ 2 floz / 1,000 ft². This was just a preventative since I was fighting with what appeared as TARR last spring. First symptom was yellowing grass spots last year.

I just noticed some of the yellowing spots a few days ago, so I sprayed a round of Prime Source Azoxystrobin 50 WDG at 0.4 oz / 1,000 ft² on March 24th. Irrigated right after for both of these.

Things have now started warming in DFW with highs in the low 80's. Weather forecast shows more warming, so hopefully the cold has moved on. Spring flowers are getting prepped for blooms. Tulips and daffodils are finishing up. My spring flowering plants are starting to show some good foliage, but things are still early for them.

Plan this weekend is to help soil activate in the beds and the lawn. Spraying some Medina Plus soil activator in the beds and some RGS + Air-8 on the lawn this weekend. RGS rate at 6 floz / 1,000 ft² and Air-8 at 9 floz / 1,000 ft².

Last year I was bothered by my slow lawn greenup. I'm pretty certain that was because of my previous fall and late winter aggressive pre-emergent strategy. Since I've decided not to do a spring pre-emergent, I've noticed my green up is at least the pace of the neighbors where previously it was four weeks delayed. I've mowed about three times to help clear out dead leaf blades to help the sun get to the new growth.

Some nutsedge in the usual wetter spots. I have not hit them yet, but I'm thinking of doing the spray of Dismiss right at the root level. I have had good results with this message. I'd like to eliminate the nutsedge entirely, but I think it's a multi-season endeavor if they have grown in spots for years. I have some ornamentals that I don't want to affect, so it will need to be done carefully.

Lawn photos six days ago...


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## UltimateLawn

Dropped RGS @ 6 floz / 1,000 ft² and Air-8 @ 9 floz / 1,000 ft². Grass is yellowing from TARR. Not dropping any nitrogen until things warm up a bit more. Once temps get above

Also dropped Medina Plus soil activator in beds - 32 floz / 1,000 ft².


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## DFWdude

Looking good. Those flowers are popping!


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## UltimateLawn

Latest lawn images...fighting TARR spots hard. No nitrogen yet. Really troubled why I'm fighting this and so many others in the neighborhood are not. Disappointed so far this year. This is after a fair amount of Raleigh StAug replacements. Why is this happening?

I checked my lawn images from when I started my lawn journal in the Fall of 2020...not nearly the same issue. I'm thinking the rounds of pre-emergents are stressing the lawn. I'm on a regular fungicide application now to try to keep it under control.

I also put in a new mulch + stone front yard pathway.


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## dubyadubya87

Love that pathway!
My St.Aug. is looking much the same. I'm eager for more growing friendly temperatures to see how it comes out of dormancy fully.


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## ionicatoms

Coming out of dormancy is pretty painful. I envy those guys in South Florida.


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## UltimateLawn

A day after irrigation (and the latest Azoxy app) and things are looking better. I've been intentionally trying to keep the grass a bit dry with all of the fungal outbreak, but I'm starting to think that the best strategy with the TARR is to continue a regular fungicide regime AND water the grass. Help the grass grow faster than the TARR can kill it back.

I really hate constantly chasing fungus buildups.

I'm planning on dropping my first round of nitrogen with an app of Green Punch (18-0-1) in a few more days. I'm letting the grass grow a bit higher to help with some photosynthesis before summer gets here.

@dubyadubya87 , thanks for the complement on the path. I think it worked out well and was quick to put together. I'm starting to embrace natural edges with an understanding that there is more maintenance. With my lawn on a slope, dirt tends to move around making mortar bed edges difficult to keep in place anyway.

TARR pics from today...wild bermuda is unaffected while the StAug struggles...


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## H12Mike

I have found that keeping the St. Augustine at 2.0 - 2.5 inches mowing height (A&M and Neil Sperry recommendations) reduces the disease effect on my lawn and increases the spreading of the lawn. Have you checked out the A&M warm season grass calendar? I had A&M do my soil test and found that my lawn was deficient in Phosphorus. Who knew, Phosphorus)?


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## UltimateLawn

Thanks @H12Mike .

During the normal warm season I mow at 3.5"-4". Right now some of the areas are growing fast while others are barely growing. I'm mowing today and raising the mower to 3" from 2.5" a week before today. I've been cutting in short in the warm (not hot) temps to get some sun to the green and roots.

