# 2018 TTTF/KBG Reno



## Sfurunner13

In late 2018 I decided to do a complete lawn renovtion. It started off with just spot spraying weeds which somehow led to glyphosate over the entire yard. I found the TLF in August 2018 and just went for it. I did not take many pictures throughout the process but overall I'm happy with the results. 2018 was a tough seeding year, lots of rain, fungus, and winter came early which didn't help my late start. I do not have an irrigation system so watering involved a lot of hose moving.

Before











After





2018 Journal Timeline

3500 sq ft front yard
9000 sq dr back yard

6.5 lb/k of TTTF ( Hogan Blend LS 1200 Cochise IV Hemi Hot Rod Rebounder)

1.25 lb/k of KBG ( Bewitched, Nuglade)

Timeline:

8/24 glyphosate entire Reno area.

8/31 repeat glyphosate.

9/12 light rain all day led to a terrible messy day. scalp lawn. Detached and seed down. Used soil moist 0.75 pack over front yard seed and 1.5 bags over back yard seed. Seed down at above rates. Rolled into yard and covered with leaf compost (not best choice but it's free). Applied Scott's starter with meso at 4.3 lb/k. Applied Milo at 14.4 lb/k. Started watering with hose end times and impact sprinklers which covered majority of yard. 
Watered 5 times per day for 15 minutes.

9/18 germination

10-5 First now at 2.25 in. Kept it there for remainder of year. Mowed every 3-4 days to encourage growth.

10/5 applied urea (46-0-0) at 0.5 lb/k for 0.25 lb N

10/9 still very hot, humid. Developed phylum blight in small areas of front and back yard. Applied Scott's disease X at curative 4lb/k. Thankfully I couhht it early. Several washouts by the road requiring re seeding.

10/10 urea at 0.5 lb/k

10/16 Milo at 14.4 lb/k

10/20 urea 0.5lb/k. Grass seems to be stalling with little growth as temps are getting lower. Was late to seed with KBG so may not have a chance to mature this fall.

No further Fert apps as temps lowered quickly. I feel like we went from hot and humid to cold very quickly. growth has been minimal. Continued to mow every 3-4 days until late December. Top growth stopped in late October but counties to mow to mulch leaves.

Looking forward to 2019. I can't wait to push the grass this spring. Still have about 4000 sq ft to Reno this fal in the back yard. I plan on updating this as I go. Still a lot to learn.


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## g-man

Welcome to TLF. Goldendoodle?


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## Sfurunner13

Yup, his name is sulley. Probably around 2.5 years old there.


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## Sfurunner13

Around 70 degrees today. Got out in the yard to collect all the leaves and sticks around the fence that built up all winter. Starting to notice a little green up as the weather is starting to warm up. Soil temps are still mid 40s. Probably about 2 weeks until pre emergent. Noticed a fair amount of what looked like violets that I'll have to deal with this spring.


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## Sfurunner13

Beautiful day yesterday, around 75 degrees. Trimmed some box woods in the front yard and cleaned up the edges around my flower beds. Forsythia are blooming and even some dogwood trees. Unfortunately what I thought was wild violet sprouted yellow flowers leading me to believe it is in fact lesser celandine. I spot sprayed it with Tzone and tenacity. Planning Pre emergent this week. Yard is starting to green up nicely


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## Sfurunner13

Soil test came back. Not surprising since I've never put K down and the home owner before me never did anything to the lawn. Will plan to put down 40lbs/K of lime this spring and again in the fall. Will probably put down 1.5 lb/M of K (split apps) in the spring and again in fall.


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## Sfurunner13

Busy day today. Started off with a clean up mow. Mowed at 2.5 in which is what I did my final cut at. Majority of yard got the grass tips cut off.

I then got my prodiamine down. 0.9 oz over 3500 ft front yard and 2.25 oz over 9000 for back yard. This should give me 3-4 months control and I'll re evaluate if I plan to overseed in the fall.


Grass looks fantastic in the areas my dog fertilized. Can't wait for the rest of the yard to wake up and thicken up.


Lesser celandine looks ill after tzone and tenacity. Will re apply in another week or so.






Some genera photos of the back yard. Front yard is a little thicker and greener as it gets more sun. I plan to spoon feed all spring and push the KBG to fill in all the gaps. The bare dirt in the bottom of the photos is the 4000 ft area I plan on renovating this fall.


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## Sfurunner13

Spread 40 lbs/k of dolomitic lime throughout the entire yard. Will plan to do another small application at the end of spring and another big application during the fall. Resisted the urge to start spoon feeding the yard. I did notice some small spots of grass that have some yellowing likely from my Tzone application. We are due for a lot of rain and warmer temps this upcoming week so I'm hoping this will jump start the yard.


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## Sfurunner13

Before work this morning I noticed some yellowing where I sprayed tzone and tenacity. Weeds seem to be suffering but I'm slightly concerned regarding the turf as it doesn't look too healthy. Temps got a little colder than I wanted which probably led to some damage. The front yard is not showing any signs of damage but it's actively growing and receives more sun during the day. Do you think this will grow out as the grass wakes up? Or Do you think it's done for? I planned on starting to spoon feed the lawn this week


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## g-man

How much tzone you use? Broadcast or spot?


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## Sfurunner13

Spot spray. 1.5 oz per gallon


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## Sfurunner13

Mowed front and back lawn today at 2.5 in. Hoping to encourage the lawn to start growing. Spots where the dog has peed are dark green and growing quickly. The rest of the yard is greening up but no major growth yet. I have a lot of chickweed that came up in the front yard. Will deal with that later when grass is actually growing and weather is warmer. Planning on putting down 0.25 lbs/k of urea this weekend


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## Sfurunner13

Missed the nice sunset but snapped a few photos anyway


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## Sfurunner13

Was able to put down 0.25 lb of N per K this evening. TTTF is ahead of the KBG as expected. Hopefully it starts thickening up soon


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## Sfurunner13

Today I realized I have a big POA infestation in my front yard despite me pulling a lot of it by hand the past few weeks. The majority of it already has seed heads. From what I've gathered I have 2 options. Tenacity at 2 oz/acre rate every 7-10 days for a few weeks or just accept my defeat this year and let it die off this summer and use Pre emergent this fall. I'm slightly concerned with using tenacity on relatively new grass. My KBG never got out the pout stage and still isn't growing like crazy yet. Interestingly I don't ever remember having POA in the past. As you can see in there photos I have quite a lot.


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## Sfurunner13

Mowed again at 2.5 inches. The front yard is growing very consistently compared to the back which is still very patchy. Sprayed Bifentrin at 1 oz/gal around the outside of the house. Took some photos of the worst areas that were hit with fungus last year to track progress of KBG.


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## Sfurunner13

Spread another 0.25 lbs/K of N over the lawn. Expected to get a fair amount of rain the next few days. Hoping to start some landscaping in the next few weeks.


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## Sfurunner13

Got a mow in today. Raised the HOC to 3 inches. Front continues to be ahead of the back. Lots of POA.


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## ChadStokes

Looking good so far this year! What part of PA are you in? I'm about 20 mins East of Hershey


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## Sfurunner13

I'm 2 miles from the NJ border directly across from Trenton. Your KBG is filling in nicely, I have been following your progress after all that rain last fall!


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## Sfurunner13

Lots of landscaping today. Put in a bunch of flowers which took longer than expected. I rushed to get my mow in before it got dark since it's supposed to rain tomorrow. Earlier this week I did continue with my weekly 0.25 Lb N/k and have noticed a difference in the thickness of the lawn. I wanted to put down some PGR today as the spring flush is in full effect. I will have to put that down tomorrow or Monday as I ran out of time. Of note the areas I was concerned with after spraying Tzone and tenacity have rebounded and are showing no signs of distress although it did take a few weeks. 


The salad bar at the bottom of the photo will be Renovated this fall. I put it here to remind me how far the lawn has come since last year. Unfortunately I did not take many pre Reno photos to track progress.


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## Chris LI

Wow! That's coming along nicely. Creating that domination line for yourself must give you inspiration for the upcoming fall reno.


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## Sfurunner13

Been busy the past 10 days so no updates. Finally got a mow in today after all the rain last week. Was able to get down 0.35 oz/k of PGR before all the rain. Probably not enough control but after all the rain we had last week I expected the grass to be much longer so maybe it's working. Also got grubex down. Still mowing at 3 inches. It's been 35 days since my last tzone app and I have some chickweed still around. Overall the weed pressure is very minimal besides POA but will probably spot spray later this week. I did notice this small amount of diseased looking portion today during my mow. Seems very self limited and isolated to this small spot (Half the size of my fist). The turf here is extremely dense (too much so). I probably got heavy handed during seeding. Fungicide I was planning to have on hand for summer is in the mail. I'll keep an extremely close eye on it until it gets here. It appears very isolated but any sign of worsening and I'll go get some disease ex. Im hoping it'll be okay and I'll spray it when it gets here. I'm thinking it's leaf spot or melting out but I'm not good at identifying disease.


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## Sfurunner13

Took another stroll around the yard today. Still very wet with no sunlight. Temps are much cooler (high 50s) and are expected for stay that way. Unfortunately the rain will continue. I had to put down disease ex at a curative rate today as I have quite a few areas with leaf spot. Most of the areas are too dense and likely wouldn't have survived the summer. Hopefully it'll deter some of the damage. I'll spray Bayer fungus control on Saturday if things are getting out of control. Hopefully the damage is minimal.


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## Sfurunner13

Over the weekend was able to get out before the rain and mow. Still keeping it at 3 inches. The forecast has a lot more rain this week as well. I have spots of disease throughout the front and back lawn with the back being worse. No large areas in infection so I'm hoping damage is minimal. It appears the crown is yellowish/white making me think maybe it's melting out compared to leaf spot. I held the spoon feeding of nitrogen this week and put down 0.5 lb /K of MOP. Lots of rain to water it in.


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## Sfurunner13

Busy weekend! On Saturday planted a bunch of hydrangeas and was able to get down 0.4 oz/k of PGR as I was 2 days overdue. The fungus I had 2 weeks ago seems to be on the mend. No widespread damage and the KBG will have no problem filling in the gaps. Sunday I spent the majority of the day trimming bushes I let get out of hand and mowing the lawn. No solid chance of rain in sight no another week without spoon feeding fertilizer. Might have to switch to organics. Maybe I can time it right with these pop up showers. Overall the yard is looking fantastic. Weather has gone from beyond wet and raining to hot with no rain so we will see how the grass holds up. I may have to start watering the front yard later this week. 

Front yard looks just as good but my push mower doesn't stripe as well.


Obligatory dog in the grass.


Added this spot for tracking. I had the shed put in right after my Reno and they tore up all the grass in front of the shed. I didn't think it would thicken up and would have to overseed this fall. I wish I had a photo from a month ago because there was barely any grass there.









Last but not least here is the update of the KBG filling in the gaps. It has been 1 month since the last photo. I will update monthly if I remember


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## Sfurunner13

Decided to do a clean up mow today as there was a lot of debris on the yard. I also raised the HOC to 3.5 inches as it seems the days are getting hotter. I didn't cut any grass off and it seems very well regulated with PGR so it may take a few mows to increase the HOC. I also put down 0.25 lb/K of N since there is a decent chance of rain tomorrow AM.


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## Sfurunner13

Finally got a mow in today after working all weekend. I was surprised to find tons of baby maple tree saplings in the front yard. I think every helicopter that landed in the yard must have sprouted. Not all of them were 3.5 inches tall so the yard still looks very sloppy but they will either die or get cut off with the next mow. The back yard still has some spots that never recovered from my fungus outbreak. It's not spreading but the areas affected still look very sickly. The grass is under great regulation I barely cut the tips off the grass. It's been 10 days since my last PGR app and the grass hasn't grown 0.5 inches. That being said last week was the first hit week and no rain which probably played a big factor. Some minor weed pressure and will spot spray this upcoming week as temps look reasonable. 



