# jskierko 2021



## jskierko

Location: Avon, IN (west side of Indianapolis)

Grass 18k Total: Front 8k (Bewitched Monostand 2020 Reno), Back 10k (Northern Mix)

Mowers:

Toro Timemaster

Swardman Edwin 2.1
Products:

Tenacity- Herbicide

Trimec- Herbicide

SedgeHammer- Herbicide

Serenade- Fungicide (Preventative)

Headway (Propi/Azoxy) Granules- Fungicide

Propiconazole 14.3- Fungicide

Prodiamine 65 WDG- Pre-Emergent

T-Nex- PGR

Ferromec AC 15-0-0- Fertilizer

Milorganite- Fertilizer

10-10-10- Fertilizer

0-0-50- Fertilizer

46-0-0- Fertilizer
Goals:

Lower soil pH, working toward optimum range (8.3 on 2020 soil test)- acquire sulfur or change N apps to 21-0-0

Top dress/level to assist with reel mowing experience

Improve irrigation accuracy, measuring individual zone outputs

Landscape/Mulch around obstacles in yard (electrical box, raised garden bed, swingset, fence line) to make mowing and trimming more efficient and less time consuming

KBG plug property line/reno area where germination was most sparse

Monitor 5 test plots (Barenbrug RPR, Bewitched/Award KBG, SS Sunny Mix, Bewitched KBG/Slugger PR, SS KBG Mix) in back yard to plan for potential back yard reno


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## jskierko

*4-Mar-2021*
Couldn't help but get a few passes in with the Swardman to scratch the itch.


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## jskierko

*14-Mar-2021* 
Put down 1st of Prodiamine split app that I am planning for the spring (2nd app planned for late May after doing some leveling with sand/soil). Still a tad early based on GDD tracker, but a good rain tomorrow will soak it in.


Have a few spots to hand pull/dig out, but overall I think things are looking good going into the season.


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## bf7

Good for you getting the pre-em down. How bumpy is the lawn and how much topdressing do you plan to use?

I'm rooting for the Bewitched / Award plot.


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## ccarlos19

@jskierko Lawn looks great. I like how dominant your lawn looks against your neighbors I bet they might start taking care of the lawn now.


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## jskierko

bf7 said:


> Good for you getting the pre-em down. How bumpy is the lawn and how much topdressing do you plan to use?
> 
> I'm rooting for the Bewitched / Award plot.


It's really been hard to assess how bumpy the lawn is. I will have to wait until my first mow to get a good feel. I have one area in my front yard where a buried downspout empties into the yard and drains out to the sidewalk. Over time it has sunk several inches, so that area will be my biggest challenge and obviously will have to be done over many months if I want to keep the yard intact without having to re-seed.

And that is the plot I am rooting for as well. I have hopes of doing a Bewitched/Award/Mazama blend or something similar when I reno the backyard. All plots look terrible right now as they were planted late (September 2020), had no pre-emergents or weed treatments, and are in the highest area of my property with the hardest soil. Basically I wanted to see which one would be the most resilient. Hopefully I will get some pics up this weekend.


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## jskierko

Picked up some new toys today. Stihl KombiSystem with blower, edger, trimmer, and bed redefiner. Fired up the motor today and could feel how powerful the system is. Been raining all day, so if I actually put it to use I'd just end up making a muddy mess.


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## jskierko

*20-Mar-2021
*Gave the lawn a cleanup mow and sidewalks edged (HOC 1"). Heard a few other mowers going in the neighborhood, but most will hold off as long as possible. Couldn't come soon enough for me.





Scalped spot from last fall starting to repair itself.

A few aerial shots below. Reno still has some filling in to do on the property lines, will plug those areas in the next few weeks.


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## jskierko

*31-Mar-2021*
Finally a day off after 10 straight days of working and giving Covid shots, felt great to get back out there! 
Double cut the back yard salad bowl mix to 1.75". If only the Triv didn't need mowed every day it'd be looking good!






Bewitched didn't get mowed today but is holding steady at 1" HOC. Don't think I'll have much wiggle room to drop it any lower unless I do some leveling in certain areas.


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## jskierko

*4-Apr-2021*
Mowed bewitched to 7/8" today. Not too crazy about the color, but it looks like I've still got quite a bit of dead material from winter in the stand. I decided I'd jumpstart it by giving the lawn its first dose of N for the year. 0.25 lb N/K (0.20 lb from urea and 0.05 lb from ferromec ac at 4oz/k). Hopefully that will encourage it to fill in a bit on the property lines where it's thin. Definitely need to focus on slowing down my passes. Every small bump causes the Edwin to slide quite a bit. Makes me feel like I can't mow a straight line.

Also pulled 18 plugs out from various areas to send off for soil testing. Need to invest in a soil probe because I have just been using the pro plugger and it's a pain to have to go backfill those holes.






Here's an "oops". Was showing the swardman to a buddy, so I raised HOC as I just wanted to give a quick display and not an actual mow. Forgot to tighten bolt on side opposite the height adjustment. As soon as I hit the grass the reel/bedknife slipped to 0" and dug into the ground.


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## bf7

I disagree on the color - I think it looks very green for early April. That dead stuff will be gone in no time.


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## g-man

I have to agree, something is odd with the color. I have bewitched too and it is fairly green now.


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## bf7

g-man said:


> I have to agree, something is odd with the color. I have bewitched too and it is fairly green now.


If his is odd then mine must be a horror show :lol:


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## g-man

@bf7 he lives on the other side of indy. He has a bewithed at 7/8in, so very similar to mine. Maybe it is still some yellow tips from the winter that need some mowing off.


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## jskierko

Bewitched front holding steady at 7/8". Still seeing a bit of yellow, but I think the color has improved a bit since the previous mow.




Sending soil samples off to 2 labs today (Waypoint and A&L Great Lakes). Crazy to see the differences in soil consistency between different parts of my yard.


Mowed back with the Edwin at 1.75". Stripes like a dream. And yes, that is pure Triv between those 2 trees :|


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## jskierko

Blanket sprayed Trimec Classic at 1.25 oz/k over the entire yard after a weekend of rain helped aid the weed growth. Flushed the sprayer out as the sun set.


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## jrubb42

jskierko said:


> Bewitched front holding steady at 7/8". Still seeing a bit of yellow, but I think the color has improved a bit since the previous mow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sending soil samples off to 2 labs today (Waypoint and A&L Great Lakes). Crazy to see the differences in soil consistency between different parts of my yard.
> 
> 
> Mowed back with the Edwin at 1.75". Stripes like a dream. And yes, that is pure Triv between those 2 trees :|


Man! Those back yard stripes!!🔥🔥.. even with the triv! Teach me how to mow straight lines lol.


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## jskierko

Bought a 7" hex plugger to aid in the mechanical removal of some spots of triv in the backyard. Figured this would be the more organic route to go as I have 2 dogs and a 5 year old that I don't want to expose to glyphosate. I have some massive areas and hope to undertake some bigger areas once I get some time off of work.


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## jskierko

Also gonna try to incorporate a little bit of @jrubb42's low cut turf strategy. This is just a test area. Had my bewitched mowed to about 1.5" after the reno last fall and have bounced around between 0.75" to 1" this spring (now that I have a reel). Color hasn't seemed to really be there so I ran the scarifier over the area and scalped it down to just over 0.5". Gonna see how well it bounces back and see if there is an improvement in color.


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## jskierko

Soil Test results are in. Sent to 2 labs this year (Top: Waypoint, Bottom: A&L Great Lakes) just to see if there were any glaring variances between reports. I only took 1 sample over the entire yard due to the fact that my previous tests were fairly consistent in results when testing the front and back separately. Some things that stood out to me:

pH- decreased to 7.5 from 8.1 last year, no ideas on the drop in pH, but definitely not mad about it. I will probably apply sulfur once this spring to boost sulfur number and hopefully get some additional pH lowering.

K- was 64ppm last year, now up to 148-159. Did nothing specifically targeted for K other than apply 10-10-10 several times throughout the growing season last year. I do have SOP on hand, so I plan on putting down at least 2-3lbs/k over 2 different apps to boost potassium and raise K:Mg ratio.

Organic Matter- was 3.15 (front)-3.5 (back) last year, up to 3.5-3.8 this year. Prior to getting serious about my lawn I did a lot of bagging, including bagging leaves. Last year I top dressed with compost and mulched all clippings/leaves in fall.


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## jrubb42

jskierko said:


> Also gonna try to incorporate a little bit of @jrubb42's low cut turf strategy. This is just a test area. Had my bewitched mowed to about 1.5" after the reno last fall and have bounced around between 0.75" to 1" this spring (now that I have a reel). Color hasn't seemed to really be there so I ran the scarifier over the area and scalped it down to just over 0.5". Gonna see how well it bounces back and see if there is an improvement in color.


Definitely make sure you give it enough room to grow and recover. I would start cutting at an inch or higher from the scalp. Let me know how that area goes, I'm curious how well this is working for others.


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## jskierko

Mowed this morning before I had to go to work, pics from tonight. Not a fan of the wet clippings sticking all over, but this mow never would have been possible if using a rotary. Gotta mow when time lets me... my neighbors love me I'm sure  (at least the swardman is fairly quiet)


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## jskierko

This sums up Indiana weather quite well:
April 20


...7 days later
April 27


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## g-man

Hmm, we had a lot more snow on the other side of town. A few of my trees have the branches on the floor.


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## jskierko

g-man said:


> Hmm, we had a lot more snow on the other side of town. A few of my trees have the branches on the floor.


Pic was taken Tuesday afternoon. Definitely accumulated more into the evening, can't see grass anymore. (I just lacked the motivation to take an updated pic this morning).


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## jskierko

Opened up the irrigation system today. Company I use was scheduled to come out on 4/20, but appointment was delayed until 5/25. Decided to do it myself so I don't have to rely on mother nature to water in any apps that need it. Took all of 10 minutes. Haven't tested every zone and adjusted any heads that need it, but man I can't believe I was paying someone to do that.

Also applied SOP at 1.25lbs/K.


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## jrubb42

jskierko said:


> Opened up the irrigation system today. Company I use was scheduled to come out on 4/20, but appointment was delayed until 5/25. Decided to do it myself so I don't have to rely on mother nature to water in any apps that need it. Took all of 10 minutes. Haven't tested every zone and adjusted any heads that need it, but man I can't believe I was paying someone to do that.
> 
> Also applied SOP at 1.25lbs/K.


Biggest scam in the landscape/irrigation business.


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## jskierko

Mowed at 15/16". Hoping raising the HOC will help the color out a bit. Probably will take the scarifier out and try to thin out the stand a bit as well. Lots of dead/brown material under the canopy. 


Still a small handful of weeds floating around. Will do a spot spray of Crossbow here soon to knock out as much as I can.


Planted 4 more arborvitae in the backyard.


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## jskierko

Ran the scarifier over half of the reno area (~3500 sq ft) in 2 directions. Unearthed a few weeds and poa a in the process, but got quite a bit of dead material out.


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## jskierko

Having a hard time keeping up with all the journals, let alone mowing my own yard. But I was able to sneak a double mow in this morning before work. Things are finally shaping up, lots of KBG going to seed though. HOC 1".


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## bf7

Looks great! I really like balance of color and height around 1"


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## jskierko

Reaching out to the masses here. Anyone know what's going on here? Seems like each mow is not producing a clean cut, blade yellows, integrity of blade never recovers, rinse and repeat with next mow. I can't think of anything else that could cause this.

What's my best course of action on something like this? Using a brand new Swardman Edwin with less that 20 hours on it. Reel cuts paper at every point across the bedknife and spins freely to a stop after disengaging reel. Any advice is appreciated.


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## g-man

There is something wrong with your reel. It is striking the leaf blades and not cutting them.


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## jskierko

g-man said:


> There is something wrong with your reel. It is striking the leaf blades and not cutting them.


Thanks @g-man! I assumed it was a result of the mow and not something systemic, just wanted reassurance. Best course to tighten reel/bedknife? Anything else I can try?


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## g-man

Im not familiar with the swardman setup, but i think this is more of an issue of the reel spinning either too fast or too slow relative to the forward motion. The reel blades hit the grass multiple times before the grass gets to the bed knife. I would check the belts for slippage.


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## jskierko

I think I have been able to get my poor quality of cut issue under control. Had to tighten adjustment on reel to bedknife. My downfall was that when I was testing the reel's ability to cut paper I was using my business cards that I had. I figured they were the perfect size to quickly go across the reel and I have them everywhere, house, car, wallet, etc. What didn't strike me was that a business card is typically a bit thicker than a blade of grass :roll:. Switched to a folded sheet of regular copy paper and realized I needed to tighten it up. Far less stragglers and much cleaner mows since then!

Threw down 0.25 lbs N via urea and 2oz/k Feature on 5/1. That coupled with a cleaner cut has helped the lawn start to turn the corner. Much happier with how things are looking now vs 1 week ago (the low angle sunlight pics do not do any favors, color looks better in person).









Also thought I'd post a few progression pics to showcase the spreading ability. 
Reno washout area: 8/22, 9/4, 9/24, 5/7
Property line: 3/14, 5/7


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## Wiley

@jskierko good lighting or not it's looking really good!


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## Liquidstone

Looking great. Are you applying your urea via spray and then watering in after a few hours? Are you also combining your urea and feature In the same tank?


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## jskierko

Liquidstone said:


> Looking great. Are you applying your urea via spray and then watering in after a few hours? Are you also combining your urea and feature In the same tank?


Yes. Tank spraying urea and feature in same tank. Usually water in (or plan around rain) within 8 hours. My front yard is set up pretty perfect for my 4 gallon sprayer as I have ~4k sq ft on the east side of driveway and ~4k on west side of driveway.


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## jskierko

Nothing beats starting off a vacation with a late morning mow! Hope to freshen up some mulch, clean up some landscaping, get some annuals planted, and take care of the thin areas on the property line in the next few days.


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## amartin003

Those stripes look great!!


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## jskierko

Some aerial shots from after today's mow. Able to see my project I have going on in the back removing the turf around the swingset and raised garden bed (should have rented a sod cutter but doing it by hand is a much better workout). Will end up saving me tons of trimming/mowing time as the swingset has about 140 contact points with the ground.






