# Lust4Lawn 2020 Bluebank KBG (Front/Side Reno) NJ



## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

I had a front yard with a mix of random grasses from the previous owner and I would always overseed with a fescue blend. I became tired of the old cultivars suffering from disease and decided to start over. I took some liberty on a section of my neighbor's "lawn" as their area on the edge of my front yard was nothing but spurge, henbit, and bare dirt. I decided to nuke it that way I will have a nice homogenous area to enjoy looking at.

Summary of the area to be renovated:
Front Yard 2300 sq/ft
Curb strip 300 sq/ft
Side Yard 500 sq/ft
Neighbor's area 350 sq/ft
Total 3450 sq/feet
All areas are full sun with in-ground irrigation other than the neighbor's area and about 50 square feet of curb strip on the right-hand side of my driveway. For those areas I setup an Orbit B-hyve hose timer that I connected to my existing B-hyve app for remote control of the watering events which has worked great.

July 29 Sent in my soil samples to Waypoint. Posted here for advice with low potassium. Decided to not take action until later. I have 80 lbs of SOP in my shed waiting. I'm still unsure about timing.
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=21548&p=307973#p307973

August 10 Glyphosate at 2.5oz/300 feet, Ammonium Sulfate at 2.7 ounces(weight)/gallon, 2 tbsp Non-Ionic Sticker, 1 oz BASF Turf Mark Dye. I got a very good kill on this with very few missed areas. I did have some areas tougher to kill due to nutsedge.

August 15 Repeat above glyphosate mixture. At this point, my lawn was about 80% brown and the blue dye made it look almost like a normal lawn.

August 19 Start scalping process by mowing to the lowest setting on Honda HRX and bagging all material.

August 22 Rented a power rake / dethatcher to clean up matted grass. In my front yard, I have some higher areas. I used the dethatcher to help remove soil from these high areas and pull it into the lower areas. This worked very well but I am not going for the laser level flat lawn.

August 24 I rented a roller than ended up leaking badly so I postponed seeding the reno area until I could get a functional unit.

August 25 Heavy rainfall that night as you can see in other journals in NJ such as @JerseyGreens . I was originally disappointed to miss the date I was targeting but when it was raining in sheets I knew it was a blessing in disguise. I ended up having to rework 90% of the area to loosen the top ~1/4" of soil in prep for seed.

August 26 Dropped Bluebank from SSS @ 2lbs/1000 sq/ft and spread Disease-Ex @ 2lbs/1000. I rolled this all in and then sprayed tenacity @ 4oz/acre and spread 2.5 bags of peat moss (3 cubic feet each).

September 1 (6 days since seed drop) First sprouts appear! Photo below of babies.

Front yard:




Curb Strip




Side yard shot from rear of house (Neighbor area in red):


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## ruxie88 (Dec 20, 2018)

:thumbup:


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## rueggm2 (May 7, 2020)

Lust4Lawn said:


> I had a front yard with a mix of random grasses from the previous owner and I would always overseed with a fescue blend. I became tired of the old cultivars suffering from disease and decided to start over. I took some liberty on a section of my neighbor's "lawn" as their area on the edge of my front yard was nothing but spurge, henbit, and bare dirt. I decided to nuke it that way I will have a nice homogenous area to enjoy looking at.
> 
> Summary of the area to be renovated:
> Front Yard 2300 sq/ft
> ...


You mixed 4 ounces of actual tenacity per thousand. On my measuring syringe with tenacity it only takes about 1 teaspoon per 1 gallon of water which covers about 1k square feet. Starting to think i did not spray anywhere near the amount of tenacity i should have.


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## Zcape35 (Sep 17, 2019)

Must've been a typo meaning 4 oz per acre rate?
Reno looks good so far, lucky you missed all that rain!


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

@rueggm2 Nice catch. I was trying to be so thorough too.

@Zcape35 I've corrected the original post to say 4oz/acre in case anybody tries to reference this in the future for help. At the previous rate I could use dollar bills as mulch.


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## Zcape35 (Sep 17, 2019)

:thumbup: I'm following along and looking forward to some progress pictures.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

So now we are 8 days past seed down and I'm feeling pretty good about the progress.

Front has a green haze where it previously only brown:




The curb strip looks better than this photo conveys.


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## rueggm2 (May 7, 2020)

Lust4Lawn said:


> @rueggm2 Nice catch. I was trying to be so thorough too.
> 
> @Zcape35 I've corrected the original post to say 4oz/acre in case anybody tries to reference this in the future for help. At the previous rate I could use dollar bills as mulch.


Roger that.

I was just worried i didn't put enough down!!!


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

9 days after seed down:


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

Twelve days after seed down, 6 DAG.

Front Yard with lots of dew:






Curb strip:




Side yard:


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

At 16 DAG I sprayed .2 of N via AMS (~3.5 lbs of AMS in 4 gallongs of water.) and added 3/4 of a teaspoon of Kelp4Less Extreme Blend to the mix. I watered in immediately afterwards.

