# MikeyVA Lawn Journal



## MikeyVA (Jul 5, 2019)

Hello Everyone.

First post on TLF. Enjoy reading everyone's lawn journals and learning/gathering courage to take on a reno myself.

The wife and I purchased our first home 1.5 years ago in Williamsburg, VA. The previous owners seemed to have neglected the yard and it was overrun with weeds. Armed with very little knowledge, I scalped the lawn, core aerated and overseeded in the fall with a cheap box store blend (fescues/ryegrass). The result was okay, the grass was very light green all winter from the lack of nutrients (no soil test).

Nov 2018



Fast forward to spring and the grass was holding up well. March I put down a pre-m with (scotts triple action at bag rate) seeing it had decent reviews. Got a mulching kit for my craftsman riding mower and kept the hoc at 3.5"
Was not able to maintain the lawn as well as I hoped through the summer due to traveling on business. . It was very hot and still is with little rain. (no irrigation)
Weeds took over...

Sorry for the terrible pictures







Few weeks ago, had the holly and Cyprus trees cut down to open the back yard up. Stumps ground and raked as much of the wood clumps as I could.









After reading up on renovations (pete's), the cool season lawn guide, and renovation thread. I came up with the following plan. Please let me know if I should make some changes or additions.
Lawn size is 10k sq ft. Soil is sandy. Looking for seed down last weekend in Sept (I know its late but have watering restrictions in effect until end of sept.)

Got my soil tested. Results show that I need lime, and potash.



After seeing the need of 50lb per 1k of lime.
I put down a application at the bag rate (7.2lb per k) of Jonathangreen Magical plus to raise ph. (07/6)

-8/16-8/17-First round of glysophate down.

-8/25-8/30 bag mow and start watering with above ground irrigation at regulated times to promote weed growth and dial in sprinkler rates.

-8/31-9/02 over labor day weekend have 16 ton of top soil delivered to level lawn and fill in low areas. (Lawn is beyond bumpy) May move this to a later week depending on severe weather to avoid washouts.

-For leveling I came up with 2 options.

-Less cost but more time. Till lawn(read good and bad about this) to mix new and old soil, roll and then drag to smooth. Potential issues is settling causing bumpy lawn.

-Other option is to hire or rent a harley power rake on a dingo to mix and level. Leaning towards this option but it's pricey. I have a few hills that this could take care of.

-Keep watering lawn to promote weed growth.

-9/28 last app of glysophate and sharpen mower blades

-9/29 seed down

-TTTF blend with Hybrid bluegrass from southern belle at 5lb per k and roll seed in. (blue tag cert) Picture is of a old bag at the store. They are receiving new shipments in the coming weeks.



-8oz of soil moist seed coat

-Should I add kelp and humic acid? Rates?

-Application of Sulfate of Potash 0-0-50 at 5lb per k. (too much at once?) Recommended via soil test.

-For nitrogen I am not sure which way to go. I already have 4 bags of Milo that I got on sale from my local ACE. Via VA restrictions I can only apply 32lb per 2500k. Should I use this or save it for a later date for final fert app at thanksgiving?

-Other option is to order some Urea 46-0-0 and apply at 2.2lb per k via VT recommendation.

-Tenacity app at the 4oz per acre rate.

-Apply pennington slopemaster soil tackifier and granular mulch (no seed or weeds) to reduce erosion from potential heavy storms and entire lawn is sloped to the front.

-Use rest of Urea to spoon feed after first mow until thanksgiving. Any apps to look at spraying at this time?

I recently ordered a backpack sprayer (field king max and tee jet nozzles)
Looking into a new spreader, the scotts mini is a little too small and way too top heavy on a slope surface when full. Recommendations that wont break the bank?
I have a riding and push mower with bag+mulching capabilities, lawn roller, pull behind core aerator, and pull behind dethacher.

Thanks for taking time to read this and any advice is much appreciated. 
Hoping to develop good practices for a few years, then possibly play around with the idea of a kbg reno after seeing some good success stories in the transition zone. (always wanted a kbg lawn)


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I was speed reading. I think you should use calcitic lime. 16 ton of topsoil is a lot of work. I would consider hiring it out. I would plan for seed down for mid Sept. Why? Because tasks are more likely to get delay than to pull early.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

I didn't see this earlier. How are things going? Are you still planning to do all that topsoil? I didn't see too much need from the pictures. Be careful about grading. You don't want water running toward the house. You also don't want your hardscapes to be valleys. Has the topsoil had a soil test? I agree with g-man that that job might be better left to professionals, if it really needs to be done.

