# TN Hawkeye's Bermuda Adventure



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

We bought this house in August 2017 and the yard was terrible. It was previously scalped and neglected (see photo below). As winter gave way to spring I was super excited to start rejuvenating the TTTF into something as close to Pete's at GCI Turf as I could get it. Here's where it was when we bought the house:



I began mowing tall last fall but didn't do anything as far as fertilizer or overseeding. In the spring I worked my HOC up to 4". I followed LCN spring recovery plan and got it looking very nice by late spring:



However once summer rolled around I began to notice that I had a lot more Bermuda than I thought. After asking around here it was confirmed that I had a lot of common Bermuda. I did a lot of thinking and bouncing ideas off my wife (which were mostly met with blank stares). About 2 weeks ago I decided to go all in and transition to a Bermuda lawn (in the front and one side only. The back and other side have too much shade).

I have started lowering my HOC and I am at 3.25" right now. I plan to be at 2.25" in a few weeks. I also raised the canopy on the dogwoods on my property line. They aren't mine so I can't cut them down but the neighbor doesn't care if I trim them. I am also working on a diy movable watering system. I will post pics of the current state of the lawn and my watering system as well. I'm not sure where this adventure is going to take me but I hope you guys will enjoy the ride.


----------



## Bmossin (May 31, 2018)

Sweet. Good luck.


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

@TN Hawkeye 
You piqued my interest with the watering system.
Hope all goes well with the transition.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

social port said:


> @TN Hawkeye
> You piqued my interest with the watering system.
> Hope all goes well with the transition.


My plan, of course we know about "the best layer plans", is to have two runs of sprinklers connected to a two spigot timer. Run one can water for x amount of time and then run two will kick on for x amount of time. I have two spigots, one on each side of the house so I may even go with two runs hooked to each spigot. I think I can get the whole front yard with 4 runs but won't know till I get it setup. I have heavy clay soil so I have to water in shorter periods probably twice a week to get 1" of water. I plan to start mad scientist building this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> I plan to start mad scientist building this weekend.


Awesome. Mad scientist building is the best! :thumbup:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Here are a couple shots of the lawn today:





I have started lowering my HOC so some of the brown stems on the Bermuda are showing but I know it has to look worse before it looks better. I plan to take it down to 2.75" today. I applied a pound of N via Milorganite last Friday (June 29th) and the label recommended rate of Ironite. I can tell that the Bermuda is thickening up a lot.





I'm planning to throw down a half pound of N via a quick release. I will probably use a starter fert since my lawn is deficient in Phosphorus. I am hitting the hardware store today to begin making my watering system and will post pics when I'm done.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Well there is no turning back now. I took my HOC down to 2.75". I initially tried to mulch but it was bogging down the Timemaster so I switched to side discharge. I then put the bagger on and cut in the opposite direction. I was amazed at how well the Timemaster picked up all of the clippings. Also how nicely it striped at that height. Here are a couple shots after I picked up the clippings:





I worked for awhile on a homemade watering line similar to what Ryan knorr does. Unfortunately my water pressure only allows 2 heads to run at once so I set up 2 heads on each spigot and set my timer for each "zone" to run for an hour in the morning. I setup a container in the middle of all four heads to see how much water I'm putting down. Once that was done I hit it with about .5lb of nitrogen by way of a starter fertilizer (16-24-6). Plan to water that in tomorrow. It's coming along. Now I just have to convince my wife that I'm not killing the lawn.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Early this morning I watered each "zone", basically two Lowe's gear driven sprinkler heads, for an hour and measured how much water I put down. With the container in the center of four heads and each 2 head zone running for an hour it measured slightly under an inch. My overlap was head to head so each head threw back to the other head. If my math is right and I keep my overlap consistent I can run each 2 head zone for one hour and get 1" of water. I run one zone and set the next one up at the edge of the other heads throw. After an hour I turn off the first zone and turn on the 2nd. Then I move zone one to the other side of zone two and repeat until the entire lawn is watered with an inch. Took about 6 hours of watering time to get the entire front yard. Now I just wait for the Nitrogen to kick in.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

If there was no turning back before I'm not sure what I would call today. I mowed at 2.75" and mulched with the Timemaster. In the back of my mind I kept hearing "Slowly lowering your HOC does no good. Just scalp it down and be done." So I lowered the deck to 2.25" and mowed it again. I have some clippings to clean up but I will get them tomorrow. My plan is to keep it at 2.25" until fall and then raise it to 2.75" for the winter. I told my wife I was worried because I had never cut that low but she was super encouraging when she said "If you kill the lawn I'll leave you." I don't know what I'd do without her.


----------



## Ral1121 (Mar 19, 2018)

If you want to maintain the Bermuda at 2.25, you actually need to scalp below that height at say maybe 1.75. then raise your hoc back up to 2.25. if you do not scalp Bermuda below your maintenance hoc, the brown stems will continue to show. Bermuda is not like cool season grasses that adapt over time. Trust me it is impossible to kill Bermuda by scalping. In fact it will come out looking better afterwards.

