# Brodgers88's Latitude 36 Bermuda Lawn



## Brodgers88

After months of anticipation it's so nice to have the bermuda planted! This front yard has had three different grass types within the last year.

* Centipede*









* Perennial Rye*









* Latitude 36 Bermuda*









It has been a lot of fun maintaining the different types of grass but I'm done with renovating for now lol. I'm ready to enjoy maintaining this latitude and see what I can do with it.

*Prep and Installation*

For prep I used my sunjoe scarifier until the electric motor burned up. To finish I rented a flail blade dethatcher which did a great job and of course a lot faster than the small electric unit.














































For the turf I decided to go with Latitude 36 bermuda from Modern Turf. On Friday 8 pallets were delivered and the fun was about to begin.




























This Latitude is a beautiful turf grass with a nice fine leaf and dark green color. The sod quality was excellent and I was extremely pleased with the low hoc from the farm.




























I started Friday evening with help from my wife, my dad, and my son. We worked all day Saturday and had additional help from my neighbor.














































We finished up Sunday morning. Lots of hard work but man am I excited! The front looks pretty good, already a nice green. The side along the garage is a little yellowed due to the length of time it was on the pallet but I'm not worried about these areas. I know this Bermuda will bounce right back. I rolled it Sunday evening after watering pretty heavily. I used my greensmaster which isn't super heavy but I figured would be better than nothing. It will definitely need some sand to level it out in the near future.
































































*7/3/19 - 4 days post planting*

I put down an application of 10-10-10 @ 12.5lbs/M. Things are looking good so far, it's already rooting in well. I can't wait to mow it.


----------



## Ware

Nice! I'm a big fan of the Lat 36! Can't wait to follow your progress - again! :thumbup:


----------



## Brodgers88

@Ware it's great to have a nice turf grass for my lawn again and to share results and document progress. I'm really excited about the Latitude, wasn't sure it was going to be available but things worked out!


----------



## Brodgers88

One week since sod went down, turf is looking pretty nice. Stressed areas are recovering beautifully. It's going to need a mow soon. For now I'll be mowing with my 7 blade McLane for a little bit higher hoc until I can work on leveling.


----------



## JRS 9572

@Brodgers88 noticing in your pic you had Modern Turf do the sod. I assume you like them? They seem to be a professional outfit. Will you use them for anything else in the future?

Great looking yard. It will be interesting to see how long the latitude stays green before hitting winter dormancy.


----------



## Brodgers88

@JRS 9572 yes sod came from Modern Turf, very awesome turf farm and definitely a professional operation :thumbup: I really like that they produce and supply a lot of grass for golf and sports turf. I actually work for Modern Turf, started there this year in the turf care division doing weed control and fertilization applications on residential and commercial lawns. It's something I really wanted to get into doing and I wouldn't have gone to work for any other company. I did all the prep and install work.



JRS 9572 said:


> Great looking yard. It will be interesting to see how long the latitude stays green before hitting winter dormancy.


Thanks! I'm curious to see how well and long it holds it's color into the fall.


----------



## Brodgers88

Today was the first mow for the latitude! I am very pleased with how the turf is looking just a little over a week after sodding. I'm going to begin reducing my irrigation frequency, probably to every other day for the rest of this week and see how things go from there. I have been watering once a day early in the morning before sunrise. The hoc is a little high for now, around 1.25". The color of this grass is awesome, especially when the sun is out :nod:

Here are a few pics from today's mow.


----------



## Jacob_S

Man that is taking off quite nicely.
I have noticed this year after following in your footsteps and mowing my centipede low that I have a decent amount of bermuda growing in it and seems to be spreading with the low HOC.


----------



## ENC_Lawn

SOD has really taken off.

Looking good!

I'm looking forward to seeing how long it holds its color going into the fall!


----------



## bigmks

Looks good man!


----------



## Brodgers88

@Jacob_S thanks man, I'm pretty impressed with it so far. Yeah I see common bermuda lot in Centipede yards in my area especially weak areas in full sun. I had the same issue in two spots of mine last year that were thin to begin the season and common bermuda started showing up. I was going to spray the bermuda with sethoxydim but just never did since the renovation plan came about. Sethoxydim is labeled for bermuda grass control.

@ENC_Lawn@bigmks 
Thanks!


----------



## Brodgers88

It's definitely growing pretty aggressively after 1.25lbs of N per thousand and plenty of rain over the last couple of days :lol: looks like it could already use another mow.


----------



## Jacob_S

Brodgers88 said:


> @Jacob_S thanks man, I'm pretty impressed with it so far. Yeah I see common bermuda lot in Centipede yards in my area especially weak areas in full sun. I had the same issue in two spots of mine last year that were thin to begin the season and common bermuda started showing up. I was going to spray the bermuda with sethoxydim but just never did since the renovation plan came about. Sethoxydim is labeled for bermuda grass control.


Nice, yea mine may be common, it may be riviera. When I first started this journey I threw down Riviera seed in hopes of taking over the centipede. I am now plugging celebration into the weak areas, but I have already started thinking about doing like you did and do a complete replace with celebration.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Jacob_S Ah yeah that may be it. Did you do the Riviera when were all still on the "other site" lol for some reason it sounds familiar. My first plan with this yard was to plug in bermuda and let it over take the centipede and then start spraying post emergent that would injur the centipede. After thinking that plan over I was not willing to be that patient and I really missed having bermuda so the complete renovation happened. I didn't do the backyard and now I'm really hating the centipede back there haha. Maybe next summer, prepping 4M sq ft of yard and laying 8 pallets was a lot of work, the back is another 4M sq ft, so another 8 pallets of grass. My back yard is not in good shape right now due to being neglected while working on the front yard. Also need to build an irrigation zone for the back as it currently has none. How many square feet of centipede do you have out front?


----------



## Brodgers88

I'm loving this Latitude! Mowed again yesterday evening, man I can't stop looking at it and showing it off lol.



















I need to address the plant beds and also build the plant bed around the mailbox. I didn't sod there cause I hate trying to mow around it.


----------



## Jacob_S

@Brodgers88 good memory, that is indeed when I did it, I knew I wanted bermuda but couldn't afford sod and didn't want to kill off so I just over seeded the centipede. So here we are today and I don't know what I've got in that part of the yard. My small side I'm about 99% certain is celebration from the plugs I did. And the back is 419 and whatever is in a bag of Pennington seed, ahh the days before gaining knowledge.


----------



## Brodgers88

Everything is going pretty well with the new turf. I was mowing every other day with a substantial amount of clippings each time so I decided it was finally time for some pgr. Frst app was about 10 days ago at 0.25oz/M. I always like to mix in iron and other micronutrients in my pgr mix so I decided to try out some Lesco 12-0-0 iron plus @8oz/M and rgs @5oz/M for this application. Seems to have had a pretty good affect. A few days after the pgr kicked in I put down another round of fertilizer, I used a granular 16-4-8 for this fertilization. I've had a substantial reduction in clippings, and have been able to stretch mowing to every third day, probably could go four. I'm curious to see how long it stays under regulation with 0.25/M rate. HOC is still around 1.25. It's nice and soft but I'm looking forward to having it a lot shorter in the future.


----------



## Brodgers88

Today I scalped it down to 5/8", it was around 1.25". It isn't as uneven as I expected, the sod has really settled and grown together very nicely. Definitely could've have gone lower on the scalp but I was tired out from the heat so I'm leaving it there. Looking forward to having it under an inch for the rest of the season and finally using my gm1000 on it.


----------



## Thor865

Looks great. Been a journey but well worth it. Back to alpha grass.


----------



## Brodgers88

Recovery is coming along nicely. Fertilized with some 16-4-8 following the scalp and have been giving it plenty of water. Yesterday I mowed then sprayed pgr and iron. Hoc is now at 0.75"










@Thor865 thanks! It has definitely been a journey well worth it with lots of fun along the way with the different grass cultivars.


----------



## Brodgers88

Got a pretty good amount of rain the last few days so the turf is looking really great. Mowed today, hoping I can hold it at 3/4" for a while. Clippings seem to be in check with the last pgr app, I'm currently at 0.25oz/M on pgr. I'm going to limit the N from here on and up the K and micronutrients. I've got a liquid micros mix I'm going to try out, gator excel 91223. It's chelated iron, manganese, magnesium amino acid, and a wetting agent. I've been using it on my customers lawns with pretty decent results but I'm curious what kind of affect it will have compared to the lesco 12-0-0 chelated iron plus I have been trying out.


----------



## Passat774

looks great, nice transformation


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed yesterday afternoon, still holding 0.75" hoc. I'm pretty happy with how everything is looking. The cut isn't has good as it could be due to the turf being a little unlevel across the yard but I'm ok with it for now. I started having some bobbing issues when mowing so I flipped the position of the front roller around to reduce the distance between it and the rear roller and it has helped a lot. @Passat774 thanks! Same to you, your northbridge is looking awesome!


