# JDs Bermuda shenanigans



## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Ok per request of a few people with larger Bermuda lawns I am starting a journal.

I will be putting all sorts of things here from equipment to current progress updates.

BACK STORY. Dec 2017 purchase, yard was sod 15 years prior and has a 12 zone irrigation system. The lot is a bit over and acre with a natural stream running the width of the back of the property with 25-35' varying bank on the opposite side. This is trees and brush. The plan is to transplant a bunch of Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor McCurtain) from family land that is wetlands filled with natural growth. Around 100 5gallon bucket transplants will give me the creek side backdrop that I am after. These are cold hearty and zero maintenance. Annual bulbs will be randomly planted for splashes of color.

The creek has 6 natural formation small waterfalls that I will be bringing in a few tons of smooth river rock eventually to beef up the falls and aesthetically improve the entire creek area. (In due time, one step at a time so hold your horses!)

When I bought the house, the lawn was +80% weeds. I am talking pie pan size dandelion broadleaf, crab grass, nutsedge, Annual Blue grass aka the devils Poe Anna.

I spent the better part of January when there was no snow on the ground hand pulling everything. I filled the city 70 gallon trash can 15 times with solid weeds. Pulling them was the only viable solution for time to make the approaching summer and allow me to revive the lawn.

Beginning of February 2018 I laid down a heavy application of The Anderson's Barricade on the entire lawn. March I sprayed an application of Prodiamine 65 Barricade on the property. Between these applications I weekly pump sprayed Image on the Poe Anna (still fighting that devil in 2019).

Scalp the entire property.

Applications of nutrients, fertilizers and crabgrass delete.

Around July things were finally filling in with runner and starting to look better.

At this point I have a putting green that is starting to resemble a green. I only had a manual McLane 17" 5 blade reel, but it got the job done nicely. Good enough for little man age 3 and me to put and have fun.





Yes I know it is not as low or as fast as a course green. But it was about as hard as I could push the area on the first year considering where it was a couple months prior.

This is the lot areal I screen shot (April 2019) so the lawn is green from me as I built that entire fence solo. You can see I have turned things around fairly rapidly and have a much greener lawn than the neighbors. Pat on my back. THROWER DOWN and pour on the water.





This was 4th of July 2018





Ok that's all for first post. I'll shuffle thru pictures and update with current mowers, equip, nutrient mix etc.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

That's a beautiful property. Love the putting green. Can't wait to see pics of the stream.


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## wessneroo (Jan 22, 2019)

Thanks for sharing. Property looks amazing -- I'm jealous of the acreage. I'll be watching closely as your Greenville neighbor. What are you thinking for fertilizer timing? I'm scalped and at 50% green, but the storms in the forecast are making it hard to plan...


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

Thanks for posting. Looking forward to the stream area pics. Sounds like it will be awesome.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

wessneroo said:


> Thanks for sharing. Property looks amazing -- I'm jealous of the acreage. I'll be watching closely as your Greenville neighbor. What are you thinking for fertilizer timing? I'm scalped and at 50% green, but the storms in the forecast are making it hard to plan...


Yea I held off on putting out my granular over the weekend as they are calling for 2"+ within a 12hr period. That's no good.

As for weather and when I apply. Basically I use the 10day forecast, StormRadar app, and my barameter at the house. I will alternate between granular and a water soluable fert that can be sprayed when I have no rain in the forecast. I also have a full programmable irrigation system. But as you know rain is FREE.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

UPDATES: 4/8/19 (needed more time to assemble the photos and etc.)

So I scalped the lawn March 20 2019 and i filled the 14'x7'x2' trailer with clippings. This was a project but as always a very rewarding once a year task.



That weekend 14 yards of screened sand was delivered for topdress leveling of the yard. This is likely going to take me a couple seasons to get the undulations flattened out to an acceptable smoothness. It is not bad but the yard is also not good. As in i have to cut it a bit taller than preferred as select dips will cause uneven cut. Roughly 3/4 of the sand has been spread and leveled at this point. I welded up a 4' wide level rake.



The putting green received a 3"x3" pattern of 6" plug aeration along with topdressing to fill the plugs. 2-3 more aerations should have the top layer of clay nice and drain. With the addition of Humic the clay should be in a much better organic matter state for supporting the green at the low low cut and improved drainage to keep things dry and the roots deep. This is a labor of love. I will tell you this right now, that maintaining a Bermuda putting green is not a once a year set it and forget it task. You have to enjoy the work. Luckily I do.