Seeing some areas of red thread in backyard NoMix. Same general area that I remember it in last season. Backyard is a lot lower input, so it is likely an N deficiency. Will probably drop some 10-10-10 back there and let it grow out. This will push me to put down preventative propiconazole on the rest of the lawn this coming week.


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## bf7

Backyard looks super dark in that aerial shot! Is that the no-mix? Some competition for the Bewitched!

Your overall property and landscaping just look really nice. Some elite turf only makes it stand out more.

Good luck on your summer fungus battle.


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## jskierko

bf7 said:


> Backyard looks super dark in that aerial shot! Is that the no-mix? Some competition for the Bewitched!
> 
> Your overall property and landscaping just look really nice. Some elite turf only makes it stand out more.
> 
> Good luck on your summer fungus battle.


Thank you good sir! That is the NoMix. It definitely looks dark and the house behind me (behind the row of arborvitaes) just mowed and have dried out clippings all over which creates some contrast and makes it appear very dark. At eye level it doesn't seem that dark. And yes, I'm still holding on to hope that the color of the Bewitched will continue to improve as it matures.


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## jskierko

Double mowed today at 7/8" to 1" (higher HOC in front of the house due to slope and unevenness). Lots of dried out seedheads make it look like I've got a bunch of dead grass scattered through the yard, ready for those to be gone for the year.

Also, the Timemaster finally got back on my good side today after some fine tuning. Was having serious problems with it bogging down (when it really shouldn't have) and self propel struggling to keep good pace on any slopes. Adjusted the drive belt tensioning pulley and adjusted the transmission tensioning cable, now it runs like it's new out of the box. Wish I would have tried troubleshooting this issues forever ago.


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## jskierko

Undertook a major project over the last 5 days. Decided to cut down on some mowing and trimming. Removed all turf from the area around the swingset in the back yard (plan to put down rubber mulch here) and 15" on either side of the 400+ ft of fence line using nothing but a spade shovel. Proceeded to spread 15 yards of mulch throughout the beds and along the fence.








Ended up filling probably 12 yards of a 15 yard dumpster. My body absolutely hates me.




The rock on the electrical box was the largest one I uncovered, although there were too many to count that were about half that size


Still have some touching up to do and will probably gly anything that pokes through in the next few days.




Cleaned up with a rotary mow at the lowest comfortable setting. Front yard is at 1.75" and the color looks really good IMO. Makes me tempted to bump the HOC up a bit from 1". Will probably have to do a few more mows with the timemaster to clean up the dirt clumps and strewn mulch (and broken glass that was scattered throughout the bottom of the dumpster that was delivered to me).




By the end of the weekend I was pretty much shot and just wanted to get the mulch off my driveway, as it was in front of the dumpster that is getting picked up tomorrow. So now I have several large piles dumped in areas that could temporarily house them. I don't normally mulch that thick under my maple :lol: .


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## g-man

It was too hot/humid for this work. It looks nice.


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## jskierko

g-man said:


> It was too hot/humid for this work. It looks nice.


Thanks! Needed highs in the 70s for like 3 more days, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Rather muggy out there, should probably pay attention to the lawn and get some fungicide down :|


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## PGrenauer

Your lawn looks great well done! If I may ask what are you using the Tenacity and the Trimec for?


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## jskierko

Applied Propiconazole at 2oz/k tonight. Running irrigation into tomorrow morning. Hoping to get first app of T-Nex in later this week.



PGrenauer said:


> Your lawn looks great well done! If I may ask what are you using the Tenacity and the Trimec for?


Thanks @PGrenauer! I used Tenacity at seeding, definitely helped alleviate weed pressure during the reno. Also have used multiple apps last fall to treat an area of bentgrass. It helped knock it back quite a bit. I had every intention of using it to light up Poa A this spring after the reno, but I didn't have too many bad areas and I figured, rather than making my whole lawn look sick for a month, I'd just hand pull what I saw (pulling weeds is therapeutic for me). I've also been working way more than normal this spring giving Covid shots on top of the regular job so I haven't had the large chunks of time that I wished I had. The Trimec I only did one blanket app over the entire yard this spring to treat any broadleaf weeds. I had a few areas of what I believed to be chickweed under the canopy and one app pretty much knocked it out.


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## PGrenauer

jskierko said:


> Applied Propiconazole at 2oz/k tonight. Running irrigation into tomorrow morning. Hoping to get first app of T-Nex in later this week.
> 
> 
> 
> PGrenauer said:
> 
> 
> 
> Your lawn looks great well done! If I may ask what are you using the Tenacity and the Trimec for?
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks @PGrenauer! I used Tenacity at seeding, definitely helped alleviate weed pressure during the reno. Also have used multiple apps last fall to treat an area of bentgrass. It helped knock it back quite a bit. I had every intention of using it to light up Poa A this spring after the reno, but I didn't have too many bad areas and I figured, rather than making my whole lawn look sick for a month, I'd just hand pull what I saw (pulling weeds is therapeutic for me). I've also been working way more than normal this spring giving Covid shots on top of the regular job so I haven't had the large chunks of time that I wished I had. The Trimec I only did one blanket app over the entire yard this spring to treat any broadleaf weeds. I had a few areas of what I believed to be chickweed under the canopy and one app pretty much knocked it out.
Click to expand...

Very helpful thank you! :thumbup: I need to apply Tenacity as well to remove several bentgrass areas in my lawn this fall. Did you spray just your bentgrass areas or do you spray the whole yard?


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## bf7

15 yards of mulch!! I think I had a herniated disk after spreading 3 yards! Bravo. Looks great.


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## wizardstephen

Great work! It's looking great!


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## jskierko

bf7 said:


> 15 yards of mulch!! I think I had a herniated disk after spreading 3 yards! Bravo. Looks great.


Thanks! I joked with my wife that pushing around wheelbarrows full of mulch felt like feathers compared to the wheelbarrows full of solid earth that I dug up prior to that.



PGrenauer said:


> Very helpful thank you! :thumbup: I need to apply Tenacity as well to remove several bentgrass areas in my lawn this fall. Did you spray just your bentgrass areas or do you spray the whole yard?


I blanket sprayed first just to highlight any areas, then I did multiple apps (didn't keep detailed notes) just targeting specific areas that were lit up.


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## jskierko

Someone needs to talk me out of an aggressive dethatch this late in the season. Mowed one side of the reno down to 7/8" and was really disheartened with the overall dull color, especially when compared to the other side of the yard as displayed by the picture below. I used a manual thatch rake and was amazed by how much dead material I got up out of just a 3x3' section (and I raked what I considered to be pretty lightly). Temps are going to be dropping here in the next few days, so I may jump on the opportunity to go at it aggressively knowing that it'll have some time to bounce back. I will be due for my 2nd part of split prodiamine app here soon too, so the timing of it seems optimal to give it a shot.


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## PGrenauer

jskierko said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 15 yards of mulch!! I think I had a herniated disk after spreading 3 yards! Bravo. Looks great.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! I joked with my wife that pushing around wheelbarrows full of mulch felt like feathers compared to the wheelbarrows full of solid earth that I dug up prior to that.
> 
> 
> 
> PGrenauer said:
> 
> 
> 
> Very helpful thank you! :thumbup: I need to apply Tenacity as well to remove several bentgrass areas in my lawn this fall. Did you spray just your bentgrass areas or do you spray the whole yard?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I blanket sprayed first just to highlight any areas, then I did multiple apps (didn't keep detailed notes) just targeting specific areas that were lit up.
Click to expand...

Perfect that helps thanks.. :thumbup:


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## g-man

jskierko said:


> Someone needs to talk me out of an aggressive dethatch this late in the season. Mowed one side of the reno down to 7/8" and was really disheartened with the overall dull color, especially when compared to the other side of the yard as displayed by the picture below. I used a manual thatch rake and was amazed by how much dead material I got up out of just a 3x3' section (and I raked what I considered to be pretty lightly). Temps are going to be dropping here in the next few days, so I may jump on the opportunity to go at it aggressively knowing that it'll have some time to bounce back. I will be due for my 2nd part of split prodiamine app here soon too, so the timing of it seems optimal to give it a shot.


I want to verticut mine or topdress with 1/4in of sand, but I cant find the time.


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## Vtx531

Don't do an aggressive dethatch. I did it last year and the amount of work was insane. Plus I think it made the lawn look worse, thinned it out, and it still has not totally recovered in spots. It took me three days straight working in the heat to get everything cleaned up and I had to pay money to drop off multiple trailer loads of debris. Just imagine how many of those 3x3' spots are in your yard...

I know my situation is different than you have with a reel mowed lawn but I sold my dethatcher and vowed to never buy another one. Again, the lawn looked worse and recovery was slow to nonexistent in the summer.


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## jskierko

Got a mow in this morning between rain showers. Liking the color at 1.25". Will probably keep it between here and 1" depending on how the PGR treats me (wanted to get that down today but the rain has other ideas- maybe later today). Cleaning up after a wet mow is the worst, but you gotta do what you gotta do on your day off.


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## jskierko

Update from 5 test plots planted on 2-Sep-2020.
1) Barenbrug RPR
2) Bewitched/Award KBG
3) SS5000 (Grand Slam PR, Radar Chewings Fescue, Midnight, Mazama, Bluebank KBG)
4) Bewitched KBG/Slugger PR (25/75)
5) SS1100 (Bluebank, Bewitched, Blue Note KBG)

Sorry for the smudges, was raining when I took these. And sorry for the fungal presence outside of the test plot area.









Overall the color and performance of the cool season mix (3) is the most appealing to me. It is being mowed at 2.25", so I may see how they perform at a lower HOC. The only test plot that I do not find appealing at all (collectively between color, density, and blade texture) is the Barenbrug RPR (1)- wife said it "looks like a chia pet".

Bonus aerial shot below from today. Shows a dramatic color difference between 1.25" (left) and 1" (right).


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## jskierko

No pics tonight. Got home, gave the yard a quick, but sloppy, cleanup mow, took a break for dinner, then T-Nex (0.3 oz/k) + FEature (2 oz/k) applied to bewitched. My last T-Nex app (last year) absolutely toasted my lawn, but I put it down at a high rate in the middle of summer


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## jskierko

Some evening shots from today's mow. A few areas of browning (likely a combination of recent T-Nex and PPZ apps), but overall satisfied with where things are at right now. HOC 1.125".






Grass at the top of driveway still recovering from the 100 trips I made over it hauling stuff to the dumpster.


Backyard mix at 2.25"


Gardens getting into full gear (wife's contributions, I take no credit)


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## jskierko

Alternate view tonight (rooftop shot). Did my 2nd app of prodiamine yesterday at 5 grams/K and propiconazole at 2oz/K. Watered in immediately.

With the phasing out of free GreenKeeper app, been setting up and utilizing gman's log sheet. Impressive stuff!

Also picked up some citric acid today to help lower the pH of my tank mixes, hoping it will help me get a better response from my foliar applications.


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## Liquidstone

Looks exceptional. Garden area looking tip-top as well. Good shot tonight.


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## JDgreen18

Beautiful


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## bf7

Nice shot with the sunset. Your grass seems to love the higher hoc!

Of course greenskeeper would shut down right after I start using it. I'm not sure I can bring myself to spend any additional time tracking gdd. Tempted to just eyeball growth. Where are the log sheets posted?


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## lbb091919

bf7 said:


> Nice shot with the sunset. Your grass seems to love the higher hoc!
> 
> Of course greenskeeper would shut down right after I start using it. I'm not sure I can bring myself to spend any additional time tracking gdd. Tempted to just eyeball growth. Where are the log sheets posted?


https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=921&p=20398


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## jskierko

Mowed at 1.125", likely where I will keep it heading into summer. A few stressed areas, but fungus seems to be held in check (minus the red thread in the back NoMix). Dollar spot probability approaching 70% with high temps and high humidity the last few days so I will have to keep a close eye on it. I have PPZ, azoxy, and thio on hand to rotate if needed. Last year I dragged the hose across the yard in the mornings to clear the dew off the grass blades, may incorporate that as well.

And I really need to get around to topdressing/leveling this fall. I am having to do multiple passes in several areas and it is quite challenging to get straight lines on uneven turf.

YTD Fert Totals:
N- 1.48 lbs
P- 0.45 lbs
K- 0.88 lbs


----------



## jskierko

Put down 2nd app of T-Nex on 6/15 at 0.25 oz/K (280 GDD) rate. Mixed with urea and feature. Watered in this AM.









Have a new bedknife on order for the Edwin. After inspecting it, bedknife was quite worn down on one edge, possibly from overtightening. I think that (coupled with non-leveled ground) is causing some missed cuts as seen in the pic below. 




Trying to do a better job of tracking expenses and seeing where I can cut costs. Added all my products into excel sheet and have cumulative totals used for the year. Total $ spent on all apps this year.


----------



## bf7

I'm afraid to put together a spreadsheet like this. I think you have been more fiscally responsible than me this year. Although, if you put down some Azoxy and Clearys, that total is going to skyrocket.


----------



## jskierko

Swapped out for a fresh bedknife before the mow today. Had quite a few cuts and worn areas due to my own carelessness, so I figured it'd be worth the price just to replace it. Crazy the amount of stuff that had gotten wedged under it.


Dismiss app from 6/14 has done a number on my areas of sedge. Reel mower totally missed cutting them, so I will either hand pull whatever dead plants I see or try to clean it up with the timemaster.


Double mowed and took the HOC down to 7/8". Color doesn't look too bad considering I've hit it with propiconazole, sulfentrazone, and t-nex in the last 10 days. Back yard looks stressed as can be from the same apps though, guess the bewitched is a bit more resilient.




Straight on shots for "straight stripe accountability" @JerseyGreens @g-man :lol: 







Definitely starting to show some signs of summer stress in spots. Haven't had a "normal" irrigation schedule running. Just been running manual cycles when needed. Probably will get into more of a routine watering schedule here soon.


----------



## JerseyGreens

🤣. Looking good man. You saved the beers for after the mow huh!

