# Truerebel 2021 (Year 2)



## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

The last couple seasons have seen a lot of grub and chinch bug damage as well as my general ignorance in mowing the lawn at too low a HOC without knowing the first thing about lawn care. A large percentage of the lawn had died and was being taken over by weeds. Damage can bee seen in my previous thread: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=20585&p=296998#p296998

So around August 15th I scalped the lawn down as low as I could, power raked it and spread a couple yards of screened topsoil. I didn't know enough to fallow or I'd have left more time. I rolled it and raked it and spread a mix of KBG/PRG/CRF on Aug 17th. I added CIL Starter Fertilizer ~Aug 22.


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

Post seeding:





Germination of the PRG took ~4-5 days.







Post first mow there are still a few spots lagging a bit:


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

After second mow it's been ~30 days now since seed went down. A couple spots to fill in. Also seeing some boradleaf weed and a tiny bit of clover. I planned on mowing one more time and then maybe spot spraying Par3. I also plan on adding some fertilizer in a few days. Is spraying weeds worthwhile at this point?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

And that my friend is why you plant sooner and not later (although you're in NB and will probably have snow this weekend!). Well done.

If you've already cut it once, you can start spoon feeding N - 1/4lb N weekly. And keep cutting frequently.

You have very little weed pressure. I wouldn't bother spraying Par 3 (plus I think your grass isn't established enough). Frost is coming and will take care of the few weeds you have.

Now is the time to baby it with N and mowing. Keep doing both for the few weeks you have left.

FYI, keep it at 2" for the next 2-3 cuts.


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

Thanks Harts! Appreciate the help. I'll get some N down tomorrow. I've been mowing at 2" so I'll keep it there for now.

And yes, we'll probably have no in no time here in North Bay lol.


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

I threw down about 0.3lbs/1000 of 9-2-2 +Iron Home Hardware stuff because it's what I had. I'll get some Urea tonight on my way through a town that has a TSC and put 0.25lbs/1000 of that down sometime next week. Been mowing every 2-3 days now at 2".


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

Couple pics ~7 weeks since I seeded. Since Sep 18th when I put down a small amount of 9-2-2 I put down 0.25lbs/1000 of Urea on Sep 26 and 0.3lbs/1000 on Oct 5th. HOC is now up to 2.5". Can I fit in 1 more round of Urea? I plan to blowout my irrigation late next week. Not the best images I should have done it with better light but here we are. Some areas are slightly lighter than others and it kind of correlates to where I did more levelling/put down top soil. I see a lot of posts about this happening to new lawns so I'll wait for it to correct itself next season.


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Awesome reno. Looking great!


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

Wiley said:


> Awesome reno. Looking great!


Thanks Wiley. Next season I'll make myself a striping kit to show it off a bit, lol.

@Harts When would you recommend I stop spoon feeding N for the season? Our weather this time of year isn't terribly different from yours.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

I'm done for the year because I just sold my house. Not putting down any more products - just cutting.

I usually apply N right up until first frost. I know last year my last cut was sometime in November.


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

Thank you Sir.

I saw the images of the new house in your journal. Looks amazing. Congrats!


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

So I've done one more application of 0.25lbs N a few days ago. I'm starting to notice a bit of yellowing in some areas. I'm not sure if it's fungus or because we've had a lot of rain this fall. I've only used the irrigation a couple times in the last few weeks.

What am I up against here? should I apply Propiconazole or is it too late in the season to worry about?


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

The lawn is starting to come back. Had lot of rain this spring here in North Bay. So far:

-Prodiamine applied ~ April 18th roughly 0.35oz/1000
-HH 9-2-2 + Iron spead ~ Apr 30th 1lbs/1000 N
-Spot sprayed Par 3 on whatever had popped up. Quite a few dandelions and a few weeds I haven't seen that I suspect came with the top soil I put down last fall. Some of them look like ferns of some kind.

There are still a few spots lagging. The color is still inconsistent. I'm also developing a purple hue in some areas which happened last fall as well. I was concerned it was disease/fungus as it seems to eventually kill the grass. I thought about doing some Propi soon but some of you have advised that it's pretty early for that.

I also had Chinch bugs last year which was what I suspect killed my lawn before the reno. I treated with Talstar a couple times last season. I have a bit left but I feel like it's early for that too.



Not sure what this purple coloring is all about. I've read low P, drought (I don't think this could be an issue right now), insect damage:



One of the fern-like weeds:



And one of the lagging areas. Can't really drop seed here because of the recent Prodiamine application. I'm hoping it will fill in once it warms up a bit.


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

Since last post:

-0.25lbs/1000 Urea ~ May 10th
-Sprayed 3oz Turf Fuel Blade Iron 15-0-0 (with Iron) over ~1400 sq feet ~May 17
-0.3lbs/1000 HH 9-2-2 May 30th. 
- Propiconazole went down ~ June 3rd

I'm having trouble at the front of the yard closest to the curb. This is where the issues usually started the last 2 seasons that I believe led to the weeds and chinch bugs taking over. It starts to yellow in one area and seems to spread and die off. This is what led me to do the overseed/reno last fall.

I suspect it's a combination of soil quality (it's much more sandy there compared to other areas of the lawn. Maybe from the plow throwing crap there during the winter). I also suspect that my irrigation doesn't quite hit that area quite as well.

I've attached some images of the trouble area. Would love to hear your thoughts. I'm not sure what to do about it.

(I went back to the images I took before the overseed/reno last fall - The second image in this imgur thread is the same spot as in the images below:


http://imgur.com/jAFcYhJ

)


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

@Harts @Sinclair

What do you guys make of this stressed spot? I've ordered some Azoxy but I'm not sure it's entirely disease or if something is happening first that leads to disease, weeds and insects in this specific spot. The imgur thread I linked above is from last summer before I did the semi reno/overseed last fall that shows the exact spot almost to the inch is starting to stress again.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

If it's happening in exactly the same area, I would be suspicious of the soil depth and quality in that area.

Especially with it being right next to the curb - I know I don't have to go very deep near my curb to start hitting gravel and rocks.

Get a screwdriver that can go 8-10" deep and poke around.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

^+1


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

I can't probe that area more than 2-3" with the soil probe without hitting something whereas the rest of the lawn i get 8" plugs easily. I'll check it with a screw driver too.

Should I dig it up this fall and introduce new soil?

I appreciate your input guys. Learned a lot reading your stuff.


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## truerebel (Jul 11, 2020)

I think you guys are bang on. I can't get the screwdriver in much more than 3" anywhere I poked in that area.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

I would first try giving the area supplemental water to revive the grass and to see if the ground loosens up at all.

If you gain depth with the screwdriver after some deep watering, then you might be able to correct the situation with core aeration, amendment, and water.

If you don't gain any depth, then you're dealing with something that shouldn't be there like concrete or asphalt that the road crew dumped there.

It's a pig of a job to dig up and dispose of 6" of whatever is down there. I'd exhaust the the possible alternatives first.


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## Sinclair (Jul 25, 2017)

Or, just dig up a small area to see what's there.


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## Marzbar (Aug 2, 2020)

Sinclair said:


> I would first try giving the area supplemental water to revive the grass and to see if the ground loosens up at all.
> 
> If you gain depth with the screwdriver after some deep watering, then you might be able to correct the situation with core aeration, amendment, and water.
> 
> ...


I have the same problem in an area I'm planning to Reno. So what kind of amendment should I do after core aeration? Thanks


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