The master plan for the green is to HOPEFULLY decide on and construct a sand trap over the summer. Originally my plan was to modify the beach area along the creek adjacent to the Green to be a naturally deep trap. But that area will flood when the heavy storms monsoon rain on us and already this year 2019 the river that the creek feeds into has crested and created a back flow that gets to the sand trap area. I simply do not want to invest the money into the sand in that space to have it displaced by water to other areas. So I simply continue to pitch from the beach with a less than esthetically pleasing sand trap.

Some of you have asked to see the water falls. The storm over the weekend knocked a large branch out of an oak tree. Causing me to put my rubber boots on and clean the creek. So here is a picture of one of the waterfalls adjacent to the beach which is next to the green. (I am standing at the beach) Creek is 10-15 or so feet wide at the water line.



Today i will be picking up 80' of metal landscaping edging to go around the patio bed. speaking of the patio, my Maple has opened up and the leaves are full. Love this tree. The driving station to the right is 65 yards to the green. It is a perfect iorns par 3 with a 2 putt.





Ok this enough rambling for now.


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## jjepeto (Jan 27, 2019)

Nice property, love the creek. What's your height of cut?

Are you going to cut in a hole and flag on the green?


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

jjepeto said:


> Nice property, love the creek. What's your height of cut?
> 
> Are you going to cut in a hole and flag on the green?


Thanks. she is a work in progress. The front is about dialed in as i put more focus on the Money Shot last year, where as the back still has some Poe around the fence line and by the play set. Hopefully another year of PreEmergent will irradiate the remaining seeds. This season the entire property is receiving the same focus.

Green has a cup and flag stick. Both are the current USGA metal with splined flag stick base. Last summer the green was .23" this year i am shooting for .125-.1875. This will be accomplished with the recent acquisition of the McLane 20" 10 blade power mower. Perviously i was using my Manual propelled 17" 5 blade.

This was very early season last year when i installed the cup.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

2007 model year McLane 20" 10 blade with 3.5HP Brigg power plant.

This mower is new to me for this season so I decided to get it a little bit of a make over.

NEW: spark plug, coil and wire, air filter and foam pre filter, oil change, drive belt, drive tires, fresh backlap, new clipping catcher, and the solid roller front upgrade.

Front roller is like a few on here (the conveyer belt roller) I will retain the factory front wheels bracket for if i ever want to swap back n forth. this weekend new metal will get welded up for the solid front roller in addition to some support brackets for the grass catcher as the bottom side of the catcher is molded to tightly fit the 2 single front wheels. Going to a solid front bar i will need a riser of sorts to address this. I am doing this as some times you do not want the clippings falling (ie on my putting green).

*Look at the difference between the RACING SLICKs and the new tread.
*


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Started redefining my patio flower bed today. It has 154' of edge. The excavated sod was relocated to a bad area by an oak tree, hopefully it lives as I moved it with plenty of soil. I just hope it takes.

Anyone want bermuda sushi hahaha









The over growth from the previous owner was 18" at the largest place. Wow just wow!


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

4/15 first reel mow of the season after: scalp , topdress level. Still dialing in the McLane. I am ready for the front roller to be finished. I'll have to get on it tomorrow after work.


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## daniel3507 (Jul 31, 2018)

Looking awesome! Love the size of the lawn and the putting green


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## aginhouse (Apr 4, 2019)

Great looking lawn. These larger lawns def take some time and affection to get them right.


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## aginhouse (Apr 4, 2019)

jdpber said:


> The over growth from the previous owner was 18" at the largest place. Wow just wow!


Are you going to add any bed edging or just stay on top of the edges with a weedeater/Glyphosate?


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Last night I whipped up some brackets for the McLane front roller upgrade. I decided to make an entire new bracket instead of modifying the factory bracket. Mainly I wanted to retain the equal to factory cut height.

I to the shop I went once the kid was asleep. 
Tonight she will get some paint and be finished.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

aginhouse said:


> jdpber said:
> 
> 
> > The over growth from the previous owner was 18" at the largest place. Wow just wow!
> ...


The mulch will rest a couple inches below the grass. This helps prevent grass runners, which helps the edge maintain. I use a weed wipper to edge the entire property, so it will be used to keep the bed true.


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## aginhouse (Apr 4, 2019)

Gotcha, Im working on the same thing for my beds and everyone is telling me not to. Just wanted to inquire. This is how all the major neighborhoods around me do it for the common areas and Im attempting to do the same. I just know that Im going to need to stay on top of it for the next year with roundup.