Front yard, but my spreader missed the area next to the walkway. I have added seed to this about a week ago and it looks like it is filling in.


Curb strip is filling in nicely


Side Yard and Neighbor section (Far end near the hedges) is coming along but has always lagged. This area and the curbstrip utilize spray nozzles of irrigation instead of rotors so they may have been overwatered.


Some weed break though on the Tenacity but Spurge is not on the target list...oh well.


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## Zcape35 (Sep 17, 2019)

I've got bits of Spurge to, easy enough to tackle later. 
Your progress is fantastic, that's gonna look mint in no time at all.


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

This is looking great - I've heard that BlueBank is on the lighter green side while it's immature but boy it's get darker over time (well like most KBG).


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

@Zcape35 Yeah, I keep trying to ignore the spurge knowing I can deal with it later. I'm just wishing that was sooner than later. Are you going to try to take care of yours this year or in the spring? Thanks for checking in.

@JerseyGreens It is quite light right now but uniformly. Hoping for darker days but only with my grass. Thanks for the encouragement. I've learned quite a bit from your journey. I'm getting ready to put down propiconizole in the next day or two. I'm not sure about going for the second dose of azoxy at the same time or shortly therafter.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

So I'm at 23 DAG. 1 week after my first spoonfeeding.



Looking from the steps:


The area on the right is the neighbors area that I went rogue on and reno'd to make it look better for me.




This part of the curb strip has a large pine tree directly over it. Not only does it shade it earlier than anything else, it probably is acidic. I did not test this area when doing soil testing.


This view is of the side yard viewed from the back yard with the neighbors area on the far right.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

I'm at 30 DAG. We had a few warm days and nights and I was about 35 days out from my original azoxy application (2lb/1K). I woke up to this pretty well spread thorughout the lawn. I jumped on the board and posted in this thread: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4167&p=337037#p337037 and got feedback from @g-man. Big thanks! I sprayed 1oz/1K or propiconazole and got a bunch of rain about 2 hours later. Today I don't see any of this stuff around the lawn.

I'm due for my second spoonfeeding of AMS which I will try to get on the lawn in the next few days. I think that I will wait until tomorrow and let today be a dry day with no irrigation. I water the AMS in immediately afterwards and don't want to add any more water to the lawn during this fungal outbreak. Cooler temperatures today and in the forecast so this should help.


Front yard. New valve in the gas lamp and burning 24/7. 


Front Yard and the neighbor area in the very back that I reno'd. I really messed up spreading seed on this edge. OOOF!


Front yard from the steps:


Front yard from the steps:


The curb strip is looking good:


Fighting spurge at the curb strip:


Other side of the curb strip under the pine still lags but seems to be waking up:


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

That is really nice. Have you mowed this yet?


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

uts said:


> That is really nice. Have you mowed this yet?


Thanks! I pushed a manual reel mower around to try to see what I could get and I maybe got a half inch clipping in the thick areas and nothing in others.

I'm going to see if I can get a quick single pass in this evening though. I'll report back.


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## Zcape35 (Sep 17, 2019)

It looks great!


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

Well I'm glad I broke out the manual reel mower. I cut to 1.5" and I had .5" to 1.5" clippings in the bag. It was too dark to photograph so I'll post back tomorrow.

I did see some damaged spots from the fungus about the size of golf balls. I'll have to keep an eye on that. I'm debating dropping azoxy before I have to be away from the lawn for over a week.


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

Lust4Lawn said:


> Well I'm glad I broke out the manual reel mower. I cut to 1.5" and I had .5" to 1.5" clippings in the bag. It was too dark to photograph so I'll post back tomorrow.
> 
> I did see some damaged spots from the fungus about the size of golf balls. I'll have to keep an eye on that. I'm debating dropping azoxy before I have to be away from the lawn for over a week.


It's amazing the things you find under the hood once you finally get a good cut in.

I found some to-do items as well. Fun stuff!


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

I was able to get in my spoonfeeding of .2 lbs/N via AMS spray before heading out on vacation on 10/2
After ~9 days away from the lawn, and only having a webcam to check on the status, I came home to some pretty nice conditions. The only issue was when pulling in a 6:30pm with a quickly disappearing sun and a lawn adorned with leaves and a weather forecast with 1-2" of rain for the following 2 days. Immediate action was needed and my wife grabbed the leaf blower and got the leaves off of the reno area so that I could break out the manual reel mower. I mowed to 1.5" HOC and things look nice.

So now I am 17 days out on my last propiconazole spray of 1oz/1000. I'm thinking about hitting the lawn with another shot of prop and tenacity as I am ~45 DAG. What are the thoughts on this? Or should I just wait and see about Prodiamine in another ~2 weeks. I'd also like to get another .2/lb of N via AMS but not sure how closely I should apply. @JerseyGreens I know that you faced something simlar to this.

