# Nichord's Lawn Journal



## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Just wanted to kick off my lawn journal with an update of past projects to get me up to current day. After living in our old home for the last 19 years, the upkeep for the 5 acres became too much with life/wife and 2 teenage boys to keep up with. We said goodbye to old project and moved to a new home in a subdivision. New home was picked up after original builders deal fell through so would have done some yard things different but could not pass up the deal.

OLD HOME:


NEW HOME (April 2020 - Purchased in Oct 2019):


Yard/landscaping was an absolute mess with 3 different issues/projects that required sod laid at 3 different time. The price was right though. I will break this up into segments with different projects to get to current day. Grass is mostly hybrid Bermuda with some common Bermuda on very back of lot. Lot is 47,500 sq ft with around 40k sq ft of grass.

Thanks for following along on my journey!


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Irrigation Install (April 2020)
With the Oklahoma heat and lack of rain in summer, irrigation is almost a must with a bigger lawn. Trying to plan out an acre of irrigation was a process (not that we would water the entire lawn in a drought), but wanted to go with MP rotators and have used PVC in previous installs. Water meter size was smaller than really needed for a large irrigation system, but didn't want to upgrade so lawn was broken up into smaller zones. I think we needed up with close to 2000 feet of PVC installed before all was said and done. My wife and 2 boys absolutely loved this project!

Random flags scattered on front yard:


Decided to add drains for downspouts with all the trenches already added to yard:


Valve Box Spaghetti:


Trenches Front Yard Cleaned Up:


Took out a large hump in back yard and sprinkler lines buried:


Time to play in the sprinkler:


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Landscape Work

Decided to add a small front bed to hide the water valve boxes in the front yard. Probably should have added some fabric under the mulch, but haven't had much issues with the thickness of mulch we keep down in beds.



Added a landscape bed to the front of house and added drip irrigation to existing bed and newly added bed.





View of house with new front beds. Lawn looking better already and irrigation lines had gotten more topsoil to level out.


Yard is very unlevel and cutting with a 52" Scag Tiger Cat at around 1.75"


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

New subdivision going in behind us. We are starting a hedge line to help block the lights/traffic. Coming from the country even with a large lot, we still need a bit of privacy.



Lawn continuing to improve and irrigation lines starting to grow over a bit. Had to do several leveling jobs on these to get them back to flat.


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Lets build a sandbox! (August 2020)

I wanted to test out some things I have started putting together to do a very large lawn leveling project for the Spring of 2021, so decided to throw down some sand to test out the process before going all out.

Check out that Lawn Rebel @wardconnor inspired drag! Went with 8' wide design. Built and welded it up myself. Just a small section of front yard and 5 yds of sand.







Week later grass poking through



Things found out about testing things like this... the firmness of the sanded area compared to non sanded area is very noticeable. After rain, it dries up much quicker and can be mowed sooner. Also the grass in this area stayed greener longer into the Fall and greened up quicker this Spring even in a shaded area. This was USGA -20 very fine sand. Decided it was too fine and did a great job leveling, but used way too much sand to do an effective job on a big project.


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Spring green up was hit by freezing temps after it was scalped, but lawn has come a long way already.

April 2021:


May 2021:


Picked up a Greensmaster 1600 and Lesco Spreader/ Spreader-Mate from @Ware back in the Fall. Cutting at 5/8" to keep the grass a low as a can until I can do a major leveling project which is coming this weekend. Cutting around 30k sq ft with the reel mower. Not sure how long I will be able to keep that up. Seed heads have been terrible. Not sure if it is the stress of cutting low or the weather. 24 yards of mason sand being delivered on Friday. Have tractor on stand by and other modified tools to help. Way to much yard to do things manually, so hopefully things will work out well with modified old John Deere lawn cart with winch dump and using my homemade aerator to poke a bunch of holes before sanding.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

Looks great thus far!

30k w the reel?! You absolute maniac!! That is some seeeeeerious work, but it looks worth it IMO!


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Thanks @DFWdude! In all fairness, weather has kept it from growing gang buster. Takes around 1.5 hours to mow it all but breaking it up helps. Cutting all of it every 3 to 4 days right now. Seed heads cause me to hit the front yard every day or 2. I needed the exercise anyways at my 46 years of youth. Slow green up keeps pushing the sand project back and wanted to get sand down before hitting it with some PGR. Time will tell how much I can keep short after getting it under regulation, but I do enjoy the mow. Neighbors all think I am crazy from cutting 2x a week last year with the 52" Scag.


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## DFWdude (Aug 28, 2020)

I ditched my 48" deere and now use the 20" cali. Neighbors think i'm a quack too.

Keep up the good work!


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

*Big Sand Leveling Project*

Anyone ever wonder what 24 yards of mason sand looks like?




Dodging rain and trying to time things didn't go as planned, but it was when I had time to get it done. Didn't want to be doing this in 90 degree heat and wanted nature to water things in. The forecast for all this week is rain so hopefully it grows back in quickly. Worked on the ditch the night before starting the real work.