Here is my yard scalped at .250" 12 days ago.



Here it is today at my maintenance hoc at .400"



Not completely grown back yet but coming back strong. Give it another couple weeks.


----------



## Gpoe85 (Jul 10, 2018)

:lol:


TN Hawkeye said:


> If there was no turning back before I'm not sure what I would call today. I mowed at 2.75" and mulched with the Timemaster. In the back of my mind I kept hearing "Slowly lowering your HOC does no good. Just scalp it down and be done." So I lowered the deck to 2.25" and mowed it again. I have some clippings to clean up but I will get them tomorrow. My plan is to keep it at 2.25" until fall and then raise it to 2.75" for the winter. I told my wife I was worried because I had never cut that low but she was super encouraging when she said "If you kill the lawn I'll leave you." I don't know what I'd do without her.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Ral1121 said:


> If you want to maintain the Bermuda at 2.25, you actually need to scalp below that height at say maybe 1.75. then raise your hoc back up to 2.25. if you do not scalp Bermuda below your maintenance hoc, the brown stems will continue to show. Bermuda is not like cool season grasses that adapt over time. Trust me it is impossible to kill Bermuda by scalping. In fact it will come out looking better afterwards.
> 
> Here is my yard scalped at .250" 12 days ago.
> 
> ...


Yeah I kind of forgot that tidbit. I need to speak to the voice in my head about being more specific. I'm think about using 2.25" as my scalp and keeping it at 2.75" until the spring scalp. Then I will maintain it at 2.25".


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

First mow since the scalping at 2.25. Didn't really cut a lot but cleaned up all the clippings. I can see a lot of new growth on the Bermuda so I'm excited what the next week will bring. Plan to hit it with another .5lb of N next time we are supposed to get rain. Currently mowing at 2.75".


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I mowed on Tuesday July 17th at 2.75". The lawn looked nice but I couldn't get pictures as we had a downpour as soon as I finished. However this is the next day (yesterday) and the natural water really helped the grass. The Bermuda is looking thick. I have some weeds that I will deal with in the fall. But right now I couldn't be happier with the lawn. While we were throwing the football my youngest said that the grass feels like carpet and he proceeded to tak his shoes off and run around barefoot. Still have a ways to go but it is improving.


----------



## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> I mowed on Tuesday July 17th at 2.75". The lawn looked nice but I couldn't get pictures as we had a downpour as soon as I finished. However this is the next day (yesterday) and the natural water really helped the grass. The Bermuda is looking thick. I have some weeds that I will deal with in the fall. But right now I couldn't be happier with the lawn. While we were throwing the football my youngest said that the grass feels like carpet and he proceeded to tak his shoes off and run around barefoot. Still have a ways to go but it is improving.


Looking good! Now just get that reel and next spring scalp it to dirt and maintain sub .5 hoc


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

@Thor865 My wife wants to know if with the royalties you are getting from the Thor movies if you could lend me a few grand to get that real mower?


----------



## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> @Thor865 My wife wants to know if with the royalties you are getting from the Thor movies if you could lend me a few grand to get that real mower?


I can give you a tour of my John Deere. That's all I got lol


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Will you autograph my wife's chest? I haven't told her yet that you aren't actually Chris Hemsworth.


----------



## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Will you autograph my wife's chest? I haven't told her yet that you aren't actually Chris Hemsworth.


I'd have to charge for that.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I mowed again yesterday at 2.75". The lawn is really looking nice. The Nitrogen is springing the Bermuda to life. It is thick and almost completely green. Still have a few spots that are recovering. We got another good rain last night after I mowed and another one coming this evening. I'm going throw out about .5lb of N before the rain. My plan is to see how the weather is between now and mid-August to decide if it needs anymore Nitrogen. Here is the lawn after mowing last night.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Boy it's amazing what Nitrogen and 4 straight days of rain will do for a lawn. I mowed Friday July 20th at 2.75". I was able to get about .7lb of Nitrogen down Saturday right before a good rain. First time I have used this product.


I really liked the pellet size. They are very small and easily settled down into the turf. Mother Nature then proceeded to give us 4 consecutive days of measurable rain. I don't know the exact amount we received over the 4 days but it was a good amount. I know, I need to get a rain gauge. This was the lawn today, Wednesday July 25th.






We actually had sun most of the day so I gave it a mow. Needless to say I broke the 1/3 rule. But boy does it look good. Some of the areas look like thick carpet. I'm having zero regrets about transitioning to Bermuda. Here is the lawn after being cut at 2.75" today.


----------



## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

Yeah all that rain was crazy (probably 2" over those days). Looking good man.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Thor865 said:


> Yeah all that rain was crazy (probably 2" over those days). Looking good man.


