# KK07 Sidewalk Lawn Complete Renovation TTTF+KBG Fall 2021 (Southern MA)



## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

My front sidewalk is next to a two-way road, and it gets a lot of road salt. It also has a slope. This fall, I am trying to amend the soil and grow grass there. It will be a challenging project but good news is it's only 500 sqft, and I feel a bit more confident after getting 1 year of lawn care experiences and knowledge form this forum and my other local group. My big picture plan is as follows.

0. Send soil sample for soil test.
1. Apply glyphosate.
- Compare-N-Save 41% glyphosate. Plan to apply at least two rounds with 1 week apart.
2. Prep the seed bed.
- Aerate/till/dethatch using a mantis. Mow as low as my mower allows without hitting the ground and water valve and bag. Find rocks buried at around 6" deep along the curb and remove. Level the ground by spreading topsoil/garden soil/compost.
- Spread 10-10-10 at 1/4 # of N.
- Spread gypsum and lime per soil test.
3. Throw down seeds at 7 lb per 1K.
- Seeds: Custom mix of 90-10 TTTF-KBG from hogan. They are all A-list cultivars that require low water/fertilizer inputs.
4. Spray tenacity at 0.344 tsp (1.7 ml) per 500 sqft. No NIS is needed. Optionally, spray extreme blend (2 tablespoon/K) and hydretain.
5. Spread peat moss.
- Lightly rake for seed to soil contact. Maybe do a foot stomp across the area?
6. Spread M-binder tackifier at 3.5. lb per K so that seeds won't wash away from the slope.
- It's very fine powder and hard to spread. Will try using Scott's hand held spreader.
- Mark off the area with caution yellow tape.
7. Hand water the area for a few mins @ 8 am, 12 noon, 5 pm, every day for like a month.
8. First mow at 3" tall (praying grass will come up at all).
9. Second mow at 3" after a week.
- After 2nd mow or 4 weeks DAG (whichever is longer, per label), apply the 2nd application of tenacity.
- Spoon feed fast N every week for 4 weeks after first mow. Maybe I do a weekly liquid spray application of Urea at 0.1 or 0.2# N until the end of Oct?
10. At 60 DAG: apply prodiamine at preventative rate to prevent fall weeds.

Let me know what you guys think. Anything missing, gotchas?
Thanks!


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

07/28: 1st application of glyphosate. I used a blue dye. I plant to use NIS and a pinch of urea for my 2nd application tomorrow. The grass is starting to turn yellow after 3-4 days mark.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Did 2nd round of gly app, most greens are dead but there are some stubborn weeds still. Fallowing is working, i guess.


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## Liquidstone (Mar 31, 2021)

Some of those weeds and older grasses are stubborn as can be and will take some time to knock out completely. I know I went through it. I think you've got a great game plan. It looks like you've done your homework and have cherry picked your process from others' journals as well as g-man's guide. Good luck. I'd have to say that solid planning, allowing enough time and proper execution will get you to where you want to be!


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Liquidstone said:


> Some of those weeds and older grasses are stubborn as can be and will take some time to knock out completely. I know I went through it. I think you've got a great game plan. It looks like you've done your homework and have cherry picked your process from others' journals as well as g-man's guide. Good luck. I'd have to say that solid planning, allowing enough time and proper execution will get you to where you want to be!


Thanks for the comment and stopping by. I appreciate it. I just did the 2nd app of gly yesterday to get those stubborn weeds. I also got the soil test results back, and it is looking better than I thought it would be. I thought the soluble salts level will be through the roof due to road salt, but only the result came back as 0.16. I was initially thinking of applying gypsum, but I may not need it? What do you all think? The 10-10-10 might be okay to use also?


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

08/05: Updated pic. There are still some weeds and some fine fescue still green. Will keep monitoring and probably apply one more app if things are still green by next week.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

09/06/21: Put down loam to level, seeds, peat moss, tenacity, and covered with straw blanket to control erosion. Hopefully the seedlings can come through the straw.