I may come back and add chop stone edging in a year or two if it continues to be a pain. 
Here's a picture I took last night of the beds I cut out. I intend to get mulch into them tonight if the rain holds out.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

The mower is done. It has respectfully been named RONALD. It is a McLane that is Red and Yellow. (Ronald McDonald is Red & Yellow and has Mc prefix same as McLane) so Ronald is the perfect name. Sub 1" cut, the grass is filling in green nicely. Couple more weeks and a dozen more cuts, I think she will be looking very sharp hopefully. Ronald also got some TLF decals installed.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

This baby was on the porch when we returned home from being away for Easter weekend.


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## T0R0 (Mar 4, 2019)

jdpber said:


> This baby was on the porch when we returned home from being away for Easter weekend.


Love all the updates! Your yard is looking awesome! What is your fertilization schedule like? How do you irrigate the property?

I'm surprised you didn't go battery powered for your sprayer... Your pumping arm is going to get a great workout!


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

T0R0 said:


> jdpber said:
> 
> 
> > This baby was on the porch when we returned home from being away for Easter weekend.
> ...


Your welcome. 
Thanks it still is greening up and has a few spots out front to fill in that were hit with the (mother frickin rat bastard some bish Army Worms last fall). I'm still bitter over those SOBs I think I spent a grand on permitherin and a couple other insectasides fighting those monsters.

I have an in ground 15 zone irrigation's system.

Yea today talking with a buddy, I have been debating about not even assembling this one and returning it to amazon. The battery one is only $50 more and like you said I think that it may be better long term.

Tonight I dropped the front yard another notch, working my way lower as I am counting to add leveling areas.

Theory behind this was that I cannot find all of the small or "settled" areas of it is ground level super short. So I let it go to 1.25" and every 4-5 days drop a notch witch is like 3/16 or something like that. So I'm still in the 1/3 not stressing it. A little long route but the humps that i had this was the best solution that I could come up with so the lawn would look good faster. I could have been wrong. All I know is the mower rolls better one grass plus sand vs sand only lol.

Also I have the large Chapin wand multi nozzle ordered that will do a 16' span. This I am super excited about and should dramatically reduce PGR application time.

Putting green is still 40% sand in recovery from army worms. The Bermuda is slowely creeping and filling in. I'm guessing another month and she should be usable on a Public green level of roll. Lol.

All for now.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

@toro

Fertilizer and preEmergent

*Jan*- PREEMERGENT (prodiamine) light coat spray on with hose.

*Feb*- Andersons Pro Turf Baracade. start watching the weather for the last heavy frost to plan scalp.

*March*-scalp. Aerate, topdress. Spray on some kick starter liquid fertilizer, I get it mixed from my uncle dependent on my soil sample. 
Solid samples go to Clemson University Ag.

*April*- fertilizer (synthetic) 29-0-10 a weed n feed Stagreen. Cheap and effective early season.

*May*- fert and bump the iron. Look at souls results from March and adjust as needed. Take a sample 5 days later.

*June*- spray for fungus. As hot and wet is breading ground for that garbage. Light Milorgranite and iron.

*July*- fert, Milorgranite and iron. Adjust nutrients according to soil sample. 5 days take and drop another.

*Aug*- cut cut maybe spray liquid iron and some nutrients depending on the soil sample.

*Sept*- 20-10-10, spray preEmergent (prodiamine)

*Oct*- light 10-10-10 so the grass sleeps with some nutrients for the winter.

*Nov*- first of nov.! spray on preEmergent (Prodiamine)

*Dec*- granular Baracade PreEmergent. Take soil sample.

Yes I take a lot of soil samples thru the year. I also am fortunate to have had a highly successful and informative grandfather that was a County extension agriculture agent for Clemson University for 40 years. I have a family of farmers and everyone lives on soil samples. That said I also drive thru the university campus every day going to work. A solid test is $6 so....... it is a no brained to spend the tiny amount for an extreamly in depth analysis every 4-6 weeks.

That said our last house I had tall Fescue which is a different animal completely than Bermuda. I have been at this house 2 years and transformed the lawn with this pattern and soil tests. I did tons of soil tests at the last house and after about 24 months things got dialed in nicely.

This house the soil was in pore shape with about 1/2" of organic before it was solid clay. Now I am around 1-1.5" of organic then clay. Humic and plug aeration has helped a ton. In addition to following the soil results to add in x..y...z nutrient to get things in balance.