Thank you. I'm really excited to see how short I can keep it after next springs scalp.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Mowed it again today at 2.75". It's striping nicely and is relatively thick. It is several shades darker than either neighbor. I'm pretty pleased right now. You can see the line where my property ends in the upper left corner of the first photo.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Since my last mowing the skies have given us much rainfall. I wasn't able to mow until tonight. It was 6 days between mowings and at least a couple inches of rain. I had to mow it twice tonight. The first cut was at 3.5" with side discharge. It was slinging some major clippings. The 2nd cut was at 2.75" with the mulching on. As I was mowing the first time I was thinking damn this grass looks thick. I figured the 2nd cut would reveal brown stems and thinner turf but I was wrong. This Bermuda has taken off like crazy. It looks absolutely thick as hell in spots. Crazy thing is we've had cooler temps the last week. Even my wife said it looks great. I can't wait till next spring when I can scalp it and keep it as short as the Timemaster will allow.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Mowed again today at 2.75". I mowed on Friday and for various reasons wasn't able to mow again till today. It was thick. Almost bogged down the time master on mulch setting. Had to mow it twice to get all the clippings up. But it still is looking good. Really love how thick the middle of the lawn is getting. The Bermuda is really liking this weather. We've had lots of rain followed by hot days.


----------



## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Sure looks great. Nice and lush!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Colonel K0rn said:


> Sure looks great. Nice and lush!


Thank you. Coming from you that's an honor. I just ordered Prodiamine and simazine. Getting ready for fall Pre-em. Need to order my Celsius. Planning to take it to the next level next spring. Hoping to keep it about 1.75" but I know I will need to do some leveling. I'm just really pleased that I decided to move towards Bermuda. I think it was when @Thor865 private messaged me and said "The plaque for 2nd place in the lawn of the month is in the ladies room" that really got me taking things seriously. I can't thank him enough.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Mowed it again at 2.75 yesterday. I do have some weeds but my Celsius order should arrive this week. Also ordered my pre-em treatments for the fall. I'll put the pic here too but I had a Bermuda runner climb up an evergreen bush. Dang thing was easily 4' long.


----------



## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

Looking good man. That Scott's fert you used gave me great results as well


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Thor865 said:


> Looking good man. That Scott's fert you used gave me great results as well


Thanks. I picked up another bag the other day. Haven't put it down yet but plan to next time we have another week of rain.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

It's been awhile since I updated so I figured I'd go ahead and throw out the good and the bad of the last month+. The yard was looking pretty good around the middle of August. I put down .75lbs of Nitrogen via the Green Max product listed above. My Celsius order arrived the week of the 20th and I was excited to spray it. I mixed the Celsius at medium rate with marking blue and an NIS. I blanket sprayed most of my front and side lawn and then spot sprayed the rest. I got a lot of stunted growth and neon green grass.






After asking around here we think it was the NIS even though temps were low 80s when I sprayed. They heated up to the 90s a few days later so next time I will go without the NIS unless temps are well below 85.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

During that time I also had a huge brown area show up.

I noticed what looked like lesions on the blades so I hit it with a curative rate of propoconizole 7 days apart. I also manually aerated the spot as the ground felt bone dry. It is on a downhill slope so I thought maybe the water was flowing instead of absorbing. Something worked as it's starting to fill back in.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I still have a large section of my front lawn that is neon green.


However most of it has rebounded.




It looks like it needs a scalping as there's a lot of brown showing but this late in the season I'm not going to risk it. It is still very thick and I'm sure it will benefit from a scalping and dethatching come spring.


On the plus side I got excellent kill off of fescue and various weeds. So much that I have a lot of spots for grow in next spring. I may even try my hand at sprigging the areas.


----------



## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

@TN Hawkeye Dude, thanks for documenting your journey and pointing me towards it! I'm in the same boat - although mine's in worse shape currently.

I was wondering just how much Fescue the Celsius killed as I think you had more than you probably thought during the summer. What does the lawn look like today ? Please update with photo and status. Mine is a green/brown mess currently. HOw did the fall preemergent do to keep your dormant Bermuda color uninterrupted?

What HOC are you planning for this year?


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

cglarsen said:


> @TN Hawkeye Dude, thanks for documenting your journey and pointing me towards it! I'm in the same boat - although mine's in worse shape currently.
> 
> I was wondering just how much Fescue the Celsius killed as I think you had more than you probably thought during the summer. What does the lawn look like today ? Please update with photo and status. Mine is a green/brown mess currently. HOw did the fall preemergent do to keep your dormant Bermuda color uninterrupted?
> 
> What HOC are you planning for this year?