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

kk07 said:


> 09/06/21: Put down loam to level, seeds, peat moss, tenacity, and covered with straw blanket to control erosion. Hopefully the seedlings can come through the straw.


Looks great! Trust me, they'll find a way to get through that no problem.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Thanks for the words of encouragement! My area is getting some heavy rain throughout the day, and so far no washouts yet. Just want to get through this rainy day as quick as possible. fingers crossed!


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

09/11/21: We got germinations. It took 6 days. I am pretty sure they are TTTF. Kbg will probably take their sweet time.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

More germinations. 3 DAG.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)




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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

13 DAG. Seedlings are getting tall. Some areas are thin and I did throw down some seeds last week or so. I have two questions to the members here.
1. For those who have used straw blankets, do you remove the netting before the first mow? I am afraid the plastic/white net will get caught by the mower blade.
2. I am contemplating whether to use my reel mower, but it can only cut up to 1.75". Is that too low? Also, it doesnt have a bag to catch the cut grass. I have a honda mower as well that can cut up to like 2-2.5", but not much higher, but I need to sharpen the blade a bit more. The last time I sharpened during the summer wasn't good enough (still saw some shredded grass blades). But the reel mower is very sharp and clean cut, just that it can't cut high.

Thanks for your thoughts!


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

14 DAG: Did the first cut with a reel mower today at 1.75" which is theax for the mower. Went over the straw netting with no issue.


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

Nice work! You can mow over them, but I have gotten it stuck in my 60" deck (mostly the runners). It's not so much the netting, if you're using your reel, I'd be more worried about the stakes. Either way, I think you'll be good.

Are you planning to leave them or pull them?


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Thanks. I am still thinking about whether to remove the straw netting. I'd like to once the grass is mature a bit more. The stakes are quite buried in the ground. I m worried about erosion if I remove too early. Just got another rain overnight last night but not too much. Once the rain stops for the season, I think I will remove the netting and retrieve the stakes. There are tons of them.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

16 DAG (09/27): 0.25 lb of N per K. I did it so that it gets watered in by today's rain. 
17 DAG (09/28): Got about 0.45" of rain so far. Here is a comparison photo of today and exactly 1 week ago. Good to see some progress filling in but maybe not fast enough or I don't see it as I look at the grass everyday. I guess kudos to google collage feature to stitch photos easily.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Journey so far.


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

Looking great! Love the collage look. Did that surprise you when you put it together…to your point it's hard to see the growth when we stare at it everyday for hours (or is that just me?)…this def gives perspective.

I haven't done it yet, but I hear metal detectors work pretty well getting the stakes..you might have a challenge with the ones next to the fence though.

Keep doing, looking great!


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Robs92k said:


> Looking great! Love the collage look. Did that surprise you when you put it together…to your point it's hard to see the growth when we stare at it everyday for hours (or is that just me?)…this def gives perspective.
> 
> I haven't done it yet, but I hear metal detectors work pretty well getting the stakes..you might have a challenge with the ones next to the fence though.
> 
> Keep doing, looking great!


Definitely count me in for starting at it everyday and thinking it can't grow fast enough. I tried removing the straw net but it's pretty tangled with grass and I didn't want to pull up the grass too. Looks like I might have to leave the straw net for now and try to remove it maybe when the grass is more mature (or try the metal detector). It looks like the net is still holding strong (though it says photodegradable). If it does not decompose by the last day of the season, I could try pulling up the net slowly and take out the stakes.


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

kk07 said:


> Robs92k said:
> 
> 
> > Looking great! Love the collage look. Did that surprise you when you put it together…to your point it's hard to see the growth when we stare at it everyday for hours (or is that just me?)…this def gives perspective.
> ...