All the green leaves are maple tree saplings.


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## Sfurunner13

Took advantage of the past 2 days to spray some weeds and put down another app of Tnex. I put down tzone 1.5 oz/k on Monday on some violets. Overall weed pressure has been small, I am noticing some nutsedge within the past week. The chickweed I had in the spring died or is on its last leg. I applied Tnex today at 0.4 oz/k. It took 2 weeks for the grass to grow 0.5 inches. Currently the lawn needs to be cut after all the rain at the end of last week. The grass finally seems to be outgrowing the fungus. Still have tons on maple tree saplings in the front yard.


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## social port

Couple of things:



Sfurunner13 said:


> The grass finally seems to be outgrowing the fungus.


You never treated this, did you?


Sfurunner13 said:


> Added this spot for tracking. I had the shed put in right after my Reno and they tore up all the grass in front of the shed. I didn't think it would thicken up and would have to overseed this fall. I wish I had a photo from a month ago because there was barely any grass there.


I have an area next to my fence that is similar to yours. Nothing was growing there. Nothing. I treated the area with some humic acid and RGS --several apps. Finally, some weeds began to grow in the late spring. Since then, my midnight is slowing moving in. I'm betting that the area is filled in by November of this year, but that is really just a guess. I've taken a few pictures to document the change.


Sfurunner13 said:


>


This looks amazing!


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## Sfurunner13

I treated the whole lawn with disease ex almost a month ago now. Afterwards the disease seemed to stop spreading but I'm finally able to mow the lesions off. I only have one area about the size of a small dinner plate that still looks I'll. I think if I wasn't using PGR I'd be more inclined to see if it'd grow out without treating it but I was to nervous that'd my growth was stunted so I treated it.

I was so surprised to see the amount that it filled in. I have another spot that receives 0 sunlight and I had almost no germination last year. Somehow what did germinate is very slowly spreading. I don't think any of it will survive but it's still pretty cool.


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## Sfurunner13

social port said:


> Couple of things:
> 
> 
> 
> Sfurunner13 said:
> 
> 
> 
> The grass finally seems to be outgrowing the fungus.
> 
> 
> 
> You never treated this, did you?
> 
> 
> Sfurunner13 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Added this spot for tracking. I had the shed put in right after my Reno and they tore up all the grass in front of the shed. I didn't think it would thicken up and would have to overseed this fall. I wish I had a photo from a month ago because there was barely any grass there.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I have an area next to my fence that is similar to yours. Nothing was growing there. Nothing. I treated the area with some humic acid and RGS --several apps. Finally, some weeds began to grow in the late spring. Since then, my midnight is slowing moving in. I'm betting that the area is filled in by November of this year, but that is really just a guess. I've taken a few pictures to document the change.
> 
> 
> Sfurunner13 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> This looks amazing!
Click to expand...

I treated the whole lawn with disease ex almost a month ago now. Afterwards the disease seemed to stop spreading but I'm finally able to mow the lesions off. I only have one area about the size of a small dinner plate that still looks I'll. I think if I wasn't using PGR I'd be more inclined to see if it'd grow out without treating it but I was to nervous that'd my growth was stunted so I treated it.

I was so surprised to see the amount that it filled in. I have another spot that receives 0 sunlight and I had almost no germination last year. Somehow what did germinate is very slowly spreading. I don't think any of it will survive but it's still pretty cool.

Thanks! I'm so happy with how it's turning out. I can't wait to finish the rest of the yard this fall.


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## Sfurunner13

Lots of landscaping over the weekend. I did manage a quick mow. Still battling all the baby maple trees in the front yard. I'm not giving in and lowering my HOC. Back yard remains the same, slowly filling in. I did manage to spray Bifentrin at 1 oz/k. I also put down 0.5 lbs/k of MOP to give me a total of 1.5 lb For the year. I also continued to spoon feed with 0.25 lb/k of N for a total of 1.75 lb for the year. I feel this could be my last week of spoon feeding urea. I'll drop an organic fert before it gets to hot to give it a little extra for the summer months. Rain most of the day today, cooler temps seem to be sticking around this week. 

Landscaping from the weekend. Might need to move the Daisy's back a little bit due to poor spacing. They got much bigger than I thought. 

Backyard looking good. I plan to kill the lower section in 3 weeks or so.


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## Sfurunner13

Dropped another 0.25 lb/k of urea and 0.5 lb/k MOP. Yard still looks good. We've had well Timed rain so the grass is holding its color. Starting to notice some weeds, mostly clover but it's not bad. I'll spray them soon. I noticed some powdery mildew on the KBG in the shady part of my backyard. No signs of damage, just the white appearance. I'll keep an eye on it. I still have continued patches of leaf spot I think throughout the backyard. This week looks like fungal pressure is going to increase. Thunderstorms daily with high humidity. I'm considering drastically reducing my PGR rate due to fungal pressure being on the rise and no effective way to treat fungus all summer. I have a few days to think it over before my next app is due


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## Sfurunner13

Really tough week here in eastern PA. It's rained almost everyday with high humidity, day time temps in the 80s and lows in the mid 60s. It looks like we are going to be in this pattern for another few days. I've noticed a lot of yellowing throughout the lawn. I definitely have some diseased areas. The front yard looks much better than the back and has much less disease. I'm 3 days overdue for my PGR. Given my disease and weather pattern I was going to wait to reapply. Not sure if there are any side effects to this other than increased growth and mowing? Once it outgrew the fungus I would restart PGR apps at a lower rate. Thoughts?


This is the only area in the front yard. It's right next to the street and was struggling prior to this week so I'm not surprised that it worsened.








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This is the worst area in the backyard and it looks much worse in person. It has that slimey, diseased, thinned out appearance. It sits under a tree and likely doesn't dry out as well as other areas. I won't be surprised if that area doesn't do well or recover.











This is the general state of the lawn. Green with yellow throughout. I have some powdery mildew in select spots but not many.


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## Sfurunner13

Last week was able to mow after all the rain. I dropped the HOC to 3 inches. After several weeks the lawn just did not look as good at 3.5 inches. It was floppy and the growth was very inconsistent. I finally was able to cut off the majority of the maple tree saplings. The lawn looks much better at this height.

After all the rain last week I got hit hard with fungus. I have several areas of brown patch, red thread, powdery mildew and I'm sure there is some dollar spot in there. The majority of the damage is under trees that don't get as much sunlight. I've stopped my PGR to allow for some growth. It looks as if the damage is done regarding the fungus. It does not appear to be spreading, just brown and damaged. I will monitor the spots and hope the KBG can fill it in. I don't have a viable way to treat 17000 sq ft of lawn with fungicides program long term. I've very thankful I put KBG into the seed mix last year to help fix some of the damage.

The weather this week has changed 100%. We are now looking at 90 degree temps with no rain in the forecast. Yesterday I set up my makeshift sprinkler system. No way I can get head to head coverage and I cant get every square inch of the lawn but some water over the majority of the lawn is better than none I suppose.
















Here is the progress of the KBG filling in the bare areas in the back yard. This is the progress over the past month.


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## Sfurunner13

Nice mow today before the holiday. Temps have been 90s all week with no rain. Ran my makeshift irrigation once and plan on running it again tomorrow. Made a small mistake and forgot to raise my wheels on the mower on my first pass. Will have to see how the grass responds to that scalping. Grass overall still holding its color. When looking at lawn with sunglasses you can see a lot more of my fungal pressure. None of it looks new but lots of fungus throughout the thicker parts of the yard which is more noticeable.






These photos are all from the same area. It's been battling fungus for weeks now. It doesn't seem to be spreading but it hasn't resolved yet either. It's the thickest part of the yard but it also sees sun almost all day. I wonder if it's heat stressed as well.


Worst area with fungus. Pretty sure these areas aren't coming back. Hopefully the KBG can fill it in this fall.


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## Sfurunner13

Went away for a few days for July 4th and returned to a brown lawn full of fungus. When I left I had a few areas that seemed old and now I have fungus throughout the front and back yard with actively infected spots all over. I believe it's leaf spot with lots of dollar spot as well. I can't believe how quickly things changed. I spread disease Ex today after my mow and will water it in tomorrow. I suppose I'm going to have to find a long term strategy for this because no way I'm dealing with this extent of fungus every year. Nothing I can do now but hope I caught some it in time before too much damage is done.


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## samjonester

Same thing happened to me! Hope it calms down. How far east are you in PA? We might be pretty close. I'm in the Philly suburbs across the river.


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## Sfurunner13

samjonester said:


> Same thing happened to me! Hope it calms down. How far east are you in PA? We might be pretty close. I'm in the Philly suburbs across the river.


I'm practically on the river across from Trenton so we're not too far. I just had a friend move down your way.

Today was kill day! I nuked the remaining 4K in the backyard that I couldn't irrigate last year. I can't wait for all those weeds to die. I hate mowing them. I took some pre Reno photos this time as last year I was not prepared.





















As for the remaining lawn. Fungus is still everywhere and areas are dying off. It sucks that I can't do anything to fix it right now. Looks like no further actively infected areas. Disease ex hopefully is helping. Forecasted for rain tomorrow and sun the next 5 days after that to help dry everything out.


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## gregonfire

Sorry to hear about your fungus problems. What % KBG did you go with? I had a lot of areas die last year due to heat / fungus pressure but they have filled in for the most part thanks to the KBG. Try not to stress so much like I did. Worst case you can skip the fall pre-m and do a an overseed in the bare spots.


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## Sfurunner13

@gregonfire First off, thank you for keeping such a great journal. I constantly visit your journal to see how your lawn is doing! When I first joined TLF I saw how amazing your lawn looked so I used the same seed rates you used 6.5 lb TTTF and 1.25 lbs KBG. I'm hoping I can skip overseeding and just push the KBG this fall but in the meantime it sucks staring at dead grass. Your lawn looks fantastic so I'm hoping mine can recover just as well as yours.


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## gregonfire

Sfurunner13 said:


> @gregonfire First off, thank you for keeping such a great journal. I constantly visit your journal to see how your lawn is doing! When I first joined TLF I saw how amazing your lawn looked so I used the same seed rates you used 6.5 lb TTTF and 1.25 lbs KBG. I'm hoping I can skip overseeding and just push the KBG this fall but in the meantime it sucks staring at dead grass. Your lawn looks fantastic so I'm hoping mine can recover just as well as yours.


Thanks for the kind words! As someone who was in your situation not too long ago, take it from me and try not to be so bummed about the dead spots. Your KBG will fill in. The thing that worked for me was spoon feeding nitrogen and cutting frequently at about 2.5". You'll want to wait til the weather cools off though. Just keep up with watering and surviving dormancy until fall, then hit it with small doses of nitrogen every week to two weeks.


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## Sfurunner13

Mowed today at 3 inches. I think the fungus is resolving slightly. For the last few mows I've been raking out all the dead material from the fungus outbreak. It's amazing how much dead material I'm pulling out. It definitely makes it look less brown. Healthy grass still holding its color, not seeing much drought stress. Weeds are present but leaving them be until fall. Sprayed bifentrin at 1 oz/k as I've seen some bugs/grasshoppers in the yard. Reno is looking crispy.


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## Sfurunner13

Been on cruise control last few weeks. Spots with previous fungus are slowly recovering, thinned out for sure. Some new spots of fungus here and there but nothing terrible. Weeds are still present waiting till fall to nuke them. Accidentally cut the back grass today at 2.5 inches from it's usual 3 in cut. Been busy with the Reno section. Got 8 yards of topsoil to fill in the low spots. Already had one washout that I'm in the process of fixing. Sprayed more gly tonight as weeds are popping up. Set up my irrigation today as well.