When the Bermuda first went dormant there was only a patch of green near the trees in the front yard. This area is all fescue because of the shade. The rest of the yard did it's tiger stripe thing and then went all brown. It was beautiful. However I would say that now there are about 10 small strips that have either fescue or poa showing green. This was my first year spraying anything so it is most likely from imperfect application of Celsius or prodiamine/simazine. I would guess 98% of the 7000 sq feet is a lovely brown color. However now that it's brown I can see how thin it is under the canopy. Cutting it at 2.75" like I did really keeps it from getting thick near the soil. If I was doing it again and not so scared I would have scalped it down to under 2" and tried to stay around 2".
The main things I learned from this year are:
1. Bermuda is really resilient. We played in the yard, had blowup pools out there, left a slip and slide on the lawn for 2 days, and did not baby it at all. Through all of that the Bermuda just kept growing.
2. Don't be scared to scalp it. Whether it be in spring or a summer reset, the Bermuda needs it. I almost shat myself when I cut it to 2.25". Now I know I could have gone lower.
3. Have realistic expectations and goals. As soon as I decided to go Bermuda I immediately began dreaming of a lawn like @ware or @cory. I came to realize I will never have a lawn like that. I have a rotary mower and no irrigation. I have a non elite cultivar. But I can have the best lawn that I have ever had. Don't measure your common Bermuda against what you see on here. Measure it against where you started and where you realistically want it be.
4. The people on here know their stuff. This place is amazing. I see the collective knowledge on here and I just shake my head. I have learned so much just by keeping my mouth shut and reading (although with 500+ comments maybe I should shut up some more).
As you can see from my journal, I got a late start on converting. If you go into the spring with a plan and start from the first green up I have no doubt you can have a nice common Bermuda lawn by end of summer. 
I'll take some pics of the lawn currently and post them tomorrow.


----------



## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Great lessons learned - really appreciate you sharing them. This forum is ridiculous with the high end lawns and it's easy to always want more, I know. Looking forward to more photos.

Did you aerate or do anything else to help with the transition? Good thing it's been a wet year. I'd hate to try this back in the drought.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

cglarsen said:


> Great lessons learned - really appreciate you sharing them. This forum is ridiculous with the high end lawns and it's easy to always want more, I know. Looking forward to more photos.
> 
> Did you aerate or do anything else to help with the transition? Good thing it's been a wet year. I'd hate to try this back in the drought.


Sorry. I thought I had already posted this. I did nothing to the lawn but mow lower, fertilize, and spray for weeds and pre-em. Here is what the lawn looked like last week:


----------



## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Nice, pretty uniform coverage in just one season. I'm chomping at the bit to get rid of my green/brown crap mix - about to spray out everything green next week - so I'll be documenting in a lawn journal as well.


----------



## LawnNationNate (Jan 20, 2019)

Wow. I'll say it was amazing to read/watch the transition from fescue to the Bermuda. Enough so that you have me thinking very highly about doing it now also. I can't get over how fast that Bermuda took over once you starting cutting it low, feeding it, and watering it.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

LawnNationNate said:


> Wow. I'll say it was amazing to read/watch the transition from fescue to the Bermuda. Enough so that you have me thinking very highly about doing it now also. I can't get over how fast that Bermuda took over once you starting cutting it low, feeding it, and watering it.


man I am so sorry that I didn't see your comment till now. I rarely look at my journal since I don't expect people to be looking at it. I can honestly say I was amazed at how the lawn looked this year. I don't know if it was because I had more fescue than I thought and we had a wet summer or if it really is that easy to get Bermuda to spread. I don't want anyone to think that I am at @Ware or @Redtenchu level. I was a complete beginner last spring/summer. I really just mowed lower and fertilized. Maybe my clay soil and the summer we had were perfect conditions. I seriously hope that anyone that wants to allow common Bermuda to spread in their lawn has the experience I did. Had I not screwed up with the Celsius it would have been an amazing year. I will be following you and @cglarsen to see what you decide. Best of luck.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I figure I'll fire this thing up again. Not sure how this season is going to go. I had spinal fusion surgery 2 weeks ago so I will be limited on what I can accomplish this season. Since the photos I posted in December I had an outbreak of winter weeds. I knew this was going to happen as I was unable to get down my 2nd prodiamine app in early winter. I have some large chunks of winter weeds that were really bugging me. I was complaining about it yesterday and my lovely wife said "Hell I'll carry the backpack and you walk next to me and spray." So that's what we did. I mixed up some Ortho 3 way, low rate of Celsius, some surfactant, and a little blue dye.



My ultra sexy 4 wheel walker is just out of frame. All in all it didn't go too badly. Once we got our spacing right it went rather smoothly.



She then rewarded herself with an ice cold beer and I rewarded myself with an ice cold Percocet.


Here is a shot of part of the yard. You can see the patches of green and blue.



One of my friends scalped the lawn about 2 weeks ago and combined with the warmer weather we've been getting I'm starting to see some decent greenup.

I know it's late but my dad is going to come over and put out some granular dithiopyr tomorrow ahead of our expected rain this weekend. I think I can manage a hose end sprayer in a few weeks so I'm considering getting the Bio Stim pack and some 7-0-0 GreenEffect to be able to at least give the yard some help this summer. Not sure when I'll get cleared to start mowing but my wife has offered to mow for me.


----------



## Necrosis (Jul 12, 2018)

Hahaha! Percocet on ice! I wish you a speedy recovery.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Necrosis said:


> Hahaha! Percocet on ice! I wish you a speedy recovery.