----------



## Backyard Soldier

Hello neighbor and fellow Columbian (NE)...im a relative newb here and been amazed by the info to be gained and I'm finding here...my congrats on an amazing transformation here...super super work...you've inspired me to go ahead and do somethings I had in mind now...I also use Modern Turn quite often...im 5 minutes away from them and really satisfied by their service. hope to learn more and more guys!!


----------



## Brodgers88

@Backyard Soldier welcome to TLF, you are in the right place. This is the best source of information for having the most awesome turf possible :nod: It's always great to see fellow Columbians here, the more the better! :thumbup: Thank you for the compliments, I appreciate it. Definitely a lot of hard work and well worth it. Glad to hear you enjoy doing business with Modern Turf, I actually work for them in the turf care division. I do residential/commercial turf applications. Do you have the turf care service? I work around in the NE area sometimes but I'm mostly around Chapin, Irmo, Lexington, and West Columbia.


----------



## Backyard Soldier

Brodgers88 said:


> @Backyard Soldier welcome to TLF, you are in the right place. This is the best source of information for having the most awesome turf possible :nod: It's always great to see fellow Columbians here, the more the better! :thumbup: Thank you for the compliments, I appreciate it. Definitely a lot of hard work and well worth it. Glad to hear you enjoy doing business with Modern Turf, I actually work for them in the turf care division. I do residential/commercial turf applications. Do you have the turf care service? I work around in the NE area sometimes but I'm mostly around Chapin, Irmo, Lexington, and West Columbia.


ThaNKS MAN...No...I do my DIY turf care...I do use them for sod, blended Earth, Much and get my Sand for top-dressing there. 
I live up the street off Hardscrabble so its convenient.


----------



## jasonbraswell

That is a great looking yard :thumbup:


----------



## Brodgers88

@Backyard Soldier nice! Maybe I'll see you around the store sometime

@jasonbraswell thanks!


----------



## Brodgers88

It's been very hot and dry these last few weeks. I've been irrigating just about every other day to keep the turf from being heat/drought stressed. Finally got a good rain yesterday evening, about 1". It is under regulation but has been growing pretty fast with the high temps and lots of water. Some of the aggressive growth is also my fault from putting down a full pund of N after I scalped about a month ago. Last weekend I noticed a couple army worms in the turf and in the evening moths all over. I did a blanket spray of bifenthrin last Saturday evening and woke up to lots of dead worms laying on top of the grass Sunday morning. I didn't have any noticeable damage before I sprayed so I think I cought it in time. There are still lots of moths hanging around and laying eggs so I will most likely be spraying again. I missed a couple mows last weekend so I've increased hoc to 7/8". Overall the turf is doing great.




































Dead worms


















Eggs hatching


----------



## Brodgers88

The turf has been doing pretty well. Haven't had any more issues with the army worms so hopefully I'm in the clear with those. I've increased hoc a couple times over the last few weeks cause I missed a few mows. It's currently at 1.125", now mowing with my old McLane. I was hoping to keep it under an inch but got busy with other things. It still looks awesome so I can't be too disappointed lol. I've been doing foliar applications of 0-0-52 and micronutrients these last few weeks.


----------



## Romangorilla

Awesome job on the reno's @Brodgers88 ! I have been following this Latitude 36 journal of yours because I'm thinking about putting some down next spring. It looks absolutely amazing. Do you have an update on how it's holding up now that we are starting to get cooler temperatures? I know Lat 36 handles colder climates better than most hybrids, I'm curious to know HOW well it will handle the drop in temps.


----------



## Passat774

I am here for the pictures as well, I am very curious how mine is going to hold up and also being further north. Thankfully, mine is holding on and staying green.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Romangorilla thanks! @Passat774 So far it's holding up pretty well. We just had three consecutive nights into the mid to low 30's with a light frost Saturday morning. Gave it mow Sunday, hoc is about 1.125". I'm also curious to see how the Lat36 handles the cold especially compared to the 419 I used to have.

After cut


----------



## Brodgers88

The last few days have been fairly warm and not too cold at night. Extended forecast is showing some pretty cold air coming in this weekend and into next week. Can't wait to see how the Lat36 responds.

Today


















Getting a well drilled today so I won't have to continue spending a fortune irrigating lol. Some damage was inflicted on the turf, but not as bad as I anticipated. I'll leave it alone until spring when I level the whole yard. I'm super pumped about having a well. Definitely will be renovating back yard next year!


----------



## jasonbraswell

Looks like everything is going "well" &#128526;

my bermuda is turning here. can't say I am made about it either


----------



## Gibby

@Brodgers88 how deep did they have to go? And rough cost? I have been thinking about it but I thought our water was cheaper than getting a well dug.


----------



## Brodgers88

jasonbraswell said:


> Looks like everything is going "well" 😎
> 
> my bermuda is turning here. can't say I am made about it either


 :thumbup: Things are going quite "well"! I've started noticing my turf slowly fading over the last couple of days. Already looking forward to spring lol!

@Gibby The well is 221' deep, static water level of 111' and a flow of 50 gpm. I'm getting a 1.5hp pump with a 25gallon tank. Roughly going to cost around $6,000 for everything (drilling, trenching, pump, tank, electrical, and plumbing.) Our current water service provider (Blue Granite) is very expensive. We're already on well water from a neighborhood well and the rate is $10.25/M gallons with a potential 50% rate increase coming. If no rainfall my typical irrigation amount will be between 5.2M - 7.8M gallons of water per week (equivalent to 1"-1.5" or rain)for the entire 8M sqft. I've only been irrigating the front 4M this season and it has been expensive. I'm looking forward to free water.


----------



## Gibby

Wow @Brodgers88 I water my 10,000sq/ft equivalent to 1.5" a week and cost is about $120/month at peak season with no rain. During winter when only irrigating once or twice a month it is around $45/month.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Gibby man that's not bad at all. What company provides your water? I spent nearly $1000 irrigating 4M sqft for 3 months from July through September. My old house was on Cayce water and it was pretty affordable. Cayce billed bi-monthly and I never had a bill over $250 irrigating 5M sqft and that was including sewage and weekly trash pick up.


----------



## Gibby

@Brodgers88 we have Columbia City Water and Palmetto for sewer which is a flat rate of $64/month.

I did have 2 high bills this past year that was during my reno's when I was watering every hour.


----------



## JRS 9572

@Brodgers88 @gibby

Man over here in Lexington....I have the joint municipal authority for water, and town of Lexington for sewer. Unincorporated part of the county. Irrigation off. 3 of us in the house dead of winter. Water and Sewer $100.00. I won't even go into the summer. I've bought the Rachio 3, and I paid the $270.00 to have the meter put on for sewer (so they don't charge me sewer for irrigation water.) and it can be $250.00 in August.

I would put in a well, but the @#$% HOA has rules against it.

AAA well drilling are good folks. I refer a lot of work their way.


----------



## Brodgers88

@JRS 9572 that sucks you can't do a well. I'm so glad we don't have an HOA to deal with in our neighborhood! Although there are some things that wouldn't fly if we had one, I'll take the freedom over the HOA rules and regulations lol.

AAA well drilling did a fantastic job! I am very pleased with their work and my new well. Can't wait to irrigate with free water. I need a ton of it out here where I live with the sandy soil.


----------



## JRS 9572

@Brodgers88 my 1st house in Summerville. We didn't have an HOA. Came home from Church one Sunday, and my neighbors truck on blocks had come loose, come across the street, and rammed into my brand new F150. There's pro's and con's to both I guess. LOL


----------



## Brodgers88

It's been a pretty mild winter in Columbia, South Carolina. My turf did go mostly dormant at one point, but there were always some green shoots close to the soil surface beneath the canopy. In mid January it was extremely warm and I had rapid green up. Another frost and couple freezes later and it was back to the dormant state. Now in late February it's greening up quickly once again. This weekend should put the brakes on things a bit, supposed to be down to 22 Saturday morning. :lol: It's ready to grow :nod:

Here's a couple shots from my security cameras

Today









January


----------



## Gibby

@Brodgers88 my T31 has been mostly(90%) dormant all winter and I think due to lack of sun. My house just blocks so much sun in the winter. The P77 has been up and down like crazy but nowhere near as green as yours.

I checked my PWS and our average is a lot lower than last year with quite a few more drops below 32.


----------



## Brodgers88

Got the turf one step closer to being fully prepared for spring this past weekend. Scalped to 0.25" which is pretty much down to dirt. The mower scraped on a few high spots. It doesn't seem to be as unlevel as I thought, but we will see once it fills in. It had a lot of green in it before the scalp and I hope it will green up pretty quickly especially with the warm weather forecasted over the next few days. In early February I made a lime application since my pH is currently 5.6. I want to work on getting that up around 6 or so. In late February I applied my pre-emergent/post-emergent: a tank mix of prodiamine, simazine, and speedzone southern.





































Now that the scalp is out of the way, it's time to prepare the mower for spring. I'm swapping out the 11 blade with a new 8 blade and bedknife.