It seems almost overnight the backyard is covered in rust. My shoes were orange after today's mow. I bagged the clippings and washed the deck. I plan on putting down a organic fert and 0.5 lbs/k of N via urea this weekend to give it a little boost. I was hoping to wait until the fall blitz but I might just have to start early. Anything else I should be doing? I haven't irrigated since the grass hasn't looked stressed so it's not an overwatering problem.


This is one of the worst areas of disease. It's next to my driveway and the road so heat stress is a major problem.










Some disease under the trees. Very shaded area.


Worst area in either yard. This is the front yard along the roadway. Heat stress and it's a trough that water constantly pools in. Fungus paradise and heat stress don't mix well. Well see how it recovers.




That yellow spot healed up very nicely since my last post. Maybe it was just heat stress.


Reno areas looking good, just fallowing some
More prior to seed down.


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## Sfurunner13

Took advantage of the beautiful weekend and got tons of work done. Saturday i pulled the dethatcher around the backyard to break up the compacted soil. I re leveled the yard and spread the seed. I Used the same seed as last year TTTF/KBG. Kinda wish I did 100% KBG last year but too late now. I rolled the seed in and set up the sprinklers. Weather looks okay, chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday.

Sunday I spread 6 bails of peat around the sunny side of the Reno. The other side gets very little sun and stays moist most of the day. Will make for a good test as to the germination with and without peat moss.

I Spent a fair amount of time raking out the diseased dead portions of the lawn. I lowered the HOC to 2.5 inches in the back yard. Will continue to lower as we get closer to fall. I dropped 0.5 lb/N earlier in the week and dropped full rate of organic fert today. I'll wait another week or two before I start the blitz. I still have a small amount of rust but it is already much improved from earlier last week. I'm toying around with reel mowing next year. I'll see how low I can get it this fall with the rotary and how it responds .


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## social port

Sfurunner13 said:


> Worst area in either yard. This is the front yard along the roadway. Heat stress and it's a trough that water constantly pools in. Fungus paradise and heat stress don't mix well. Well see how it recovers.


I am wondering why water pools in this area. Is it due to the slope of the land?

By the way, I am loving your seedbed. I was trying to figure out how you got that area so clean, but then I read that you brought in topsoil. Your lawn is looking and will look really, really good.


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## Sfurunner13

@social port Yes, the entire front yard slopes down towards the road and then goes slightly uphill to meet the road. When it rains instead of the rain running along the edge of the road, it often will travel through the grass in the little gully in the yard making it wet and lay over on itself constantly. It was fun to have a clean seed bed, I wish I brought in topsoil last year for the front yard as it would have fixed some of the problems I have now in the front yard. Thanks for the kind words, I'm hoping one day my fescue will be as thick as yours. Mine has been thinned out considerably this summer due to fungus, hopefully the bluegrass fills it in this fall. I'm thinking about lowering my HOC next year to see if it helps with the amount of fungus I have.

I spread Prodiamine today at 0.9 oz in the front yard and 2.25 oz in the back yard. I added in 1 oz of bifen and 5 oz/k of urea to give me a total of 0.14 lb/k of N. Unfortunately the forecast is showing strong thunderstorms with potential flooding tomorrow. I've already had several washouts of my topsoil prior to seeding due to thunderstorms. I might try to divert some of the water flow I've noticed over the past few week but overall it isn't looking good. This might be washout #1 for me.


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## samjonester

Good luck with the storms! Can't wait to see the grow in.

The old reno looks great, too. Even with the problems you've pointed out, it looks like you did very well this summer. Nice work!


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## Sfurunner13

Seems I may have avoided the thunderstorms for today. Looks as if the odds are high of thunderstorms tomorrow so fingers crossed they disappear as well.

@samjonester thanks! Summers been rough for sure! Definitely has it's highs and lows. Turf has thinned out considerably which I'm not happy about but gregonfire assured me to have faith in the KBG to fill it in this fall and spring. Sprayed pre emergent the other day so no going back now


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## Sfurunner13

Had one small area with flowing water yesterday but overall I can't complain. We never got the downpours that were forecasted.


Came home from work this morning to find lots of green! 5 days for germination. 


Meanwhile it's been hot sticky humid and wet for the past 2 days. Lots of clouds and minimal sun the next few days. Front and back yard are struggling with fungus. More and more patches every day. I can't keep up.


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## social port

Sfurunner13 said:


> Came home from work this morning to find lots of green! 5 days for germination.


Congrats :thumbup:


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## Sfurunner13

No major updates on the reno. A lot more germination in the areas without peat Moss today. It seems those areas are about a day behind the areas with Peat Moss. Just a few areas that washed out, shouldn't be a big deal. I have one area my sprinklers don't hit so I'll deal with that later.

Mowed the front and backyard today at 3 inches. Starting to get very frustrated with the amount of brown patches in the lawn. It seems every time I go out and mow there are more brown spots and areas that are severely thinned. From a distance it looks green but once you walk on it you realize it's very brown. Overall I'm not happy with how the lawn looks at all.

I've attached these photos mainly for myself so hopefully if these areas filled back in I can remind myself not to be so frustrated next year.




First two photos are A good representation of what the overall lawn looks like up close.


Unfortunately this large patch died within the past week and a half. It was one of the thickest areas of the yard and I had a feeling it wouldn't make it through the summer.












Last two photos are more general Representations of the yard. Very brown, very thin and ugly looking.


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## samjonester

Glad you shared these. Are you planning to overseed or just blitz? Will you be seeding photo 3? My summer damage looked like photo 3, just bigger.

KBG seems to go dormant much more readily than TTTF in my lawn. About half of my lawn (the full sun portion) looks like the last 2 pictures with brown interspersed within the green. I have a feeling this is just KBG that checked out for the summer mixed between TTTF that hasn't gone dormant. Second to last picture has me thinking the same may be true for you.

I can't remember if you have irrigation, but the sprinklers in the reno make me think no. BTW congrats on the grass babies!


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## Sfurunner13

@samjonester I already put down prodiamine a few weeks ago. I'm planning on a very heavy blitz to see how hard I can push the KBG. Without a doubt some of the brown is dormant grass as I don't have irrigation. I haven't watered much due to high disease pressure and I opted for dormant grass over diseased grass. A lot of the brown is in circles so it might be disease too. Time will tell if it comes back.

Went away for the weekend and the Reno made some big strides. Amazing how fast TTTF germinates and grows.


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## Sfurunner13

Just a few updates, first this arrived today


Super excited but it's gonna bring my anxiety level to the next level for the next few weeks

Mowed the front at 3 inches. Lots of brown. We've had temps in the mid 90s and no rain for what feels like 2 weeks. Lots of heat stress on top of existing fungus.


Front yard. As you can see very brown and lots of fungus. I've given up trying to treat it this year. Hoping for a good recovery.

I'm planning on only reel mowing the back yard. It's flat with not too many obstacles. The front is super uneven and as a decent hill that I don't feel like dealing with.

Took the back yard down to 2.25 inches from 4 inches today. Lots of clippings. It revealed a lot of yellow diseased looking crowns/areas. My plan is to take it down to 1.75 inches tomorrow and then reel mow it at 1 inch next week. From there if I have anything left to scalp I'll lower it one more time and let it grow up from there. Lots of heat stress in the back. Lots of fungus. Super nervous about stressing it this much. I feel like it's quite risky and don't wanna lose a lot of my lawn. I put down 0.5 lbs N today as we are supposed to get some storms tonight. I'll be putting down weekly 0.5 lbs N until my blitz is over. Temps look good all next week so Im praying this is the beginning of fall.







This sequence is from the back yard. It's the worst area with a lot of brown. It's been battling disease all year.

Here is an overhead view of the back yard at 2.25 inches







Last but not least the Reno is coming along. Lowered the frequency of watering in a hope to prevent fungus. It's been 12 days since seed down day and 7 days since germination.


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## Revlus

Great read on your reno. Thanks for posting.

Any ideas on anything you "would have done differently in retrospect" in regards to the disease?


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## Sfurunner13

@Revlus I would have lowered the amount of TTTF in the mix. I think it was way too thick coming out of spring. I should have relied on the KBG to fill in the holes during spring. I attribute my seeding rate to the amount of disease. The areas that got hit the worst this year were by far the thickest.


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## Sfurunner13

Thursday night and Friday received some rain which watered my fertilizer in. I cut the back down to 1.75 inches today. It looks like crap. Brown everywhere and very thin. The turf actually looked quite good at 2.25 inches. I can't imagine how bad it's going to look and 1 inch and ~5/8ths. I'm not sure there will be any grass left! Needless to say I'm beyond nervous and my wife thinks I'm crazy. I'm going to trust the process but this is nerve racking. My plan is to water the lawn overnight. Then bust out the reel mower at 1 inch on Monday.




Here's the difference between 2.25 inches and 1.75 inches.








Lawn cut at 1.75 inches. 3 days ago it was 4 + inches. Looks terrible. Can't believe I'm going to take off another 0.75 inches on Monday. Pretty sure there won't be any green left.


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## g-man

I think you should stop and let it recover before continuing lowering the hoc. Give it some nitrogen and water.


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## Sfurunner13

@g-man Thank you! To be quite honest I've been patiently waiting for someone whose done this before to tell me to stop and let it recover. There is a decent amount of green left and I think it can easily recover from this with a little TLC. After today all I could think was I'm not sure going lower is the best plan. I'm planning to give it a little extra water over the next few days. Temps are down and disease pressure is low finally. I put down 0.5 lbs N Friday and I'll give it another 0.5 lbs later this week.


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## ksturfguy

If you think it looked really good at 2.25" and you liked it then why are you so hell bent on going so low?

* edit: I see you bought a reel mower so yeah probably feel like you have to get your money's worth now. I think reel mowing looks appealing but doubt I ever go for it. As 'long as grass is green, thick and free of weeds im happy no matter if it's 1/2" or 4" lol

Good luck I hope it turns out well.


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## Sfurunner13

It's been 2 days since the scalp and the grass seems to have more of a green hue to it. The stems/crowns I cut into are definitely green just without any leaf growth. More water tonight and probably will mow again tomorrow at the same HOC. The temps are nice 70s during the day, and the days are getting shorter.


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## Sfurunner13

Mowed the back yard today. It's been 3 days since my last mow and I had 5 full bags of clippings over 9K. I didn't really realize how green it had gotten in 3 days until I started to mow again. Glad to see it's not dead. Dropped another 0.5 lbs N and planned rain for tomorrow.







Last but not least here's the Reno. It's been about 2 weeks since germination. It's getting tall but I'll hoping to wait another week to mow.


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## Sfurunner13

Never got the rain we were supposed to. It's been at least 3 weeks since our last solid rain. I'm hoping once we get some rain things will start to green up and come out of dormancy. Mowed everything today. Backyard continues to get greener but lots of brown still. I'm hoping a lot of it is just dormant grass but time will tell. Sprayed some weeds in the front.

Reno got its first mow at 0.75 inches or so. I think it's around 14 days post germination. I wanted to wait 1 more week for the bluegrass to grow alittle but the fescue was 6+ inches and starting to flop over on itself and I didn't want fungus. Will start spoon feeding it probably next week or two.


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## Sfurunner13

I can't seem to time my fert apps the past few weeks. It's seems like every time I put down fertilizer with schedule rain, it doesn't rain and every time I don't put it down it rains all day.

I got tired of looking at all the brown and dead grass in the front and back yards. I raked out a lot of dead grass probably due to heat stress with my lack of irrigation. Front lawn is incredibly thin. Kinda wishing I overseeded but am hoping by spring it will fill in and thicken back up.