I got some straight stripe pictures for @g-man tomorrow. Got too late to get pics.


----------



## g-man

Fyi, i had issues with propi foliar under tnex regulation. Pete is doing propi under tnex regulation but he water it in immediately.


----------



## jskierko

Long overdue for an update... I decided to channel my inner @davegravy, had some time to kill, a few days with some milder weather (highs in the 70's), and frankly just wanted to tinker with things because I can't sit still. So I went ahead and dethatched the entire lawn on June 23 (an awful idea, I know, but boys will be boys).















Safe to say the stress response was quite great. So the past 10 days have been spent nursing it back to health. Plenty of water (we have been lucky enough to have received over 2" of rain in that time, supplemented with additional irrigation). I put down some humic, kelp, SLS, and milo to give it a gentle boost, and I let the T-nex expire. It is bouncing back but still has another week or so of "recovery".


Grass coming out of regulation just a few days after de-thatch.















Front yard looks the worst, as it was already in the worst shape going in. But most spots have recovered pretty well. One of the reasons why I dethatched was because I felt like my mower was "floating" while going certain directions on the lawn. I literally had to walk at a snails pace to keep it fairly straight. Thinning it out has helped a lot with that and I feel like I have much better control, especially on any slopes. Will I dethatch at this time of the year again? No, probably not. But hey, it's just grass and it's fun to document both the good and the bad.


----------



## davegravy

Well done! Happy to have inspired this &#128521;

Here's to experimentation and learning!

:beer:


----------



## g-man

Next time, just do sand topdressing instead.


----------



## jskierko

This is why I can't have nice things. Have some areas that are stressed/just aren't recovering given high inputs and extra care. Took out one hex plug, dug as deep as the weeding tool would allow, and pulled out quite the collection of rocks. These subdivision builders.... :|


----------



## Vtx531

Wow!


----------



## jskierko

Hex plugger is 3" in depth. Dug this monster out from just about exactly 3 inches under the surface. Did an irrigation audit a few weeks ago assuming certain spots just weren't getting good coverage. This explains why the results of the audit were pretty much inconclusive. I backfilled the holes with some bagged soil. Only tackled those small spots that I have pictured. Plan on poking around in the yard, marking spots, and doing a more in depth project during a time where the lawn is less stressed.


----------



## Chris LI

Great find! The lawn must have been suffering with that chunk of concrete next to the sidewalk.


----------



## Liquidstone

Big old hunk. Good work getting that outta there.


----------



## jskierko

4 days since last mow, grass out of regulation, had a good 1/2" taken off. Front yard is still recovering from the dethatch, but both sides of the house are just about back to full strength. Backyard NoMix (as seen in the bottom aerial shots) still has a long way to go and a few spots may not have the gusto to make it back until fall blitz.


----------



## g-man

With the current raining weather, I would give it some fast nitrogen to help recover from the damage.


----------



## jskierko

Wife sent me these pictures of our backyard right after a downpour today. This is maybe the 3rd time I've seen this happen in the 9 years I've lived here. Pop-up showers have been the norm here for the past several days, making any planning or predicting just about impossible. Grass is growing like crazy and it's been impossible to coordinate my time off of work with a long enough dry spell to get anything done.


----------



## g-man

I feel your pain.


----------



## jskierko

@Harts, here is my rubber mulch around the swingset. I picked up some rubber landscaping edging to separate the rubber mulch from the hardwood mulch that runs the entire length of my fenceline.


----------



## jskierko

Per @g-man's advice, gave the yard a small shot of N to help it recover with the dethatch stress. It is slowly coming back. Front faces due north, so it doesn't get the full sun that the rest of the yard gets, but it'll get there. 


Don't like mowing when the ground is saturated and water collects on the property line on the left side of this pic. The rear roller does a great job of getting the grass nice and dirty in that area. 


Insane amount of growth with a combination of N and all the rain we've been getting. Swardman missed a few of the longer blades (understandably so at this length).








Who says reel mowers can't handle slopes? Probably putting a lot of stress on the belts in this area.


----------



## lbb091919

Lookin good! That last picture gives me hope for my slopes. Although they don't get nearly as much sunlight as that area does.


----------



## jskierko

lbb091919 said:


> Lookin good! That last picture gives me hope for my slopes. Although they don't get nearly as much sunlight as that area does.


Put some Pennington Slopemaster down on your slopes. I had a solid rain 5 days after seed down and this area held up flawlessly while some gentler slopes (where I didn't put it down) did not.


----------



## lbb091919

Good to know it works. That's what I was planning to do


----------



## jskierko

Update from 5 test plots planted on 2-Sep-2020 (top to bottom in the picture below)
1) Barenbrug RPR
2) Bewitched/Award KBG
3) SS5000 (Grand Slam PR, Radar Chewings Fescue, Midnight, Mazama, Bluebank KBG)
4) Bewitched KBG/Slugger PR (25/75)
5) SS1100 (Bluebank, Bewitched, Blue Note KBG)


Again, these are all in my back yard which is a lot lower input than my reno area. Test plots with the rye grass fizzling out, regardless of the adequate rainfall. Most impressed with plot 5, even though the color is a bit more "light green" than I'd like to see, probably due to blue note if I had to venture a guess (described as having a "moderate green color", but good spring green up). Kind of makes me want to try a duostand with Bewitched/Bluebank. Not sure if I'll ever veer from a monostand though due to my obsession with the uniformity.


----------



## jskierko

Just went 10 days without mowing, probably the longest stretch I've gone without mowing during the growing season in years. Left for a week-long vacation on 7/17 and the few days leading up to it were all rain so I wasn't able to get a last minute mow in to hold it over. Had to bring out the rotary to clean it up, too long for the swardman. Also dropped SOP today at 2lbs/k.

I don't think it rained after I left (naturally) and I only triggered the irrigation once, so things dried out pretty quick (Edit: 6.29" of rain the first 2 weeks of the month, then 0.04" of rain the week I was gone). Today was the first day that it seemed "dusty" when doing my edging. Pics from today's low rotary mow below.








Bonus pics: vacationed on Lake Michigan and couldn't help but dream about having a view like this while mowing. Found myself looking at lawns more than the beach/lake. Almost offered to volunteer my mowing services for free.




Another bonus pic: came back from vacation to find some new gear waiting for me :thumbup:


----------



## bf7

jskierko said:


> I don't think it rained after I left


Of course! Everything still looks fantastic. These cultivars we use are trained to handle large amounts of stress.

Did you measure how long the grass was when you got back? Did you put down any PGR prior to leaving?


----------



## jskierko

bf7 said:


> Did you measure how long the grass was when you got back? Did you put down any PGR prior to leaving?


I did not measure. It still looked short compared to the neighbors on either side of me (as they each keep 4+ inch lawns). But anyone who frequents my street certainly had to know that I was not around. Here is a pic I took before mowing (don't mind the sedge). Again, hard to tell since it's up against a tall bordering lawn, but based on the clippings I was getting it was probably just over 2 inches.

I did put t-nex down on 7/14. Can't imagine how long it would have been without it. The grass was out of regulation prior to that. I certainly have not done the lawn any favors this season by going in and out of regulation, putting it under undue stress, and experimenting in general. Hope to get back to basics/consistency next year.


----------



## bf7

jskierko said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Did you measure how long the grass was when you got back? Did you put down any PGR prior to leaving?
> 
> 
> 
> I did not measure. It still looked short compared to the neighbors on either side of me (as they each keep 4+ inch lawns). But anyone who frequents my street certainly had to know that I was not around. Here is a pic I took before mowing (don't mind the sedge). Again, hard to tell since it's up against a tall bordering lawn, but based on the clippings I was getting it was probably just over 2 inches.
> 
> I did put t-nex down on 7/14. Can't imagine how long it would have been without it. The grass was out of regulation prior to that. I certainly have not done the lawn any favors this season by going in and out of regulation, putting it under undue stress, and experimenting in general. Hope to get back to basics/consistency next year.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I have another 9 day trip coming up end of Aug. Before my last one, I put down 0.4 oz/k with great success. Barely grew at all. Debating whether to keep it under regulation prior to the Aug trip since I had some bronzing recently after going rogue with the propi. I think a dose prior to leaving will be necessary though to not end up with 3+ inch grass.

Amazing how your stripes stayed intact with all the growing happening.


----------



## jskierko

Been about 2 weeks since any substantial rainfall and things are starting to fade and show stress around the area, with my yard being no exception especially around the edges. Plan is to ride it out and start hitting it with N here in about 4 weeks.

Put down:
T-Nex @ 0.375 oz/k
Clearys @ 2 oz/k
Main Event @ 2 oz/k

HOC: 13/16"


----------



## jskierko

7k sq ft reno (saving about 3k for the kid/dogs). Why not? Couldn't let everyone else have all the fun without me this fall. More Bewitched mono incoming.



1st gly down on 7/14. (Yes I missed a spot or 2 on my first gly app). Went on vacation 7/17-7/24. Came back to this. Did not tell wife. If I could have captured the look on her face when we returned :shock:


----------



## jskierko

Being gone for a week after gly leads to a lot of flopping over... lots of work to get this cut down but the scarifier cartridge is a beast.


Even the dogs don't dare desecrate the reno area...


----------



## Liquidstone

Haha. You've got some cojones! I dig it! It looks like you got a great kill on your first batch. What are the cliff notes moving forward and planned seed down date?


----------



## Stuofsci02

Golden retrievers love renovating…. Looks good


----------



## jskierko

Liquidstone said:


> Haha. You've got some cojones! I dig it! It looks like you got a great kill on your first batch. What are the cliff notes moving forward and planned seed down date?


Rough timeline of events:
8/4: Scalp and dethatch, gly blanket app #2, set up fence to section off reno area
8/5: Spread 5 yards 100% topsoil to level and fill small undulations, will probably hold back 0.5 yards to fix any settling that occurs
8/6-8/13: Fallow 
8/13: Gly blanket app #3
8/14-8/15 (or 8/18-8/19 weather dependent): seed down- going to seed at ~2.25 lbs/k with soil moist seed coat (seeded at 2.7 lbs/k on front reno and had some definite overcrowding), roll in seed using rear roller of Swardman, put down Scotts starter w/ meso, cover with 2 bales of peat per 1k, watch and wait


----------



## g-man

jskierko said:


> 1st gly down on 7/14. (Yes I missed a spot or 2 on my first gly app). Went on vacation 7/17-7/24. Came back to this. Did not tell wife. If I could have captured the look on her face when we returned :shock:


^+1

That's the way to do it. Never ask for permission. Always go for forgiveness. A gift card for nordstrom does help.


----------



## jskierko

g-man giving lawn advice and life advice, I should start paying him! In my defense I said I killed the lawn about 10 times while we were out of town, but I've been known to kid just a bit so I think my comments were taken in jest (understandably so).

Scalped it down about as much as I could today. Blanket sprayed 2nd glyphosate app. Fence to keep the dogs off the reno in progress. Soil coming in tomorrow.


----------



## Liquidstone

I'm taking notes over here. Gly, vacation, surprise, Nordstrom.

Think I've got it.


----------



## jskierko

5 yards of soil delivered today. Caught the delivery driver petting the current lawn (even though it's definitely entering into 'late summer' form).


Got all moved and spread using the lawn level. Will spend the next few days redistributing as needed and picking out some of those big chunks seen in the pictures. 




Hoping a few cycles of irrigation help break up some of the smaller clumps. 


The dirt brought in super germinators! Sprouted in 2 hours :lol:


----------



## Chris LI

jskierko said:


> Caught the delivery driver petting the current lawn (even though it's definitely entering into 'late summer' form).


That is probably the highest silent compliment that can be paid. :mrgreen:


----------



## jskierko

Still have to take care of what is alive. Getting pretty rough in areas of the hell strip, by the driveway, and around the tree in the front. Hasn't rained (at least a measurable amount) in weeks.


----------



## jskierko

Rolled and smoothed the reno area with the swardman and raised sprinkler valve box to level it with ground. Last blanket spray of glyphosate going down tomorrow. Shooting for seed down on Sat 8/14.


----------



## jskierko

Seed is down! 17.5 lbs of bewitched (2.5 lbs/k), rolled in, followed by starter fert w/ tenacity, 2 bags of slopemaster (sufficient to cover 1.2k), then 33 cu ft of peat moss. Back inside by lunch. Now we wait :thumbup:

Best of luck to all dropping seed today and in the future. And good luck to those already in progress.

Obligatory Class of 2021 Picture


----------



## lbb091919

Sweet! Very jealous of you guys dropping today. Sending good weather vibes your way


----------



## bf7

Man, this conjures up so many great memories from a year ago. Makes me (almost) want to start over again. The inevitable washouts that drive you insane - but it always works out in the end. You're a veteran now so you'll knock it out no problem. I am pumped to see your whole property covered in Bewitched!


----------



## jskierko

bf7 said:


> Man, this conjures up so many great memories from a year ago. Makes me (almost) want to start over again. The inevitable washouts that drive you insane - but it always works out in the end. You're a veteran now so you'll knock it out no problem. I am pumped to see your whole property covered in Bewitched!


Absolutely, always learning from experience. Last year I watered the reno overnight the night before seed down (it was way too much, mud caked on the lawn roller). This year I got up, assessed moisture, and manual ran zones until I got it looking how I wanted. Worst part is spreading the peat moss, probably half or more of the total time commitment. I can see why those peat spreaders are so appealing. And I will be at 83.33% Bewitched/16.67% No Mix. Had to leave 3k for the dogs. Spring will be the completion. A 50 lb bag was the perfect size for 18k. Can't believe I'm telling myself I am going to reel mow all of it.


----------



## Robs92k

That looks like fun!!

I'm really interested to see how the slope master comes out…I have a few ares that still don't look right.

Beautiful front lawn…super jealous.


----------



## jskierko

Robs92k said:


> That looks like fun!!
> 
> I'm really interested to see how the slope master comes out…I have a few ares that still don't look right.
> 
> Beautiful front lawn…super jealous.