----------



## Backyard Soldier

i will be coming by the shop probably next weekend to get my order of sand and much in for delivery...do you guys also do pine straw? i cant recall...my grass did pretty much like yours...I did do one pass at .350 this past Sunday...i was afraid to go any lower on the Baroness...maybe I will do a lower one with the TC20.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Backyard Soldier cool, sounds good. We don't carry pine straw, just the different types of mulch. Yeah I didn't really like having my Toro in the dirt but I really like the result of the scalp lol. It definitely dulled the blades up pretty good. I probably would not have been so aggressive with it had I not been planning to put in a new reel or either a grind afterwards.


----------



## stevenjmclark

Can't wait to see what you do this year! I'm down in the Lowcountry and am considering following in your footsteps after this season. Cutting centipede low this season then doing PRG into some Bermuda sod. Do you think the Lat would do well down here in Bluffton? I also have extremely sandy soil and a lot of sun in the front. Keep up the great work!


----------



## cglarsen

@Brodgers88 How does it handle the portions of the yard with less sun than full? Any areas with partial sun or filtered sun...I'm 90% decided on Latitude for my back yard which is mostly full sun but receives shade from a tree line and house at times.


----------



## Brodgers88

@stevenjmclark thanks! I'm looking forward to managing the latitude for a full season this year. Mowing centipede reel low, having prg for winter, and then latitude was a fun journey! It was pretty cool having three grass types on the same lawn within a year so I say go for it! With the conditions you described latitude would do great.

@cglarsen I don't really have any shade due to no trees/immature trees nearby (will be taken care of sooner than later) and all single story homes around. The house is the only thing that causes any significant shade on the lawn which is on the sides and isn't much, but these areas still receive a good a amount of direct sun probably about 7-8 hours or so.


----------



## Brodgers88

The latitude is greening up nicely. Gave it a mow yesterday afternoon at 7/16" hoc then sprayed some iron. Last weekend I sprayed RGS and Air8 followed by granular 19-19-19 fertilizer. Glad to have green turf again :nod:










Also completed the new reel/bedknife install last weekend. The greensmaster is cutting awesome now :thumbup:


----------



## cglarsen

Brodgers88 said:


> The latitude is greening up nicely. Gave it a mow yesterday afternoon at 7/16" hoc then sprayed some iron. Last weekend I sprayed RGS and Air8 followed by granular 19-19-19 fertilizer. Glad to have green turf again :nod:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also completed the new reel/bedknife install last weekend. The greensmaster is cutting awesome now :thumbup:


That greened up incredibly fast in 11 days! What's your HOC plan for the year - keep it that low?


----------



## Brodgers88

The turf is looking better every day. I sprayed some 20-20-20 about 5 days ago at 0.1 lbs NPK/M. I'm planning on keeping the N as low as possible to help control growth to a certain extent along with pgr of course. I'm also switching over to spraying all my fertilizer to be able to easily do more spoon feeding and avoid chopping through fertilizer with my reel. The first application I did do granular to get a good amount of phosphorus down due to my soil deficiencies. I've got a couple different nitrogen sources I'll be using this season. One is granular 21-0-0 ammonium sulfate that I'll be melting down to spray. The other is a liquid urea that is 60% slow release. I also have a soluble 20-20-20 and a soluble 0-0-52 potassium sulfate. For micronutrients, I have a liquid product that contains iron, manganese, magnesium, amino acid, and a wetting agent. @cglarsen plan is definitely to keep it as low as possible all season, around 1/2". Right now hoc is 7/16".










Also found a used Kawasaki fe120 and new side covers for my GM1000. Mine has started smoking pretty badly and needs some work, so I'm going to swap it out with this one and fix up the other one later on. Side covers on my mower are pretty much rusted out so these will make it look a lot nicer.


----------



## daviddsims

@Brodgers88 do you think Latitude 36 could be mowed with a rotary at 1.5 - 2 inches? I was looking at plugging some and letting it take over slowly in my dead areas of centipede.


----------



## Backyard Soldier

Brodgers88 said:


> The turf is looking better every day. I sprayed some 20-20-20 about 5 days ago at 0.1 lbs NPK/M. I'm planning on keeping the N as low as possible to help control growth to a certain extent along with pgr of course. I'm also switching over to spraying all my fertilizer to be able to easily do more spoon feeding and avoid chopping through fertilizer with my reel. The first application I did do granular to get a good amount of phosphorus down due to my soil deficiencies. I've got a couple different nitrogen sources I'll be using this season. One is granular 21-0-0 ammonium sulfate that I'll be melting down to spray. The other is a liquid urea that is 60% slow release. I also have a soluble 20-20-20 and a soluble 0-0-52 potassium sulfate. For micronutrients, I have a liquid product that contains iron, manganese, magnesium, amino acid, and a wetting agent. @cglarsen plan is definitely to keep it as low as possible all season, around 1/2". Right now hoc is 7/16".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also found a used Kawasaki fe120 and new side covers for my GM1000. Mine has started smoking pretty badly and needs some work, so I'm going to swap it out with this one and fix up the other one later on. Side covers on my mower are pretty much rusted out so these will make it look a lot nicer.


Which potash product are you using? Any links? I'm asking cause I just received my soil sample back and I'm potassium deficient also. Doing well in all other areas can except slightly low PH.


----------



## Brodgers88

daviddsims said:


> @Brodgers88 do you think Latitude 36 could be mowed with a rotary at 1.5 - 2 inches? I was looking at plugging some and letting it take over slowly in my dead areas of centipede.


@daviddsims Yes it can be maintained with a rotary at those mowing heights. I had mine around 1.25" at the end of the season and it was fine, that was with a reel. If rotary mowing I would definitely work to keep things as level as possible especially when plugging.

@Backyard Soldier the soluble potash product I'm using is sqm ultrasol sop52


----------



## AZChemist

Lawn looks &#128077;&#127995;!


----------



## Brodgers88

Got in a quick mow yesterday afternoon, 7/16" hoc. Turf is starting up seed head production, hopefully won't last too long. It doesn't look to bad currently even with the seed head stems showing up. I'm pretty happy with how things are going considering how cool this spring has been. Put in edging a few weeks back for the beds that border the house. I used the col-met steel edging. I really like it and was easy to install. Now I need to get a load of mulch to fill those beds. @AZChemist thanks man!























































Got the engine swapped out on my gm1000 a few weeks back. The engine I got was an exact swap. I got a great deal on a used Kawasaki fe120 in good condition, paid $165+shipping for it. This thing purrs compared to the old engine! Also did a little touch up on the paint job and put on new drive drum covers. Looking and functioning so much better now.


----------



## JRS 9572

:lol: You know I need the guy from Modern Turf, that takes care of my yard, to get mine looking like this guy's yard.


----------



## ZeonJNix

Enjoyed reading through your journal. The lawn looks great!


----------



## Backyard Soldier

Man that turf looking DAF!


----------



## Murk09

Awesome yard. I'm sure I'm not the only one in the boat that wants our own reno to go just like yours. I'd be ecstatic if I can get my yard to look like yours did before you ripped it out, centipede was even impressive. Again Congrats!


----------



## Gibby

looks great @Brodgers88 I am starting forget what a nice bermuda turf looks like.


----------



## Brodgers88

Lowered hoc to 3/8", definitely has helped cut off more of the seed heads. I've also been catching all the clippings the last few mows until the seed heads go away. I think the turf looks better in general at the lower height.






























JRS 9572 said:


> :lol: You know I need the guy from Modern Turf, that takes care of my yard, to get mine looking like this guy's yard.


@JRS 9572 
 It's gonna take a big step in that direction real soon :nod:

@ZeonJNix,
@Backyard Soldier,
@Murk09 
@Gibby 
Thanks!

@Gibby any plans to still do the front with t31? You should get some lat36 if you don't go with the t31. You might be able to get lat36 sprigs from modern turf.


----------



## Gibby

@Brodgers88 that is still the plan. Once I fix this issue......


----------



## Brodgers88

@Gibby cool. Man you got a little project on your hands.


----------



## Mondeh6

Been following your journal @Brodgers88 and your work is amazing! I am just about a week post laying Latitude 36. My question is regarding fertilizer, I've read a few times where the recommendation was to hold on with the fert until the sod was fully rooted or after 3 mow had taken place. However, I see you were able to accomplish applying fert early on without any issues. Any knowledge/help is greatly appreciated.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Mondeh6 thanks! Congrats on the new latitude! I fertilized five days after the sod had been down. Only thing I waited on was for it to stop looking so stressed before I applied the fertilizer. I fertilized with 10-10-10 at a rate of 10 lbs/M to get 1 lb of NPK/M. You'll probably want to use something with some phosphorus to help with root development on the new sod.


----------



## Mondeh6

@Brodgers88 thanks, I came across a 11-52-0 product from lesco/siteone and wanted to use it but it looks like the 10-10-10 as just as good based on the bag size and coverage. Also, discovered that too much synthetic N burns the roots so I'll supplement the other nutrients with some milo its been after a week so I'll look to throwing it down tomorrow. There are some warm temps around these parts for the next 10+ days.