Poked a few holes and filled with fertilizer before adding the sand. I built a homemade towable aerator years ago when we had 5 acres and it has served me well with a few upgrades over the years. Ground was still a bit wet, but got some good plugs without too much turf damage. Real carnage comes with the sand dragging right? My old New Holland TC35 tractor looks small compared to the pile.


Day 2 and already getting some rain. Sand was put on pretty thick as the lawn is really rough. I see a couple areas that will need to be addressed already. Areas up by sidewalk got a test sanding last year and was able to work some sand down in the turf as it was already pretty smooth.


We will see how it recovers, but I do not want to be doing this too many times. Thanks to my wife and two teenage boys we had a good operation and moved a lot of sand quickly. Side yard and part of the back yard received some sand as well. Still have around 4yds to put down in the back and to do touch ups with.

Now what to do to try to level out the other half of the yard?


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

Looking great! Fellow okie here. Who did you get your sand from? This weather has been brutal for me this year with no hope in sight.


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## ReelMowLow74 (Apr 13, 2021)

Looks great!! Following along for more updates


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Mason sand was from Gem Dirt. Came out to $40 per yard delivered. I am sure I could have gotten it cheaper if I shopped around (maybe not with Covid/pricing issues), but they could bring it to me at 12 yards per truck. I ordered from them so I could get the same material each time and not have to worry about getting something with rocks, etc if ordered again at a later date. I went by and checked the material before ordering and it is double washed with very fine screen. I didn't find any rocks or debris in the sand at all. Hopefully we get a bunch of rain this week to help it out. We received non of the predicted rain before I ordered the sand and then rained after I ordered it. Now that it is down, it probably won't rain again. Murphy's Law always an issue with me. :lol: I used an 8' wide drag in this application to try to "flatten" out some areas as well as smoothing it. I can see a couple of areas where water has pooled with the rain yesterday, but I will go back with a smaller lawn leveler to fix some of those issues over time. One of the things I don't see talked about very often is how the firmness of the top layer changes after sand capping. It will stay much firmer after rain and can get back on it to mow much sooner.


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

I got mine from gem dirt as well. I don't need anymore rain.


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Sand Leveling Update:

Haven't received any more rain since day 2 after spreading the sand. Sand has dried in a few places allowing me to work it in the canopy some more, but there is a ton of moisture still trying to evaporate though it keeping it wet. We have chances of rain everyday and no sun (thus the cloudy pics), so we will see how that effects things. Thinking it may get sunlight some time next week. Crazy Oklahoma weather!

Day 3:


Day 4: (Pic doesn't look a very different, but looks a lot more green in person. Still not much going on here.)


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Sand Leveling Update:

Weather turned pretty cold and cloudy after the sand leveling. While it is nice to get rain after sand leveling, the sun coming out ever once in a while is a must. Ground temps were getting close to 70 when I first applied the sand and on day 12 the ground temps had dropped back to 65 with all the cold wet days.

Day 5: (First day that wasn't mostly cloudy)


Day 6: (Calm before the storm) 


On day 7 we had buckets of rain dumped on us. We received 2.64 inches of rain in 54 minutes. Most of the sand did well, except the ditch that turned into the river. I was leaving town on day 8 for the weekend, so I just let it be.

Day 11: (Did a little bit of clean up on some areas due to the rain with a lawn leveler)


Day 13: (Finally some sun on day 12 and day 13 temps got above 80 for first time since the start of the project)


Lessons learned. While the grass was growing rapidly before putting the sand down, the cold, cloudy and wet days knocked it back down. Was hardly having to cut areas that were not sanded. Really caused some issues with growing back through, but no one really noticed as the neighbors lawns are still having issues greening up. Unheard of in Oklahoma in May/June to not be hot already. June 2020 we received about .03" of rain the entire month and was one of the hottest on record. May 2021 we ended up with 7.95 inches of rain and 2.5 degrees cooler for the month and most of that seemed to come at the end. I didn't want to be sweating like crazy when doing this, but be prepared to take a longer time to grow back in if it is cold.


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Sand Update:

I put down 18-24-12 starter fertilizer after I had aerated and before sand was applied, but that was 2 weeks ago. We have had a ton of rain since then and worry that most of the nitrogen was likely washed out of soil. I am adding some liquid applications to help get this grown in. Started spoon feeding with liquid fertilizer from 46-0-0 sprayable urea on Day 14 (Friday 6/4) at .2#N/1K. Starting to heat up finally with low 90s expected this week. I will add another liquid application on Friday, but I don't want the grass to get away from me before I can get it under regulation. Have seen too many people post on here about feeding it too much supplemental liquid nitrogen and then mowing every day and can't keep up. Overall, not as smooth as I would have liked but it's a process and was extremely rough before starting. Went from mower bouncing all over the place and wash-boarding to no bounce anymore. Hopefully the GM1600 is starting to feel a little better about leaving that smooth, plush lawn that @Ware made it accustomed too.