Thanks! I had good luck using slopemaster last year. I posted a picture on 7/14 of one of the drainage areas I used it in. Had a solid rain on day 5 of my reno that led to some washouts, but that area held up like a champ.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Reno washout area: 8/22, 9/4, 9/24, 5/7
> Property line: 3/14, 5/7


That's AWESOME!
I'm reno-ing 3700 sf with KBG, hope to get this self repair ability rocking with new elite cultivars. Have many more pages to sift through.
Does KBG only spread when its cut shorter than a certain height? Been cutting mine in the backyard around 3-3.5" and the stand seems to not spread at all, but the newish 150sf re-seed that I did in my front yard a year ago has spread nicely and also has been cut at 3-3.5. I'm just wondering if the backyard's old KBG is tired and old.


----------



## Liquidstone

Man I didn't even see your update from yesterday, nice work! Can't believe you got that all done before lunch, you're an animal. Sending good weather vibes your way as well.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Update from 5 test plots planted on 2-Sep-2020 (top to bottom in the picture below)
> 5) SS1100 (Bluebank, Bewitched, Blue Note KBG)
> 
> 
> ...Most impressed with plot 5, even though the color is a bit more "light green" than I'd like to see, probably due to blue note if I had to venture a guess (described as having a "moderate green color", but good spring green up). Kind of makes me want to try a duostand with Bewitched/Bluebank. Not sure if I'll ever veer from a monostand though due to my obsession with the uniformity.


Sweet, i'm doing 50%bluebank, 25%mazama, 25%bewitched on my 3700sf.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Robs92k said:
> 
> 
> 
> That looks like fun!!
> 
> I'm really interested to see how the slope master comes out…I have a few ares that still don't look right.
> 
> Beautiful front lawn…super jealous.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! I had good luck using slopemaster last year. I posted a picture on 7/14 of one of the drainage areas I used it in. Had a solid rain on day 5 of my reno that led to some washouts, but that area held up like a champ.
Click to expand...

I've made it through all 6 pages! Where did you buy slopemaster? Lowes said they don't have it....


----------



## jskierko

steffen707 said:


> Does KBG only spread when its cut shorter than a certain height? Been cutting mine in the backyard around 3-3.5" and the stand seems to not spread at all, but the newish 150sf re-seed that I did in my front yard a year ago has spread nicely and also has been cut at 3-3.5. I'm just wondering if the backyard's old KBG is tired and old.


There are differing theories that I've come across on this. Some say mowing low (and frequently) encourages the plant to focus on underground (root and rhizome) development. Yet I've also read that it naturally wants to replace shoot growth when mowed. If you are using a pre-emergent, Dimension apparently discourages spreading more than prodiamine, so I'd stick with prodiamine as a pre-emergent. Other theories mentioned that using only N based fertilizers will only promote new top growth, but I've gone through the fall N blitz and seen huge areas close up.

Ultimately, it probably does come down to the specific cultivars genetics and spreading ability. As long as you are keeping it properly fed (with something balanced) it is going to spread. If you are concerned about bare areas not filling in I'd recommend using a pro plugger or hex plugger (check out Pete's hex plugged area!) to help fill the area and watch it spread.



steffen707 said:


> I've made it through all 6 pages! Where did you buy slopemaster? Lowes said they don't have it....


I definitely purchased mine at Lowe's and I just checked stock at my local Lowe's and they do carry it, so you may have to hunt around to different stores.


----------



## steffen707

It appears you can't order the slopemaster for delivery, but there are bags available at other Lowes, just not my local one.

I'm going to try prodiamine on the non-reno part of lawn and tenacity on the reno side this fall and next spring. I've heard of dimension, but don't own any of it.

My soil is high in Phosphorus, so i've only been using fert with nitrogen and potassium.

I'll see how the reno goes this fall and see if it spreads like the new cultivars used a small seeding I did before. If not, i'll dive into the world of getting these suckers to spread faster.


----------



## jskierko

Highlighting a few of the problem areas while waiting on germination of the reno.

Area around tree roots struggling. Spots closer to mulch probably due mostly to stress from turning the mower around the tree. Areas further out may be more competition for water with surface roots. 


I'm pleased with the overall color for a <1 year old kbg. 


Some of the worst areas look similar to this. I do see plenty of new growth so I'm confident this will fill in rather quickly when I start dropping N here in a few weeks.


Really need to work on conditioning the soil on the property line here. Can hardly break the surface with a screwdriver.


----------



## jskierko

Day 5 and we have liftoff! Haven't checked the whole area but definitely breathing a sigh of relief to see some babies!


----------



## lbb091919

Day 5 wow! Lots of babies in that pic! Congrats!


----------



## steffen707

What grass seed again? SSS 1000?


----------



## jskierko

steffen707 said:


> What grass seed again? SSS 1000?


Bewitched. Same day of germination as my reno last season.


----------



## jskierko

Picked up fall blitz ammonium sulfate today. Enough N to carry me most of next season (105 total lbs of N or 5.83 lbs of N/k). 30 minute drive each way for me so I figured I would stockpile a bit. 


Got my sharpened reel back from reel rollers. Less than 2 weeks from departure to return!


Rotary mowed in the meantime while the reel was out. Stopped mid-mow so I could capture a visual of the differences in appearances of reel mowed (left) vs rotary mowed (right).


----------



## jrubb42

Looking good with the stripes again man. Congrats on the germination!


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> What grass seed again? SSS 1000?
> 
> 
> 
> Bewitched. Same day of germination as my reno last season.
Click to expand...

Wow, bewitched in 5 days....AWESOME!

Congrats!

Reel mow stripes look better than rotary by far. yeesh. need me some reel moving next year. :bandit:


----------



## jskierko

Welp, definitely jinxed myself. Knew I had been way to fortunate missing all the pop-up storms in the area. Just gonna ride this out and see what happens in the next week.


----------



## bf7

Ouch. No reason to fret, as I know you realize. Always ends up working out. You have another month or so to drop more seed if needed.


----------



## Liquidstone

Man I feel your pain. Like you said, shit happens. Now will have to deal with it and things will work out! Looks like you got a decent amount of rain there regardless.


----------



## Bob Loblawn

Congrats on the germination, sorry to see the rain. Sounds like you've got the right mentality…Hoping for the best!


----------



## jskierko

Thanks all. I got home from work during the worst of it. Pretty sure I quoted Bruce Almighty and said "smite me, almighty smiter!" while I was standing on my porch. My family probably thought I had gone off the deep end (partially true). Just surveyed the damage and found some partially germinated seeds that had washed down into the mulch, but several of the areas I could see still had good germination intact. Saw a few totally bare areas which could be washout or it just could be lack of any germination at this point (only 6 days in). Next weekend will be the determining point as to if I will throw down any additional seed. Likely will have to add some where my downspout drains out into the yard as that was an absolute waterfall.


----------



## jrubb42

Damn man. Guess it's time for a drink and regroup once you see the germination. When renos get hit like this they always end up working out in the long run. Everything will be alright.

That Bruce Almighty line made me lol a little bit. :lol:


----------



## lbb091919

It hurts me to see that much rain but as everyone else has said, it will all work out. I can picture you standing on the porch just watching because I do the very same thing haha


----------



## steffen707

Woah nelly! You didn't want this to be too easy did you? j/k Sounds like these things end up working out though. Good vibes headed your way. :nod:


----------



## jskierko

Here's what happens when you don't think your irrigation strategy through. I had previously mentioned that my reno and current lawn split irrigation zones, so my current backyard is receiving water multiple times per day. Well I thought these were just spots from the dogs until I went out this morning. They blew up fast! I guess mid 80s and wet grass all day don't go well together. Dropped some Headway on it tonight, but I'm killing this off to complete the Bewitched next year, so not stressing about it.


----------



## g-man

Be careful, that could be pb.


----------



## jskierko

g-man said:


> Be careful, that could be pb.


I am just going to treat it as PB. Didn't really notice any "greasy" consistency, but going to monitor as I am not liking the looks of it. Will probably have to throw out a manual sprinkler so I don't have to run the 2 zones that are hitting my current backyard lawn. I just put down some azoxy, but will pick up some mefenoxam if I see it progress. May be too little, too late at that point, but it will be good to have an additional fungicide on hand for future use.


----------



## steffen707

what is PB?


----------



## jskierko

steffen707 said:


> what is PB?


Poo Brown lawn syndrome. JK, pythium blight, a fungus that spreads and can kill large sections of lawn very quickly (we're talking a matter of days or faster).


----------



## steffen707

:shock: 
And if an amateur like myself would ever need to kill this fungus or others, what would a good "go to" fungicide be?
mefenoxam or that azoxy? I don't own ANY fungicides at the moment


----------



## jskierko

Mefenoxam is gonna give you good protection, but it's uses are much more limited. Azoxy doesn't have great efficacy, but could benefit. It also is much more wide spectrum in the types of funguses it treats. In any situation fungicides should be your last line of defense. Making sure your turf dries out (don't water at night), getting the right fertilizers down at the right time (pythium doesn't like high nitrogen, while some fungus will thrive in nitrogen deficient areas), bagging clippings to prevent spreading, making sure you have good drainage are all going to be things to protect from problems getting out of control. It'd be a good idea to have some of the more common ones on hand, propiconazole, azoxystrobin, etc. I also try to rotate a 3rd class, I use thiophanate, while I know @g-man likes xzemplar.


----------



## steffen707

Dang, thanks for the lesson. i'll have to spend some time looking into this one my seed is down on my reno and i'm playing the waiting game.


----------



## g-man

I would just back off watering and let the azoxy work. I would even drop some bewitched there. You are planning on doing a reno, so no point in saving the lawn with mefenoxam. Do watch the renovation areas. Our current weather sucks (hot/humid).


----------



## jskierko

Hot, humid weather has not been too kind to the lawn. Highs near 90, overnight lows staying above 70 for the next week. Gonna put down clearys at curative rate tonight to try to stymie some of the brown patches pictured below.


----------



## jskierko

Day 9 Pics




Suboptimal conditions really seem to be getting the reno off to a slow start. I will update some reno pics later this week, but here is a comparison of first week after reno weather for this year vs last year (seeded Aug 14 this year and Aug 13 last year). A lot hotter and muggier this year, no cool nights (almost 6 degrees warmer overnight this year vs last year).

*2021*


*2020*


----------



## rhart

Really enjoyed reading through your 2020 reno journal. I'm on the reno path right now


----------



## Liquidstone

It still looks like you are having solid germination, right?


----------



## jskierko

Liquidstone said:


> It still looks like you are having solid germination, right?


Germination is widespread. Hard to see all the way in the middle since I can't walk on it, but the perimeter looks good. The swale area that flooded will undoubtedly have some bare spots, but that's in a part of the yard that I can't really see from the house so I may just let it go and see how long it takes to fill in.


----------



## steffen707

you have a very nice lawn. Love the stripes, and its clean. The arbavatae like tree line in the back is pretty. Even if that's not on your property.

So you're at 9DAG - days AFTER germination?


----------



## jskierko

Thanks! And my neighbor put those in a few years before we moved in, so they have been there about 12 or so years. Great privacy screen. And for my days I go by days after seeding (with seed down day being day 0). So the pics are 9 days post seeding.


----------



## steffen707

ahhh, 9DPS, I'm calling mine DAS - days After seeding =)

When the guide says do xyz so many days after germination, DAG - is that from the first germinated seed, last germinated seed, or average germinated seed "birth"?

My wife would kick my butt if she knew I felt like i'm giving birth to this lawn, lmao "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HOW HARD IT IS TO GIVE BIRTH!"......true dat


----------



## g-man

I'm downtown Indy today watching this crazy downpour. Hopefully not a bad washout for you. It was a gentle rain in fishers.


----------



## jskierko

If my reno decides to make it through, it will be the most resilient stand out there. Getting quite a bit of harsh weather training. You'll notice the hail in the grass. Getting absolutely pummeled!


----------



## jskierko




----------



## Liquidstone

Man, i'll be rooting for those guys. That looks like some serious downpour.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


>


Dang man! Makes my little storm look like Carrot Top VS your Tormund from Game of Thrones.


----------



## g-man

Your pictures at 11:47 was still the first wave of rain. The second one lasted until 1pm at downtown Indy. I think the weather ppl missed the forecast big time.


----------



## jskierko

Liquidstone said:


> Man, i'll be rooting for those guys. That looks like some serious downpour.


Hopefully they will be rooting for themselves. Pun intended.


----------



## jskierko

g-man said:


> Your pictures at 11:47 was still the first wave of rain. The second one lasted until 1pm at downtown Indy. I think the weather ppl missed the forecast big time.


Luckily the 2nd wave missed us other than a slight drizzle. Obviously whatever damage was going to be done had already been completed. I will probably have more grass growing in the mulch than I will in the reno area. I have extra seed and will make a decision this weekend after things dry out and I see what areas bounce back. Realistically I'll probably spread about 2 lbs over the worst areas and hope for the best.


----------



## BBLOCK

That's just savage.

Can't even buy a drop of rain here I don't know what's worse lol.

Altho that's not good for much but run off and washing seed down the drain.

Hopefully the yard was established enough it'll pull thru.

Hope for some strong sun tomorrow


----------



## lbb091919

This is just awful. Good news is you've got extra seed, some time and the experience of past renos on your side.


----------



## JerseyGreens

I applaud your calmness man.


----------



## jskierko

JerseyGreens said:


> I applaud your calmness man.


You can only control the controllables. Seed blankets would have been a controllable... hmmm. Hindsight is 20/20 though. I have seen enough germination where I know I will have some grass growing. It's gonna take TLC to get it to where I want it, but I'm the type of person that can't sit still and loves a challenge, so I'll take everything in stride. If my struggles can help someone on the forum know what to expect and create a strategy based on things they witness then I am content.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> JerseyGreens said:
> 
> 
> 
> I applaud your calmness man.
> 
> 
> 
> You can only control the controllables. Seed blankets would have been a controllable... hmmm. Hindsight is 20/20 though. I have seen enough germination where I know I will have some grass growing. It's gonna take TLC to get it to where I want it, but I'm the type of person that can't sit still and loves a challenge, so I'll take everything in stride. If my struggles can help someone on the forum know what to expect and create a strategy based on things they witness then I am content.
Click to expand...