Back yard still looks like crap but I think it's slowly improving? It's definitely greener and when I mow it doesn't look like I'm scalping it every time as it stays green. I have come to think all the brown spots are dead grass that won't recover. Right now I wish I overseeded but I'm hoping it will fill in by the end of spring since I had KBG in my mix.


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## Sfurunner13

Can't wait for fall. This month has been tough, high temps and absolutely no rain. Looking back my timing for scaling the backyard was quite poor. I've been fertilizing and giving it extra water and finally after 6ish weeks I'm finally starting to see some small improvement. It's been hard pushing the lawn with summer like temps. It's still very thin with lots of bare dirt exposed. I'm guessing this is normal? I hope they fill in the fall/spring otherwise I'll going to really wish I overseeded this year.

The Reno is coming along. I had few places that did not germinate well and I had to put more seed down. I also had some fungus a few weeks ago that thinned a few places out. I've been putting down weekly nitrogen at 0.25. I've been cutting it at 1.125 inches. Overall it is quite thin compared to last year. I think it's due to my HOC. It's getting thicker but Im wondering if the TTTF being cut low is contributing to the thinness.


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## Sfurunner13

Took some photos today after my mow.







Without a doubt it's greener but it's so thin. Right now I'm wishing I overseeded this fall.



This is probably the thickest portion, which isn't that impressive.





These are the thinnest areas which I have quite a few of . I'm not sure what my plan will be this spring. I was hoping the KBG would fill in the gaps but I'm not sure it's capable of filling in my problem areas as they are too big. I'm considering a spring overseed the PRG. I'm planning a low HOC this spring and my TTTF obviously isn't the best choice. For now I'll just keep watering and fertilizing and hope for the best


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## Chris LI

Keep hitting it with N. If you can do weekly apps of urea, it should fill in over the next few weeks.


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## Sfurunner13

@Chris LI I've been doing 0.5 lbs N weekly. We are finally going to get a break in the weather starting on Friday so I'm hoping the grass finally starts to respond With the colder temps.


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## Chris LI

Sfurunner13 said:


> @Chris LI I've been doing 0.5 lbs N weekly. We are finally going to get a break in the weather starting on Friday so I'm hoping the grass finally starts to respond With the colder temps.


Ditto! It's getting really obvious in my area, who is watering and taking care of their lawn. Relief should hit us (folks in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast) later in the week.


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## gregonfire

Don't worry my man, keep doing what you're doing. I was in your spot last winter into this spring. KBG filled in very nicely. Just hit it with some spoon-fed N come spring time. I think I did weekly apps of .25/k N.

4/2/19









7/31/19









First pic is located along the mulch bed where the bench and red chair are in the second picture.


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## Sfurunner13

Thanks @gregonfire. I know we've talked about it before but it sucks looking at a crappy lawn. My concern is that I had a full, thick lawn before i scalped it down so I'm skeptical how much it'll fill in. I know it's normal to lose some density with a new low cut but I feel I lost a lot. My plan for now is to keep feeding it aggressively and see what happens in spring. I might just hold my pre emergent in the spring and if fills in great and if not I'll consider PRG in spring to fill it in. I don't know if I'm crazy about PRG but it's so easy to grow and in 14 days you have a new lawn. I'm wishing I did a full KBG reno last year now that I'm trying the low mow thing.


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## badtlc

Sfurunner13 said:


> Thanks @gregonfire. I know we've talked about it before but it sucks looking at a crappy lawn. My concern is that I had a full, thick lawn before i scalped it down so I'm skeptical how much it'll fill in. I know it's normal to lose some density with a new low cut but I feel I lost a lot. My plan for now is to keep feeding it aggressively and see what happens in spring. I might just hold my pre emergent in the spring and if fills in great and if not I'll consider PRG in spring to fill it in. I don't know if I'm crazy about PRG but it's so easy to grow and in 14 days you have a new lawn. I'm wishing I did a full KBG reno last year now that I'm trying the low mow thing.


This spot that thinned out after lowering the cut, is it also getting more shade as summer transitions into fall? I have an area on the north side of my house that is almost exclusively KBG and it thickens up nicely in late spring/summer but as soon as the end of august rolls around and I lower the cut a bit, it also sees much less sun. This spot thins out a lot and doesn't thicken back up until the next year when it starts seeing more sun again.


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## g-man

Have you inspected for fungus? Like leaf spot?


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## Sfurunner13

@badtlc unfortunately the majority of my yard is incredibly thin. If it were just the shady side of my lawn I'd be okay with it. I have a side that still gets a lot of sun and it's equally as thin.

@g-man I looked again today after I saw your comment. A little rust here and there but no leaf spot or fungus. The grass I have actually looks good. What are your thoughts about the density? I'm concerned it won't fill in by end of spring and I'll be stuck with dirt till next fall. I'm not crazy about PRG as it'll require more water and likely thin out yearly. I unfortunately put down prodiamine In August prior to this adventure. Is it worth trying to aerate and overseed now with some left over fescue? I know it late and high risk and not ideal but I'm not crazy about a spring overseed as it won't likely survive and I'll risk having more weeds. Or should I just stay the course and deal with what I have until next year. Even if it is mostly dirt.


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## g-man

I would not continue rotary mow at 0.75in. I think it was too much to go from 4in to 0.75.

Is it growing? With 0.5lb of N/ksqft it should be going.


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## Sfurunner13

I've been cutting at 1.75 inches with the rotary. My lawn is no where near flat and when I measured the other day the grass blades were around 1.5ish inches maybe a little less in some spots and a little more in others. It's growing but not as much as I'd expect with 0.5 lb N weekly. It's also been hot but I've been irrigating. I've definitely seen improvement in the color in most places but other places have not recovered yet.


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## Sfurunner13

Nothing major to update. Haven't really spread any more fert since I put down a lot in September. I may do one more app this weekend or early next week. In the backyard the grass looks alot more healthy and has been growing laterally. The top growth in the back yard has been minimal. I stopped mowing with the rotary Other than to mulch leaves since it was cutting as low as the reel. Next year I will need to spread some sand, I just have to figure out when the best time to do it is. Reno unfortunately has a ton of POA Triv, sucks but oh well. Otherwise it continues to fill in and look good. The front yard has some thin spots but overall looks good.


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## Sfurunner13

We've had a ridiculous amount of rain the last 7-10 days. Backyard is overdue for most likely it's last reel mowing Of the year but it's been far to wet. We had a tornado watch a few nights ago that brought down an incredible amount of leaves. Put down my last fert app of the year last week. From here on out it's mulching leaves and cleaning up the equipment.

Density in the backyard seems to be alittle better but it could just be it's overgrown and due for a mow. Still unsure of what I'll do come spring. I will say Ryan knorr sure does make that sissy ryegrass look good.


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## Sfurunner13

Cut the front today. Lowered it to 2.25 inches. Looks really good, should have dropped a little seed in some areas but there's always next fall.


Quickly Reel mowed the backyard probably for the last time. Possible snow later this week.


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## Sfurunner13

As I've had time to think about the upcoming year I've decided to only reel mow a 2500 square ft section of my backyard. As much as I would love to reel mow the whole 10k without irrigation I feel it'd be half assed and I'd be disappointed with there results.

I haven't decided if I want to try and dormant seed the reel mow area to thicken it or just see if the bluegrass spreads a little. I've also thought about overseeding with PRG but I'm not sold on it yet. If I ever stopped reel mowing that area i wouldn't want the PRG, so I may wait and see how things go before I add any other seed varieties. Good news is I have a few more months to think about it


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## Sfurunner13

Wife isn't digging the two different HOC idea in the backyard. Trying to figure out if I can 
lower the HOC in the front yard. I have a small slope on the one side of my front yard and have see if the reel mower can make it up the slope. The yard is also very uneven and would require a ton of leveling to make it smooth.


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## Chris LI

...just an idea for a dual HOC for your backyard, so it doesn't look like a test plot, so you can keep your better half happy.

Maybe you could reel mow close to the house, wrapping around to the sides, and 20'-30' away switch to the higher HOC. One of the TLF members does this and it looks really cool, kind of like a green (minus collar) or tee box. If the member's name comes to mind, I'll mention it. I think he was the one who constructed a really nice string light system (poles, lights, etc.) over his patio.


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## Sfurunner13

@Chris LI that does sound like a good idea but I doubt it'll happen. She has concerns about chemicals and pesticides as well as other things that'd go with reel mowing which I completely understand.

Good news is since I've starting thinking about reel mowing the front it may work out better. It's 3500 sq ft which is very manageable and affordable compared to 14K in the backyard. In ground Irrigation one day may be a possibility and affordable. It'll probably be a long road to get it where I'd like it but I think it's much more attainable compared to the larger backyard.


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## Sfurunner13

Big projects for the front yard this spring. Taking out 5 big trees due to uprooting and potentially falling on the house. Wife also agreed to let me get an irrigation system.

Im still trying to figure out my plan of attack. Right now considering skipping pre emergent, leveling out where the trees were and overseeding the whole yard with PRG. Id be hoping to thicken up the lawn since I'll be transitioning to reel mowing the front.

My overall goal for the front is a KBG monostand. When I brought it up the wife wasn't crazy about another Reno. If she doesn't warm up to the idea I'll likely aggressively level again in the fall with another PRG overseed.


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## Sfurunner13

Nice 60 degree day today. Cleaned off the Honda and greensmower, cleaned the gutters and roof, took out an overgrown section of brush and weeds in hopes of making a garden next year. Nice to get back outside. Trees are scheduled to come out tomorrow. Grass is starting to green up. Could have mowed today but decided to wait a week or two. Back yard doesn't look as bad as I thought it would after all the abuse I gave it last fall, it actually looks quite thick in the areas my dog fertilized.


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## Sfurunner13

Alittle before and after. Damage in the front wasn't too bad. I do have decent sized tire rugs/compaction down the center of the lawn from the crane that was parked on my front lawn all morning. Question is what do I do now after they grind down all the stumps.


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## Sfurunner13

Took advantage of the warm weather the past few days. I pruned some boxwoods that were severely overgrown and neglected since we moved in several years ago. They may not recover but it was worth giving them a chance. Took a bunch of plugs from around the stumps and moved them into the backyard in a few areas that were damaged with the tree removal in the backyard. Planning a clean up mow in the next few days and pre emergent for the backyard hopefully this weekend.


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## Sfurunner13

Put down pre emergent at 0.25 oz per 1000k. Ordered champion GQ ryegrass for the front yard. Might be interesting trying to source top soil with all the closures may be stuck with a crappy lawn till fall.


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## Sfurunner13

I have 3 yards of topsoil being delivered Monday to fill in all the tree holes. I also plan to fill in some of the low spots (3-4 inches). I plan to lower my HOC, PGR and put a small amount of sand down over the entire yard prior to seed down in 2-3 weeks.

Can you say POA. Backyard Reno has large spots that are practically entirely POA. Not surprised though, I think before I did the Reno it was mostly POA and I didn't nuke it early enough, not it to mention I brought in a bunch of soil. It also has never seen prodiamine. I plan of doing a lot in that area area anyway (deck, patio, garden) so I'm not too worried about it. I'll do yearly fall prodiamine for a few seasons to lower the amount then plan tenacity, Ethofumesate and overseed in 2-3 years.


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## Sfurunner13

Tree damage is filled in with topsoil. Going to order 2 tons of sand and likely put down seed early next week. Spot Sprayed tzone today at 1.5oz/k in the backyard. Decent amount of weeds, probably due to warm winter but I think it was less than last year.


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## Sfurunner13

Yesterday I applied tenacity at 4 oz/acre and Tnex at 0.5 oz/k.