Photos are from today after the 2 days of rain:


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

Lust4Lawn said:


> I was able to get in my spoonfeeding of .2 lbs/N via AMS spray before heading out on vacation on 10/2
> After ~9 days away from the lawn, and only having a webcam to check on the status, I came home to some pretty nice conditions. The only issue was when pulling in a 6:30pm with a quickly disappearing sun and a lawn adorned with leaves and a weather forecast with 1-2" of rain for the following 2 days. Immediate action was needed and my wife grabbed the leaf blower and got the leaves off of the reno area so that I could break out the manual reel mower. I mowed to 1.5" HOC and things look nice.
> 
> So now I am 17 days out on my last propiconazole spray of 1oz/1000. I'm thinking about hitting the lawn with another shot of prop and tenacity as I am ~45 DAG. What are the thoughts on this? Or should I just wait and see about Prodiamine in another ~2 weeks. I'd also like to get another .2/lb of N via AMS but not sure how closely I should apply. @JerseyGreens I know that you faced something simlar to this.
> ...


Looks beautiful my BlueBank brother!

The Propi and Tenacity app are purely up to you at this point. The Propi will act like a PGR which will somewhat limit top growth and push more activity underneath the soil. Of course it will act like a fungicide as well. I'm lucky I applied this over the weekend because my front lawn is wet and full of leaves that fell from the storm. Hoping I can get them off today...but no bueno.

Tenacity is highly subjective - I'm skipping it and a few others are as well. I don't have much weed pressure and I'm going to use Anuew PGR next year - which adversely effects Poa A. (if that sneaks into my reno).

Hope that helps!


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

JerseyGreens said:


> Looks beautiful my BlueBank brother!
> 
> The Propi and Tenacity app are purely up to you at this point. The Propi will act like a PGR which will somewhat limit top growth and push more activity underneath the soil. Of course it will act like a fungicide as well. I'm lucky I applied this over the weekend because my front lawn is wet and full of leaves that fell from the storm. Hoping I can get them off today...but no bueno.
> 
> ...


Thanks, JerseyGreens! I do see some clover, crabgrass and maybe oxalis popping up. My biggest concern is how effective spraying Tenacity without NIS will be on existing target weeds.

-Will I get an effective kill on the target weeds without the NIS? 
-Will I be OK to apply Prodiamine 15 days after Tenacity if desired?


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

I went ahead yesterday and sprayed my second tenacity app (4oz/acre without NIS) at 45 DAG and 1 oz/K propiconazole. We'll see how that turns out. I have concerns about bleaching but I went for it.

I planned on spoonfeeding .2 lbs of N via AMS this morning but the rain beat me out there. Probably do this in a day so that I can water in.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

I spoon fed Monday (DAG 49) .2 lbs of N via AMS spray and K4L Extreme Blend at ~2 tsp per 1000. Overall I'm looking good. I do have concerns on one area of the curbstrip though. I have a yellow streak that runs about 20 feet on the curb side, but the area directly against the curb doesn't seem to be impacted as much or at all in some places.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

I originally wanted to get a spoonfeeding in before Halloween but fell behind with storms. I cleaned up for the first time using my Honda rotary. Up until now I've only been using a manual reel mower.

Today I sprayed AMS to get .2 of N down. Forecast is for warm weather for the next week pushing 70's. This is going to be it for the year for N.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Congrats on successful reno. Looks awesome!

Did you figure out the issue with your hell strip? How did the tenacity work out for you?


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Congrats on successful reno. Looks awesome!
> 
> Did you figure out the issue with your hell strip? How did the tenacity work out for you?


Thanks! I did not definitively figure out what was happening there. I decided to put more N on it and see if it would push new growth which it did and looks better but not 100%. Something definely happened there and I wouldn't rule out fertilizer burn. I watered in the most recent application of AMS very heavily to give it the best shot. I'll get a photo up tomorrow.

The other area of the hell strip next to my neighbor is still thin and stunted. The heavy rate of pine needles that drop directly there probably are messing with the PH there but I didn't send out a dedicated soil sample there since it is probably all of 20 square feet.

The color is really starting to deepen and I am pumped for what is to come.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Love that color. Bluebank is great stuff. I almost went with it.

If you don't already have one, look into getting a reel mower. It's super addicting.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Love that color. Bluebank is great stuff. I almost went with it.
> 
> If you don't already have one, look into getting a reel mower. It's super addicting.


Yeah I've been watching you and @JerseyGreens go down the reel mowing path. I have a little manual reel mower but that's it for now. Thinking of keeping tabs on the Weeks auction coming up soon.


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

Color is popping!

Congratulations on your reno BlueBank brother!


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

JerseyGreens said:


> Color is popping!
> 
> Congratulations on your reno BlueBank brother!


Thanks! I don't quite have that color unless I look down into the turf but I'm pumped for what Spring has to offer. I was reading about your dive in Clearys. I'm hoping that I don't have to go there but I do have an area that I am not sure what is going on.


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

Lust4Lawn said:


> JerseyGreens said:
> 
> 
> > Color is popping!
> ...


I'm terrible at diagnosing fungus but I'll let you know if the Clearys is helping my issues out. Wish it would stop raining ..


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