TARR is subsiding, but looks like another 1-2 weeks of having the yellowing grass blades around.

I've looked at the A&M warm season grass calendar, but need to refresh it.

MySoil test below from March 1...low in Nitrogen...high in Phosphorus.


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## UltimateLawn

Wet and warm weather is starting to help things grow faster. Some bare spots are starting to fill in. I laid some fresh compost and fertilizer on the bare spots to encourage growth there. Previously these bare spots were exposed during the winter and were hard and not retaining any water.

Bare spots along the front curb edge will get addressed in the next 3-4 weeks as I convert into front lawn beds.













Also am spraying rounds of glyphosate on the turf that is breaking through the new pathway and bed mulch. Being careful to avoid the ornamentals.


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## dubyadubya87

Got those thin spots all over my backyard too. Can't wait for it to get warm and more importantly, STAY warm. My St. Aug is still sitting like a bump on a log.


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## UltimateLawn

No recent turf photos. TARR affected spots are starting to fill in. I dropped compost in the affected spots and the StAug stolons are appreciating it.

90% of the grass is under 4", but I went ahead and mowed at 4" to even things up. Warm weather ahead and a wet May should promote the extra growth.

Dropped Lesco 24-0-11 slow release fertilizer at 1 lbs / 1,000 ft². I've also sprayed some GreenePunch 18-0-1 for some fast green up. I didn't apply any nitrogen this year until I felt the TARR yellowing was subsiding enough. Since these apps, the grass is returning the favor with some vigorous growth.

Here's a family member picture showing off some of my spring perennials planted last fall.


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## ionicatoms

UltimateLawn said:


> Also am spraying rounds of glyphosate on the turf that is breaking through the new pathway and bed mulch.


I had great luck with the living edge last year. Might be worth trying if you can tolerate the change in height. Saved me work and some glyphosate because the St. Aug is less prone to growing past that point.

It seems to me that the edges in my back yard near the house have actually taken on a sort of permanent shape. I sort of wonder if an edge is there long enough that it naturally stops trying to overtake it? I don't know.

Here's the edge that I experimented with. It was great.



Or you could try some kind of long term pre-emergent. I just started trying Ortho ground clear on my pavers. Jury is still out.


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## UltimateLawn

Since my mulch path has no ornamentals in it, I'm going to put a pre-emergent in the fall. For now, it's just killing and pulling the StAug breakthrough that is there now.


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## UltimateLawn

Latest pics...St Aug is filling in, but still chasing some hot spots. Bermuda is filling in those faster than the StAug. Set up a drip irrigation in my south and front beds. I like how it is working, but I want to see how reliable it is through the year. Some miscellaneous bed pics as well...


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## UltimateLawn

Just got back from vacation and here are the latest pics...









Bare spots are filling in quickly, albeit with wild Bermuda as it overtakes the weaker St Aug.

Very tall with only a week's worth of growth. currently cutting at 4" in height. Was thinking of cutting it lower, but 95-100° soil temperatures are on the way, so will keep it at least at 3.5".

Was unable to mow the lawn for the week, so left it to the local neighborhood lawn care. Came back to see torn grass blades due to a blade that was not sharp. It ended up promoting with some grey spot lesions on the blades and at the tops.

Still recovering from vacation fun, but am set to drop some Clearys 3336F Thiophanate Methyl mid-week.


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## UltimateLawn

Dropped the following per 1,000 ft²...

2 floz Thanophanate Methyl / Clearys 3336F - Recent Grey Leaf Spot

0.6 floz Imidacloprid / Dominion 2L - Grub and Chich Bug Preventative

7 floz Air-8

10 floz RGS

Growth rate is fast, so I'm chasing it with two mows per week at 4". Some latest pics...


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## UltimateLawn

It's been a while since I've posted, so here are some latest pics from August 14th. Recent rains in the last two weeks have helped improve things. It looks like the extreme Summer heat days are now behind us.

I've hade some trouble spots that were either fungal buildup, hotspots or a combination of both. It's a regular game chasing these issues in the Summer. I've been applying some maintenance apps of Azoxystrobin, Clearys and Propiconazole to keep things in check. Limited fertilization for the last two months. Green is maintaining, but some light yellowing stuck throughout the summer due to the regular TARR issues that remain.

I've been mowing at 4" throughout the summer to help roots deal with the heat, but lowered down to 3.5" on my mow yesterday evening.


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