Today I mowed as low as I could with the rotary. It definitely scalped in places but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Overall it didn't look too bad. I then took the greensmaster over the lawn at 1 inch HOC. Lawn still looked okay so I went for 0.75 inch. Lawn was handling it well but my drive belt broke half way through so I was done mowing. I was shocked how well it looked that low right away compared to last years backyard experiment.









This afternoon I had 2 tons of mason sand delivered.



Spent the rest of the day spreading sand and seed. I ended up putting down champion GQ at 10 lb/k in the bare areas and a little less over the whole yard. I was happy with the amount of sand, any more would have been too much I think.


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## Sfurunner13

A lot less sandy today. We did get a thunderstorm last night so not sure how much seed for moved around but I still see a good amount in most places.


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## Sfurunner13

Haven't updated in a while. Temps have been low. Soils temps have been hovering right around 50-55. The overseed took 10 days to germinate. It's spotty and definitely not 10 lbs/k like I put down. Kind of expected given the temps and a spring seeding. Maybe more will come up as it gets warmer. I haven't mowed and hopefully will wait one more week to give the seed 3 weeks since germination. My PGR is due to end around the same time so I expect a rebound. I do have tenacity bleaching but it's not terrible. Otherwise the sand has disappeared expect for some bare spots that had poor germination.









Not much to say about that backyard. It's still not fully awake. The spots the dog fertilized look fantastic so I think it will recover from last years scalping and mistreatment. I haven't put any fert down yet. I may give it a small liquid app if it doesn't wake up soon but I think I just need to be patient as it is greening up and growing slowly. Reno from last year is at least 50% POA, it's terrible. I've been hand pulling some but it's gonna require many seasons to get a hold of it. I also put down grubx yesterday.


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## Sfurunner13

3 weeks after germination I cut the front yard. I started off by mowing with the rotary at it's lowest setting 1.125 in and still had a lot of scalping. I then went over it with the greensmaster at 1 inch. Looks pretty good. I'll plan to keep it at one inch and see how it goes. I cut the watering back to twice a day 20 minutes each. Planted a dogwood tree which should be a nice addition to the yard. Picked up some fert and potash today. Will probably start spoon feeding the front this week. Still need to send in my soil sample, it's been on my workbench for over a month. Backyard still isn't completely awake yet. No fert yet.


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## Sfurunner13

Weathers finally turning around. Laid some single doubles in the front. Sprayed 0.15 lb N per K in the front (5.12 oz of urea per K). Also put down 1 lb/K SOP. Trying to finalize irrigation for the front yard.


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## Sfurunner13

Planted impatients and dahlias last week. Put down 1 lb SOP in the backyard.


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## Sfurunner13

Mowed today at 1 inch. Planning a Tnex app tomorrow at 10 ml/k (0.3 oz). Will add in some liquid urea as well. Spot sprayed some clover the backyard today with tzone at 1.5 oz/k rate. Grass finally is growing in the backyard but some areas are still behind.


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## Sfurunner13

Forgot to add this for future reference


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## Chris LI

Soil test looks a little similar to mine, but my K is much worse. I started addressing some issues and things seemed to perk up quickly. I don't think it's a coincidence.


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## Sfurunner13

Haven't updated in awhile. Still waiting on irrigation to be installed and of course it's been extremely dry this year. I'm doing my best with my above ground set up but its far from perfect.

Last week I put down 1 lb SOP and 8.5 lb of calcitic lime (solucal) to both the front and back yard. I also put down 0.5 lb urea to the backyard only. This was the first granular app of the year. I'm hopping it deters disease this summer.

Today I put down main event iron, Tnex, propiconazole, and a small amount of nitrogen to the front. I'll be away for a week and wanted cover for dollar spot just in case. I lowered my Tnex rate as the grass was alittle too regulated the past 2 weeks. Seed head stems turned brown last week.

Tnex 7.5 ml per k (.225 per k)
Propiconazole 29.5 ml per k ( 1 oz per k) 
Urea nitrogen 5.12 oz per k ( 1.2 lbs total)
Main event iron 2 oz per k ( 7 oz total)




Waiting for my the flowers to bloom and grow.





Backyard is on cruise control. These photos are from a few weeks ago but I had an incredible amount of KBG seed heads. For only putting down 1ish lbs/k at seed down I think I have way more in the stand now. I do have some bare/thin areas that I may try to overseed this fall but I haven't decided yet.


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## Sfurunner13

Decided to spray azoxy today as well. I didn't plan on it but the forecast for the next 7 days is cloudy, humid, chance of daily thunderstorms with reels in the 85-90s during the day and around 70 at night.


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## Sfurunner13

Noticed some patchiness to the backyard. I had several areas in the spring that were extremely slow to green up and start growing. These areas are a noticeably lighter green. They aren't POA and otherwise look healthy. I've only put down a little over 0.5 lb/N for the year so maybe I'm a little behind but I just put down 0.5 lb N 2 weeks ago. I'll have to monitor the areas.

The first photo in person is very uniform color. You can see in the bottom right of the second photo the color difference.


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## Sfurunner13

Spent most of the day outside after being away for a week.

Double cut the front yard, it was overgrown but not terribly. Applied 7.5 ml/K of Tnex and 2 oz/k main event Iron. I noticed some grassy weeks maybe crabgrass and nutsedge that I'll have to address when we get a cooler day.

Backyard I raised the HOC to 3.5 inches. I think the light spots I was seeing may be due to heat stress. The left side of my back yard is significantly more shady and I think that's why it has a better color.

The Reno section from last year that's infested with PoA got its first spray of tenacity today. I'm doing 1.6 oz/A (4.25 ml total for 3.5 k) every 5 days for 10 applications. Here are my pre application photos. The dark spot in the third photo is where I rinsed the iron out of my sprayer 2 weeks ago. Definitely a nice color pop!!


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## Sfurunner13

Unexpectedly rained after my tenacity application so it likely was wasted. Will repeat in a few days anyway.

Irrigation got installed today in the front yard. Tore it up pretty good. Lots of ruts and uneven spots where they put the heads in. As expected I'll have to overseed in the fall.

Pinched the tops off a few of my dahlias today. Awaiting my first bloom.


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## Sfurunner13

Second round of tenacity today. Noticed a small amount of bleaching at the base of nutsedge plants, otherwise everything else looks the same.

On a side note the light colored patches in the backyard are due to rust. Too hot to do anything about it now. I'll monitor and hope it pulls through without spreading it too much.


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## Sfurunner13

Cut the back at 4 inches. It's starting to go dormant due to the heat. I have a lot of rust that I'm just watching. Weeds are starting to bleach from the tenacity but to don't see any changes to the lawn? I thought I'd see some poa whitening by now but not yet.

Front yard looks okay. Grass around the new sprinkler heads is dying. I'll just over seed it in the fall, It's super compacted and needs to be leveled anyway. Have had some timely rain from thunderstorms so I haven't have to water in a week or two.


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## Sfurunner13

Sprayed some crabgrass in the front yard. Only seem to have it in the areas I brought in new soil. Will probably stress the grass a little bit but I had a little too much to hand pull.

Another Round of tenacity in the backyard. I noticed a very small amount of bleaching but some of the poa seems unaffected. Put down 2 oz rate this time. I also put NiS in this time, I forgot the last 2 times.

Fertilized the dahlias with some 20-20-20 that I had on hand. Will see if that does anything


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## Sfurunner13

Noticed what I believe is dollar spot in the front yard. It's mostly by the road under a tree canopy. It was late when I got home and too dark for photos but I applied some clearys 3336 at 2 oz/K rate. I'm more surprised it's been this long since I've noticed any disease. Dollar spot predictions for my area have been around 50% for the past few days. I was a little late getting the preventative down. Dollar spot predictions for the next 5 days are over 70% so I'm curious how things hold up.


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## Sfurunner13

Snapped some quick pictures on my way out the door. I didn't have time to look at the leaf tissue for typical dollar spot patterns but based on what I saw I'm concerned for Pythium blight. It seemed greasy and wet appearing. Not the greatest photos as I was running late but hopefully I'll get a better look tonight. If it's pythium my fungicide won't do anything to help it and other than azoxy ( which doesn't have great control)I don't have anything to treat pythium.


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## g-man

That looks like PB.


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## Sfurunner13

On Thursday I sprayed azoxy to treat for PB at curative rate on the diseased portion of the lawn and surrounding area. I decided to not to Spray the whole yard and had low expectations that it'd help the area already diseased but hoped it'd slow the spread.

Friday we had 1.5-2 inches of rain and The diseased area was completely underwater and laid over. I left for the weekend without much hope it'd survive and was worried it'd spread.

Came home Sunday and the area looked as expected, dead but it hadn't spread. It looked dry with no signs of active disease.









It seems to have taken the path of water which isn't surprising. The worst area is the lowest spot in the yard and stays wet the longest due to the shade from the tree. I have a low spot right where the disease starts and water runs all the way down to the driveway when it rains hard. I'll probably raise this area up this fall when I overseed.

Otherwise I mowed the front at 1 inch and applied tnex iron and N at the same rates I've been using. I did not apply any of the above to the diseased areas. Irrigation damage is improving and not as noticeable. Crabgrass is hanging on and will likely require any other application. Probably will plan my leveling/overseed In a month or so.

I power washed the walkway and the driveway. I wish I took some satisfying before and after photos.

Dahlias grew a bunch after the rain and fertilizer. I pinched off three buds from 3 different plants. Hopefully in the next 2 weeks I'll have my first bloom.


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## Sfurunner13

Fifth application of tenacity tonight. (Third with surfactant). I'm surprised I only have a small amount of bleaching. I'm concerned a lot of it may be dormant or dying due to the heat. It definitely looks sickly in the heavily infested sections.

I was ************ the greensmaster and greasing the zerks yesterday and started messing with the fuel line for some reason. It was rotted and I put a hole in it so mowing the front yard is on hold for the next few days.

Back yard is slowly going into dormancy. TTTF is holding its color but the KBG is mostly checked out. I'm contemplating overseeing a small section (3000 sq ft) this fall that had poor germination from my reno two years ago.

Haven't updated any photos s recently so maybe tomorrow I'll take some if I remember.


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## Sfurunner13

Very long and frustrating day. A few days ago I ran my irrigation system for the first time. I was getting ready for work at 430 was looked outside to see one of my zones not working. I couldn't believe it. When the installers left it was working fine and I also played with it all afternoon after they left to adjust heads and such without a problem. I never tested it again thinking all was well.

Fast forward 4 days and I had time to look at it. All heads in the zone we're not popping up to their full potential with low flow. Nothing seemed broken and I didn't have any soft spots or obvious leaks. I flushed all the heads thinking it was just debris with no success. Valve box was dry. I remembered they tore up a large root that was in the way so I dug around that spot thinking maybe there was a leak, nope bone dry.

Since I didn't do any modifications and it was working before, I thought maybe a fitting got loose. I dug around all the heads in the zone and everything appeared okay. No major leaks I added a clamp to one pipe because I'd didn't like the way the old one was sitting but nothing to cause the low flow.

I had spare heads with 30 psi regulator instead of 40 so I switched all the heads, no change. Then it hit me, and I felt so stupid for wasting 5 hours playing Around with everything. My system was made on 11 gpm 3/4 copper mainline. My max gpm is 11. The company put in 4 360 heads and a 90 all in the same zone and total was ~15 gpm. Not sure how I didn't catch it during the install probably because at the time I had perfect coverage and no pressure loss. I'm still not sure how they were able to get it to work that day. Either way I left the 30 psi heads and changed some rotor nozzles and everything worked fine. I'll have to revisit the issue later as the coverage is not perfect but for now it'll do.

Grass is a little drought stressed. I should have watered a day or two ago but I wanted to fix the system first. I also have a few new spots of PB so I'm being extra stingy with the watering given the high heat (95 past few days and high humidity). I haven't put azoxy down like I should because I'm saving it for my overseed since that'll promote tons of fungus loving conditions.

