# AUspicious' 2021 Journal (I welcome your input)



## AUspicious (Apr 16, 2020)

I'm a little late getting the lawn journal going this season, so I'll give a readers digest account of what I've done to date.

Feb 7, Laid down Sunniland pre-em.

Late February, I sent off two soil samples...one for the front yard and one for the back yard.

March 2, soil report came back. 
Soil type for both was categorized as clays and soils high in organic matter (CEC > 9 cmolckg-1)...whatever that means. 
Front pH: 6.8; Back pH: 7.0. They recommended 15-0-15 when grass started greening up good.

March 24, spread 15-0-15.

Mid April, spread 34-0-0 and Ironite

A week later, spread Sevin insect killer at the rate prescribed for grubs (4 lb/M). I was hoping they would help with my earthworm problem...doesn't seem to be working yet...but no armadillos. :lol:

Haven't really needed to use my irrigation system except to water in the ferts.

Here's how things look today. I think the lawn is greening up a little faster than it did last year. But I'm still a little concerned by a few areas in the front yard. I'm wondering if the lawn is maybe recovering from some damage from late last year?

Front yard...you can see some of the spots that are slow to green up. 









One of the spots









Another "slow grower"









I'm still waking up to these @#$% worm castings. I tried Sevin, but I really haven't seen much of a change. They're all over the yard. 








Here's one of the perpetrators. 









But, I'm really happy with how the back yard is coming along. The area to the left is on the south side of the yard and is getting a bit of shade throughout the day, so maybe the soil temps haven't increased there as much as the rest of the lawn. 









I also have some invasive cultivar I need to address. I don't know what to do short of sliding some paper between this and my desirable bermuda and painting it with roundup. Any ideas?


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

I really hope that last pick is not torpedo grass


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I'd take Torpedograss over common Bermuda. At least you can put Quinclorac on the Topredograss. Nothing will kill the common Bermuda.


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

I wouldn't be concerned about those "trouble" spots. I'm well south of you, and mine still hasn't quite greened up well. Once it stays warm for a week or two, it'll perk up. Looks great!


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## AUspicious (Apr 16, 2020)

I sprayed T-Nex PGR today. I couldn't wait any longer. The seed heads were coming up and starting to make the lawn look hazy. I used a spray indicator, which makes cleaning up my sprayer kind of a pain in the rear, but I like being able to see where I've sprayed and how heavy. Anyway, I put it down at just over 0.25 oz/M. I hope that rate isn't too heavy this early in the season. Keeping my HOC at 0.4" for now.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Your trouble spots have mostly cleared up. Looks really good!


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## AUspicious (Apr 16, 2020)

Ben S said:


> Your trouble spots have mostly cleared up. Looks really good!


Thanks, @Ben S. Yes, those areas are really beginning to fill in.


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## AUspicious (Apr 16, 2020)

Mowed today, got bored, took a couple pictures, figured I'd post. This was my first mow since putting down PGR on Sunday. It's been three days. I didn't have much growth at all. I'm ready for the darn seed heads to disappear.

Anyway, I think I figured out the striping pattern I want to go with for most of the season. I want to alternate narrow and wide stripes with consistent diagonals in the front. I think after two or three more mows, the stripes will be pretty visible.

I'm still seeing a lot of marcelling in the back. I have thought of going to a 7-blade reel, but it's weird that it's not doing it as bad in the front. I should probably level again too. The back is pretty rough.


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## AUspicious (Apr 16, 2020)

I put some of this down on the lawn today...Lesco Dimension pre-em with Nitrogen. I used Sunniland back in February. I think it did okay, but I'm starting to see a few weeds popping up here and there. Nothing crazy, and I think the February treatment largely did its job, but it's been three months.

I've gone this long into the season without having to use my irrigation system, but the grass is starting to look parched. I think it's time to turn it on. I watered in the Lesco today, and other granular applications earlier in the year. Everything seems to be working fine. I may have to replace a couple heads, or at least clean them out. Some of my misters may have a little blockage that is affecting performance.

I haven't done anything else about the worm castings. I think I'm going to wait and see what warmer temps do...it may push them down deeper into the soil.

Anyway, nothing exciting...just trying to keep my journal up to date.


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## AUspicious (Apr 16, 2020)

Watered this morning and quickly mowed at lunch. I put down some granular iron a couple days ago...I think it made a difference. Still seems to be some haziness on the lawn which I think is the seed heads that started before I put down my first application of PGR. I'm hoping it miraculously disappears. Seems like I had the same experience last year and it kind of corrected itself after a couple PGR apps.

Front lawn









Back lawn









Trouble spot at the gate. Most of this ugly area is on the north side of the gate, which gets very little (i.e., almost no) sunlight. I may have to keep the dog inside for a few hours a day and leave the gate open just so that spot can get some sun.


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