----------



## Brodgers88

Got in a nice mow this morning. Seed heads seem to be subsiding for the most part so I decided to increase the hoc back to 7/16" and stop catching the clippings. Much better color and stripes with more leaf on the turf. It's been raining almost every day for the last week. All the rain has been awesome for my yard. The turf and ornamentals are loving it. Forecast is showing hotter temps on the way, probably time to get ready for some pgr. So far I have not needed pgr this season. I've only been mowing every 3 days sometimes even 4. It was a pretty cool spring which helped with growth rate but I've also been keeping fertilization rates at a minimum. Spraying fertilizer at 0.125lb N/M about every two weeks has helped tremendously to control the growth.

Before Cut













































After cut


----------



## cglarsen

Really pretty turf.


----------



## Backyard Soldier

Brodgers88 said:


> Got in a nice mow this morning. Seed heads seem to be subsiding for the most part so I decided to increase the hoc back to 7/16" and stop catching the clippings. Much better color and stripes with more leaf on the turf. It's been raining almost every day for the last week. All the rain has been awesome for my yard. The turf and ornamentals are loving it. Forecast is showing hotter temps on the way, probably time to get ready for some pgr. So far I have not needed pgr this season. I've only been mowing every 3 days sometimes even 4. It was a pretty cool spring which helped with growth rate but I've also been keeping fertilization rates at a minimum. Spraying fertilizer at 0.125lb N/M about every two weeks has helped tremendously to control the growth.


Let me know how the lawn takes the initial PGR app...I just dropped mine last night and it Bronzed up pretty hard. It's my 1st ever app so I hope I didn't screw it up too bad


----------



## ZeonJNix

@Brodgers88 how often are you mowing at that height?


----------



## falainwest

Brodgers88 said:


> Got in a nice mow this morning. Seed heads seem to be subsiding for the most part so I decided to increase the hoc back to 7/16" and stop catching the clippings. Much better color and stripes with more leaf on the turf. It's been raining almost every day for the last week. All the rain has been awesome for my yard. The turf and ornamentals are loving it. Forecast is showing hotter temps on the way, probably time to get ready for some pgr. So far I have not needed pgr this season. I've only been mowing every 3 days sometimes even 4. It was a pretty cool spring which helped with growth rate but I've also been keeping fertilization rates at a minimum. Spraying fertilizer at 0.125lb N/M about every two weeks has helped tremendously to control the growth.
> 
> Before Cut
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After cut


Wow, this looks gorgeous. Did you stop using the lesco liquid iron 12-0-0? I am thinking of getting some.


----------



## Brodgers88

I made the first pgr application of the season last Sunday afternoon. I decided to go with the greens/tees rate of 0.062oz/M from the t-nex label for tifdwarf bermuda since my hoc is fairly low. I applied this with a water soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer at a rate of 0.125lb N/M with some kelp extract (kelp4less brand). The turf responded great. @Backyard Soldier I did not get any bronzing from this initial application, it actually enhanced the color. I mowed yesterday at 7/16" hoc which was my second mow since applying and there was definitely less vertical growth. I plan to keep the rate pretty low and apply with my fertilizer around every two weeks. @ZeonJNix I have been mowing every 3 days. I am able to keep up with mowing by limiting the nitrogen and spoon feeding 0.125lb/N each application which is sprayed on about every two weeks. My initial application of the season was granular 19-19-19 at a rate of 1.2 lb N,P,K/M. So far my season total for fertilizer applied is 1.85lb N,P,K/M. @falainwest thanks. I have not been using the lesco 12-0-0. The 20-20-20 soluble fertilizer I'm using has micronutrients in it and I also have a liquid micronutrient product from Howard fertilizer called Gator Excel 91223 that I use sometimes. @cglarsen thanks, Latitude 36 is a very pretty turf. Here's some shots from yesterday before and after mow.

Before cut









After cut


----------



## cglarsen

@Brodgers88 What really makes this yard special, to me, is how smooth it is even being sloped/crowned. Hard for me to tell but it looks pool table level and I didn't see any major sand leveling, just good site prep. Maybe you did some prior to conversion?


----------



## Backyard Soldier

That looks fantastic. 'When I grow up.......' &#128514;

Are you using greens keeper to track when you're re-applying?


----------



## Brodgers88

@cglarsen you are correct. There has not been any sand leveling to date. Site prep was key to ensure everything was smooth. The yard was power raked many times when removing the centipede and ryegrass. This really smoothed it out. It also helps that my soil is 100% sand and very easy to work. I ran the power rake over it multiple directions multiple times during the renovation process, then raked it with a landscape rake prior to laying the sod. Another key step was making sure the sod seams were as tight together as posible. It took longer to lay it this way but was worth it. The turf is not perfect smooth but it is good enough for a great aftercut appearance as low as 3/8" without leveling. I do get some bobbing of the mower in a few areas mowing certain directions and I will eventually level to help alleviate the issue.

@Backyard Soldier Thanks! I am not currently using the greenskeeper app. I usually just stick to a cyclical schedule when I know growing conditions are optimum and the turf growth is going to be high. Once I start the pgr I usually don't stop until a few weeks before frost. I will adjust the length between apps and rates if turf/environmental conditions change.


----------



## Keepin It Reel

Lawn looks fantastic. I sent you a pm with a question.


----------



## Passat774

I am amazed you have done zero leveling that's very impressive. I tried my best last year to get ultra-smooth with my renovation and still on the smoothing process 

Yard is looking great this year


----------



## Brodgers88

I made a second T-Nex application last Saturday evening. This was two weeks from the initial app. I did notice a slight increase in growth near the end of the last week before I reapplied. It was not so significant that my hoc was compromised at all, just a bit more leaf mowing off. @Backyard Soldier mentioned a lot of people using the greenskeeper app following the GDD for reapplication intervals, so I have decided to try this method out. I'm just using the GreenCast online GDD threshold tracker. I increased my rate of T-Nex to 0.125oz/M and will track how much suppression it yields on my turf for 250 GDD. My last tank mix consists of 0.125oz/M of T-Nex, 10oz/M 20-20-20 ( season total N,P,K 1.975lb/M), 8oz/M Gator Excel 91223 (micros), 1oz/M Armada 50 wdg. There has been some dollar spot development so that's why I put Armada in the mix. @MeanDean thank you.@Passat774 thanks, it is not perfect level by any means, but it still looks really awesome and has a really great after cut appearance. I mow slow which helps, but I have areas where I get some bobbing when mowing a certain direction.
First picture is from last Saturday after I mowed, second is last Saturday evening after I sprayed, and the rest are from today. Last cut was Thursday after 5 days of almost no growth. The weather was really cool, damp, and overcast for about 3 days and finally warmed back up Thursday. Had a nice rain last evening and the turf loved it.

Last Saturday


















Today


















GreenCast GDD threshold tracker progress


----------



## dfw_pilot

Such a gorgeous lawn - excellent work!


----------



## acegator

Amazing lawn man great work!


----------



## ENC_Lawn

@Brodgers88 Wow...what a beautiful lawn!

Awesome looking lawn!!!


----------



## Brodgers88

My last spray application was done at night and I really enjoyed it, so I decided to do so once again. I applied my bi-weekly tank mix of fertilizer, micronutrients, soluble kelp, and T-Nex. All rates remaining the same as I have been doing. After 250 GDD I was still maintaining sufficient suppression at the 0.125oz/M rate of T-Nex. I'm curious to see if suppression will remain consistent into the 350 GDD range. Last night's application was also done prior to mowing and watered in with 1" this morning. I feel there was a better green up from the turf than normal doing it this way. I mowed today at 7/16" hoc and amount of clippings were pretty minimal. I am still having a small issue with dollar spot on my side yard but overall the turf is looking pretty awesome!

@dfw_pilot 
@acegator 
@ENC_Lawn 
Thanks!!! 























































Tiger Lilly









Liriope blooms looking nice









Elephant ear is always one of my favorites. I have four pots of these. My parents gave me one pot about 13 years ago and I've been growing them ever since. I usually re-pot them every couple years or so because they multiple quickly and become root bound. They love lots of water.


----------



## Brodgers88

Enjoyed a nice mow this afternoon and duble cut a checkerboard. 7/16" hoc

Happy fourth of July!


----------



## Still learnin

Looks beautiful!


----------



## Lawn Burgundy

Amazing! and no leveling to boot! you sir know what you are doing.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Still learnin @STRES Thank you.

It has been pretty hot the last few weeks and the turf has absolutely loved it. The heat coupled with ample rainfall has been nice. I did a double verticut 8 days ago to thin the turf canopy as it was starting to get a bit too thick. To verticut I used a Sunjoe scarifier and it worked pretty well. It was especially nice having the bagger on the Sunjoe. I removed a total of two 39 gallon bags of material from the turf. After verticuting I mowed and removed even more plant material. I emptied the catcher about 3 times mowing at 7/16". The turf recovered very quickly from the verticut and feels more firm now. I am planning to do this again in a few weeks or so and will double verticut the diagonal directions.