 On what day after seed down did this huge storm happen for you?

So I had a bit of washout 2 days after seed down, do you think I should throw down more seed in those areas now, or wait for germination to see if the areas are bare? Apologies if this is thead-jacking ish.


----------



## steffen707

JerseyGreens said:


> I applaud your calmness man.


It is very helpful/inspiring to see you reno veterans stay calm when bad stuff happens, makes it far easier for me to remain calm and remember that there's not a whole lot I can control at this point and there's nothing that more time/energy/seed can't fix.

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## jskierko

steffen707 said:


> On what day after seed down did this huge storm happen for you?
> 
> So I had a bit of washout 2 days after seed down, do you think I should throw down more seed in those areas now, or wait for germination to see if the areas are bare?


The two storms that had visible washout happened on the 6th and 11th day after seeding. I decided to give things a chance (not immediately add more seed) for two reasons: I had already seen germination at that point and could see most of the seedlings still intact once things dried out and also because my soil is pretty clayish, thick, and tends to hold onto things really well. Since I rolled the seed in and it had a few days to work down into the soil most of the washout was topdressing material (peat moss and slopemaster). I'm sure there were some seeds/sprouts in there, but knowing what I know about the consistency of the ground I figured I'd ride it out.

I also like to reach a definite conclusion of "bare areas" at this stage in the game because of irrigation. You have to be able to find the right balance of scaling back irrigation in areas where grass is growing in vs irrigating areas where you have put down fresh seed. Overwatering young seedlings can lead to fungal disease, so it requires much more diligence in irrigation. Sure you can hand water spots where you put down additional seed, but I am not home enough to babysit it and rely on the beauty of automation to keep me going.

At such an early stage (day 2), before you really have widespread germination I would see no harm in throwing down more seed. Especially if you have looser soil or soil you brought in that might not be as compacted. That soil is a lot more likely to wash away/erode relative to the clay that I am working with.



steffen707 said:


> Apologies if this is thead-jacking ish.


This is a journal about all things lawns. I don't care if you post about how, as a kid, you went out in your lawn and tried to dig a hole to China. :thumbup: Now if you come on here and post about your family trip to Wally World in 1995 that might be derailing things a bit.


----------



## steffen707

Now that you mention family trips, this one time...... Jk

Great advice and much appreciated insight. I do have sandy soil and added some soil in areas. We're supposed to get another thunderstorm this afternoon, I will assess the situation after that. This whole reno has taught me a lot about my lawn. I had to adjust several sprinklers that I thought were spot on. Depressions I didn't know existed.
A lot of hard work, but it's been fun.
Im excited to see how everything works out for you.


----------



## jskierko

Took the new GM1600 out for a spin. HOC was set to 0.75", which was lower than what I was currently cutting at, but I just was eager to fire it up and get it out there. Talk about a learning curve. Definitely takes quite a few passes to learn how to appropriately slow, stop, and turn at the end of each pass. Thing feels like it weighs 5x what the swardman weighs. I can definitely see how anyone with a lot of obstacles in their yard would prefer the maneuverability of a residential reel mower. Think I will have fun with this one!


----------



## Chuuurles

Awesome mower, congrats! They are beasts for sure but your lawn suits a 1600.


----------



## lbb091919

After those downpours it was probably a welcome relief to get that baby out. Are you planning on keeping the swardman?


----------



## jskierko

lbb091919 said:


> After those downpours it was probably a welcome relief to get that baby out. Are you planning on keeping the swardman?


Yeah it was "retail therapy" I guess. Hopefully I can some day get a backyard to use it on. I will probably keep it for at least the next season or so at least. See how I adjust to using the GM in tighter quarters. I do like the attachments for the swardman, but obviously if I never use it to mow it's not a great investment.



Chuuurles said:


> Awesome mower, congrats! They are beasts for sure but your lawn suits a 1600.


Thanks! Hoping the weight of it helps flatten things out for me as well. Got it with just over 500 hours on it, so hopefully I am done purchasing mowers for a while!


----------



## Johnl445

jskierko said:


> Highlighting a few of the problem areas while waiting on germination of the reno.
> 
> Area around tree roots struggling. Spots closer to mulch probably due mostly to stress from turning the mower around the tree. Areas further out may be more competition for water with surface roots.
> 
> 
> I'm pleased with the overall color for a <1 year old kbg.
> 
> 
> Some of the worst areas look similar to this. I do see plenty of new growth so I'm confident this will fill in rather quickly when I start dropping N here in a few weeks.
> 
> 
> Really need to work on conditioning the soil on the property line here. Can hardly break the surface with a screwdriver.


@jskierko how many years after seeding will you see the best color out of your ***, i'm in my sophomore year as well I like the color so far and I'm curious when it will reach its peak? Thanks


----------



## steffen707

do you have the verticutter for the swardman? an edwin or elctra? has the verticutter helped lateral growth?


----------



## jskierko

Johnl445 said:


> @jskierko how many years after seeding will you see the best color out of your KBG, i'm in my sophomore year as well I like the color so far and I'm curious when it will reach its peak? Thanks


I am not really sure the answer to this. I have heard that it takes a full 2 seasons to reach optimal potential, but last season was my first full reno so only time will tell. Check out Pete's journal and you can see the progression. I don't think he specifically mentions it's "peak", but, like a fine wine, it only seems to get better with age.



steffen707 said:


> do you have the verticutter for the swardman? an edwin or elctra? has the verticutter helped lateral growth?


I have an Edwin, but I don't have the verticutter attachment.... yet. I have the scarifier and I played with it over the summer and you can see from pics I posted when I did it that it left the grass blades tattered. Took a while to recover from it. Probably won't try that in the middle of the summer again. Verticutting shouldn't have as bad of an effect as far as tearing up your good grass and it will give you better penetration of water and nutrients. Although I would like to get the attachment my budget is basically exhausted and I would need to find a way to smuggle it in so my wife doesn't divorce me over the hobby (see screenshot of text referencing new mower delivery today). I say that I am going to buy or do a lot of things and she rarely believes me, until it happens. :|


----------



## steffen707




----------



## steffen707




----------



## jrubb42

How are things looking on the reno from the storms?


----------



## jskierko

jrubb42 said:


> How are things looking on the reno from the storms?


I have decent germination, especially around some of the outer edges. Hard telling from the pic I took this morning, but the middle is pretty sparse. Not sure if it is due to runoff towards the swingset or because the middle area has been wetter than the rest of the reno area. Noticed last year that my wettest areas were my slowest to come up and fill in. Holding on to hope that it will wake up a bit in the next few days (I do have small amounts of germination there but definitely see some totally bare spots).


----------



## Liquidstone

I feel like a triplex is the next step on this venture!


----------



## jrubb42

I can definitely see a green haze in most of the photo but you're probably doing the right thing by being patient and seeing what's actually there. These storms are beating everyone's Reno's up right now. It's crazy.


----------



## jskierko

Liquidstone said:


> I feel like a triplex is the next step on this venture!


If it's the next step on the venture it may be the final step to my wife leaving me haha. Don't plant any ideas in my head because once I start the research it's game on!


jrubb42 said:


> I can definitely see a green haze in most of the photo but you're probably doing the right thing by being patient and seeing what's actually there. These storms are beating everyone's Reno's up right now. It's crazy.


Yeah I feel like even as the day progressed today I saw more green. Part of the reason I drive myself crazy when I am home, constantly checking areas for progress. I have rain forecasted the next 3 days and Wednesday will be my decision day on if I put more seed down. Right now I'm honestly 50/50. May experiment and test KBGs true spreading capabilities.


----------



## Stuofsci02

Stripes look tight! I'm watching your Reno. Congrats on the sprouts!


----------



## g-man

Most of last night and today waves of rain missed me. But it looks that you weren't so lucky.

Apparently tomorrow is the last day of rains.


----------



## jskierko

Not much moving of the needle in the last 48-72 hours. As @g-man mentioned, tomorrow should be the last day of substantial rains. Gameplan is to put down an additional 1 lb of seed per k (with particular emphasis on the bare areas, obviously) on 9/1. I am going to scale watering times back at least 25%. Had certain areas staying visibly wet and they have next to no germination. Cooler temps coming in the next few weeks should minimize watering needs as well. I will use only my feet to achieve good seed to soil contact and will only spread peat in the bare areas. :thumbup:


----------



## steffen707

sounds like you have all the steps figured out! good luck with round 2.


----------



## Stuofsci02

Oh no.. damn you Mother Nature…. Why?


----------



## jskierko

Seed down day #2... 18 days after original seeding. Put down an additional 7 lbs of seed, focusing on the bare spots. Used the last bale of peat that I had to cover areas with no germination. Much cooler temps forecasted. Now to avoid the monsoons that crushed me on day 6 and 11. Shockingly, the areas that had rivers flowing through it held up pretty well and have a good amount of grass, a testament to the slopemaster I had put down.


----------



## JerseyGreens

These last set of pictures are looking good man. That green haze is definitely widespread.


----------



## jskierko

JerseyGreens said:


> These last set of pictures are looking good man. That green haze is definitely widespread.


Yeah I definitely felt a lot better about things after walking out and taking a closer look. Think the break in the weather here is really going to kickstart things.


----------



## steffen707

If you end up having overcrowding in your double seeded areas, what does one do to remedy that? Scarify the area a bunch to thin it out?
Also what does overcrowding look like?


----------



## lbb091919

steffen707 said:


> If you end up having overcrowding in your double seeded areas, what does one do to remedy that? Scarify the area a bunch to thin it out?
> Also what does overcrowding look like?


I used @bf7 's reno as a reference while planning mine and he had some overcrowding in one spot. Scroll near the bottom of the page and you'll see it. From reading the posts after, it looks as if it just worked itself out without any intervention.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=21439&start=100


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> If you end up having overcrowding in your double seeded areas, what does one do to remedy that? Scarify the area a bunch to thin it out?
> Also what does overcrowding look like?
> 
> 
> 
> I used @bf7 's reno as a reference while planning mine and he had some overcrowding in one spot. Scroll near the bottom of the page and you'll see it. From reading the posts after, it looks as if it just worked itself out without any intervention.
> 
> https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=21439&start=100
Click to expand...

Interesting, so overcrowding can make the grass take on a different color? Because it's competing for air/water/nutrients?


----------



## lbb091919

I think that was the consensus IIRC.


----------



## jskierko

steffen707 said:


> If you end up having overcrowding in your double seeded areas, what does one do to remedy that? Scarify the area a bunch to thin it out?
> Also what does overcrowding look like?


I will most likely let it take its course over the next year. I have a spot in my reno from last year that was and still is overcrowded. The blades are much finer and take on a fine fescue like appearance. If push comes to shove I would consider scarifying or even taking a few plugs out of the area and backfilling with compost to let it spread to its' natural consistency. I am not overly concerned with overcrowding though because, even with the additional seed I put down (17.5 lbs + 7 lbs), that only puts me at 3.5 lbs per k and I am certain that I lost a pretty good amount of that.


----------



## bf7

lbb091919 said:


> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> If you end up having overcrowding in your double seeded areas, what does one do to remedy that? Scarify the area a bunch to thin it out?
> Also what does overcrowding look like?
> 
> 
> 
> I used @bf7 's reno as a reference while planning mine and he had some overcrowding in one spot. Scroll near the bottom of the page and you'll see it. From reading the posts after, it looks as if it just worked itself out without any intervention.
> 
> https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=21439&start=100
Click to expand...

Thanks for the shout-out @steffen707! I'm humbled that the 2021 class is using my journal as a reference!

Edit - it was actually @lbb091919 that mentioned my journal. Sorry :lol:

You are correct about that spot by the tree. It looks no different from the rest of the yard now. However, there are a bunch of areas in my backyard that are still slightly lighter than everything else (not as bad as the spot by the tree). They appear to be where peat moss washed into piles and resulted in overcrowding. For whatever reason, the heavy peat moss areas are taking a lot longer to work themselves out, and they get really stressed in the summer. The effects of washouts can linger for years it seems.

Looking good @jskierko! Navigating these monsoons like a pro. And congrats on the 1600!


----------



## jskierko

Need to invest in a HOC gauge. Used a straight edge and ruler to raise the GM1600 up to 15/16". Think I got it pretty close on both sides but it might be off just a hair. Have some higher edges (seen in the last pic), but I'm sure that's due to being on uneven ground more than my HOC adjustment.


----------



## Stuofsci02

You can make on for $5 with a piece of stiff hard wood and a screw..


----------



## rhart

Looks like things are heading in the right direction for you!


----------



## JerseyGreens

Dude this looks killer with the 1600!! &#128525;


----------



## jskierko

JerseyGreens said:


> Dude this looks killer with the 1600!! 😍


Thanks! Really happy with the purchase. Finally getting comfortable with maneuvering and controls. Only place I prefer the swardman is down in the swale/drainage area as the 1600 is a bit too wide to cut cleanly at the bottom of the dips.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Need to invest in a HOC gauge. Used a straight edge and ruler to raise the GM1600 up to 15/16". Think I got it pretty close on both sides but it might be off just a hair. Have some higher edges (seen in the last pic), but I'm sure that's due to being on uneven ground more than my HOC adjustment.


Dang that looks b*tchen! If i get this pgr thing dialed in I might have to invest in a reel mower in 2022.


----------



## mribbens

The DIY height of cut gauge works pretty well, you are putting down lazers man, looking amazing!!


----------



## lbb091919

steffen707 said:


> Dang that looks b*tchen! If i get this pgr thing dialed in I might have to invest in a reel mower in 2022.


Might? It's a MUST!


----------



## JerseyGreens

jskierko said:


> JerseyGreens said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dude this looks killer with the 1600!! 😍
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! Really happy with the purchase. Finally getting comfortable with maneuvering and controls. Only place I prefer the swardman is down in the swale/drainage area as the 1600 is a bit too wide to cut cleanly at the bottom of the dips.
Click to expand...

Did you Reno Fall of 2020 or 2019? Trying to guesstimate what year this Reno is in because it looks solid.