Backyard is going dormant. I hope we get some rain soon so it doesn't die. It looks pretty crispy. I haven't mowed it for over a week and have no plans of mowing it.

Thankfully I was able to put the greensmaster fuel line back together in 30 minutes. I haven't mowed in almost a week due to work and not having the part delivered. Will plan to mow tomorrow after watering tonight.


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## Sfurunner13

Snapped some photos of the lawn today before the thunderstorms rolled in.





Aftermath of the Pythium. You can see how it tracked down the low spots all the way to the driveway. I had fungus problems last year in the same spots. One day I'll fill it in with soil, until then I'm sure I'll continue to have issues.



Black eyed Susan's are peak bloom and Shasta daisies are past their peak. Impatiens get a little too much sun but they are doing okay. Hanging baskets are leggy and not blooming well anymore. I may cut them back and see what happens.





Unirrigated backyard is struggling to stay alive. It's mostly dormant. You can see the large bare areas from dying/dead PoA after 5 or 6 tenacity apps + heat + drought.


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## Sfurunner13

Well as expected, the ryegrass planted this spring finally succumbed to the elements. I didn't have high hopes for it given our crazy, cold spring and late germination. I always was planning another sand leveling with overseed so I wasn't overly upset when things started to unravel. Going forward I'll be interested to see if Pythium stays a yearly problem or if it was due to a late spring overseed. Definitely some heat stress and I sprayed some tenacity on some nutsedge last week but the spots that aren't affected by fungus look good.



Now for the bad. The first photo shows how the fungus developed in the low spots of my yard and followed the path of water. The light green spots are from tenacity I sprayed a week ago. The damage in the second photo happened almost overnight (1-2 days). I purposely chose not to treat any of this and it got out of hand quickly.

Next year I'll have to see if Pythium remains a problem, if so I may need to find a fungicide more suited to treat it. I've been stingy with watering which shows in the quality of the turf but I don't see any more active disease. I'm planning another sand leveling and overseed Iin 3-4 weeks.





Backyard tenacity update. After 6 or 7 applications I stopped. The grass was going mostly dormant and I felt I was just wasting product and not getting any further results. I suppose if I irrigated that section my results may be better. I'm happy with the die off whether it was just the heat or tenacity aided. Given how much PoA I had in those areas I plan to do a heavy fall prodiamine application for 2-3 years and then consider an aggressive overseed. All the bare dirt/dead areas in the foreground are from POA. Despite the heat, lack of rain and lack of nitrogen, I've noticed a fair number of KBG rhizomes so I'm looking forward to pushing some growth this fall. We're also planning on expanding the patio and building a deck so a lot of the area towards the house won't be grass/POA for too much longer.









On a better note, the dahlias finally bloomed. I wanted to see how easy they were to grow in my climate. Overall I'm happy with them and they've done well. I already committed to more varieties next year instead of relying on big box store offerings.


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## Sfurunner13

Seems like everyday I find another large patch of PB destroying the front yard. At this rate I'm going to have more dead grass than living grass due to the amount of grass thats dying. I'm hoping next year isn't so bad with a little more mature stand of PRG and a fungicide plan. Everything that has a brown hue in the photo is active PB. The photos don't do it justice but It seems like the whole middle of the yard is brown and likely going to die.


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## Ngilbe36

Sfurunner13 said:


> All the green leaves are maple tree saplings.


I know this is from a long time ago but I am currently reading through your journal which is great btw. 
But this in particular is amazing haha I love maples. I tap the 4 on my lot to make syrup.


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## Captquin

@Sfurunner13 
Enjoying the landscaping as much as the turf. Beautiful spruce or whatever that is as well. Keep up the good work!


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## Sfurunner13

@Captquin @Ngilbe36 thank you for the kind words.

Finally a little break from the heat and humidity. Spent the last few days outside enjoying the cooler days. Foreseeable future has temps in low 80s with night time temps in mid to low 60s.

Front yard has taken a serious beating the last week or two. Pythium has been breaking out everywhere and wrecking havoc. I've been tempted to buy a fungicide specifically for PB but it doesn't seem cost effective to me. They run about $275 and I can seed my whole front yard with PRG each year at 10lb/k for $75. I also want to level the next few seasons so I'd probably throw down seed at the same time.

Next year I plan to have better fungicide app timing of Azoxy in July and August and see if that has enough of a preventative aspect against PB. Depending on how next year goes I'll make a decision if investing in a fungicide specific for PB is worth it. I made it all the way till August this year with little problems with spring grown grass and little fungicides so I'm hoping next year will be better.

I plan on leveling and seeding by early September. That hopefully will give me cooler weather and less disease. If I'm lucky I'll have enough time to get a fall pre emergent down. Anyways here's some photos of the diseased front yard.













I've really been getting into landscaping and adding other elements to the front yard. I plan on redoing most of this garden next year and moving a lot of things around. The Shasta daisy's have outgrown their space and I don't like their placement. I also plan of putting in drip irrigation for everything next spring which should make things better.



Impatiens have filled in nicely. I think next year I'm going to do vinca as the areas gets more sun than I thought. Also bought more dahlias to go behind the box woods for some taller elements.



Backyard is actually looking really good. I have a lot of dead spaces in last years reno which is from POA infestation. I plan on pre emergent for the next several seasons before seeding again. We also have plans of putting in a deck and patio so I won't go crazy in that area until those projects are done. I dropped the HOC to 3.5 inches from 4+ inches. Looks so much more tidy. I was going to start the fall blitz yesterday with 0.5 lb N as we got rain today but I remembered last year when we had a cool August and a brutally hot dry September. I decided to hold off as I still have some dormant areas and the turf isn't irrigated. Hopefully I'll start in early September which should give me 2-2.5 solid months for Fert/recovery.

I have an area by the shed that needs seed from where I took a tree out. I haven't decided but I may do an experiment and overseed a 3K section to see how it does. The grass doesn't need it but I have a few bare areas that could use the seed as i don't think the KBG will fill them in (too big). If it improves the density considerably I may do a small 3K sections at a time. I plan on putting down TTTF.







Dahlias are looking good. I bought some softer colors which should look good next year in the front yard.









Unfortunately our beautiful Japanese maple in the front yard is dying. I'm not exactly sure what's happening to it. I noticed this spring we had a dead branch which I thought was unfortunate but it was only one limb. Probably just some winter damage or something. It's now slowly progressed to 3-4 major limbs. I see other branches up in the canopy that are dead so well so I'm fearing it's progressing. I cut down the dead limbs in hopes of stopping whatever is spreading. (I didn't finish pruning it yet). But I'm thinking by next year we might not have much tree left. I did some googling and it could be verticillium.


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## Sfurunner13

Spent all of yesterday overseeding and leveling the lawn. Leading up to yesterday I put down a very small PGR rate (5ml/k) and 0.5 lb/N per K of urea. I also put down a curative rate of granular azoxystrobin and watered all of that in.

I got 4 tons of sand for 3.5 k. I got extra because I wanted to try to level the depression that runs along the street. That area required 1-2 inches of sand to get it somewhat level. Next year 3 tons would be perfect.

After lowering the HOC from 1 inch to 0.75 inches.









I started off by lowering the HOC to 0.75 from 1 inch. I put down half my seed (champion GQ) and rolled it in. I then spent the rest of the day shoveling and spreading sand. Once all the sand was spread I put down the rest of the seed and rolled it in. I have a few areas that I smothered but the majority of the grass blades were showing. Set the irrigation timers to water 4 times daily. 7 11 3 and 7 pm for 15 minutes. I'll see how that does and adjust based on moisture levels.

Saturday looks like an inch of rain so hopefully it doesn't wash all the sand by the street away , the rest of the yard should be okay. After that the weather looks great.


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## Sfurunner13

And after that quick 15 minutes storm yesterday my overseed and leveling was a waste of time and money. 3/4 of my sand and seed is spread down the street and in my neighbors driveway and what's left of the seed is all clumped into giant piles in all the low spots. Feel like this happens every year. I'll wait a week to see the what germinates and probably re level and seed the street and bad areas again.


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## Captquin

Damn. Sorry to hear that


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## Sfurunner13

One week post seed down. Had germination in 3 days. Wide spread on day 4. I'd guess sprouts are about 2 inches tall. I'll probably mow next week with the rotary. Only a few areas that washed out, not terrible all things considering.







[uarl=https://postimg.cc/9rVqFzyy]







[/url]


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## Sfurunner13

I can't win this year. Had evening showers yesterday with super high humidity and boom came home from work this morning to find Pythium all over the place. Luckily, the forecast looks super dry for the next week. I'm gonna hold watering today and let things dry out. I blew most of the dee off the grass with the leaf blower already. I think most of my seeds are up and germinated so I'm going to cut back on watering, especially later in the day. I've never planted PRG in the fall before and I'm blown away how quickly it grows. I'm 8 days post seeding and I honestly think I could mow it. It's like 3 inches tall already. I do have more seed, But I'll wait to see the damage from the Pythium before I reseed the bare spots Now I know for next year I can wait till mid September to do this without fear of not having enough time to establish.


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## Sfurunner13

Got another 0.92 inches of rain last evening and it washed out a lot more sand along the road. Still have some Pythium this AM but not nearly as widespread. I didn't water again today and I don't plan to tomorrow. I made a judgement call and mowed today with the rotary at 1.125 inches ( only 9 days post seed down). Even though grass felt dry it was super wet and clumpy when I mowed. My thought was getting it lower would reduce leaf contact and help it dry out faster. It handled the mow great with no damage to new grass. Next few days look great, low humidity with highs in the 70s. Cant wait to reel mow but still have a lot of exposed sand in places. I will say the rotary barely scalps anymore and I had several places in the spring that were very scalp prone.


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## Sfurunner13

Backyard is liking these cooler temps. I've been mowing at 3.5 inches and am looking forward to lowering it to 3 inches over the next few weeks.

Left side of the yard that I renovated last year looks rough. I didn't have good germination last year and it gets very little sun throughout the day. I have plans to hardscape a lot of that area so I neglect it a little too. I'll have to overseed that area after the patio goes in.



The rest of the yard is looking good. The reno from last year loves the nitrogen i put down 2 weeks ago. It's starting to darken and match the rest of the yard.







This section was overrun with POA this spring. A lot of it died as you can see. I'll overseed in a few years hopefully after the POA gets under control.



I did notice some POA germination in the shady spots in the lawn. I put down 0.25 oz/K of prodiamine to the majority of the backyard today. I'm about 2 weeks behind I think. Soil temps are still over 70 but next year I should apply mid/end August.



I have 100 lbs of TTTF I got on sale 2 years ago. I thought about overseeding part of the backyard Just to get rid of the seed but decided not to. I do have KBG in the mix so I really have no reason to overseed and the coverage is good.





When i really thought about it, it seemed silly that i considered overseeding into this.



I do have some areas that have always been bare since my renovation. I decided I'll try throwing some seed Into those areas and hope for the best. I spot sprayed Tzone and tenacity down a few days ago so I'll have to wait 3 weeks before I seed. It'll be late in the season but I think it'll be okay.







Front yard doesn't have any more disease. I did lose a fair amount of grass from the disease outbreak. Today is day 8 days post germination i think. I've mowed 3 or 4 times and put down some urea a few days ago. I will overseed again in 2-3 weeks when the disease pressure will be significantly less. I can't wait to get the greensmaster back on the lawn. I still have a fair amount of visible sand so I've been using the rotary.

I've been toying around with the idea of a KBG monostand for the front yard. I go back and forth with it all the time. I'd like to get the grading done first so it'll be a season or two. My better half won't likely allow me to do a true reno so it may have to be a kill, scalp, seed in one day type reno.