After verticut (7/22)




































Today I mowed and decided to raise the hoc slightly up to 1/2" from 7/16". The color and striping is a little more enhance at the higher hoc. The turf has recovered beautifully from the verticut.
































































Picked up a power rake last weekend. It's in pretty good condition. It's only a 17" but will definitely get the job done when needed.


----------



## Gibby

@Brodgers88 you going to rent that power rake out? lol


----------



## Redtwin

What setting did you use for the Sunjoe when you scarified? I'm going to do this next week followed by a scalp.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Gibby probably will end up being me and the power rake for hire haha :lol:

@Redtwin It was either 0 or -5, I don't remember exactly which setting I used . I set it while sitting on the turf so I could see how far into the canopy it would cut, and had it just above the soil surface.


----------



## Gibby

@Brodgers88 does that include helping leveling? Lol


----------



## Ware

Congrats on winning August 2020 LOTM!


----------



## Brodgers88

Ware said:


> Congrats on winning August 2020 LOTM!


Thank you!


----------



## Brodgers88

An evening spray application is always an enjoyable activity :nod: Tonight I applied T-Nex, nitrogen, micronutrients, and kelp. I switched over to a liquid 30-0-0 nitrogen which is also 60% slow release. I like the ease of mixing and seems to be working pretty well on the turf. I've increased my T-Nex rate up to 0.25oz/M. I was around 0.2oz/M but I want to see a little more suppression especially with the all the heat and rainfall it's been receiving. Season NPK totals: N - 2.575lb/M P,K - 2.275lb/M.


----------



## Stuofsci02

Just popped over from the cool side. This looks fantastic. Very impressive.


----------



## Gibby

I did a test at 0.75oz on Princess 77 and Tahoma 31. It did well with 14 days no mowing. I just did everything at the rate this weekend.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Gibby nice. What hoc are you currently at? What are your fertility rates like?


----------



## Brodgers88

@Stuofsci02 Thank you!


----------



## JRS 9572

What I want to know is when is Modern Turf going to start offering verticutting in the a la carte? I would ask for topdressing too, but that might be a stretch.


----------



## JRS 9572

These are a couple of pics last year from The Citadel vs. Ga Tech. Tech's Lattitude 36 turf is considered one of the best. You're giving it a big run for its money.


----------



## Gibby

@Brodgers88 around 0.47"

Past 2 months I have been doing 0.5#N/m of Cx 24-0-4.

The P77 could use a little more fert, it doesn't respond as well as the T31. I have had T31 since around August of last year and Sunday was the first app of any kind of PGR I have used on it.

On another note, I am not sure if it is smoothness of my lawn or my 220E causing some waviness. Would you let me make a pass with it on your lawn?


----------



## lanc0227

JRS 9572 said:


> These are a couple of pics last year from The Citadel vs. Ga Tech. Tech's Lattitude 36 turf is considered one of the best. You're giving it a big run for its money.


Looks amazing. It's a bummer they are moving to synthetic.


----------



## Jbird95

@Brodgers88 
I mean, I guess it could get better than this, but I haven't seen it. Phenomenal job. A true master


----------



## JRS 9572

lanc0227 said:


> JRS 9572 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These are a couple of pics last year from The Citadel vs. Ga Tech. Tech's Lattitude 36 turf is considered one of the best. You're giving it a big run for its money.
> 
> 
> 
> Looks amazing. It's a bummer they are moving to synthetic.
Click to expand...

Whaaaat?! That's nuts.


----------



## shelby48085

Brodgers88 said:


> @Redtwin It was either 0 or -5, I don't remember exactly which setting I used . I set it while sitting on the turf so I could see how far into the canopy it would cut, and had it *just above* the soil surface.


I thought the Sunjoe scarifier was for cutting into the soil. That's what I plan on doing in a few weeks, then dropping seed. Then rolling to 'set' the seed in the roughed up soil.

And btw. WOW such a beautiful lawn.

Thanks,
Shelby


----------



## lanc0227

JRS 9572 said:


> lanc0227 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JRS 9572 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These are a couple of pics last year from The Citadel vs. Ga Tech. Tech's Lattitude 36 turf is considered one of the best. You're giving it a big run for its money.
> 
> 
> 
> Looks amazing. It's a bummer they are moving to synthetic.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Whaaaat?! That's nuts.
Click to expand...

Yep. I think they are making it more of a multi-purpose facility. That's about on par when Notre Dame went to synthetic. Luckily some teams have moved back to natural grass. (Arkansas, Ole Miss, Baltimore Ravens)


----------



## Brodgers88

I made a fungicide application this evening due to a dollar spot outbreak. The main issue is on the side yard mostly, but it is becoming present throughout. It's rained almost every afternoon/evening this week leaving the turf wet for extended periods. I applied Armada 50 wdg at 1.5oz/M since disease pressure and environmental conditions for development are pretty high right now. Looking pretty good overall though, picture from this afternoon when I got home from work. Mowed yesterday evening, 1/2" hoc.










@JRS 9572 thanks! That's some really great looking latitude. I wonder what hoc they we're maintaining in that picture. Haha man that would be pretty awesome if they would! I do have quite a few people inquire about dethatching and topdressing. Some of my zoysia yards need a dethatching badly!

@Gibby sure man, let's do it. I'm up to 0.5" now so you'll have to bump it up a little lol. I will say I have the same issue in certain areas of my yard that I haven't worked on leveling yet. The majority of it is pretty decent though.

@lanc0227 yeah that is a shame, the artificial stuff just isn't the same.

@Jbird95 thank you, I appreciate it!

@shelby48085 it definitely can be used for cutting into the soil. This is exactly what I used the Sunjoe for a couple years back when I seeded PRG the winter before my renovation to Lat 36. It worked very well for the whole process. The scarifier can also be utilized as a verticutter to help thin the canopy without tearing up the turf. This is done by setting the height just above the soil surface. Thank you!


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed yesterday afternoon before the daily thunderstorm, 1/2" hoc. The dollar spot seems to be going away and the infected areas are beginning to recover. For my last T-Nex application I increased the rate to 0.25oz/M. I also added some soluble 0-0-52 in the mix. Tank mix consisted of liquid 30-0-0 (0.1 N), soluble 0-0-52 (0.1 K), liquid micronutrients, kelp extract, and T-Nex. Turf response was great.

Before cut










After cut




























Dollar spot before fungicide









6 days After fungicide


----------



## ZeonJNix

Nice recovery on the dollar spot. I've battled it all season. I used Eagle 20 about 6 weeks ago and it cleared it up nicely, but it's back again. I've got some Patch Pro that I'm going to apply this weekend. I'm thinking that I may just need to apply once a month as preventative.


----------



## DLav8r

Brodgers88 said:


> An evening spray application is always an enjoyable activity :nod: Tonight I applied T-Nex, nitrogen, micronutrients, and kelp. I switched over to a liquid 30-0-0 nitrogen which is also 60% slow release. I like the ease of mixing and seems to be working pretty well on the turf. I've increased my T-Nex rate up to 0.25oz/M. I was around 0.2oz/M but I want to see a little more suppression especially with the all the heat and rainfall it's been receiving. Season NPK totals: N - 2.575lb/M P,K - 2.275lb/M.


Looks fantastic! What product of liquid nitrogen/soluble K and macros are you using? I'd like to try it out on my next TNEX app.


----------



## Brodgers88

@ZeonJNix thanks. I've been having problems with it recurring in the same area. I got it to clear up, but like yours, it came back. I am planning to do another fungicide app in a week which will be 14 days since the last one. The Armada worked pretty good. I can do one more app of it then I'll have to rotate to something else.


----------



## Brodgers88

@DLav8r Thanks! These are the products I'm using for my current tank mix. The Gator liquid nutritionals are from Howard Fertilizer.

GatorPerform SRN 30-0-0









GatorExcel 91223 Micronutrients









SQM Ultrasol SOP52 Potash









Kelp Extract


----------



## Brodgers88

Fall is almost here and the temperatures are actually feeling like it for now. Got in a nice mow yesterday afternoon, hoc is now at 9/16". I haven't applied any nitrogen since late August and have only been fertilizing with 0-0-52, micronutrients, and kelp extract since then. My total amount of nitrogen applied for this season ended up at 2.875lbs/M. Soil temps are starting to come down so I went ahead and applied my pre-emergent last night. I'm going to do split applications, spraying every 3 months. I included MSM in this application due to some spurge and also to help bolster the prodiamine.


----------



## Ware

Looks great @Brodgers88


----------



## Brodgers88

@Ware thanks!


----------



## ZeonJNix

My favorite yard on the site!


----------



## Backyard Soldier

Brodgers88 said:


> Fall is almost here and the temperatures are actually feeling like it for now. Got in a nice mow yesterday afternoon, hoc is now at 9/16". I haven't applied any nitrogen since late August and have only been fertilizing with 0-0-52, micronutrients, and kelp extract since then. My total amount of nitrogen applied for this season ended up at 2.875lbs/M. Soil temps are starting to come down so I went ahead and applied my pre-emergent last night. I'm going to do split applications, spraying every 3 months. I included MSM in this application due to some spurge and also to help bolster the prodiamine.


im beginning to think @Brodgers88 has been fooling us all along...this has to be astro turf. hmmm :lol: :lol:


----------



## Cdub5_

Quite possible the best lawn on the site. Absolutely amazing work man!!!