----------



## jrubb42

jskierko said:


> Need to invest in a HOC gauge. Used a straight edge and ruler to raise the GM1600 up to 15/16". Think I got it pretty close on both sides but it might be off just a hair. Have some higher edges (seen in the last pic), but I'm sure that's due to being on uneven ground more than my HOC adjustment.


Looks beautiful man! Those stripes are on point!

I agree with @Stuofsci02. A straight 2x4 and a bolt or screw is all you need.


----------



## jskierko

Thanks all! The weight of the GM has definitely aided in making straighter passes. The Swardman is so light that it tends to float and slide a bit on any slopes.



steffen707 said:


> Dang that looks b*tchen! If i get this pgr thing dialed in I might have to invest in a reel mower in 2022.


Even if you don't get PGR dialed in you will still have to invest in a reel mower. PGR is definitely not a necessity. It undoubtedly has benefits, but if you are dedicated to the hobby you can get away without it.


JerseyGreens said:


> Did you Reno Fall of 2020 or 2019? Trying to guesstimate what year this Reno is in because it looks solid.


This was a 2020 reno. Crazy to look a pics from just a year ago and see how far its come.



Stuofsci02 said:


> You can make on for $5 with a piece of stiff hard wood and a screw..


This seems to be the consensus on here. I know there is a lot of info about DIY setups, so I will have to look at some videos. It just seems so elementary for something that feels so technical.


----------



## Liquidstone

Man that turf looks good. Glad to hear that GM is treating you right!


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee

Curious how the brown patches responded to the fungicide applications you were planning. I'm still waiting on azoxy. Shipping delays.


----------



## jskierko

Zip-a-Dee-Zee said:


> Curious how the brown patches responded to the fungicide applications you were planning. I'm still waiting on azoxy. Shipping delays.


I put down Clearys (thiophanate) at curative rate on 8/23. I didn't put down anything additional, but I don't mind that I have additional azoxy on hand now. With the weather breaking here I figured it would clear up on its own, and so far it has improved. You can definitely still see the spots but it looks much better. I'll try to snap some pics later today.


----------



## jskierko

@Zip-a-Dee-Zee, here are the pictures from 8/23 (same day I applied clearys at curative rate) and today, 2 weeks later. Slightly different angle and if you look closely you can see where the brown patches were, but it has recovered tremendously.


----------



## jskierko

Reno making a bit of progress, albeit slow. Pics from day 14 and day 21. Additional seed was dropped on day 18 (9/1), so I expect that to start coming in here soon.

*Day 14*


*Day 21*


----------



## Liquidstone

Definite progress. This is going to be so awesome once it comes in and gets reel mowed.


----------



## JerseyGreens

jskierko said:


> @Zip-a-Dee-Zee, here are the pictures from 8/23 (same day I applied clearys at curative rate) and today, 2 weeks later. Slightly different angle and if you look closely you can see where the brown patches were, but it has recovered tremendously.


Man that fixed up quick. What's your HOC? Digging how burned in those stripes look.


----------



## jskierko

JerseyGreens said:


> Man that fixed up quick. What's your HOC? Digging how burned in those stripes look.


15/16". Stripes are definitely burned in but I definitely need to start mowing against the grain to achieve a more upright growth habit.


----------



## Stuofsci02

The reno is coming along. It will really pick up steam this week…


----------



## jskierko

Stuofsci02 said:


> The reno is coming along. It will really pick up steam this week…


Agree. My reno last year really took off around this time last season (seeded 1 calendar day later this year). The pics below are from 9/4 and 9/12 last year. I've had a few more setbacks and overall tougher weather conditions this time around, so it may be a few days behind, but I'm keeping the faith.


----------



## jskierko

A few aerial shots from tonight. Amazing how bare the reno area looks in an overhead shot.


----------



## g-man

Check for armyworms in the neighbors yard. I saw some in our neighborhood this week.


----------



## jskierko

Quite a few sprouts coming up from my re-seed on 9/1. Gives me some confidence that I will actually have a backyard by the end of the season. I will give the young sprouts some time to mature and hopefully mow in about 10 or so days as the originally seeded grass will be quite tall in a week.


*Day 20*


*Day 26*


----------



## steffen707

The light colored almost sandy patches from day 20 photo are far less bright in day 26 phot. Green is coming in!
I suspect you'll be in the same boat as me. some of your original seeding will have germinated in 7, 14 and 21 days (and everything in between), then the reseeded will come in at a different 7,14,21 day cycle, so you'll have different height baby grass all over the place.

I don't know if yours will be as wacky as mine, cuz I also have 3 different cultivars. So my germination areas are really all over the place.
I think i'm going to attempt a first mow this evening. :ugeek:


----------



## Liquidstone

Looks good man. The green haze is upon you. Sure hope you can dodge any more heavy downpours and catch a good footing!


----------



## Stuofsci02

Big improvements in a short time.. Well done and it will only get better.


----------



## steffen707

My morning pics look nice, when I mowed this afternoon, you really get to see how bare some areas appear (kinda like your aerial photos), the pout stage is strong with this one! (me! :lol: )


----------



## jskierko

steffen707 said:


> The light colored almost sandy patches from day 20 photo are far less bright in day 26 phot. Green is coming in!
> I suspect you'll be in the same boat as me. some of your original seeding will have germinated in 7, 14 and 21 days (and everything in between), then the reseeded will come in at a different 7,14,21 day cycle, so you'll have different height baby grass all over the place.
> 
> I don't know if yours will be as wacky as mine, cuz I also have 3 different cultivars. So my germination areas are really all over the place.
> I think i'm going to attempt a first mow this evening. :ugeek:


Your mow looks great! Looks so much cleaner. Gets me itching to get out there with the manual reel. This has been a tough reno season for a lot of people, so I think many people are in the same boat with germination all over the place. I know everyone doesn't post about the "gentle rains", but it has seemed like it's either a torrential storm or nothing at all. Literally every rainfall event that I have had here has brought washout potential. It has been a true test of patience, but luckily, while not wishing struggles on anyone, it is nice to see everyone persevering and pulling through.


----------



## jskierko

Couldn't pass up a good end-of-season deal to get some balanced fert. Stocked up for next season. 


Good spots of the reno looking really good. Thin spots should fill in quite a bit during the next week, lots of seedlings coming up. Going out of town for the next week, hope to come back to a mowable reno. Then it'll be time to start the feeding.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Couldn't pass up a good end-of-season deal to get some balanced fert. Stocked up for next season.
> 
> 
> Good spots of the reno looking really good. Thin spots should fill in quite a bit during the next week, lots of seedlings coming up. Going out of town for the next week, hope to come back to a mowable reno. Then it'll be time to start the feeding.


Holy crap, did you buy 10 bags?


----------



## jskierko

steffen707 said:


> jskierko said:
> 
> 
> 
> Couldn't pass up a good end-of-season deal to get some balanced fert. Stocked up for next season.
> 
> 
> Good spots of the reno looking really good. Thin spots should fill in quite a bit during the next week, lots of seedlings coming up. Going out of town for the next week, hope to come back to a mowable reno. Then it'll be time to start the feeding.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Holy crap, did you buy 10 bags?
Click to expand...

It's almost like you were there with me... bought exactly 10 bags. Enough for 2.22 lbs per k of each N-P-K :thumbup:


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> jskierko said:
> 
> 
> 
> Couldn't pass up a good end-of-season deal to get some balanced fert. Stocked up for next season.
> 
> 
> Good spots of the reno looking really good. Thin spots should fill in quite a bit during the next week, lots of seedlings coming up. Going out of town for the next week, hope to come back to a mowable reno. Then it'll be time to start the feeding.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Holy crap, did you buy 10 bags?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> It's almost like you were there with me... bought exactly 10 bags. Enough for 2.22 lbs per k of each N-P-K :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Aww yeah! we're connected more than just bewitched brothers.  Great minds think alike!


----------



## jskierko

Got back today after being out of town for a week. Jumped right to the GM1600 for the first reno mow. It has a long way to go to fill in some gaps, but after how it looked about 3 weeks ago I am in no place to complain. A few of the more established areas were too long for the reel and just got pushed over. I will eventually run the rotary over it to help stand everything up and help pick up and smaller rocks or stones brought in from the topsoil. Hit the reno with 0.21 lbs of N per K after the mow.

Rest of the yard got a quick mow and prodiamine at 5 grams per K (quite a few weeds popped up during my time away).


----------



## steffen707

Stripes! Looking great.


----------



## rhart

Looks great....it's really starting to fill in!


----------



## JerseyGreens

This looks fantastic man! Coming along as scheduled.


----------



## bf7

Insane stripes already! Are you done throwing seed down? It looks like you can just push it with N.


----------



## Liquidstone

Digging those stripes!!


----------



## jskierko

Got 2" of rain yesterday, needed to mow, so the Swardman got the call for today's job since the ground was still wet. The lighter weight allows it to handle a lot of areas the GM1600 wouldn't be able to when the ground is soft and wet. Was my first time using it since getting the GM, felt like feathers. Dropped HOC down to 0.75".

Some pics from both daytime (1500) and evening (2000).


----------



## lbb091919

That last shot is crisssssp


----------



## Stuofsci02

Looks like a successful reno…. Only a matter of time.. congrats


----------



## uts

Looks stunning!


----------



## JDgreen18

Looks awesome...nothing like a nice manicured lawn with nice clean edges.
I like the idea of keeping the grass off the fence line and making a clean edge there. I might do this next year.


----------



## jskierko

JDgreen18 said:


> Looks awesome...nothing like a nice manicured lawn with nice clean edges.
> I like the idea of keeping the grass off the fence line and making a clean edge there. I might do this next year.


Thank you! I edge with just about every other mow now as it really completes the look. My Stihl edger (kombisystem) is an absolute beast so I can clean up the sidewalks and driveway about as fast as I can walk. And the fence line was a lot of work up front, but it makes mowing so much easier since you don't have to finesse those passes as much. I have about 450' of fence, so it was a pain to go at that with a string trimmer. And thanks for the LOTM nomination!



Stuofsci02 said:


> Looks like a successful reno…. Only a matter of time.. congrats


Thanks! Your pics help maintain my confidence that it will continue to fill in, as I am about a week or so behind you.


----------



## steffen707

@jskierko ,i just love this checker pattern on your lawn.


----------



## JerseyGreens

Damn this looks amazing!!


----------



## gregonfire

Wow.. how did I miss your journal. Amazing work man. I'm nominating you for LOTM.


----------



## jskierko

Put down some stripes on the reno today. It's come a long way in the last 2 weeks. Got a few good weeks left to fill in.

*Day 26*


*Day 41*


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Put down some stripes on the reno today. It's come a long way in the last 2 weeks. Got a few good weeks left to fill in.
> 
> *Day 26*
> 
> 
> *Day 41*


Dude, you have stripes! Reno looking good.


----------



## bf7

jskierko said:


> Got 2" of rain yesterday, needed to mow, so the Swardman got the call for today's job since the ground was still wet. The lighter weight allows it to handle a lot of areas the GM1600 wouldn't be able to when the ground is soft and wet. Was my first time using it since getting the GM, felt like feathers. Dropped HOC down to 0.75".
> 
> Some pics from both daytime (1500) and evening (2000).


Considering you are nursing a reno right now, these are all the more impressive. Bravo sir!


----------



## jskierko

Little by little the gaps are starting to fill in. Put down 0.25 lbs N on 9/26 and will likely reapply tomorrow to keep pushing it. Cut watering back to 1x/day.

Mowed non reno area against the stripes to get it growing more upright. It was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be with the sun directly overhead.

*Day 41 (9/24)*


*Day 46 (9/29)*


----------



## Wiley

jskierko said:


> Little by little the gaps are starting to fill in. Put down 0.25 lbs N on 9/26 and will likely reapply tomorrow to keep pushing it. Cut watering back to 1x/day.
> 
> Mowed non reno area against the stripes to get it growing more upright. It was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be with the sun directly overhead.
> 
> *Day 41 (9/24)*
> 
> 
> *Day 46 (9/29)*


Nice progress! What are your temps like now?


----------



## BBLOCK

Drop it like it's hot &#128293;


----------



## jskierko

Wiley said:


> Nice progress! What are your temps like now?


Been pretty consistently about 80 daytime and 60 evenings with a few one-off days where it didn't hit 70. Extended forecast shows highs around 70-75 for the next 2 weeks which is ideal mowing weather!


----------



## Wiley

jskierko said:


> Wiley said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nice progress! What are your temps like now?
> 
> 
> 
> Been pretty consistently about 80 daytime and 60 evenings with a few one-off days where it didn't hit 70. Extended forecast shows highs around 70-75 for the next 2 weeks which is ideal mowing weather!
Click to expand...

Prime time, nice! It'll be cool to see where it's at by the end of October.


----------



## Stuofsci02

BBLOCK said:


> Drop it like it's hot 🔥


Lol…. :thumbup:


----------



## gregonfire

Looks great. How's the germination looking around the trees?


----------



## Liquidstone

The backyard is really coming in well and I'm sure that front lawn is ready for some cooler temps! Looking great!


----------



## jskierko

Liquidstone said:


> The backyard is really coming in well and I'm sure that front lawn is ready for some cooler temps! Looking great!


Thanks! I am relieved that I am at least going to have a yard after how the first 2 weeks of the reno went.



gregonfire said:


> Looks great. How's the germination looking around the trees?


Here are a few pics of the trees and a close up of what the worst spot looks like. It will continue to fill in throughout next spring, just as my shadiest area of my reno last season did. If in doubt, extending out the mulch rings around the trees helps it appear to "fill in" much quicker.


----------



## gregonfire

Looks pretty good. I might have to take your approach with expanding the beds in certain areas of my yard.


----------



## Stuofsci02

These issues will all be distant memories next May…


----------



## g-man

We are definitely having awesome weather right now. I was out of town and had to go straight to the mower. Clipping length 2.5in with PGR from Sunday mow.


----------



## JerseyGreens

g-man said:


> We are definitely having awesome weather right now. I was out of town and had to go straight to the mower. Clipping length 2.5in with PGR from Sunday mow.


That 50lb bag of CXGRN probably helped too! Got one last app of that stuff and probably won't be able to find anymore now.