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## T0R0 (Mar 4, 2019)

Thanks for the reply!

I struggle with clay soil here in Charlotte too. This is my first year spraying humic acid and hope it really helps along with adding some compost/sand for top dressing after I aerate.

I would definitely go battery powered on your sprayer. I know a lot of people on the forum love the Chapin battery sprayer but I decided on the Sprayers Plus battery sprayer and have been really happy with it.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

jdpber said:


> @toro
> 
> Fertilizer and preEmergent
> 
> ...


I like the schedule you have here :thumbup: My soil test from Waypoint Analytical cost me $30 a pop so $60 for front and back (not to mention shipping cost) so I only do once a year. This my first full year of really getting into the lawn care thing so I plan on testing every February so I will have an idea for the year. Lots of PreEmergent on your end...do you find it keeps the weeds at bat? I was going to start a FEB, JUN, OCT routine at the least. Your lawn looks fantastic by the way...


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

ctrav said:


> I like the schedule you have here :thumbup: My soil test from Waypoint Analytical cost me $30 a pop so $60 for front and back (not to mention shipping cost) so I only do once a year. This my first full year of really getting into the lawn care thing so I plan on testing every February so I will have an idea for the year. Lots of PreEmergent on your end...do you find it keeps the weeds at bat? I was going to start a FEB, JUN, OCT routine at the least. Your lawn looks fantastic by the way...


Thanks.

Yes the PreE is key to saving yourself time and money fighting the weeds throughout the year. As I am still getting this soil right i will be heavier on PreE to the max recommended for a couple years. Seeds of certain weeds can lay dormant in the soil for years and then germinate. So you have to do PreE for a few years to kick the masses out. Then you can reduce the application so that you are on a maintenance level blocking those seeds that come from animals and wind.

Try and find a more local Soil test solution. :thumbup:


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

jdpber said:


> ctrav said:
> 
> 
> > I like the schedule you have here :thumbup: My soil test from Waypoint Analytical cost me $30 a pop so $60 for front and back (not to mention shipping cost) so I only do once a year. This my first full year of really getting into the lawn care thing so I plan on testing every February so I will have an idea for the year. Lots of PreEmergent on your end...do you find it keeps the weeds at bat? I was going to start a FEB, JUN, OCT routine at the least. Your lawn looks fantastic by the way...
> ...


Texas A&M has testing and I used them once in the very beginning. I just liked Waypoint because they would allow you to call and ask questions. That being said I can get the following from Tex A&M:

Analysis Suites (only one per sample) 1. Routine Analysis (R) (1)
(pH, NO3-N, Conductivity and Mehlich III by ICP P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, and S)

$12 per sample


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

The 168' feet of edge around my 1,350 sqft of patio is about 75% done. It is some work but well worth it. Hopefully tomorrow it will be done. And I can move onto the trees.

Todo for the weekend: finish patio trench edge, new mulch, mow, mow the green, work in the creek, plant the herb garden, and add some new flowers and plants to the large pots around the patio, new flowers at the mailbox. And I am sure if there is any time left I will mark more off of the to do list.

Trying hard this year to get ahead of the heat and have the yard on auto pilot only having to mow and edge. Where as last year I was playing catch up all year.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Well I got impatient with the POA kill off of my re establishing putting green. So I spent a couple hours over the weekend and hand pulled the entire root ball with the V-head weed tool. I think I spent around 4hrs and pulled 5.5 5gal buckets worth of POA out of 2,500-3k ft area. I am so much happier now that all of the root balls are out and the Bermuda can thrive with no competition.

I tell ya those army worms last October sure did a number on my back yard.

Other than pulling a bunch of POA I did the standard cut on the entire property and worked on some flower beds.


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## socerplaye (Jun 14, 2018)

Thanks for posting. I've got a little over an acre lot with a combination of Bermuda and zoysia that's a little over two years old. If I'd found this forum before we put sod down, I think I would have been content with just the Bermuda. Hope to have as nice of a yard as you have in the years to come!


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

To all that are concerned. I made the decision to stay with the manual pump Chapin Tree/Pro Turf back pack for a couple of reasons.

For starters the straps and waste belt are superior in comfort over the electric version. Having a high lumbar supported waste belt is key for comfort when lugging around that weight.

2 the straps are wider, better support, wetter adjustability, chest strap to help pull the load from your outer shoulders inward to the chest area.