Day 18:


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Sand Update (1 Month):

Heat finally hit and mostly grown back in now. Took the last of the sand and touched up some places. Ditch gets washed out with every heavy rain, so hopefully can get some of this locked in before the next gully washer. Applied PGR at .1oz / 1K to help slow it down a bit. Tough decision here as I need the new sand spots to fill in, but can't keep up with the rest of it. My theory is the grass under the sand will not get regulation and poke back through as normal. Time will tell, mowing 30k sq ft every 2 days at .625" was too much as the heat came back in. We are mid 90s and high 80s for the next 10 days, so we will see.

Application Applied to 30K Hybrid Bermuda (6/14/21):
.1 oz / 1K T-NEX (First App to Stunt)
7 oz / 1K Greene Effect (6% iron)
.2# / 1K Sprayable Urea 46-0-0

Front Yard Update:


Back Yard Photos:




Back part of lawn is common bermuda and applied T-NEX on 6/2 at .25oz / 1K and I have barely had to cut it. Cutting at 2" as it is very unlevel and easy to scalp to dirt with the 52" Scag. T-Nex application 2 for it in a few days.


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

I tried spraying TNEX after a level this spring. It was hard to tell if it worked out how I thought it would. Need a control group. I do think the yard will fill in faster without it. If you can't keep up with the mowing I would rather have slower fill in though. I went heavy on the PGR early this year then all the low temps clouds and rain came. Time to put more down since the temps and sun are here. I bet yours will be looking pretty good by the 4th.


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

@Sbcgenii Was a rough spring for sure. I went from green up in late March to pretty much downhill until the last week due to weather. I have gone through your lawn journal and you have made huge improvements and things look amazing.

First year reel mowing at the house for me and first year spraying PGR, so all a bit of a learning curve. Used to cut soccer fields with a 5 gang John Deere fairway mower. Cutting with that beast was a dream with its 100" cut width. Was hoping for a couple more days of growth before the PGR kicked in, but I think it already put the brakes on. The spray combination I hit it with yesterday morning made for some amazing color today after cutting late last night and giving it a drink this morning. My soil test from this Spring showed I was low in Iron, so I am sure a lot of it was the foliar app of Greene Effect. Looking at April 2020 pic to this morning has been a sizable transformation already. Hopefully things just keep improving. Have to start working on some landscaping at some point as its been neglected. Also, had a bunch of perennial plants and new trees not make it through that rough patch of winter.

April 2020:


June 2021:


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## WhiteSubi (Sep 6, 2019)

Beautiful property and progression! I live in BA so it's nice to follow some other locals to see how/what they are doing.


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

What a busy last few weeks for the family. About to send the oldest off to college, so we have been getting in some family fun time with various trips. I am still dealing with lots of dollar spot. Going to switch to Cleary 3336F from propiconazole 14.3 to mix things up and reduce the watering to see if I can knock it out. The PGR has been a life saver though. Surprised at how little water I have had to apply compared to last year and still a bit swampy. Was gone for 10 days, home for 3 days and got a mow in at 5/8" and then gone for another 7 days. Just got back yesterday from 7 day trip, this morning I was cutting about a third of the blade off at 5/8". I might need a reset soon after letting it grow out the 10 days I was gone last trip. All and all, I can't believe how thick the grass has gotten with the help of the PGR. Looks and feels like carpet, but still some room for improvement. I have been applying T-NEX at .3oz / 1K using 225 gdd. This is a common U3 Bermuda sod. Unicorn pee for sure! Hopefully the rest of the summer I can be a bit more tentative to things. Can see some of the yellowing from underneath from it getting a bit too long from the 10 day trip. May just bump up to 3/4" for the rest of the season, but it looks so tight with it shorter.


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

Status Update:

What a year it has been! Couldn't find a time in the Spring to top-dress with sand from all the rain and cold temps. Now we can't find rain to save our lawns. We have been over 66 days without any measurable rain. Had so many pop up showers that just keep missing. Over 1/2 of the back part of the yard is pretty much dormant from drought stress. Keeping around 1/2 of the yard watered, but even with watering it is starting to look pretty stressed in places. Irrigation just isn't the same as getting some soaking rains from time to time. My yard is still pretty green compared to many of the neighbors, so the PGR apps and reel mowing do increase leaf tissue and help out in this regard. I felt like going so short was going to be an issue but it has not been the case. Now I am having to ask questions that I never asked before like applying pre-emergent to drought stressed dormant grass. Although it won't do much good if it isn't watered in. I have about 3/4 of the acre that I can water in. Have to see what the answers are.

I am going to go with a 3 MOA of pre-emergent this year. Previously used just Prodiamine 65 WDG. Going with Specticle Flo, Simazine, and Prodiamine in 4 apps. Hopefully can get the first app down soon, but we have also been 10 to 15 degrees above normal for temps and soil temps are still in the low 80s.


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