Reno stripes are looking sharp @jskierko !


----------



## steffen707

its coming along for sure! I can't wait to see all the spring pictures from our renos.


----------



## jskierko

Been putting down 0.25 lbs N via granular ammonium sulfate weekly on the non reno area since labor day (prills visible in last pic). Total N to date 4.07 lbs/k. Trying to do same app 2x per week on the reno.

Haven't mowed in a few days. Worked all weekend and rain likely would have hindered me anyways, so I just decided to go out and snap some rainbow pics tonight. Due for PGR on 10/5. Will likely apply light and be my last app of the year.


----------



## Robs92k

jskierko said:


> Been putting down 0.25 lbs N via granular ammonium sulfate weekly on the non reno area since labor day (prills visible in last pic). Total N to date 4.07 lbs/k. Trying to do same app 2x per week on the reno.
> 
> Haven't mowed in a few days. Worked all weekend and rain likely would have hindered me anyways, so I just decided to go out and snap some rainbow pics tonight. Due for PGR on 10/5. Will likely apply light and be my last app of the year.


Beautiful pics man…not just the lawn, Which looks awesome by the way.

When do you typically see a first frost in IN?


----------



## Wile

jskierko said:


> Been putting down 0.25 lbs N via granular ammonium sulfate weekly on the non reno area since labor day (prills visible in last pic). Total N to date 4.07 lbs/k. Trying to do same app 2x per week on the reno.
> 
> Haven't mowed in a few days. Worked all weekend and rain likely would have hindered me anyways, so I just decided to go out and snap some rainbow pics tonight. Due for PGR on 10/5. Will likely apply light and be my last app of the year.


Looking amazing! What AS are you using that you can spread .25lbs evenly? I'm looking for something granular I can spread easily. Sorry if I missed this in the journal.


----------



## jskierko

Wile said:


> Looking amazing! What AS are you using that you can spread .25lbs evenly? I'm looking for something granular I can spread easily. Sorry if I missed this in the journal.


I am just using a standard granular 21-0-0 from Advanced Turf Solutions. For putting it down I use a handheld spreader. It is definitely a small amount of product, so using a push spreader makes it near impossible to get even distribution (unless you mix it with another product as a carrier which is mentioned in a few journals). With something like this I don't necessarily make it an exact science. I know that the spreader holds ~6 lbs of product, so if I'm in a hurry I don't even weigh.



Robs92k said:


> Beautiful pics man…not just the lawn, Which looks awesome by the way.
> 
> When do you typically see a first frost in IN?


Thanks! First frost (just based on my memory) around Indianapolis usually falls within the 10 days leading up to Halloween. Right now my extended forecast for the next 2 weeks doesn't even show us dropping below 50, so there's plenty of good time left.


----------



## jskierko

Was able to dodge rain (minus some light drizzle during the mow) this morning and put down some single-triples today just to change it up. One direction only on front and east side of house. Driveway side I went two directions, perpendicular. HOC: 7/8"












Reno Progress: Keeps chugging along. Seeing quite a few more broadleaf weeds, but I haven't been able to get out and hand pull for the last week due to work and rain. Sedge problem that I was seeing earlier seems to have subsided with temps cooling off. Probably going to pass on any treatments this fall and see where it's at in the spring. 
*Day 46 (9/29)*

*Day 53 (10/6)*


----------



## Robs92k

May have missed it earlier in your journal, but those two neighbors have to be wicked jealous, lol. Looks amazing man!


----------



## jskierko

@g-man@SNOWBOB11 I feel your triv pain! Luckily this is in a not often seen part of my yard, but I should tackle it while I can.


----------



## jskierko

Robs92k said:


> May have missed it earlier in your journal, but those two neighbors have to be wicked jealous, lol. Looks amazing man!


Thanks! Neither neighbor even does their own mowing, so I think it's more they think I'm insane rather than they are envious.


----------



## g-man

It is one of those that once you see the poa t, you can't unsee it.


----------



## Stuofsci02

jskierko said:


> Robs92k said:
> 
> 
> 
> May have missed it earlier in your journal, but those two neighbors have to be wicked jealous, lol. Looks amazing man!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! Neither neighbor even does their own mowing, so I think it's more they think I'm insane rather than they are envious.
Click to expand...

I am sure many neighbours think the same for most of the members on here.. looks fantastic..


----------



## SNOWBOB11

jskierko said:


> @[email protected] I feel your triv pain! Luckily this is in a not often seen part of my yard, but I should tackle it while I can.


Yeah, I find it's best to just deal with it when you see it. You ignore it and it spreads. I've kind of come to grips that sometimes your just going to have to deal with triv.


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> @[email protected] I feel your triv pain! Luckily this is in a not often seen part of my yard, but I should tackle it while I can.


You gunna nuke that spot?


----------



## Stuofsci02

Blow it away!


----------



## jskierko




----------



## weirj55

Lawn really looking great! I've got the Poa infestation happening too. I think we all feel the pain with you


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


>


Lol, you see monsters University? It's good too.


----------



## rhart

Turf is looking great...reno has really filled in nicely!


----------



## gregonfire

Wow crazy how much the reno filled in in just a week!


----------



## jskierko

Someone wanted a quick photoshoot after the walk tonight. Grass closest to driveway starting to rebound first, as expected, as pgr has expired.


----------



## Stuofsci02

Nice Golden Retriever!


----------



## Liquidstone

Great looking pup! Happy as all can be on that turf!


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Someone wanted a quick photoshoot after the walk tonight. Grass closest to driveway starting to rebound first, as expected, as pgr has expired.


just look at that grass! nice dog too.


----------



## lbb091919

That's an All-American photo right there. Beautiful pup


----------



## bf7

jskierko said:


> Someone wanted a quick photoshoot after the walk tonight. Grass closest to driveway starting to rebound first, as expected, as pgr has expired.


I'm not sure where this picture belongs better - on a Scotts turf builder commercial, or on a high end dog food commercial!


----------



## jskierko

bf7 said:


> I'm not sure where this picture belongs better - on a Scotts turf builder commercial, or on a high end dog food commercial!


I'd go with the dog food commercial for sure, considering she's 12 but still acts like she's 2. So whatever she's eating is working.

And @Stuofsci02, I thought you had mentioned something about having a golden so I knew you'd appreciate it.


----------



## Stuofsci02

jskierko said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure where this picture belongs better - on a Scotts turf builder commercial, or on a high end dog food commercial!
> 
> 
> 
> I'd go with the dog food commercial for sure, considering she's 12 but still acts like she's 2. So whatever she's eating is working.
> 
> And @Stuofsci02, I thought you had mentioned something about having a golden so I knew you'd appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Yeah…. This is him going on vacation..


----------



## steffen707

Stuofsci02 said:


> jskierko said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure where this picture belongs better - on a Scotts turf builder commercial, or on a high end dog food commercial!
> 
> 
> 
> I'd go with the dog food commercial for sure, considering she's 12 but still acts like she's 2. So whatever she's eating is working.
> 
> And @Stuofsci02, I thought you had mentioned something about having a golden so I knew you'd appreciate it.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Yeah…. This is him going on vacation..
Click to expand...

Wow, that is a cute photo. :thumbup:


----------



## jskierko

Pulling a @BBLOCK and switching up cameras for today's shots. Small triv patch included in bottom right of last pic, just for fun. HOC: 0.8"


----------



## BBLOCK

jskierko said:


> Pulling a @BBLOCK and switching up cameras for today's shots. Small triv patch included in bottom right of last pic, just for fun. HOC: 0.8"


Haha u forgot one thing your lawn is thiiiiccccck! looks mint bud


----------



## jskierko

Reno continuing to darken up. Mowed at 1.5" with rotary mower this time. It's been wet and I haven't found too many good windows to mow consistently. Also wanted to clean it up a bit and get the grass upright. Right side towards the top is a little over 2 weeks behind, so it is still a bit lighter in color. I also have some areas there that are overcrowded. I have put pictures below comparing healthy areas vs overcrowded areas.

*Day 53 (10/6)*

*Day 61 (10/14)*






Some other shots of the yard from 10/13. Having to stay vigilant of fungal pressure due to frequent rains recently.


----------



## lbb091919

Awesome stuff man!

Good to see that density/overcrowding comparison. I have some of that going on and while it looks bad now, I know it will thin itself out and match with time.


----------



## bf7

Looks like the baby reno is catching up to the 1 year old lawn!


----------



## steffen707

jskierko said:


>


So the 2nd picture is what overcrowding looks like? I got a bunch of that in the lawn.


----------



## jskierko

lbb091919 said:


> Awesome stuff man!
> 
> Good to see that density/overcrowding comparison. I have some of that going on and while it looks bad now, I know it will thin itself out and match with time.





steffen707 said:


> So the 2nd picture is what overcrowding looks like? I got a bunch of that in the lawn.


It's kind of hard knowing how those areas will react. It may come to a time next summer where the whole area struggles as it competes for water in a harsh environment. I found that my overcrowded areas from my reno last season did not really take on a 'survival of the fittest' mentality, but more of a 'we're all in this together' struggle. The blades still appear thinner (almost a fine fescue consistency) and nutrient deficient. The area is on the side of the house that only gets morning sun. An area in full sun could potentially die off all together in a harsh environment.

I think for my overcrowded areas from this reno I will take a soil probe and pull some cores every few inches and let it fill in naturally. If nothing else it will minimize competition for nutrients and allow for better water penetration in that area.


----------



## JerseyGreens

^+1. A well maintained lawn with nutrients, sun, and water will let those overcrowded areas live on just as pictured.

It's not that easy to fix when it's widespread (my case) but it's possible as I pulled it off...although I introduced other headaches (weeds, uneven cut with the GM) as side effects. It's worth it though because the deep blue/green is truly widespread in my Reno now without any fine fescue look alikes!


----------



## jskierko

Finally able to get a full days worth of mowing in today. Mowed at 0.75", put down 0.4 lbs of N per k tonight. Between work and life happenings I went 17 days without any N applied. Knew that I just wouldn't be able to keep up.







On 10/7 I noticed a bunch of spots in my front yard, what I believed to be powdery mildew. Front yard faces due north, gets only 2ish hours of sun tops, and we had several straight days of wet weather. I really shouldn't have stopped my preventative fungicide regimen before Labor Day! Although I was not overly concerned since I knew it would bounce back if it truly was powdery mildew, I went ahead and threw azoxy down at curative rate. This was also part of the reason I was holding off on the nitrogen applications. Overhead shots still display where the worst of it was, but it's hardly noticeable at street level.






Put down some doubles on the reno today. Had to run the rotary over it first at lowest setting just to get it manageable. Happy with how the established areas have matured over the last 2 or so weeks. 
Thinner areas towards the foreground will continue to fill in, but I'm planning a spring reno for the rest of the backyard, so I can throw additional seed down in the thinnest spots then. 
*Day 61 (10/14)*


*Day 67 (10/20)*


----------



## lbb091919

Those doubles are poppin. I just laid down my first doubles too.

Love the updated signature too haha


----------



## bf7

I love the front yard shots. Gorgeous! It seems to be thriving in the shade.

This is proof that you don't need to go crazy with N like me to get it dark as heck!


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee

Reno looks to be in very good shape, especially considering how challenging the weather in August made things this year. Congrats!


----------



## Stuofsci02

Awesome…. Everything is looking on point. I love the color of the mature turf..


----------



## jskierko

After several wet days, the stars aligned for me on my day off and I got a beautiful day for mowing. Experimented a bit and took the reno down to 0.5", keeping the rest of the Bewitched at 0.75". The loss of color definitely shows in the pictures, especially next to the northern mix at 2.25" in the backyard. Like the height, may experiment with some Main Event to try to give it some color, although I know it will be darker next season once it matures. Cleaned up the edges of the walks and beds and a bit of the fence line. Probably one of the last days of the season for me to invest several hours in the yard, so I soaked it up.


----------



## Stuofsci02

@jskierko …. Pretty sweet…. Your mature bewitched has amazing color.. I like the 1/2".. with more time at that height it will get pretty dark.. I can't wait to see this next fall. My hat's off to you..


----------



## livt0ride

Just an amazing yard. Looking great!


----------



## jskierko

livt0ride said:


> Just an amazing yard. Looking great!


Thanks! I've enjoyed following your green install. I grew up both playing and working on a golf course so I have a natural affinity for low cut turf. A putting green would be the icing on the cake, but, like Stu, might have to table that idea until I have more time on my hands.



Stuofsci02 said:


> @jskierko …. Pretty sweet…. Your mature bewitched has amazing color.. I like the 1/2".. with more time at that height it will get pretty dark.. I can't wait to see this next fall. My hat's off to you..


Thanks Stu! The color has really popped over the last month or so once it cooled down. Hoping I can just sit on the sidelines next fall and watch another nice backyard reno (yours, obviously). Your drone shots are phenomenal. Even your northern mix looks elite!


----------



## livt0ride

Yeah I have a smaller yard than you guys so that helps. I don't think I would have been able to do it if I wasn't working from home.


----------



## bf7

jskierko said:


> After several wet days, the stars aligned for me on my day off and I got a beautiful day for mowing. Experimented a bit and took the reno down to 0.5", keeping the rest of the Bewitched at 0.75". The loss of color definitely shows in the pictures, especially next to the northern mix at 2.25" in the backyard. Like the height, may experiment with some Main Event to try to give it some color, although I know it will be darker next season once it matures. Cleaned up the edges of the walks and beds and a bit of the fence line. Probably one of the last days of the season for me to invest several hours in the yard, so I soaked it up.


1/2" is fun, and I get a much cleaner cut at that height. But the color difference is no joke. Perhaps 5/8" offers the best of both worlds..

How do you capture these cool pics of the sky? I don't think this is the first one you've posted.


----------



## jskierko

bf7 said:


> 1/2" is fun, and I get a much cleaner cut at that height. But the color difference is no joke. Perhaps 5/8" offers the best of both worlds..
> 
> How do you capture these cool pics of the sky? I don't think this is the first one you've posted.