The material for the lower frame is a higher grade steel. I did not get the SS model as my sprayer will live indoors and not on a commercial trailer so I did not think it was justifiable for the SS frame.

The wand is a higher quality thicker material with a PSI gauge and full length trigger where as the electric has none of the above. The wand is also stainless vs a plastic.

And finally the cost / time saving / effort ratios weighed much higher on the manual as I will not be spraying every day or for that matter every week so an hour session is ok with me for an arm work out. The almost double price of electric to receive. Less comfortable strap setup, lower quality wand and frame to simply not have to pump was not worth it at all to me.

I decided that for the money saved I can cover my insecticide application costs for the year.

I have also added the 4 nozzle boom. So far I am very happy with the distribution rate. With some marker I applied PGR last night and at waste level I was getting a 7.5' even span.

With the 4 nozzle boom the 1,000 sqft test patch at a normal pace and pump rate to maintain a 40psi + tank pressure I applied 2gallons over the 1k sqft area. This was key information for determining how much product to mix and apply.

My front yard is just shy of 11,000ft so I used 6 total tanks to cover the front and the putting green. I had roughly 20' of fence line worth of material left as I emptied the tank walking back to the garage from the putting green. So the application rate was damn near spot freaking on with my walking pace. WINNING!


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

16-0-8, humic, fungicide, iron

Grandfathers soil test plugger. I wish I knew how many years he used it. He was a country agriculture agent and advised tens of thousands of farmers over his career. Wish he was still around.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Man this was more involved than I had planned, but it is done! Added 4 more anti scalp wheels to the mower deck. Last year I put the bolt on front wheel on. They helped a fair amount but I still wanted more. Ordered some wheels and rollers along with some steel out of my supply shelf and got to work.

I am hoping that now having 6 point anti scalp wheels the cut quality and consistency of the back yard will improve and I can continue to cut it much lower than last year.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

She is low. Ready for another notch lower in 24hrs. Will get the green and trim edge shape cut this week. Putting green is almost open for business!!


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Well I have decided to upgrade the Mower power plant. after rebuilding the carb and many select words, slicing my thumb open. I cannot be down any longer! I am retiring the old 3.5 and updating to a modern OHV (honda clone) Preditor 6.5HP. Found one local on FB market for dirt cheap new in box. Hopeing that this will be better on the slopes and alow me to run at a lower RPM to make less noise.

Yes i am aware of the thread that has a couple guys doing this swap. I will link it for future people to reference the details. No need to have redundant information. I will put my own comments here on the process. With that now it is a matter of getting home to do the work.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

FINALLY the shakes and night terrors are over, the new motor is on, belt, chains, everything adjusted. After waiting 12 days for random parts and such to arrive I am FINALLY back up and mowing. 3.5hp was replaced with a 6.5hp OHV. So much quieter, more power, and she sips fuel!

After 12 days this is the pre cut. Can you tell I use PGR! Thank lawd for PGR my savior. 
#mclanereelmower #mclane


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Congrats!! Yes very lucky on the PGR save as some of us are not so lucky.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Dropped the HOC another notch.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

(slinging this redundant here for future reference) Reading my most recent soil test and discussing it with my college buddy that has a PHD in turf management. we are formulating a plan that involves him bringing me some products in 2 weeks when he is in town. Those grade A from the golf course products. WOOOO WOOOOO (Rick Flare Woooo)


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

jdpber said:


> Dropped the HOC another notch.


So what is it at now? May as well stow the reel mower and break out the vacuum :thumbup:


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

ctrav said:


> jdpber said:
> 
> 
> > Dropped the HOC another notch.
> ...


Honestly not sure, i need to toss the dial indicator on it this evening before i cut and get an accurate measurement for everyone. It is short i know that! this is the putting green. The rest of the yard is varying heights. The back yard is .75" because the kid and dog play back there. The front is .5" fdor the curb appeal. And the Green is low low, it is still in recovery from the armyworm attack last season. It is not at Augusta Nationals ball speed but it beats the pants off of the public course greens. so it is perfect for my 4 year old and myself to put on.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Threw down some: insecticide, fungiside, milo. So... yea.... 100% humidity attracts these things to sweat, good thing the garden hose washes them right off. Look I grew up in a family of farmers. I'm not wearing long pants so get off of your OSHA pedestals!







Property line domination post cut with extra 1/8 drop.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Love being home from vacation and my daily green cut.



Started the multi evening shrub trimming


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Well it has been a hot minute this winter. Pre Spring prep has begun. Now that the damage and happenings from the flood have been resolved.