I'm excited to see how the PRG does next year. I'm hoping it fills in nice this fall and looks great next year. I'm going to try applying potassium phosphite to as a preventative against Pythium next year. If I can find a cost effective way to combat fungus and Pythium I'll continue with ryegrass. If not, I'll have an argument for another reno.


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## Sfurunner13

Backyard looking good. Color is darkening but I still have a visible line between the two renos. I'm hoping some Fert and another growing season will help. I mowed on Saturday at 3 inches and again on Monday. I feel like it grew 1 inch in two days. I'll have my work cut out for me keeping up with it.









Front yard looks rough. Mowed it at 3/4 in. I have more seed coming this week. I'll put down another 7 lbs/k. No rain in sight but I'm sure it'll downpour once I put it down.


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## Sfurunner13

Mowed at 3 inches in the backyard. I plan on going down to 2.5 inches soon. Been really dry so I've been holding Fert until we get some rain. I sprayed weeds 2 weeks ago so I hit the left overs with triclopyr today. I'd say I got 90% of them on the first pass which I'm happy with. Looks much better than last year when I scalped and abused the lawn trying to reel mow it. Excited to see what it looks like come spring since it won't be so stressed this fall.





Last years reno still had a lot of POA in it this spring, The color also doesn't match the first reno I did but sometimes it's good to look back and see how far its come.

Before





After





Front yard looks like garbage. Put down PGR a week ago to slow the top growth. I'm 22 days post germination from the first overseed. A lot of it died from disease. Live and learn, can't cheat and do it early to get down pre emergent. I reseeded again at 7lb/K in the super thin areas and skipped the healthy turf. I'm currently 4 days post seeding with no germination, but it should be any day. The night time temps have been in the mid 40s the past few nights which isn't helping. Temps are going to go back the mid 70s with lows in the mid 50s this week so still have some good growing weather.


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## Sfurunner13

Been super dry. Been holding fertilizer. Planned to get an inch of much needed rain over the next few days and another half inch later in the week.

Backyard is being cut at 2.5 inches. I leveled the mower deck on my JD. I wish I did it two years ago. It was way off and it cuts so much better now.

Front yard is coming along, been putting down Fert and PGR. Cutting at 0.75 inches. A few areas are thin which I'll address in spring. Might have a small area of Poa triv. I'll dig it out one day, of course it's in the center of the yard and ill have have to look at it till spring.


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## Captquin

I'd like to book a tee time, please


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## Sfurunner13

Beautiful fall day. Mowed several times. Lawn was covered with leaves already. Spread some Fert in the backyard with rain in the forecast tomorrow. Next two nights have lows in the high 30s.


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## Sfurunner13

Leaves are really starting to fall. Cut back all of my perennials today to make leaf cleanup easier. It's been raining almost every day and it's been too wet to mow. Definitely broke the 1/3 rule today by a long shot. Will probably put my last app of fert down tomorrow. I'm still contemplating a last dose of PGR. Soil temps are still in the mid 60s.


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## Sfurunner13

Getting darker earlier every day. It's getting hard to get things done outside in the evening. Was able to get a quick mow in before another 3 days of rain. Decided against another PGR so grass is rebounding. Worm castings are everywhere.


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## Sfurunner13

Finally got around to digging out some Triv patches. I had 2 patches I had to dig out and I hand pulled two smaller areas.



I noticed this area yesterday. Not sure what's going on here. It looked dry and desiccated. Not sure if it's disease, Fert burn from a few weeks ago or just a dry spot. Either way I'm not going to do anything for it.


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## Sfurunner13

Haven't mowed out front in awhile. Definitely slowing down and starting to lose its color. Might be my last mow of the season out front. Still mulching leaves in the back.


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## Sfurunner13

Totals for the year 2020:

Front yard 
Potassium - 4lbs/K
Nitrogen - 3.48lbs/k: only 1 lb/k before august 
Phosphorus- 0 
Lime - 8.5 lb/K (solucal)

Backyard 
Potassium - 4 lb/K
Nitrogen - 3.16 lb/k with only 1.16 lb/k before September 
Phosphorus-0
Lime - 8.5 lb/K (solucal)


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## Sfurunner13

Put down 0.2 oz/k of prodiamine today.


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## Sfurunner13

I'm behind on a lot of projects. Front yard has grown a fair amount and should have been mowed a few times already. The next few days dip back into the 20s at night so I hoping that slows things down a little bit. I need to clean up all the debris, rocks, and mulch from the yard before I put the reel on it. I have a fair amount of clover popping up that will need to be treated. The backyard has more POA triv popping up this year which is a bummer. Poa Annua seems to be significantly less than last year but time will tell if more germinates. I haven't taken any photos of the yard yet.

We are planning to redo the front garden bed this year so I have some old boxwoods to tear out. I'm also planning to put in drip irrigation for that bed.


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## Sfurunner13

Went out on a limb and started some of my dahlias indoors today . I don't think I have the proper light set up for when they sprout but hopefully by then it's only 1-2 weeks until I can plant them outside. Also tried some snapdragons this year. I planted them on 2/14. They are getting to large for their containers but I don't have the room or the light set up to transplant them into bigger containers. Hopefully they will make it another 2 weeks and I can consider moving them outside.


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## Sfurunner13

A chilly 36 degrees today. Picked up some soil amendments today after mailing my soil sample. Still waiting on my urea, lime and sulfate of potash to arrive. Snapped some photos of the lawn while attempting to clean up some of the rocks and mulch that made its way into the lawn over winter. Needless to say I didn't last long. I'll probably do a clean up mow over the weekend or early next week.









I had a fair amount of snow mold a few weeks ago. Most of it has improved/gone away but I have a little bit that still has to grow out.



Have a bunch of the usually suspects throughout the yard. Lots of clover, lesser celandine, and a few dandelions. I'll put down Tzone in about 2 weeks to give more weeds a chance to germinate.





Unfortunately I did find some poa triv that I'll probably dig out.



Backyard looks spotty and thin as usual. I may not take the HOC down to this fall. Not sure if it makes a huge difference and I hate how thin the yard looks all winter/early spring. The PoA on the right side of my yard seems to be significantly improved compared to last year.

April 1 2020





April 2021. I plan on installing another wall and extending the garden to include the majority of that bare spot.



The remainder of the backyard. We have plans to add a deck, patio and a big garden along the back of the house so I have minimal input on those areas in the foreground. Compared to last year the yard looks much greener.









Finally my drip tubing arrived today so I'll plan to install that in the next few weeks. I have to move some plants so I can tunnel under the sidewalk. Completely redoing this garden, removing the old boxwoods and basically starting from scratch.


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## Sfurunner13

Spent the day applying lime wash to our brick exterior. We have 72 hours before I can't power wash it off. My wife and I have opposite thoughts. Looking for honest opinions.


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## g-man

The wife is always right. Now you will need to paint the siding a different color, maybe a gray blue.


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## Sfurunner13

2021 soil test results:



Not sure how my pH increased from 5.5 to 6.5 over 2 years and 48.5 lb/k of lime (only 8.5 lb/k in 2020). I already bought 300 lbs for lime for the year a month ago expecting to need more. I plan to add some gypsum to increase to calcium and improve my Ca/Mg ratio. Otherwise I'll continue to do 1:1 ratio of nitrogen and potassium if not more potassium.

I was able to do my first mow and bagged all the debris. I also was able to work on the edging in the front yard. It's far from perfect but it'll work for now. I mowed the front down to 0.75 inches which is what I'll try to keep it at all year. Definitely broke the 1/3 rule and lost some color. I didn't lay down any stripes. I kind of like the carpet look every once in while.







[qurl=https://postimg.cc/rK2WyPMr]







[/url]



Pulled the boxwoods out in preparation for planting in a few weeks. I need to work on laying my drip tubing/irrigation.


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## Sfurunner13

Sprayed 1.5 oz/k of tzone on 4/8. Two days later and most of the weeds are already checking out. Every year the turf has some significant yellowing after application and this year is no exception. I have a love hate relationship with Tzone.

On 4/9 I laid most of the drip irrigation. I ran out of fittings so the project is stalled until I get more. Weather looks good with no freezing temps in the 10 day forecast so hopefully I can get some perennials in the ground next weekend.





On 4/10 I cut the front yard. The color is inconsistent and some spots aren't growing yet. The back is also very spotty. I put down the following prior to 0.5 in of light rain coming tomorrow.

0.25 lb/N in the front and backyard to hopefully jumpstart some growth and even some of the color out. I'll probably drop another 0.75 lbs/K in mid May and then nothing until fall in the backyard.

22.5 lb/K gypsum in the front yard.

1 lb/k SOP front yard only.

Grubex at label rate. I'm a little early than normal but still in the recommended window and with the nice light rain coming I pulled the trigger.

For my own further reference I planted my indoor dahlias on 4/1 and on 4/10, 3 have sprouted.


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## Sfurunner13

2 week update on the dahlias. 15/22 have sprouted. I've watered them twice so far. I rotate them under the grow light. Next week I'll put them outside during the day.



I started my snapdragons on Valentine's Day. They are struggling. Next year I should plant them a few weeks later. I'm acclimating them outside this week and I'll plant them outside this hopefully


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## Sfurunner13

Picked up the first round of perennials for the year. Mostly foliage plants. Will get most of the flowering perennials and annuals in a few weeks. No freezing temps in the 10 day forecast and by then the frost risk is almost 0%. I'll probably wait a week before I put everything in the ground.

Plum Pudding Heuchera


Lemon Coral Sedum


Silver Carpet Lambs Ear 


Golden Euonymus


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## Sfurunner13

Haven't had time to take many photos of progress throughout the yard hopefully I'll get some by the end of the week.

Dahlias all sprouted and are growing well. It took about 3 weeks for all of them to come up. The majority were up up within 2 weeks. I plan on planting them this weekend as soil temps are close to 60. So far management has been fairly easy and water requirements are low. I'll likely do this again next year.

I planted what snapdragons were left 2 days ago. I lost the majority of them to either melting out or root rot. I'll see how how the surviving few do this year before trying them again next year although their failure was solely my fault.

I've slowly been adding things to the perennial garden out front and tweaking the drip irrigation. I'm waiting on a few roses to be delivered and annuals will go in around Mother's Day. Ill top everything off with fresh mulch as it's been a few years.

Front yard is mostly recovered from the Tzone application. I'll need another follow up dose of triclopyr to get the few patches of clover and dandelion that I missed the first time. I did find one patch of POA triv I have to kill and dig out. I plan on doing another sand leveling mid may.

Backyard is still slowly waking up. The sunny side of the yard is far ahead the shady side. Also noticing my KBG is extremely slow to wake up. It still looks thin but I have grass in most areas which I'm hoping will thicken significantly once temps rise. Dog pee spots look fantastic so I'm hoping with a little Fert in a few weeks things take off.

I'm torn as to what road I want to take in the backyard. I enjoy the lower input grass and the flexibility that provides but I love the way the front yard looks. Transitioning the backyard to a low HOC is no small endeavor. First I'd have to install irrigation over the 14000 sq ft. I found a rental place that has a ditch witch so that wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, I'd likely have to have an irrigation well installed as paying 2000/yr for water alone is out of the question especially when combined with my other yearly inputs to the lawn. On top of that I would want some sort of triplex to mow the 14k. Very quickly that cost adds up. Most of it is upfront cost and maintenance after is more than manageable and affordable. For now I'll start planning the irrigation and I'll see how happy I am with the density as the year progresses. If the density isn't up to par, I'll consider a TTTF overseed and maybe leveling next year if irrigation gets done but I'm hoping the KBG just fills in the gaps. I have a several PoA Triv patches I need to kill and dig out before they start taking over large areas.