----------



## Brodgers88

Beautiful day for a mow yesterday. The turf is striping well at 9/16" hoc. Nice bright sunshine always helps make those stripes pop too! I went ahead and sprayed another round of 0-0-52, micronutrients, and kelp after mowing. I also included bifenthrin and imidacloprid in the mix for insects, mainly mole crickets. I had a few mole crickets earlier this spring and did imidacloprid and bifenthrin. I was hoping I got them under control but I found some new damage and a cricket sitting on the turf Friday morning. I think I was a little late targeting them as I applied in late June and probably should have applied in May when the nymphs are more susceptible to the insecticide. I should have also planned an additional application around August or so. Next year I will adjust my application timing. @Cdub5_ Thanks man, I sure do appreciate the compliment! @ZeonJNix I really enjoy following your lawn as well, nice job on the zoysia :thumbup: @Backyard Soldier :lol: There was a concrete crew doing some work across the street at neighbors a couple weeks ago and they all had to come over and feel the turf cause they thought it was artificial lol.





































Mole cricket damage


----------



## Brodgers88

Had a few cold mornings and a frost last week. One morning got down to 32 degrees for a little while just before sunrise. Rough cut strip at 2.75" HOC between my yard and neighbors already showing tiger stripes. Looks like it will be warm a little longer now so we'll see how long the turf hangs on. I've sprayed FAS, SOP, Manganese, and Kelp a few times over the last 4 weeks or so. I haven't mowed very much at all lately, HOC at last mow a little over two weeks ago was 5/8".


----------



## dfw_pilot

Cdub5_ said:


> Quite possible the best lawn on the site. Absolutely amazing work man!!!


I have to second this.


----------



## SC Grass Loon

Brodgers88 said:


> Had a few cold mornings and a frost last week. One morning got down to 32 degrees for a little while just before sunrise. Rough cut strip at 2.75" HOC between my yard and neighbors already showing tiger stripes. Looks like it will be warm a little longer now so we'll see how long the turf hangs on. I've sprayed FAS, SOP, Manganese, and Kelp a few times over the last 4 weeks or so. I haven't mowed very much at all lately, HOC at last mow a little over two weeks ago was 5/8".


 So do you continue the FAS, etc. until it goes dormant?


----------



## marcjw

incredible lawn


----------



## Buffalolawny

What is the cause of the even white dots on the longer cut grass?


----------



## Redtwin

Buffalolawny said:


> What is the cause of the even white dots on the longer cut grass?


That's frost damage or better known as "tiger striping".


----------



## Brodgers88

Looks like I'll make it to December with green turf. Seeing 27 and 30 degrees for lows consecutive nights coming this week. That may finally send it into dormancy. Here are some recent pictures from Friday and a shot from the security camera this morning.




























@dfw_pilot, @marcjw Thanks guys, I appreciate the compliments!

@SC Grass Loon I do normally continue applying iron, potash, kelp and some micros through the fall every few weeks or so. I stop after the first hard frost/freeze that I know will send it into dormancy.

@Buffalolawny as @Redtwin said, "tiger stripes" from the frost.


----------



## Redtwin

Well if this isn't proof that lower HOC protects turf from the cold, I don't know what is. That looks awesome for December in the Carolinas.


----------



## Buffalolawny

Short grass allows the soil to heat up quicker and longer duration


----------



## dfw_pilot

Redtwin said:


> Well if this isn't proof that lower HOC protects turf from the cold, I don't know what is. That looks awesome for December in the Carolinas.


Agreed; another myth busted.


----------



## SC Grass Loon

Brodgers88 said:


> Looks like I'll make it to December with green turf. Seeing 27 and 30 degrees for lows consecutive nights coming this week. That may finally send it into dormancy. Here are some recent pictures from Friday and a shot from the security camera this morning.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> @dfw_pilot, @marcjw Thanks guys, I appreciate the compliments!
> 
> @SC Grass Loon I do normally continue applying iron, potash, kelp and some micros through the fall every few weeks or so. I stop after the first hard frost/freeze that I know will send it into dormancy.
> 
> @Buffalolawny as @Redtwin said, "tiger stripes" from the frost.


Thanks for that info. I basically stopped micros a few weeks after I stopped PGR. Next year I will continue them until a hard frost.


----------



## ENC_Lawn

@Brodgers88 How's the Latitude 36 looking?

You guy's greened up yet in SC?


----------



## marcjw

Looks great!


----------



## Brodgers88

First day of spring and first journal update of 2021! Very excited to get the season going this year! I scalped the turf down to about 0.25" in late February in anticipation for an early green up of the latitude. Last year green up began in early March and I didn't scalp until mid to late March so I wanted to get it done before that happened this year. After scalping I applied my first round of pre-emergent. I'm doing split apps of prodiamine and sulfentrazone. Prodiamine went down at 0.2oz/M (0.55lb/A) and sulfentrazone at 0.13oz/M (6oz/A). I'm adding sulfentrazone to try to help control kyllinga and spurge before it emerges this year. I had some spots of kyllinga and a couple areas of spurge last season so we'll see how effective this will be. @ENC_Lawn so far so good, green up is currently underway! It really took off last weekend. @marcjw Thanks!

After scalp 2/28/21



















Removed tree from front yard last weekend, will be replacing with turf in the next couple of weeks.










Today(security camera shot)


----------



## ENC_Lawn

@Brodgers88 Looking Good.

I "may" be getting a Greens mower soon.

After you scalp at .25 what HOC do you start the season off at?


----------



## Brodgers88

It's been a busy few weeks working on different projects so I'm a little overdue for an update, but things are coming along nicely with the turf! I am currently maintaining hoc at 0.375". @ENC_Lawn this is the hoc I began after the 0.25" scalp and I will maintain this as long as I can, but won't go over 0.5" during the growing season.

Last weekend I fertilized with a granular 18-24-12 applied at 5lbs/M that is equal to around 0.9lb/M Nitrogen, 1.2lb/M Phosphorus, and 0.6lb/M Potassium. I also applied my second round of pre-emergent/post-emergent last week which was a tank mix of prodiamine, sulfentrazone, and celsius (no surfactant). Prodiamine at 0.2oz/M (0.55lb/A), sulfentrazone at 0.13oz/M (6oz/A), and celsius at 0.085oz/M (3.7oz/A). Hoping to stay ahead of the spurge and kyllinga this year with the sulfentrazone added in the mix and I included celsius for this round to take care of a few broadleafs that were present.



















I patched in the turf where I removed the tree a few weeks ago and now looking forward to not having to mow around that anymore. This area did not receive the recent herbicide application just to be safe.










Topped off all the plant beds with some fresh mulch and also added some new river rock around the sidewalk. I've also been working on building a privacy fence for the backyard which is nearly complete. The bare area in front of the fence is going to be a plant bed.




























Had to replace the bedknife on my greens mower after cutting a screw in half that I accidentally dropped during my fence build. Good as new now!










I completed a restoration on snapper hi-vac 21" commercial rotary mower. I love these old snapper mowers. My Dad had one he bought new in 1978 that he gave me but the deck had seen better days. These decks are known for the excellent suction, almost like a vacuum. Cast aluminum deck, steel wheels with bearings, metal chute, and large grass bag. This deck was cast in 1991.


----------



## SC Grass Loon

The old snapper is looking good!


----------



## ZeonJNix

Looking great as usual! Love the Snapper &#128513;


----------



## Brodgers88

Got in a quick mow this evening after work. Height of cut is currently 0.375". The turf is starting to look a lot better with the warmer temperatures. It has been pretty dry lately so I've been irrigating every other day putting down about 0.5" per cycle. My most recent application was a tank mix of 20-20-20 at 8oz/M, Feature at 2oz/M, T-nex at 0.0625oz/M, bifenthrin at 1oz/M, and imidacloprid at 0.6oz/M. This was my first pgr app of the season and I will work up to around 0.25oz/M as the growth progresses. I included the insecticides for mole crickets and ants. @SC Grass Loon @ZeonJNix Thanks guys! I put the snapper to work last week mowing the centipede in my backyard.


----------



## robbybobby

Good grief that contrast between the mulch bed and the turf is beautiful.


----------



## Brodgers88

I always enjoy evening spray applications. Second round of pgr for the season with my usual tank mix of 20-20-20 and iron. Increased pgr rate to 0.125oz/M. Last application was 0.062oz/M put down exactly one week ago. This was applied about two hours after mowing. The turf is responding well. @robbybobby Thanks!


----------



## Ortho-Doc

@Brodgers88 your lawn looks amazing. What's the reasoning behind your pgr dosing plan? How did you know how much to start with and when/how much to increase it by? Thank you!