I appreciate it. It's been an experience. My wife now says she is going to take credit for the lawn IF it looks goood during the summer. If it doesn't she is going to blame it on me.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Last fall I was able to get a couple bags of Scott's Snap Lock 30-0-4 with dithiopyr for $4.99 a bag on clearance (normally $19.99). I already had the spreader from a past stupid purchase so I grabbed them. My wife put both bags out on the front Bermuda yesterday and then we had a nice rain overnight. Not exactly the pre emergent plan I would like but it's what I have to work with right now. Getting a lot of green up all over the front yard. Lots of little Bermuda starting to show itself. Still no where near needing a mow but it's exciting to see green that isn't a winter weed. Weather has been sunny and in the low 70s the last few days. Really starting to feel nice outside. Planning to video a walkthrough of the yard tomorrow. If I can figure out how to post it to YouTube I will put it up on here.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Quick walkthrough of the lawn and it's current state.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_WFgeDLJeoQ


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Quick walkthrough from a Monday. We mowed it short yesterday to try to encourage some spreading.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tw2muBsyvbQ


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

It's been just over 3 weeks since my wife and I sprayed. I can't believe how much the yard has greened up since then. It is far from perfect. Actually it is far from good. I feel like if I created a new username and wrote one of those "First time posting, this is the first spring that we have been in the house and the yard is terrible" posts that I would get a lot of "nuke it and start over" replies. There are two areas where the grass has come back in fairly thick and nice looking.




However the rest of the lawn is thin.







I'm trying to be patient and tell myself that the weather has only been warm for a couple weeks. I'm giving it about .5lb of N every two weeks. We've been getting a decent amount of rain too. I think I'm going to ask the boss for permission to order the bio stem pack to see if I can get the soil to improve. My son has been mowing it at either 1.75" or 2.25" every 3 days trying to get it to start spreading into the bare spots.
The fescue in the back is growing like crazy. The 3 way I sprayed knocked down a lot of the weeds that were in there.





On the plus side our irises are about to bloom. It's always a pretty time in TN when the irises are blooming.



Hopefully the next update will have good news. Fingers crossed.


----------



## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> I was complaining about it yesterday and my lovely wife said "Hell I'll carry the backpack and you walk next to me and spray."


That's awesome! Teamwork makes the dream work!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Well, I've stepped back from the ledge a little bit. I put out about .5lb of N with a 29-0-5 last week before we had some nice rain. I also sprayed the yard with a 20-0-0 hose end weed and feed a few days earlier. The grass is responding nicely. My son mowed it at 1.75" yesterday and it looks much better than it did last week. He's getting pretty good with the mower.


The center section is nice and thick and green still. Funny thing is, this area looked horrible at the end of last season. The dead spots are where I hit some weeds with roundup.

The side yard is nice and thick as well except for the spots that are filling in dead areas.

The rest of the yard is starting to come into its own. I really hope I can get it to look like the center section by the end of the season.



This is a nice area of the center section. It is really looking nice (well, nice for my yard anyways).

Hopefully as the summer rolls around the yard will continue to make progress. I'm starting to feel better about it.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

A few pics a the change from April 27th to May 7th. The newer pics are first. I like seeing comparison shots of the same areas:


----------



## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

That's filling in nicely. I hope your back is doing better.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Redtwin said:


> That's filling in nicely. I hope your back is doing better.


Thank you. I'm starting to feel better about the lawn. The back is coming along. Really just bone soreness now from the fusing happening. Hopefully I'll be back mowing by late June. Thanks for the well wishes.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Another week and it is still filling in. Somehow I haven't ruined it yet. Temps have been cool this week so it has slowed a little.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Your son is doing a great job holding down the fort during your recovery! Take it easy...


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Your son is doing a great job holding down the fort during your recovery! Take it easy...


I may or may not have walked next to him with my hand on the mower for 95% of the mow. At this point it is unconfirmed. TMZ hasn't reported it so it may not be true.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> ctrav said:
> 
> 
> > Your son is doing a great job holding down the fort during your recovery! Take it easy...
> ...


Too funny...


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

The lawn did fairly well through the drought and heat wave. Saw a little bit of browning but not too bad. Looks like lots of rain coming in the next 6 days.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Are the browning spots from heat stress? Do you have unground irrigation?


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Are the browning spots from heat stress? Do you have unground irrigation?


The brown spots in the 1st and 2nd picture are from spring dead spot and a heavy glyphosate trigger finger. I would assume the ones by the driveway are from the concrete heat and no rain for 16 days. We got a good rain today and more coming through Sunday so I'm hoping it all bounces back. No irrigation other than moving hoses around. My bio stem pack was supposed to arrive last week but got damaged in transit so I'm still waiting for a replacement. Really want to see what the 0-0-2 with micros and iron does for the color.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> ctrav said:
> 
> 
> > Are the browning spots from heat stress? Do you have unground irrigation?
> ...


Thanks for that. Now Im assuming it will self correct??


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > ctrav said:
> ...