In 3 days we got just over 14" of rain. 6.5 happened in 1.5hrs. Needless to say, the river overflowed that is 50yards from my property which the creek feeds. The creek is 6.5' below my putting green. The fence is 4'.

Flag on the putting green is 7' tall










So much crap all in my grass :evil:




























The fire stayed lit and piled up like this for 7hrs. I spent an entire weekend cleaning up the wreckage.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

2/16/2020 - Prodiamine PreEmergent, Image, 2-4D, surfactant. Hose applied this combo on the entire property after 3 days of sun drying up the soil.

At this point in the year i have recorded 23" of rain at my house so far. 
Soil samples for the 3 zones were taken prior to Weed application. Results came back 2 days later from Clemson University (love having the lab on my way to the office, $6 a sample with abundant information.) dropped the neighbors samples off also. The report was over all good for the 3 areas. Love knowing exactly what to apply in a few weeks.

Gave the entire yard a skim cut of 1/2" off to suck up the lest of the storm trash before weed application.

UP NEXT: light spike aeration to the green and grass along the creek to get some air moving and promote the soil temps to get a kick start and rise. I am pumped to get things scalped. Some new bearings for the ReelMower have arrived and will get installed this week. GOAL FOR 2020 STAY AHEAD OF THE 8ball!!!! :thumbup:

Oh most important UPDATE; the green will be seeded with Johnston Monaco Bermuda seed.


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## Bmossin (May 31, 2018)

That flood water is amazing. I love your property and turf. Great work on the McLane...im messing with redoing a 10 blade myself now.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Bmossin said:


> That flood water is amazing. I love your property and turf. Great work on the McLane...im messing with redoing a 10 blade myself now.


Thanks. According to the neighbor of 18 years it has never created the bank aka my putting green height. Let alone 4 more feet to go over my fence.


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## wessneroo (Jan 22, 2019)

You seeing any green up on your side of town yet?


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

wessneroo said:


> You seeing any green up on your side of town yet?


Yes I started to see green up about a week ago.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Update. 
3/22/2020

Temps have been looking good, last of the flood debris have been taken to the landfill. I filled my entire trailer with junk from the flood. Spring scalp has happened. The putting green is <3mm. Entire yard is low low thanks to my neighbor and his Toro Reelmaster 3550D eat your heart out @wardconnor 4 passes with the groomers bagging it all, we got her down and ready to green up!
The tulip trees are in full bloom along with the cherry trees. Waiting on the buffs to pop on my big Japanese Maple on the patio.


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## wardconnor (Mar 25, 2017)

Holy crap dude. That is a ton of work. Pretty wild that your neighbor has a mower that large. Good stuff for sure


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

wardconnor said:


> Holy crap dude. That is a ton of work. Pretty wild that your neighbor has a mower that large. Good stuff for sure


We both have over an acre of grass that stays under 1/2" and both have putting greens. 2 grass nuts on the same culdisac. It is nice to be able to borrow a cup of sugar (toro 3550) when needed lol.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

3/28 sprayed ground kill on the last couple remaining weeds on the creek bank, later down 6mil plastic sheeting and used ground steaks. Now to move lots of sand. What am I doing you ask. Finally making the creek side BUNKER for the putting green.



Where the hard rake is located. I have had some runoff issue after the flood so I plan to simply make a little staircase there to access the creek and bunker easier.



We got 3" of rain overnight after I scalped the front and all of the dust and micro clippings that were not collected created a ton of tiger stripes. A job for the 6broom sled. 15 min later the entire lot was groomed. The cart + tunes + cold beer + shade = effortless resolution of pisser offer problem.





Little helper having more fun hunting for creek critters than helping me. Yes he has a set of the US Kids Golf clubs. And is getting better at his swing. I think this summer we should see improvements overall. I hope to have the green much smoother and faster.


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## Getting Fat (Dec 31, 2019)

I don't know what to think about a creek side bunker. WOW


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Getting Fat said:


> I don't know what to think about a creek side bunker. WOW


I have a tee box on the patio that is at 75 yards from the green also . The creek area is a long term many step project as it is over 300 feet long so little by little.

Eventually I want stair cases in multiple areas, landscape lighting, natural stone fireplace/patio area, lighting on the green, more rocks and plants.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Things are coming to life. Stripes out front at 3mm, Lawn Forum stickers on the mower, damn leak at the irrigation main junction. Note the 6" thick solid slab of grass removed. Also found 3 more of the missing valve boxes (still searching for 5 more zone valves)


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Just when things were starting to look good and the putting green starting to fill back in and roll fast. This pile of horse shit hit the fan today.