The VA Tech potassium recommendation assumes you are tilling it in. So if you do do the topsoil stuff, put down the potassium and lime and let that be mixed in along with the topsoil. You've done 7.2 lb of lime out of the 50 per 1000 sq ft. so still need 42.8 lb/ 1000 sq ft. Can you find calcitic lime that's not fast acting? Trinity Turf in Richmond had some a few years ago, might still carry it. If not, you could use the Mag-I-cal for the remainder IF it's all mixed into the top 4-6 inches of soil.

If you decide not to bring in all this topsoil, you can do SOP at 2 lb/1000 sq ft for two applications a month apart and 1 lb/1000 sq ft for a third application. You can put down 42 lb of non fast acting lime, preferably calcitic, at one time. Best to keep the lime and fertilizer to weeks apart.

Milo is fine while the weather is warm and soil microbes are active. Probably ok for October. I'd switch to synthetic after that. Or you can use the urea for the fall and save the Milo for spring. Be sure to water in urea.

Do you have above ground irrigation figured out for your whole yard being renovated? Are you able to do several light waterings a day?


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

If you forego the topsoil project, is there any reason you couldn't seed earlier than late September? If you were doing just tttf, late September could work out. But you're going for a half tttf, half KBG mix and KBG can take 2-3 weeks (or longer) to germinate and we could have frost before germination. Then in October after germination just when you want your new grass to be growing, the weather gets cooler and cooler and days shorter and shorter and grass slows down. September and early October are prime grass growing days and you're going to be missing out on them if you wait so late to seed. The growing days that you will miss out on are more important than the 16 tons of topsoil, in my opinion,

The watering is crucial too. You need to keep the seed moist every day while it's waiting to germinate. If you haven't done so, set out your hoses and sprinklers and see what kind of coverage you have. You may want a timer too if you're not at home during the day.


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## MikeyVA (Jul 5, 2019)

Update:

Sprayed 2 rounds of glysophate to kill off lawn in late august.

Installed irrigation and drainage for roof.







Seed down oct 13th, 2019. Ended up being later than I wanted due to business travel. 
Put down Mountain View seeds Southern Belle ttf blend with hybrid bluegrass at 6lb/k. Rolled in.
Milorganite at 0.84lb N/1k
29-0-5 at 0.6lb N/1k
0-0-50 at 1 lb K/k
Tenacity at 4oz/acre rate. 
Calcitic lime
Pennington slopemaster pellets to control erosion.

Didn't get to take any pictures due to leaving for vacation the following day.

Had some pretty bad washouts in some areas due to a massive rain storm a week after seed went down. 
Spoon fed N+K after first second mowing until dec.

Late dec still staying green due to warm temps. Shows a lot of areas that got washed out. 






Fast forward to spring 2020. Grass never ended up going dormant and stayed green all winter. 
Got Prod. down end of March, missed the best window due to travel. Plan on hitting any weeds with tenacity if they emerge. 
Stocked up for the year on supplies:
Milorgonite 
Aneuw PGR 
SOP 0-0-50
Urea 46-0-0
AMS 21-0-0
Ferromec liquid iron.

Sprayed 2 rounds of tenacity at low rate to help with poa a control. Pulled by hand most of it.

First feeding in late march with urea 46-0-0 at 1lb/k ,SOP 0-0-50 1lb/k and a light does of Fe.

April 9 mow


Pressure washed the fence. 


Mow on May 2nd+put down 5 yards of mulch in the beds.




Really surprised how well it filled in this spring.
Looking to push it a little before summer hits to try to fill in as much as it can.


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## Butter (Nov 14, 2017)

@MikeyVA You really put in a lot of work. It looks really nice!


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## MikeyVA (Jul 5, 2019)

Butter said:


> @MikeyVA You really put in a lot of work. It looks really nice!


Thanks Butter!

Update:
Been putting down SOP every 4-5 weeks at .5lb per k
Applied milo on 5/21 at bag rate
Sprayed Eagle20 on 5/26 (started noticing die off and yellowing across the whole lawn)



Mowed today at 3.25". Seems to like this height the best, any taller and it starts to fold over and struggles to stand back up. Seems more thick at this height as well. May have to go up as we get closer to summer temps. 
Fungicide seemed to help stop the yellowing and die off.

Gonna spray Anuew pgr and put down more sop this week before the rains hit again.

Pics from this evenings mow.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Great color! Your hard work is paying off.


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## MikeyVA (Jul 5, 2019)

Chris LI said:


> Great color! Your hard work is paying off.


Thanks!

Lots of hot humid weather recently. Lawn starting to yellow a little from signs of leaf spot.

Applied some strobe pro g at 3lb/k to get ahead of the disease and the rain that's coming. 
Also applied 1lb/k SOP


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