The spring dead spots are half the size they were after green up. The glyphosate spots are already filling in. One of the spots in the I Freaking Love Bermuda thread is one of the gly spots. Since this is really my first full season with Bermuda I'm amazed at how quickly it self heals. I'm really just counting down till the doctor releases me so I can start mowing 2-3 times a week. Add in the bio stem pack and I'm as excited as I was for my honeymoon. The main difference is my wife never says that was quick when I finish mowing.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Got in a full service yesterday. I weed eated and edged while the wife mowed. I've got some leaf spot showing up.




Trying to track down some Disease EX locally but it appears to be the Jimmy Hoffa of fungicides.

Other than that the lawn is coming along nicely. Sprayed my first Bio Stem dose the other night. Too soon to see a response. Bare spots are filling in and overall I'm pleased.
















I do have one spot in the front that I cannot get anything to take root. I'm thinking about some topsoil and plugs to help it along.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I was able to track down Disease EX at Home Depot in Johnson City. I applied a curative rate and water it in with Ironite 7-0-1 with 1% Iron. I let that sit a few hours then I washed it off with 6oz per 1000 of Air-8. I ordered FEature and some TeeJet nozzles this weekend in anticipation of being released by the doctor on Wednesday. Ready to get back to mowing and getting this lawn right.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Hope all goes well on Wednesday...just take it easy buddy!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

The little side strip between my driveway and the neighbors yard has made the biggest jump so far. I'm not sure what order the pics will be in but from a month ago to now it has really improved:


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> The little side strip between my driveway and the neighbors yard has made the biggest jump so far. I'm not sure what order the pics will be in but from a month ago to now it has really improved:


No kidding that's coming along nicely!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Not lawn related but the exciting news today is that I have been released by the doctor to begin regular activities. This includes mowing so I guess it can be lawn related. Of course the day I get released to begin mowing again it is raining. Boy I can't wait to fire up the Timemaster and get my mow on. I'll probably pass out as I haven't done anything physical for almost 3 months.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Not lawn related but the exciting news today is that I have been released by the doctor to begin regular activities. This includes mowing so I guess it can be lawn related. Of course the day I get released to begin mowing again it is raining. Boy I can't wait to fire up the Timemaster and get my mow on. I'll probably pass out as I haven't done anything physical for almost 3 months.


Great news buddy! Easy does it...


----------



## Brackin4au (Jun 13, 2018)

Congrats @TN Hawkeye ease into it for sure (advice from a PT ha).


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > Not lawn related but the exciting news today is that I have been released by the doctor to begin regular activities. This includes mowing so I guess it can be lawn related. Of course the day I get released to begin mowing again it is raining. Boy I can't wait to fire up the Timemaster and get my mow on. I'll probably pass out as I haven't done anything physical for almost 3 months.
> ...


Yeah I'm thinking this is not going to be a glamorous looking activity. Lots of sweating and light headed feeling. And that's probably just putting on my shoes.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Brackin4au said:


> Congrats @TN Hawkeye ease into it for sure (advice from a PT ha).


Will do. I doubt I will be opening the Personal Pace past about 85 year old with gout speed.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ANd the excitement keeps growing. I also got a notice today that my first bag of FEature will deliver tonight and my TeeJet nozzles will arrive tomorrow. It's time to push this lawn all the up to Only Slightly Embarrassing. Can't wait for the weekend.


----------



## Brackin4au (Jun 13, 2018)

[IMG=https://media.giphy.com/media/5GoVLqeAOo6PK/200.gif][/IMG]


----------



## dentalschoolkid (Jun 11, 2019)

Great news on your release @TN Hawkeye. Are you spraying a liquid fertilizer or putting down granular. I saw on a previous post you sprayed 20-0-0. I have only put down a 13-13-13 and am wanting to push the growth a bit before it gets too hot.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Brackin4au said:


> [IMG=https://media.giphy.com/media/5GoVLqeAOo6PK/200.gif][/IMG]


I know right?


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

dentalschoolkid said:


> Great news on your release @TN Hawkeye. Are you spraying a liquid fertilizer or putting down granular. I saw on a previous post you sprayed 20-0-0. I have only put down a 13-13-13 and am wanting to push the growth a bit before it gets too hot.


To be honest I don't think I got much out of that RTU 20-0-0. If I had more confidence I would go with AMS or Urea dissolved for a foliar app. Since this is really my first full season with all Bermuda everything is sort of a test at this point. Especially since I wasn't able to do a soil test in the spring. I'm just hoping to let it ride this summer and really do it right next year. I have been applying granular at times this spring when the wife wasn't here to yell at me.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

As I rolled the Timemaster out of the garage I imagined O Fortuna playing in the background. Time for a preflight check... gas tank full... check... blades sharpened... check... back brace tightened so that my stomach fat pressed out over the top... check... shorts tightened so they dont fall down mid mow revealing my Bradley Cooper underwear... check. It was time to mow. I mowed the fescue in the back first so I could save the main event for last. Once I was halfway through the front I paused to look at what I had accomplished. I proudly looked at my lawn and thought "This looks like s***." All the rain and being gone for a couple days allowed it to grow too much. So now I have to decide if I take it up a notch and leave it for a while to grow in or scalp it down and reset... (Jeopordy theme) The hell with leaving it alone. I haven't been able to mow this b**** for 8 months. I'm gonna scalp it. I dont care if I have to mow it 5 times to get it done. I just want to have my hands on my mower and be in the lawn. Oh and my "friend" told me to not be a tool and be sure to bag the clippings.