Preface. Bunch rain, then no rain, fertilizer and irrigation for a few days to wet it in good, rain, 2 days of no rain. Monday 1.75", Tuesday 2.65", Wednesday 7.15" aka today. Added a big 10' 4" perf pipe to help move water from the downspout to away from the bed so the mulch would not get destroyed. 
Yay prep work for a bunch rain. Then This happened. The creek started to crest the bank, (never does this unless it is flash flood or the crazy 100year storms)



I have drains and pipe but didn't have time before all of this. Decided I need more top soil sand mix and bring that area up grade more. Issue is it needs 7-8" in the middle.

In 28 minutes the creek covered my fence. Yes 5' of water in half hour. Oh that's a ton of water you say! No joke! The 100 year flood took 11 hours to make this much water. What's the deal did the pond up creek break?





An hour later it had receeded. Boy this is strange. Leaving 1-2" of silt, clay, sand all over my putting green and in the back yard.

Creek is still 4' high because river is full still. Normally never higher than half of this.



Well after talking to a few people and a buddy calling me. Some aHole from the county felt that in the middle of a monsoon, flash flood, over an inch an hour rain. He felt it was smart to apease a home owner up stream by unclogging a wetland area pond basically. Because it was full and it's raining. No consideration to down stream.

Well thousands of gallons aka a couple acre lake released at once does damage by force.

The neighborhood fishing pond that is habitat for many ducks, geese and other animals was flooded, banks erosion, road to clubhouse erosion, drain clogged from junk floating from the upstream release.

So now I am basically having to restart my putting green for the second time this year. More clean up. And a list of damages to community. Bridges were pushed down stream, large oaks root systems exposed, and now a red pond that was balanced good water that did not Algie. Looks like garbage.


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## B-Rad (Apr 25, 2020)

Man, I'm sorry @jdpber...that sucks! You should probably skip the beer and head straight for whiskey. I suggest a Go Fund Me site for equipment rental/transportation of all that sludge straight to the parking lot where the county official works.

I hope your home avoided water damage and everyone is safe. Flash floods are no joke.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

B-Rad said:


> Man, I'm sorry @jdpber...that sucks! You should probably skip the beer and head straight for whiskey. I suggest a Go Fund Me site for equipment rental/transportation of all that sludge straight to the parking lot where the county official works.
> 
> I hope your home avoided water damage and everyone is safe. Flash floods are no joke.


Flash flood is one thing. Some aHole letting loose 15 acres of retained water in one go is another thing!

House fine. Water would need to rise another 4-5' to be on the patio. Then another 10' to hit the first floor of the house. I'll get a rear pic, 3 story with basement wall out. So lot more water needed.

Oh multiple neighbors are pissed and knowing our powers legal will be in action by the weekend!

As for mind set I had a bottle of nice red wine with dinner, now on a nice bottle of Noah Mill small batch 114 proof yum yum juice.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

All that water from the Upstate heading down through Lake Greenwood to Lake Murray and down through the Lowcountry.

It seems we either get epic rains....or none.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

*2021 season*

3/13 scalp the yard and dropped 1442# of clippings, branches, bush scrap to the dump.

3/15 LESCO PreE and crabgrass preventer. 29-0-5 and Iron boost

4/8 LESCO T-storm fungicide, (got my *** kicked last year, trying to stay out in front of it this season. I'll apply again in 2 weeks. Great product that saved me last season!

So far I have gotten 3 good stripe cuts in this season. And only found 2 sprinkler heads that need to be replaced. So that's a win for first week of April!


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

Props for keeping up the good work after last year. I wasn't on here much last year so I missed this.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Sbcgenii said:


> Props for keeping up the good work after last year. I wasn't on here much last year so I missed this.


Yea it has been brutal. 1/3 of my back yard is nuked because so much silt, sediment, weed seeds were transplanted from the beaver damn flood. My putting green is half gone. I had zero weeds on the creek green. Then boom I fought weeds in the yard and green all winter. Now shit freaking ton of POA hat that crap. Lost about 15 yards of white sand from my bunker (reevaluating material for creek side for longevity and any future floods) aka rock, juniper, monkey grass, wetland grasses. Staircase for the kids to access the sand beach lower of the bunker and creek for play, also so I can chip up 4' of elevations to the green.

