# Mazama KBG backyard Reno washout



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

After seeing all the Lawn renovations on here I decided to give it a try on my backyard... I give you all a lot of credit cause man, it was hard work. First I killed off the lawn. I had a large sunken area in the middle of the lawn so I spread 3 yards of topsoil and tried to level the yard the best I could...it's still not completely level. I put down seed on Sept 6th (I know a lil late here in NY for KBG) and covered with peat moss. Well, four days later we had like 5 inches of rain in an hour or so & it washed most of the seed & peat moss away....so here are pics of what I got going on right now...





Obviously it's too late here to add more KBG seed. Should I just push some N for now? Maybe overseed KBG or PRG in the spring hoping it will survive the summer stress?


----------



## BrainBailey (Nov 20, 2019)

My Mazama germinated very quickly (~8 days). I'm in the Midwest and we have about 10 days of warm weather starting tomorrow. If you're okay with risking the seed, and your forecast is also warm, I would go for it. Just don't go super heavy if you're trying to ration.


----------



## themishmosh (Jul 3, 2020)

Agree. Not too late. And kbg is very cold tolerant even in when young.


----------



## Gaddis (Oct 18, 2018)

Man, if there's anyone who can sympathize with what you're going through, it's got to be me. I'm a fellow Long Islander (Babylon) and I'm also doing a reno this fall with Mazama. I know the exact day you mentioned when that wash out event occurred. The only difference is that I was slightly ahead of you when it hit. My seed had started germinating 4 days before the deluge took place. I still thought my reno might be ruined too but I added some reserve seed and it turned out just fine. I think you're right on the fringe regarding trying to add seed this late. Looking at your photos, I think I would be tempted to push what you have already really hard with N until winter shuts everything down. Mazama spreads like crazy and you'll be surprised just how full most of the lawn may look by the end of the fall. That one area that is really empty of course will not do much this season. But when it really kicks come spring, you can pull a bunch of plugs from the stronger spots and "seed" those into that bare area. They will spread and get you pretty well filled in by summer. The reason I like this approach is it still allows you to put down a pre-emergent in the spring. You could certainly seed right now but I think you're basically flipping a coin. I'm going to keep watching your journal to see how this goes. One quick tip on Mazama that I can offer is be patient with it in early spring. It is NOT a fast starting variety and I literally thought there was something wrong with the Mazama test strip I planted last fall. My fescue was green and being mowed this spring before my Mazama even started to yawn. But when it kicks, just sit back and watch the magic!


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

Thanks for the replies everyone! I may just throw a Hail Mary & put seed down now, if it germinates great. @Gaddis I like the idea of the plugs since I normally put down a pre-em late March early April...


----------



## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

Just to chime in... I did a Mazama reno last fall and voles got to it underneath the snow - it looked about like yours this spring. Between plugging in spring and spoon feeding AMS this fall it has almost completely recovered. The only bare areas I still have are so compacted that I can't get a screwdriver let alone a plugger into the soil.


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

@Miggity yep, leaning towards the plugs idea...how about growing some KBG seed in pots over the winter and planting them in the spring? I could have a bunch ready to go...


----------



## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

jingobah said:


> @Miggity yep, leaning towards the plugs idea...how about growing some KBG seed in pots over the winter and planting them in the spring? I could have a bunch ready to go...


I've done that too and saw no benefit. Tending to them in pots, they are harder to plant than plugs, native soil vs. potting soil etc. Plus, the donor plug holes can be filled with compost or sand as a soil amendment depending on your needs. After a week or two you will not be able to find your donor holes since the KBG spreads to the better soil conditions so fast. Check out the "Pro Plugger" if you haven't already.


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

Hey everyone, here's where I'm at this spring....I decided last fall to just leave the backyard as it was & wait till spring. So the KBG didn't wake up but the weeds did. It is a salad bar, weeds I've never even seen before....I blame it on the 3 yards of topsoil & not putting down Tenacity at seed down. So I just sprayed Tenacity & got a bag of PRG from the SSS to put down this week for quick germination....we'll see how it goes


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

Day 8 since I overseeded with PRG, been watering every few hours everyday, I see no germination at all yet...hmmmm. Temps have been 50-60 degrees during the day but night temps have been cooler, could that be it? Could spraying Tenacity a few days before and not at seed down cause it from not growing? I just assumed PRG would quickly germinate.....


----------



## zeus201 (Aug 30, 2017)

Hang in there, it isn't the Tenacity, more about soil temps were / are not ideal for germination. I seeded pangea rye on April 1st and didn't see signs of life till April 12th or so.

Keep doing what your doing and you'll eventually see germination.


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

@zeus201 thank you for the reply, I'm thinking soil temps as my main concern also....hopefully I'll start seeing some baby grass soon as it warms up


----------



## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

It's probably a little slower due to temps. We got down into the mid 30s here a few times in the last week, I assume you arnt dissimilar, if not colder depending where you are on the island.


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

My PRG took about 12 days to be visible, stick with it. You can deal with the weeds later


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

PRG seed is up and getting tall, been 17 days since over seeding, still got bare spots but definitely looks better now than in the before pics...maybe skip Tenacity next time, it's painfully slow looking at all the white weeds for weeks...


----------



## Liquidstone (Mar 31, 2021)

Better them glowing nice and white so when the time comes you can yank em! PRG coming in nicely.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Hand pull those now.


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

g-man said:


> Hand pull those now.


Was gonna just let the bleached weeds fade away, didn't know the protocol was to pull them out....1st mission tomorrow, pull out weeds, thanks!


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

Looking real good, how many days since germination? you can re apply tenacity at 28 days. But probably good mowing practices will take care of it. A push reel mower set at 1.5 would do nice.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The weeds are taking nutrients, water, sun and space. Since they are easy to spot and a small yard, carefully take them out.


----------



## ksturfguy (Sep 25, 2018)

Unless you wanted PRG I think you could have left the Mazama do its thing. Like others have said it's a very slow waking grass in the spring but would have filled in nicely. Here was Mazama last April 20th



And here it is on July 2nd. Really it had filled in a lot by the end of May even.



Key is dont panic. Even if the PRG doesn't take off your Mazama will eventually fill in.


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

Bluegrass is great isn't it, but its ok even with the PRG added. Eventually the bluegrass will out compete. At least from now he has a more full lawn that he can enjoy.

But I get you, he could have just took care of what he had and it would have filled in. Thats the great thing of lawn care, it is what you make of it.


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

@ksturfguy wow that looks great! As you can see in my before pics though, I had really big bare spots that I feel would have taken forever to fill in so, I just wanted a fast germinating seed to cover the spots so it looks more like a lawn than a Reno fail lol.


----------



## jingobah (May 6, 2019)

Update looking good now, Mazama filled in nicely long with the PRG....


----------