Yeah it's crazy how much cleaner it cuts at that height (given that its flat enough). 5/8" was exactly what I had in mind though to maintain some color and lessen the mowing frequency burden. And I also thought the sky was pretty cool in that pic. I go out on my roof above my garage to get a nice aerial shot. Add another one to the "neighbors think I'm nuts" list.


----------



## jskierko

*Happy Halloween!

*


----------



## Stuofsci02

@jskierko Looking good.. lawn too...


----------



## Chris LI

Happy Halloween! I dare you to swap out your avatar photo for that one! :lol:


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@jskierko, mowing in costume, did you a lose a bet? Very funny.


----------



## jskierko

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @jskierko, mowing in costume, did you a lose a bet? Very funny.


Haha, nope. Just wanted to be in the spirit and ensure that nobody was going to challenge me any time soon for "craziest person on the block"


Chris LI said:


> Happy Halloween! I dare you to swap out your avatar photo for that one! :lol:


Done!


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@jskierko nice.


----------



## Chris LI

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


----------



## weirj55

Tiggers mow best! Lawn is looking great, @jskierko


----------



## Robs92k

Omg, that's awesome….I bet the kids in the neighborhood wish either you were their dad, or very happy you're not their dad! Lol.

Lawn looks amazing as usual!


----------



## jskierko

Seeing a lot of these pics here in the last day or two. Been a cold start to the month of November with frost each of the first 4 days around Indy. Lots of annuals need to be pulled and trashed after a hard frost this morning. 




We received about 4" of rain the week before Halloween and not much sun. It has left me with a few gnarly looking areas, the worst of which are pictured below. It is way more evident to me now as I dropped HOC to 0.625" in most areas. I had been dealing with areas of rust for a few weeks, but I think I've got some leaf spot mixed in there now too. I put down azoxy at 0.77oz/k today. With a slight warmup coming this weekend, I'm hoping the treatment and new growth will clear it up. Next year I need to push my preventative fungicide regimen deeper into the year.






A few decent pics of the side and the reno to make myself feel better. 




And here is a prime example of why I would never put straw down during a reno. The bale is trying to put out its own monostand. 


Finally, the swardman suffered its first casualty. Drive timing belt snapped mid mow. Based on some of the other horror stories I've heard, I'm lucky that's the first mishap for the Edwin. I also am pretty tough on the belts, mowing up some aggressive slopes. I had ordered replacements of all belts just to have on hand. Naturally the replacement belt I got is 10mm longer so it was slipping off. A replacement to the replacement should be here tomorrow though.


----------



## jskierko

Shutting down the journal for the season. Only mowed twice in November so far and each mow only produced 0.25" or so clippings. It really slowed down fast this year compared to years past. Might have 1 more mow left, mostly just for cleanup. Will probably put the winterizer N (planning 1 lb of N per k via urea) the week after Thanksgiving.

Total inputs 2021 (before winterizer):
N- 4.7 lbs
P- 1.1 lbs
K- 2.1 lbs

Total application costs 2021:


----------



## Stuofsci02

Looks great.. last few weeks most folks have shut it down and the board is quiet. I mowed my back today which is two weeks later than ever before. Weird year. 5 months until first mow for me..


----------



## rhart

Looks fantastic...the reno really came in nicely as well.


----------



## bf7

Looking mint. It sure shut down fast this year. I went from drowning in clippings to 1/4 inchers almost overnight. Last year was more of a gradual taper.


----------



## Wile

jskierko said:


> Shutting down the journal for the season. Only mowed twice in November so far and each mow only produced 0.25" or so clippings. It really slowed down fast this year compared to years past. Might have 1 more mow left, mostly just for cleanup. Will probably put the winterizer N (planning 1 lb of N per k via urea) the week after Thanksgiving.
> 
> Total inputs 2021 (before winterizer):
> N- 4.7 lbs
> P- 1.1 lbs
> K- 2.1 lbs
> 
> Total application costs 2021:


That's really great to see how much money goes into having an elite lawn. Planning mine out for next year and it's already looking similar in cost. Are you targeting a certain amount of N or go by what it looks like it needs more?


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## jskierko

Wile said:


> That's really great to see how much money goes into having an elite lawn. Planning mine out for next year and it's already looking similar in cost. Are you targeting a certain amount of N or go by what it looks like it needs more?


I usually try to stick with a minimum of 4 lbs N annually and at least 2 lbs of N from Labor Day until the end of the season. I probably could have pushed it more at different times of the year, but keeping up with mowing gets tough for me as I usually have a max of 3 days per week that I have the ability to mow (I work retail, so varying and often later and longer hours) and I need cooperation with the weather. So I tread lightly on really pushing top growth. Next year, however, I plan on a sand topdressing so I'm sure I will be throwing it down big time to aid in recovery. Essentially, I feed as I see the need in spring and summer, then try to get a structured application of 0.25 lbs N weekly in the fall.


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## jskierko

Winterizer N down today. Had a full 50 lb bag of urea and just decided to simplify it for myself and get rid of it. 1.27 lbs N per K. Reno area pictured below after last mow of the season on 11/24. Love seeing it next to the NoMix.


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## Bermuda_Newbie

jskierko said:


> Wife sent me these pictures of our backyard right after a downpour today. This is maybe the 3rd time I've seen this happen in the 9 years I've lived here. Pop-up showers have been the norm here for the past several days, making any planning or predicting just about impossible. Grass is growing like crazy and it's been impossible to coordinate my time off of work with a long enough dry spell to get anything done.


This is a little off topic but how is your rubber mulch working out? I also have a Swardman and I'm a little concerned about pieces getting everywhere and on my lawn. I'm looking at options go under a playground a little smaller than yours and am not sure which would be best. I hate woodchips. That stuff is a mess and don't want to deal with wood everywhere but I'm concerned the rubber wouldn't be much better. Does it get dirty? What about if animals poop in it?


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## steffen707

Bermuda_Newbie said:


> jskierko said:
> 
> 
> 
> Wife sent me these pictures of our backyard right after a downpour today. This is maybe the 3rd time I've seen this happen in the 9 years I've lived here. Pop-up showers have been the norm here for the past several days, making any planning or predicting just about impossible. Grass is growing like crazy and it's been impossible to coordinate my time off of work with a long enough dry spell to get anything done.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is a little off topic but how is your rubber mulch working out? I also have a Swardman and I'm a little concerned about pieces getting everywhere and on my lawn. I'm looking at options go under a playground a little smaller than yours and am not sure which would be best. I hate woodchips. That stuff is a mess and don't want to deal with wood everywhere but I'm concerned the rubber wouldn't be much better. Does it get dirty? What about if animals poop in it?
Click to expand...

My dog LOVES pooping on the wood chips. We also have pine trees surrounding our play area, so i get lots of leaves/pine needles in the wood chips. Its a pain in the butt. I shovel out a considerable amount of wood chips each spring. I'm about due for another 4x5x8 trailer of wood chips to replenish it.

I grew up with grass under the playset, nobody ever broke a bone (on the playset or the ground below it), however I would feel aweful if a neighbor kid got hurt, so I went the wood chip route. About 5.5" of woodchips around all the playset with 18" of woodchips under the end of the slides and the swing area. Kids love to kick up the chips, and if you don't have them deep, you'll eventually have dirt.; however, If you read the national safety people, you're supposed to have like 8-12" of woodchips everywhere. That's crazy.

I've read that rubber chunks and the rubber pellets that college soccer people play on may be linked to cancer. Makes sense if you're breathing in rubber dust. Also rubber is more expensive.

These are the reasons I went with wood chips. BUT, you can't just get any old bark. The quality stuff lasts longer, and provides more cushion I believe.

This is where I get my chips from. I found out from the village and county that this is the place they all order their playground wood chips from. 
http://www.grezenskiforestproducts.com/products/
"Chips (when in season)
All-natural hardwood chip that is dye and chemcial free.
Aspen and Basswood chips for playgrounds that meet the specific needs and requirements for play areas of schools, day cares, etc.
Delivery available."

I would suggest asking your own town/county/city the same question. I think it was like $5-10 per yard, and I needed 20 yards. I hauled it myself in 5x8 and 6x10 trailer, but they would have delivered it for a price; however, i didn't want any equipment on the lawn.

I parked my truck on the road, hooked the riding mower to the trailer, hauled it to the backyard and shoveled onto a wheelbarrow and spread them out. Easiest part of the whole project was filling it with wood chips. And I had no ruts in the lawn.


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## jskierko

Bermuda_Newbie said:


> This is a little off topic but how is your rubber mulch working out? I also have a Swardman and I'm a little concerned about pieces getting everywhere and on my lawn. I'm looking at options go under a playground a little smaller than yours and am not sure which would be best. I hate woodchips. That stuff is a mess and don't want to deal with wood everywhere but I'm concerned the rubber wouldn't be much better. Does it get dirty? What about if animals poop in it?


I am very happy with the investment to go with the rubber mulch. The rubber mulch definitely holds in place much better than any wood mulch I ever had. If you run through it it doesn't kick up like wood chips, simply due to the tackiness of the rubber. Luckily for me this area is literally in the lowest point of my yard, so I am rarely concerned about mulch running out of the area like it does with a heavy rain in the beds around the house (mostly due to the grade sloping away from the house and therefore from the landscaping beds). When defining the area, I dug the edges a little bit deeper to create a lip to help keep everything contained. If you are concerned with wood chips getting out of the area you should check out @Wile's lawn journal. He keeps his grass around the beds longer to keep things in place and I think it's a unique aesthetic that I may try next year.

I have definitely hit a few pieces of the rubber mulch with the Swardman and, although the sound is unpleasant, I haven't noticed any issues. It isn't like hitting a rock or something solid where it will put a knick in the reel, it just sends it flying and possibly some additional wear but nothing that requires attention. If it gets displaced and kicked or washed into the grass It rakes back into place with a plastic leaf rake just as easily as wood mulch.

I have only noticed it getting dirty after the dogs/kid goes out after a rain and tracks mud in it. But it washes clean with the next rain shower. I only have the dogs and I've seen poop in it once which cleaned up with ease and rabbits that come through the fence (of which I've never seen rabbit poop in the rubber mulch but always plenty in the grass). It seems as though animals don't particularly care for it which is great.

All in all, it's a big investment up front but I would definitely pick the rubber mulch again and recommend it for any area like this.


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## Bermuda_Newbie

jskierko said:


> Bermuda_Newbie said:
> 
> 
> 
> This is a little off topic but how is your rubber mulch working out? I also have a Swardman and I'm a little concerned about pieces getting everywhere and on my lawn. I'm looking at options go under a playground a little smaller than yours and am not sure which would be best. I hate woodchips. That stuff is a mess and don't want to deal with wood everywhere but I'm concerned the rubber wouldn't be much better. Does it get dirty? What about if animals poop in it?
> 
> 
> 
> I am very happy with the investment to go with the rubber mulch. The rubber mulch definitely holds in place much better than any wood mulch I ever had. If you run through it it doesn't kick up like wood chips, simply due to the tackiness of the rubber. Luckily for me this area is literally in the lowest point of my yard, so I am rarely concerned about mulch running out of the area like it does with a heavy rain in the beds around the house (mostly due to the grade sloping away from the house and therefore from the landscaping beds). When defining the area, I dug the edges a little bit deeper to create a lip to help keep everything contained. If you are concerned with wood chips getting out of the area you should check out @Wile's lawn journal. He keeps his grass around the beds longer to keep things in place and I think it's a unique aesthetic that I may try next year.
> 
> I have definitely hit a few pieces of the rubber mulch with the Swardman and, although the sound is unpleasant, I haven't noticed any issues. It isn't like hitting a rock or something solid where it will put a knick in the reel, it just sends it flying and possibly some additional wear but nothing that requires attention. If it gets displaced and kicked or washed into the grass It rakes back into place with a plastic leaf rake just as easily as wood mulch.
> 
> I have only noticed it getting dirty after the dogs/kid goes out after a rain and tracks mud in it. But it washes clean with the next rain shower. I only have the dogs and I've seen poop in it once which cleaned up with ease and rabbits that come through the fence (of which I've never seen rabbit poop in the rubber mulch but always plenty in the grass). It seems as though animals don't particularly care for it which is great.
> 
> All in all, it's a big investment up front but I would definitely pick the rubber mulch again and recommend it for any area like this.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! The playground is going in a dirt area next to the grass. I have metal edging to keep my Bermuda in place but I could just see my kids finding it fun to toss the rubber mulch in the grass. Glad to hear it didn't destroy the mower. I guess there's no perfect fix for keeping it in place but that's a good idea to dig down just a little. It's a low point in my yard as well where the water drains to but I'm going to have to level it out some so that might help. I have PTSD from wood mulch. My first house was a foreclosure and the bank's way of sprucing up the yard was to cover it in all of the wood chips ever made. I would rake and fill up my trashcan every week for I don't know how many weeks to get rid of the stuff. The idea of paying for wood chips on purpose after all that....

Good to hear the dogs don't like it. I hope that's true of my dogs. Seems like it's worth the investment. Did you get yours from a local outfit or home Depot or another big box store? Do you mind me asking ballpark about what it ran? Your area is a bit larger than mine but I'm thinking maybe around $800 for a 30'x20' rectangle. I'm probably way under in my estimate aren't I?


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## jskierko

Bermuda_Newbie said:


> Did you get yours from a local outfit or home Depot or another big box store? Do you mind me asking ballpark about what it ran? Your area is a bit larger than mine but I'm thinking maybe around $800 for a 30'x20' rectangle. I'm probably way under in my estimate aren't I?


I purchased it from Lowe's. I believe I ended up purchasing about 200 bags of this. I went with the nuggets instead of the shredded rubber mulch. I just thought it looked cleaner for a non landscaped area. It was easy just to pick up 30-40 bags each time I was at Lowe's, then carry them out at my convenience rather than have a pallet of them sit in my driveway.

Realistically my area is about 900 sq ft and my all-in cost with tax and everything was close to $1500. I have a few bags left over that I am holding back to fill any low spots under swings and such. But I'd probably put you in the ballpark of $800-1000. I did price a few bulk deliveries and buying bagged ended up being even slightly cheaper with the added convenience of spreading it when I had time.


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