----------



## Brodgers88

@Ortho-Doc thanks. I start at the lowest labeled rate for bermuda tees and greens for the hoc and work up based on the level of suppression I'm seeing from the application. Last year I topped out at 0.25oz/M and had pretty consistent regulation with little bronzing of the turf at these rates. My first pgr application of the season is always the lowest. I also track growing degree days and try to reapply around 250gdd. The lower rates won't make it to 250gdd before needing to reapply to maintain consistent regulation from what I've experienced on my turf.


----------



## Ortho-Doc

@Brodgers88 great info. Really appreciate it. I plan to spike this into my pgr apps this year along with some feature iron.

https://mirimichigreen.com/products/nutri-turf-3-2-3/


----------



## Brodgers88

Fresh mow this afternoon, still at 0.375" hoc. There have been some seed head stems but at the current hoc very little actual seed heads making an appearance. I'm pretty happy with how things are looking overall. I did notice some slight leaf spot starting at the beginning of the week so I applied a contact fungicide. I sprayed daconil at 1oz/M which worked very well. I'm going to follow up with a systemic this weekend, spraying 3336F.


----------



## Two_Rivers

Looking fantastic as usual!


----------



## Brodgers88

Plenty of rain over the last week or so has the turf growing strong. I missed a scheduled mow and pgr app due to weather but luckily my 0.375" hoc hasn't gotten away from me just yet. No signs of leaf spot or other disease currently after the recent fungicide applications so things are looking good there. @Two_Rivers Thanks!





































I recently upgraded to a battery powered backpack sprayer. My old Chapin 62000 has never given me a problem, just wanted to move on from the manual pump. I was back and forth between the flowzone and my4sons. I decided to go with the my4sons M4 mainly due to affordable replacement parts. A new battery is around $20, new pump $20, so pretty affordable to replace main components on this sprayer if needed. I installed the agitator pump inside which is pretty nice to keep things mixed up. The agitator is independent of the spray pump and is controlled separately. The pump has variable pressure from 20psi-60psi. I run it on full pressure with my 21psi cf valves. I also like all the quick connects on the hose, wand, and spray gun.



























Wire coming out of tank for agitator pump


















Agitator pump


















I was able to attach my Chapin boom to the M4 wand


















Got the spray gun for doing insecticides around the outside of the house


----------



## Tmank87

@Brodgers88 looks amazing. Where'd you score the insecticide gun. I'd like to pick one up.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Tmank87 thanks. I got it from My4sons.com


----------



## Brodgers88

Got in a nice mow this morning, hoc is 0.375". Last application was post emergent herbicide 2 days ago. I blanket sprayed MSM at 0.00625oz/M to target mainly spurge that is just beginning to emerge and a few other broadleafs that are present around the lawn. My last pgr/fertilizer application was 6 days ago. I'm still going with 0.125oz/M on my tnex and getting great suppression, reapplying around every 250gdd. The turf has only had 0.2lbs/M of NPK for the month of June. Total NPK for the season is now at 2.375lbs/M. I did see some dollar spot mycelium present on the lawn this morning so I am planning a fungicide application this evening.


----------



## Brodgers88

One week after post emergent application of MSM and the spurge looks like it is checking out :nod: I was happy to see little to no chlorosis of the turf from the herbicide application as well. Mowed yesterday after all the rain and applied pgr, fertilizer, micros. I increased my T-nex rate up to 0.1875oz/M from 0.125oz/M due to a slight increase in clippings. I think it's getting close to needing a verticut as well.


----------



## Cdub5_

Hey,
What are those tall vibrant orange flowers called? It looks like peppers are growing on them?

Thanks a lot!!


----------



## Brodgers88

@Cdub5_ those are tiger lilies. The part that looks like a pepper are the buds. Very hardy lily and propagates itself by producing bulbils along the main stem in the axils of the leaves. They only flowers once around this time of year. My patch started with 5 and now I have a lot more!


----------



## Cdub5_

Wow those are very beautiful! Being an Oklahoma State fan those are the perfect colors 
@Brodgers88 Thanks for letting me know!


----------



## Brodgers88

Evening mow yesterday. 3 days post fertilizer/pgr application. Turf is looking great. Lots of rain in the forecast this week with a tropical storm so I will go ahead and do a preventative fungicide application to help give it some protection in case of excessive moisture for an extended period. It doesn't take very long for disease development to occur when environmental conditions are favorable especially on low cut highly managed turf.


----------



## mha2345

Looking fantastic, what is that HOC? 3/8"?

For the MSM application, same stuff that many use to spray out perennial rye? I have a ton of spurge, and have a bottle of MSM Turf I used in the spring. Assuming the same stuff, any temp restrictions? Safer to spray in the evening?


----------



## Brodgers88

@mha2345 thank you. Hoc is currently at 3/8". Yes same herbicide, metsulfuron-methyl. It can cause chlorosis over 85 degrees and at higher rates. I did do my application in the evening and also the day following was around 85. I used a low rate, 0.00625oz/M (0.27oz/Acre) with no surfactant and blanket sprayed the entire lawn. MSM works great on spurge.


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed yesterday at new hoc, I made a 1/32" increase up to 0.4. I need to verticut but haven't had time just yet. The mower is beginning to float a little with the turf getting thicker. The slight increase in hoc helped with this for now. Applied t-nex, 20-20-20, and FEature about an hour after mowing. I reduced my fertilizer rate down to 0.05lbsNPK/M since the turf is really thick. I also increased T-nex up to 0.2oz/M.




























Stargazer lily



















Starlight Express lily


----------



## Ware

Nice sprayer setup!


----------



## Brodgers88

Ware said:


> Nice sprayer setup!


Thanks! I've been enjoying it!


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed this morning back at 0.375" hoc. The 0.03 hoc increase last week was hardly mowing anything off after 5 days of growth. This was with increased pgr rate (0.2oz/M), less N (0.05lbs/M), and less rain. I don't think I'll increase hoc from 0.375" unless I begin to get some scalping. I still plan to verticut and thin things out a little in the next few weeks.


----------



## Trent161

Brodgers88 said:


> Mowed this morning back at 0.375" hoc. The 0.03 hoc increase last week was hardly mowing anything off after 5 days of growth. This was with increased pgr rate (0.2oz/M), less N (0.05lbs/M), and less rain. I don't think I'll increase hoc from 0.375" unless I begin to get some scalping. I still plan to verticut and thin things out a little in the next few weeks.


Beautiful turf! I enjoy watching your posts in your journal.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Trent161 Thanks!


----------



## Redtwin

Hey... looking at your mowing pattern it looks like you are only mowing in 3 axis. Is that because the 4th is so short? I'm thinking I may have to do the same in my front yard. Have you noted any issues not doing the 4th? I wouldn't think so from the appearance or yours but would like to know if you do anything else to minimize the grain getting super set.


----------



## Brodgers88

@Redtwin I do mow it in all 4 directions. It's hard to tell in those last photos and it has been about 3 mows since I've done that particular mowing pattern. My favorite and quickest pattern is straight up and down the lawn parallel with the driveway, so sometimes I'll skip a direction and do that one again.


----------



## Brodgers88

I finally had time to verticut the turf this weekend. It really needed it as thick as it was getting and especially after about 6" of rain over the past week or so. I used my sunjoe scarifier set on 0 and went over the lawn in 4 directions following my normal mowing patterns. I used the bagger on the sunjoe which did a pretty good job not leaving so much debris laying on top. After going over it with the sunjoe I mowed all four directions at 0.375" hoc collecting the clippings then dropped down 1/32" to 0.343" collecting those clippings as well. I did a final clean up mow without the catcher. The whole process thinned it out decently and scalped in a few areas. It feels much firmer now and the mower is no longer floating on top. I'm going to bring the hoc back up to 0.375" to maintain.



















Clippings collected using sunjoe bagger


----------



## Brodgers88

The turf has recovered nicely from the light verticutting (setting 0 on sunjoe scarifier) and mini scalp at 0.343" (lowered hoc by 1/32" from 3/8"). I skipped my last pgr app (about 250GDD=around 10days) while it was filling back in. I also mowed at the lower hoc for a couple mows before increasing hoc back to 0.375". I applied pgr, fertilizer, and micronutrients Wednesday evening. My T-nex rate is still going down at 0.2oz/M but I did increase the fertilizer back up to 0.1 lb NPK/M for this application. Friday after mowing I applied bifenthrin and a preventative fungicide application of daconil. Rain and overcast conditions forecasted for a couple days and expecting extended periods of moisture on the turf so just trying to keep it protected from any disease development. Pictures are from yesterday afternoon.


----------



## Redtwin

That turf is stunning! How often are you mowing at that PGR and fert rate?


----------



## Brodgers88

Thanks @Redtwin! Typically mowing every 3 days. The low fertility helps a lot. My current season total for NPK is 2.675lb/M.


----------



## Brodgers88

Things are continuing to look really good. The turf has thickened back up almost to where it was before the verticut a month ago which has the reel kind of floating again. We've had a lot of rain lately which is causing some additional growth. I had to go 4 days before my last mow due to rain and clippings were a little heavy.