Good call…mine came up hard on the taller areas, but I would def try to take out the stakes first. The lift from the edges all the way around. Last part is slowly work your way towards the middle lifting up from underneath. If you take your time you won't lose much material. At least you don't have a lot to remove! Don't worry, the little you lose will snap right back next year.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Robs92k said:


> kk07 said:
> 
> 
> > Robs92k said:
> ...


Thanks for the tips. Will try to take out the stakes first but I am afraid they will be buried by the next few weeks. Were you able to see them visually before you pulled them out?

Spring is another worry....hope is the new grass will survive the winter and road salt...I just hope that 80+% of grass survive this winter.


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

@kk07 …I was able to locate the outer stakes by pulling gently on the edges until I found them. It's likely the thinner netting will tear out of a few (this is where the metal detector comes in handy). I also used an old set of needle nose pliers to pull them…worked well.

I also wouldn't worry about the salts. Grass is extremely resilient and it will come back by fall. I live on a country road in WI…nothing sees more salt than my ditch…see pic below. Some of my thickest turf.

Relax, you're through the tough part. Nothing you can do aside from mow, water, and feed. Nothing to worry about my friend.

Seriously good work on your Reno!


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

@Robs92k That lawn looks awesome and seems like they are doing well along that road too. Which seed did you use?

I do have a pair of needle nose pliers that I will use too. Great idea. Thanks for the words of encouragement. That front strip has been neglected for the longest time and hopefully it will look a bit more decent after this.


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

kk07 said:


> @Robs92k That lawn looks awesome and seems like they are doing well along that road too. Which seed did you use?
> 
> I do have a pair of needle nose pliers that I will use too. Great idea. Thanks for the words of encouragement. That front strip has been neglected for the longest time and hopefully it will look a bit more decent after this.


60% KBG, rye and fescue. Mostly KBG now. This is a 14mo old lawn, so it's certainly not about it being mature.

It's just looking this good now…thanks! Been doing my blitz and it's raging right now.

Good luck!


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Nice going. Yeah, i started doing the blitz myself too for the rest of the lawn. Which cultivar kbg do yiu have there?


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## Robs92k (May 9, 2021)

kk07 said:


> Nice going. Yeah, i started doing the blitz myself too for the rest of the lawn. Which cultivar kbg do yiu have there?


My landscapers go to blend…I'm certainly not unhappy with it…


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Robs92k said:


> kk07 said:
> 
> 
> > Nice going. Yeah, i started doing the blitz myself too for the rest of the lawn. Which cultivar kbg do yiu have there?
> ...


Looks like a good blend. Thanks for sharing.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Update: I removed the straw netting. I couldn't get most of the stakes, but they are pretty buried, so hopefully, they won't come out during mowing.

I am seeing some light green grass though. I am not sure what's up. I've been applying 0.25 lb of N (spreading urea prills by hand spreader) weekly for the past 4 weeks. I hope they will darken during the rest of the growing season, which is coming to an end soon (maybe end of Oct). The lighter green grass looks like they are lacking nitrogen/weak. Maybe because they didn't get these urea prills as I am spreading such a small amount each time?

Let me know what you guys think.


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Some more photos. Those light green areas are now turning yellow. Most of them are along the edge of the curb and some random spots. Have been spoon feeding 0.25 lb N weekly for the last 4 weeks. Prop14.3 was applied on 09/30.

These problematic grass started out as light green (like poa triv) and now turn more into yellow, which makes it look like fungus to me.

What do you guys think what the issue is and what is next for me?


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## kk07 (Sep 2, 2020)

Just a quick update. I did the. mow over the weekend. There are still some top growth but not much as it is getting cold here. Most yellow/light green grass are now along the edge of the curb. Other random yellow patches have greened up. My current theory is that those grass along the edge do not get enough nitrogen/fertilizer as they are so close to the edge and maybe fertilizer prills bounced off or do not stay along the edge when I was spreading. Let's see what spring brings. Hopefully they will survive.


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