The pictures really don't do justice to how brown it looked. I may give it one more mow to see if it's just that it is growing out of the fungus or if it really does need a scalp.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> As I rolled the Timemaster out of the garage I imagined O Fortuna playing in the background. Time for a preflight check... gas tank full... check... blades sharpened... check... back brace tightened so that my stomach fat pressed out over the top... check... shorts tightened so they dont fall down mid mow revealing my Bradley Cooper underwear... check. It was time to mow. I mowed the fescue in the back first so I could save the main event for last. Once I was halfway through the front I paused to look at what I had accomplished. I proudly looked at my lawn and thought "This looks like s***." All the rain and being gone for a couple days allowed it to grow too much. So now I have to decide if I take it up a notch and leave it for a while to grow in or scalp it down and reset... (Jeopordy theme) The hell with leaving it alone. I haven't been able to mow this b**** for 8 months. I'm gonna scalp it. I dont care if I have to mow it 5 times to get it done. I just want to have my hands on my mower and be in the lawn. Oh and my "friend" told me to not be a tool and be sure to bag the clippings.


Get er done! It will be awesome in no time and great to see back behind the bar!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Well she got a shave today. Not quite hardwood floors but not shag carpet. I was tempted to leave her with a landing strip but decided against it.


Tomorrow morning I will throw down some quick release fert and then wash it in with some RGS. We are supposed to get some nice rain Sunday night as well. Hope to spray some FEature and Celsius (or kelvin) as well.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Look at you back in the saddle... Although I have seen better cuts from this guy :lol: :lol: 
https://postimg.cc/WdyTK3c0


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Look at you back in the saddle... Although I have seen better cuts from this guy :lol: :lol:
> https://postimg.cc/WdyTK3c0


I agree. It's tough to get a good cut when you are seeing stars and about to pass out. I just keep telling myself that deep down my wife thinks grass is sexy and maybe someday my son will post a picture of me mowing on twit-book that people will like.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Gave the lawn the first cut since the scalping. Its bouncing back. The ground was a little wet so the mower left some tracks. Going to experiment with FEature on the little side strip and the side yard. They add up to right at 1000 square feet. 








I had a blowout halfway through the mow job. Looks like I need some new mowing shoes.



When I trimmed out by the road I had tons of runners so I threw them down in a bare spot and pushed them in the ground a little. Looks like a few of them are going to survive. I freaking love bermuda.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Didn't you just cut like 18 hours ago :shock: 
Looking good as always but did you know that if you pour a little concrete down on those bare spots the bermuda runners will flourish :thumbup:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Didn't you just cut like 18 hours ago :shock:
> Looking good as always but did you know that if you pour a little concrete down on those bare spots the bermuda runners will flourish :thumbup:


I feel like you may be kidding. :lol: In all seriousness I'm just trying to come in 3rd place behind you and Cory's neighbor. I'm just so glad to be mowing again. Even though it took my about 53 minutes to stop sweating it feels so good.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Im always yanking at ya one way or the other (all with the very best intentions)! Yea the sweat gets crazy and I even come in and take ice water breaks! I love it so much I find myself thinking of the rest of this years plan (dealing with the heat), next years plan (sand leveling) and a long term plan for the entire property. Im not obsessed in the least bit though.... :lol: :lol:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

We finally have a day of sunshine after 4 straight days of rain. After I posted those pictures Wednesday it poured most of the evening. I gave the front another cut at 2" this afternoon. Didn't really cut a lot but gave it a little trim. Most of the lawn has recovered from the scalp but still have a few spots working at it. I will post some pictures in a bit. 
I test sprayed (calibrated) my new TeeJet nozzle in my sprayer and told myself I won't screw up this time. I mixed up 2 gallons of water with 4oz (by weight on a scale) of FEature. Still being a little skittish I strategically chose 4 areas in the lawn that add up to just over 2000 sq ft. I walked at my calibrated speed and put down the product. I probably walked a little fast as I had enough to go over the side strip again and put down a test in the rough Bermuda area. We are expecting rain tonight so it should have enough time to be absorbed, dry, and then be watered in. I'll either have green parts or black parts.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> We finally have a day of sunshine after 4 straight days of rain. After I posted those pictures Wednesday it poured most of the evening. I gave the front another cut at 2" this afternoon. Didn't really cut a lot but gave it a little trim. Most of the lawn has recovered from the scalp but still have a few spots working at it. I will post some pictures in a bit.
> I test sprayed (calibrated) my new TeeJet nozzle in my sprayer and told myself I won't screw up this time. I mixed up 2 gallons of water with 4oz (by weight on a scale) of FEature. Still being a little skittish I strategically chose 4 areas in the lawn that add up to just over 2000 sq ft. I walked at my calibrated speed and put down the product. I probably walked a little fast as I had enough to go over the side strip again and put down a test in the rough Bermuda area. We are expecting rain tonight so it should have enough time to be absorbed, dry, and then be watered in. I'll either have green parts or black parts.