----------



## ENC_Lawn

@Brodgers88 The lawn looks great!

So I know the verticutting helps free up the turf from being so dense.

But does it also help you not to have to do a HOC reset as often?

Going 4 days with this heat and rain and not mowing and no scalping is impressive!


----------



## Brodgers88

Thanks @ENC_Lawn! It does help me in maintaining HOC but also spoon feeding NPK at 0.05 - 0.1 lb/M really helps a lot too. The growth stays pretty consistent unless we get several inches of rain in a few days then some additional growth can be expected. I think the Lat36 is a little less prone to scalp compared to 419 I had in the past but my management practices have changed since I was growing 419.


----------



## ENC_Lawn

Brodgers88 said:


> Thanks @ENC_Lawn! It does help me in maintaining HOC but also spoon feeding NPK at 0.05 - 0.1 lb/M really helps a lot too. The growth stays pretty consistent unless we get several inches of rain in a few days then some additional growth can be expected. I think the Lat36 is a little less prone to scalp compared to 419 I had in the past but my management practices have changed since I was growing 419.
> 
> Gotcha....thanks! :thumbup:


----------



## Brodgers88

Got in a quick mow after work yesterday evening, two days since my last mow. I decided to go ahead and mow again after 4.5" of rain the day before. This summer has yielded plentiful amounts of rainfall.


----------



## Herring

Brodgers88 said:


> Got in a quick mow after work yesterday evening, two days since my last mow. I decided to go ahead and mow again after 4.5" of rain the day before. This summer has yielded plentiful amounts of rainfall.


Looks fantastic, my yard would be destroyed after that amount. Was there a lot of growth after that much rain?


----------



## Brodgers88

Thanks. Luckily I have great drainage with my sandy soil. Actually growth wasn't too bad, the gdd was a little lower the day of all the rain which maybe helped some.


----------



## JRS 9572

Wow! I think the sandy soil has probably kept you from having disease pressure. Dollar spot is the devil over on mine. I've heard it's rampant. Red clay soil doesn't drain like the sandhills. Looks fantastic!


----------



## Brodgers88

Thanks @JRS 9572! Oh yeah I'd say the sandy soil has helped for sure. I have been applying a rotation of contact and systemic fungicides since late May to help minimize any diseases. It has worked pretty well and kept the grass healthy.


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed yesterday afternoon. I raised my hoc to 0.53" from 0.5". I had increased hoc a couple of weeks ago after a vacation and now another increase after lots of rain this past week. I like the way it's looking, a little better color in the 0.5" range. I'm still currently applying T-nex at 250 gdd interval along with 20-20-20 and micronutrients. Also recently applied bifenthrin for active army worms. I sprayed early enough that minimal damage occurred. I'll be spraying pre-emergent/post-emergent in the next week or so doing 2 split apps for fall/winter. First round is a tank mix of prodiamine and msm, second round is prodiamine, simazine, and speedzone in November or early December at the latest.




























Army worm damage


----------



## Herring

Looks gorgeous, nice green color at that height!


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed yesterday afternoon, hoc still at 0.53". I sprayed my first round of pre-emergent/post-emergent last night. I'm doing 2 split apps of pre-emergent for the fall/winter. I did 0.21oz/M of prodiamine 65wdg and 0.008oz/M of MSM. I am continuing to have problems with spurge throughout the lawn so that's the main reason for MSM. Next season I plan to start using isoxaben pre-emergent to see if I can finally get the spurge under control. It's really the only weed I have problems with and seems to emerge a little later in the season. I plan to continue spraying micronutrients and 0-0-52 through the end of the month.


----------



## Brodgers88

Kicked off the first day of spring yesterday with a mow! Turf is greening up nicely. The hard freeze last weekend set it back a little but not too bad. The lawn was scalped at 1/4" near the end of February. Current hoc is 5/16" for now, but I will most likely increase to 3/8" when growth really gets going. So far for the season I've applied a simazine speedzone combo in early February and then prodiamine sulfentrazone combo at the beginning of March. I haven't applied any fertilizer yet but I am planning to soon. I always do granular for my first application of the season and will do the same this year. I have several different fertilizers on hand so I'm going to make a custom blend to achieve a 1:1:1 ratio and will end up being a 24-24-24 fertilizer.




























Installed a new bed knife on the gm1000 after all the scalping. I ran a r&r tournament cut knife last season, using the r&r low cut one this year. It's a little thicker than the tournament cut.


----------



## typed by ben

Clean machine living a clean life! Impressive


----------



## Brodgers88

The turf is starting to look pretty good with the hotter weather. The early part of spring had a lot of cool nights and a couple late frost in my area that held things back for a while. I was maintaining hoc at 0.34" but I've since increased to 0.375". I think the turf color is a little better at this height.

I started the season with an application of granular fertilizer in early April. Rate applied was equal to 0.75lb/M of Nitrogen and 1.0lb/M of Phosphorus and potassium. Since then I have switched to foliar fertilization at the beginning of May using a soluble 20-20-20 at a rate of 8oz/M which is equal to 0.1 lb N,P,K. For micronutrients I'm currently using Gator 91223. I also have some main event 6-0-0 I'm going to try later in the season.

My last herbicide and insecticide application was in early May. I do 4 split apps for the season on my pre-emergent so the second application of prodiamine was at 0.21oz/M. Also mixed in Celsius at 0.113oz/M (high rate), bifenthrin at 1oz/M, and imidacloprid at 0.6oz/M.

I started PGR two weeks ago at a low rate of 0.0625oz/M. The second application was last night increased to 0.125oz/M. Re-applying every 250-275 GDD. I'm tank mixing PGR with fertilizer, micronutrients, and fungicide (daconil) when needed.

I've had an outbreak of dollar spot that started up a week ago. Sprayed with daconil last Saturday evening and followed up with another application of daconil last night. It's still recovering but looking a lot better every day.





































Daylilies


----------



## BvilleGrass

@Brodgers88 I'm envious of your beds. They look awesome! The color really adds to the yard.


----------



## Brodgers88

Just a mow today. Still at 0.375" hoc. The turf is really looking great now. We've had plenty of rain lately which has definitely helped. My last PGR and fertilizer app really darkened up the color of the turf. I am seeing some seed heads but they are very minimal and small right now. Thanks @BvilleGrass!


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed today, HOC has been increased to 0.5". It has been very hot lately and the turf is loving it of course. I've had a lot of dollar spot this year but it seems to be under control for now. I've been tank mixing daconil at 1 to 1.5oz/M with every PGR/fertilizer application. I think the fungicide along with HOC increase and hot temperatures have helped slow the dollar spot. PGR(t-nex) is currently being applied at 0.2oz/M around 250-300 GDD. My total fertility so far this year is 1.9lbs N/M, and 1.4lbs P & K/M.


----------



## WillyT

Very nice! I'm about to take the jump into pgr soon. Appreciate seeing rates and the details!


----------



## Keepin It Reel

Looks great man!


----------



## Brodgers88

Thanks guys!


----------



## Biggylawns

Came here from lotm thread. Your lawn works amazing.


----------



## Brodgers88

Mowed yesterday, current hoc is 0.5". I verticut and scalped it 2 weeks ago. We had a lot of rain in my area through July so it was starting to get too thick causing the mower to float. I removed about 10 wheelbarrow loads of material. I wanted to scalp a little lower but only had enough time to take it down to 0.4"


----------



## Redtwin

Whoa! That color is next level!!!


----------



## littlehuman

I'm always thoroughly impressed with the shape of your lawn. Very solid work this season!


----------



## Brodgers88

Thanks @littlehuman and @Redtwin! After the scalp I applied a greens grade 14-2-14 with micros at 0.5lbs/M of N and K and then a week later sprayed with PGR and additional micronutrients. I had only applied a total of 0.5lbs of NPK since the end of April so it was a little hungry.


----------



## ZeonJNix

Amazing.


----------



## Brodgers88

The turf is looking pretty awesome. Mowed today, hoc is still at 0.5". I made a couple of applications in the last two weeks. I did a preventative treatment for insects and dollar spot. I applied a tank mix of clearys 3336f at 2oz/M, daconil at 1oz/M, bifenthrin at 1oz/M, and imidacloprid at 0.6oz/M. Last week I applied pgr and micros. I am trying out the T-nex and Paclo combo. My rates for the first application were 0.14oz/M of T-nex and 0.1875oz/M of Paclo. So I far I am happy with the results. @ZeonJNix Thanks!


----------



## Brodgers88

I applied my first round of fall pre-emergent/post-emergent last Friday. I sprayed a tank mix of Prodiamine and MSM. Prodiamine applied at 0.21oz/M (1/4 max annual rate)and MSM applied at 0.01125oz/M (0.5oz/acre rate). Pgr/fertilizer was applied earlier this week. I am still spraying t-nex and Paclo combo at 350 gdd which seems to be working pretty good. The current rates are 0.1375oz/M of T-nex and 0.1875oz/M of Paclo. Last mow was on Thursday, bench hoc is still 0.5" but the turf is probably closer to 0.625".


----------