And here we go the cat is out the bag. I am building a Jack "the bear" Nicklaus home green design putting green. Roughly 375' of spyder drain in the green area and surround. Surround is smooth 6" with 7 French drain collectors to move runoff and flood water out of the back yard around the green out to creek, also a full perf spyder drain web under putting surface drain. The entire green is going to be brought up roughly 5-8" from current elevation. Using existing soil excavated from a large driveway expansion. So the soil composition will be the same and balanced.

And are you ready! Sunday ultra dwarf Bermuda sod will be laid for the put and fringe surface. Neighbor and I are doing it all.

Helps when your neighbor is a lawn but with a high end lawn manicure company. He cuts his lawn with a 9' path 5 head reel Toro. He does not mess around. Best neighbor you could ask for.

She is greening up good. Laid down T-Storm fungiside on the 4th.

Got a double cut in this evening and a fresh edge with the new gas metal edger. I had enough of using 10-15' of line on the weed eater string edging only to be 1/4-1/2". Laid down 3" on first pass tonight. I'll do 2 more tomorrow before pressure washing concrete abs house post lawn mow. And PGR it's that time got to slow this s--- down!





Look it's early early spring April. I still have my winter skin. Few more days in the yard and i will no longer blind everyone.


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

Next Next level. This will be awesome. Please keep us updated. I would like to see how you do your drains. I have a milder water issue.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

3" slice heavy roller aerator. $15 for the day at ACE, over 100# before you *** the water.



TStorm Fungicide laid down. And wet in before the rains hit.



Picked up 2 tons of river rock and a bunch of flowers for the wife for mothersday. As she have been mentioning rocks as the bed border out front for 2 years. She mentions it every time she sees a river rock border!



Tnex PGR is down! Slowing things down. Another cut. Things are starting to look good.



Some special product came to kick the POA ***. That shit pisses me off.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

5/26 Heritage G on the front yard. Can't be having that fungus in this heat having to run irrigation frequently!



More work moving rocks, 6-8" hard edge around the patio bed. River rock over new weed barrier. Next is 5-6 yards of mulch, and landscape lighting.



No rain for close to 5 weeks of nominal recording and we have been high 80s-90s. Hope that my green will bounce back it is a little off in color consistency. Sad times. But it's hella better than 80% of the neighborhood!


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

6/9 
Well after over a year of working at the putting green, recovering from the 6" of sludge deposited on it with all sorts of weeds seeds etc from the beaver damn break up stream causing a flood at my house 2020 April. The putting green got its first low surface center cut last night at 0.25" after squish it is around 3/16" and in a few days after the rain and shock recovery I'll set the reel to .175" and get the surface to its consistent put surface. Sand/brush/mow/roll and then take a stimpmeter roll to see its roll speed.

It is far from where I want it, but much better than expected considering the damage that it took.

Photos were taken around 8:50PM so low light mode on phone as color is off. Also cut a lot of color out of the grass bc it has been pouring for a week and I have been 6 days since last cut. Usually cut every 2 days on the green.

Remember guys don't neglect your irrigation valve, trim those puppies!!


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

The back yard patio project is complete. Landscape lighting has been ran (some conduit buried in areas and other trench burry. So far only the Japanese Maple has light (waiting on inventory to the path lights in the correct color temp). 6 yards of hardwood mulch, 2.5 tons of river rock. So happy to mark this off the list.

Next up starts tomorrow. Multiple catch basins and 4" smooth pipe drainage for a low area before the putting green. In addition 3 catches to collect the water from the neighbors slope before it enters my yard/putting green. Sod cutter transplanting the good grass at the driveway expansion to the green to make some areas level and add break to others. And to wrap it up .75x2.75" vertical punch plug aeration. Stay tuned.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Sod cutting and trenching begin tomorrow am. Lots of dirt moving, grading, sod moving. Getting the breaks laid out on the green and drainage in. Excited but already tired thinking about it.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Rented a sod cutter and a 6" trencher. Progress on the putting green grading and renovation is in full swing. As stated I am transplanting the sod from the driveway expansion to the green to increase the putting surface and raise the grade.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)

Drainage is in the ground and sloped. The sod transplant / new grade has begun. Old irrigation is all removed from the area new concrete is going. Sprinkler heads have been relocated. Still have 1 that needs to move tonight. Control wires are exposed and ready for relocation. Progress is happening. This is a one man show by the way.


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## jdpber (Mar 19, 2019)




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