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## Sfurunner13

Still maintaining 0.75 inches on the front lawn. I haven't put down PGR yet but I'm considering it in the next week or two. KBG seed heads are starting to appear. It's been a very dry spring. I almost had to turn the irrigation on last week but a pop up storm bailed me out.









I have a several areas by the road that have been "off" in color since seeding last year. The blades look thin and frail. No lesions or signs of disease. The area used to be very low and had a fair amount of sand last year. I thought maybe it was dry but it hasn't bounced back after any storms/rain. I'm thinking maybe it could use some nitrogen but I'm going to hold off another week or two.



I've been transplanting and adding tons of plants in the garden. It's coming along nicely. I have to pick up a few more perennials and then just a bunch of annuals for some color. Once all the plants are in well get some mulch.









I planted the dahlias earlier in the week. I'm hoping they get enough light behind the boxwoods. The area gets morning sun as the house faces east so if they can make it the next few weeks until they are taller than the boxwoods I think they will be okay.



The backyard is finally growing significantly. I have a fair number of thin spots but I'm hoping they fill in.



Density is great over most of the yard.



Unfortunately I do have about 15 spots of triv like this one. I need to get the courage to spray the areas with glyphosate and dig them out. I'll have to reseed them this fall.


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## Sfurunner13

Managed to get the pots and window baskets planted today before the rain. Thankfully we'll see much needed rain multiple days this week.


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## Chuuurles

looking great. That's a lot of hard work showing itself I love you're garden edges!


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## Sfurunner13

@Chuuurles thanks! It's been a fun journey. I have a love hate relationship with the garden edges. They all run downhill so when it rains all my mulch ends up in my driveway and lawn.

Picked up 8 flats of annuals and planted them all around the front yard. Finished planting what I believe are the final perennials but that's wishful thinking. I'm going to order mulch on Monday to put the final touches on the project. I'm excited for it to fill in over the next season or two.







Picked up my fertilizer for the year. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my hands on any sulfate of potash so muriate of potash will have to do.



Otherwise both the front and back and growing like crazy now. Seedheads all over the place. I'm waiting until they're gone to start PGR. I also plan to put down more sand in the front yard in a week or two so I'll wait until that's done to start PGR. Otherwise I sprayed a follow up application of three way spiked with triclopyr on the clover I'm missed the first time. It's already dying which is nice to see. Put 0.5 lb/K of Potassium today in the front. It's been a very dry spring so I turned on the irrigation and plan to water tomorrow morning. I decided to not spray out the poa triv in the back. I'll wait until I have a solid reseeding plan with legitimate irrigation before I round up 20+ areas. I should have down it a few weeks ago when they were very easy to identify. Now they are blending in and making it hard to see. Otherwise here's some photos I snapped while mowing today.


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## Vtx531

I like the backyard- looks great. What height of cut?


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## Sfurunner13

@Vtx531 thanks! Backyard is at 3 inches. Pretty soon I'll have to bump it up to 4 inches as it's not irrigated.

Had 6 yards of mulch delivered a week or two ago. It was way too much. I've been slowly working on it after work. I forgot how much I hate mulching flower beds.









Given I had extra mulch we cut a shade bed into the backyard. The area is deep shade and it was bare dirt. Grass germinated initially but slowly demarcated itself over the past few years. You can see from the grass in the photo that it's very patchy. I think if I reseed the area it will do okay, and if not I can always make the bed bigger.





We got 2 inches of much needed rain this weekend. We went 2.5 weeks without any rain. Backyard ET deficit was greater than 2.5 inches. I was able to keep my HOC at 3 inches without a great deal of drought stress. A lot of yards around the neighborhood started checking out. Before the rain I put down 0.75 lbs of N and K. Since we have been so dry I haven't had the chance to put down much nitrogen. I don't plan on putting down any more N until fall. I'll continue to time potassium apps around rainfall.

I also top-dressed 3 tons of sand in the front yard. I meant to only get 2 tons but oh well. I went a little heavier than I wanted. I dropped 0.5 lbs/N prior to the sand. I started the project one night after work until 10 pm. Sand was wet and couldn't dry out. It was a pain trying to spread it. Overall it was miserable and I won't be taking that approach again. Photos are from the next morning. I went over it later that day with a broom and most of it dropped below the canopy since it dried out all day.. I forgot to snap photos from today ( 1 week later). I'll see if I can remember tomorrow morning.











I'll likely start phosphite apps in the next week or so. Night time temps are getting close to 70 in the 10 day forecast. I'm hoping the grass will be mostly recovered in 2 weeks and I'll start fungicide apps. PGR is obviously on hold due to the top dressing.


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## Sfurunner13

Sands disappearing nicely. Gonna start phosphite apps this weekend. Night time temps are approaching 70 with scattered thunderstorms. I'll wait a week or two before azoxi or prop go down.

First photos are from June 1:











These are from this morning. Grass seemed to thicken up after cutting it two days ago.











Backyard is looking great after the rain and Fert app. I have a little rust but that's par for the course


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## Sfurunner13

Since greenskeeper is going away, I'll have to keep a better log. Weather has been oppressively hot and humid. We've had over 2 inches of rain in the past 2 days coming by way of afternoon thunderstorms. I'm sure I have some fungal damage. I'll check today when I mow.

6/6
4 oz/k Phite

6/7
5.12 oz/k of N 1.2 lbs total equals 0.15 lbs/N
1 oz propiconazole 
2 oz/k main event

Front Totals
Nitrogen 0.9 last app June 7 0.15 
Potassium 0.5 last app may 15 0.5 
Gypsum 34 last app may 4 11.5

Back totals
Nitrogen 1 last app may 29 .75 
Potassium .75 last app may 29 .75


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## Sfurunner13




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## bf7

Looks great! Any sign of fungus? This humidity is ridiculous.

Nice job working the sand in. Did it help with the bumps?


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## Sfurunner13

@bf7 No sign of fungus so far. The weather this week great, cool and no humidity. I usually start seeing damage the first week of July if I'm not on top of my preventive apps. Overall it's pretty smooth, but by no means level. Most of the ruts filled in last year when I first put sand down. I have a few low spots that are going to take a few years to bring up to grade.

Put down another 4 oz/k of Phite yesterday. Unfortunately had an unplanned thunderstorm 2-3 hours later. Grass was dry but not sure how effective that app will be. Planning my first PGR this week just waiting to time it with my next iron and watering app.

Backyard is chugging along. A few small spots of fungus but that's par for the course. Damage doesn't look too bad so it'll recover. Mowing at 3.5 inches now. It's growing so fast it's hard to keep up.


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## bf7

Wow, love the color in that last pic. And the single doubles!


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## Sfurunner13

Quick photo today to get a before and after. Gettting a new front door next week


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## Sfurunner13

Photos are a few weeks old. New front door going in today. I'll get updated photos next week. Been over 90 degreee for the past week and hitting 100 today. Next 3 days we're scheduled to get 2 inches of rain. No signs of disease in the front. Backyard is hanging on for its life with the heat wave but overall it still looks good.

6/17 
5 ml/ k tnex 
5.12 oz/k of Urea 
2 oz/k main event

6/24
0.37 oz/k azoxy
1 oz propiconazole

6/30
7.5 ml/ k tnex 
5.12 oz/k of urea
2 oz/k main event


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## Sfurunner13

Rain rain rain. Night time temps well above 70 and day time cloudiness. Found my first spot of fungus. Looks like PB again. Seems very limited. I think I missed that spot with my sprays.


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## Sfurunner13

Up to 11.5 ml/k of Tnex. Missed some mows last week and had to do a double cut to make it look acceptable. Gas company is redoing all the lines so they are digging in everyone's yard. Mine is half way done but the worst is still to come. The guy next to me had a backhoe in his yard all day so I can't wait to see the damage. They are definitely going to hit the irrigation lines. Might experiment and skip my next azoxy preventative app that I'm due for and test how phosphite does by itself since I'm gonna have to overseed this fall anyway.


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## g-man

Hopefully they see the nice yard and try to hand dig.


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## jskierko

My word, all those petunias pop against that whitewashed brick! If I showed my wife these pics you'd have an offer coming in on your house. Good stuff!


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## Chris LI

Absolutely beautiful! The lawn and flower garden complement each other perfectly. I like the use of the potato vine and mixing of annuals and perennials. Good luck with the gas line replacement.


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## Sfurunner13

Been dealing with what I presume is a disease the past few weeks. I thought it was drought stress at first since it was pretty isolated to a few spots but for the past few days it appears to be getting worse. I haven't noticed any lesions or mycelium. The grass seems to just be turning brown, withering up and dying virtually overnight. It doesn't appear slimy like PB. I haven't applied anything but 4 oz/k of phosphite every 2 weeks. Since I had to overseed anyway due to the gas line repairs I didn't apply any further fungicide. Weather has been extremely wet and humid so disease pressure has been off the chart. These pictures are from this morning aug 28.







And here's what things looked like on Aug 14. I only had a few areas of damage.

















And august 24





Gas line repairs are done. They did a pretty good job of minimizing the damage. No damage to the irrigation system. The area by the street is significantly lower than the rest of the yard so I'll take the opportunity to spread an extremely heavy layer of sand. I've tried this several times before but a thunderstorm always washes everything away. Maybe this year I'll have some luck.





Gardens looks okay. Lambs ear is rotting from too much water. I'll cut it back at the end of the year and adjust the irrigation in the area. Dahlias are in full bloom. I bought a few new varieties for next year.





















I haven't mentioned the backyard much. It looks good considering it's not irrigated. I have a significant amount of dormant areas and stressed areas. Weather seems to be cooling off and we've had a fair amount of rain. Hopefully I can start fertilizing it soon. I need to get my pre emergent down.


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## Sfurunner13

Haven't updated in awhile. After leveling and doing a successful overseed it's getting ravished by PB. I'm tired of dealing with it. I think next year is the year I reno to KBG mono. PRG has its perks but I can't take the constant disease. Right now I'm leaning toward mazama


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## Sfurunner13

On September 10 I got 4 tons of sand to spread over the yard. I got an extra ton in an attempt to level the swale by road. Since I had some summer die off and quite a few areas I was completely burying in sand I elected to put down PRG at 10 lb/k. Looking back I should have waited 3 weeks and gone with around 6lb/k. It filled in great except for a few spots that I overseeded a week or so later. I did spread some left over granular azoxy.





















Unfortunately the weather turned extremely humid with gray overcast skies and several days of gentle mist and rain. That pattern persisted for well over a week. I developed many spots with PB despite my preventative apps of phosphites. It seems to be self limiting now as the weather improved as did night time temps but the damage is done and it's extensive. Too late to do anything about it this year. I'll probably spring seed just for ground cover. These photos are from the other day. I just came home after a few days away and it looks worse.















Half a pound of N is going down every 2 weeks along with MAP.

Backyard is chugging along with yearly fert and pre emergent. Way too much hardscaping and flower beds that have to added before the grass gets overhauled.









I think next year is the year I'm going to convert to KBG. I'm nervous but excited. I've been thinking about it for years and I think I'm I've had enough disease with PRG. As a teaser, this arrived a few days ago.



Flower garden is severely overcrowded. I have to address some irrigation issues this winter as some plants developed root rot.















I did have two big patch of poa triv in the front yard that a sprayed out the gly. I'll keep spraying them every week and dig out the soil.


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## Sfurunner13

Things could be better


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## Sfurunner13

Lawns come a long way since I made this journal. I think it's time to put it to rest. Big plans for 2022 if things go to plan.

2021 totals 
Front 2.75 lb/K 
Potassium 3.75 lb/K
Gypsum 91 lb/K

Back
Nitrogen 3.25 lb/K
Potassium 2.75 lb/K


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