Good job! Must be nice to mow the day after it rains. I have to wait 2-3 days because of soggy areas...


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

How do you like the TimeMaster? I have a Recycler and it does the job but nothing special so I was considering Super Recycler or the TimeMaster.... Would like to get better mulching (I even use gator blades). Does the TimeMaster cut down to 1" or lower??


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> How do you like the TimeMaster? I have a Recycler and it does the job but nothing special so I was considering Super Recycler or the TimeMaster.... Would like to get better mulching (I even use gator blades). Does the TimeMaster cut down to 1" or lower??


1 1/4" is the lowest it goes. I've not even attempted it on my lawn. It mulches pretty well. When I make a turn on my barespot it leaves very fine clippings across the ground. As long as it isn't too high it almost never leaves a clipping strip next to my path.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> ctrav said:
> 
> 
> > How do you like the TimeMaster? I have a Recycler and it does the job but nothing special so I was considering Super Recycler or the TimeMaster.... Would like to get better mulching (I even use gator blades). Does the TimeMaster cut down to 1" or lower??
> ...


Thanks for the info...


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Got in a full service today. Still debating raising my height to 2.75". It just seems like the lawn is to bumpy for 2.25". Plus it is growing like crazy. Mowed Friday and Sunday and was close to the 1/3 rule. Mowed today (Wednesday) and was probably very close.








My son the superhero raced me back and forth on the driveway while I mowed. Made me laugh quite a few times.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Lawn still looks as awesome as ever. Why not 2.5" vs a full half inch? Just curious...
As for Spider Man and how the house would look try living with two little girls who jus have to rip out every single coloring page and tape it up somewhere in the house...I have pictures taped to almost every wall and now the oven doors  ... I have to sneak around at night and trash a few just to have some wall space :lol: :lol:

Life is good my friend!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

So... I'm not sure what happened in the main part of my front yard but it actually looking pretty nice. I guess if you treat fungus, feed it regularly, you get some decent rain, and the sun shines the lawn likes that. I'm wondering if it was the starter fert I put down 2.5 weeks ago. I never got a chance to do a soil test so I may have needed some P and K. I haven't put any Carbon X or FEature on this but the green is getting nice and dark. I wish I could say 100% that it is the N-Ext products. I'm sure they haven't hurt but since this is my first full summer with this grass I honestly don't know.




But of course to keep me from being too happy Mother Nature has the sun rising and setting so I see nice deep green stripes from the house and everyone else sees lime green grass.


I'm 99% sure that I am going to have to start side discharging. It is getting almost too thick for my mower. It's not bogging down but it is dropping some longer clippings.


----------



## RDZed (Jul 13, 2018)

Looks awesome man.

I will say one thing about the Next humic products, the water retention in my soil has made HUGE leaps since I started using them earlier this spring.

Like my old man said to me once "Sometimes shit just works out. Embrace it."


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

RDZed said:


> Looks awesome man.
> 
> I will say one thing about the Next humic products, the water retention in my soil has made HUGE leaps since I started using them earlier this spring.
> 
> Like my old man said to me once "Sometimes s--- just works out. Embrace it."


Yeah man I'm not gonna complain. We have friends and family coming over for the 4th so I think I'm going to hit it with FEature today to see if I can really get it popping. Thanks for the compliment.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Got out with the early birds this morning and sprayed the main section of my lawn with FEature. Not supposed to be any rain so hopefully it'll get a nice drink of the magic red juice. Spread mulch along our front porch. Later this afternoon I'm going to hit some broadleaf weeds with some 3 way. Although I need to check the temp restrictions on that. Also going to spray a patch of nutsedge I have. Busy day in the lawn.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Got out with the early birds this morning and sprayed the main section of my lawn with FEature. Not supposed to be any rain so hopefully it'll get a nice drink of the magic red juice. Spread mulch along our front porch. Later this afternoon I'm going to hit some broadleaf weeds with some 3 way. Although I need to check the temp restrictions on that. Also going to spray a patch of nutsedge I have. Busy day in the lawn.


You will be ready for the 4th for sure...


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I had my afternoon all planned out. I left work early to watch the US Womens National Team play England in the Womens World Cup and with only a 30% chance of rain I planned to give it the final cleanup before the 4th. Well 30% turned into 150%. Tomorrow is 60% so I knew I had better do it today. Watched the USWNT beat England and then trimmed, edged, mowed, and blowed the wet lawn. I put on a brand new set of blades and changed out my weedeater string for a heavier string. Both worked beautifully. The FEature and Celsius I sprayed Sunday are starting to show results. I think it will really look nice for Thursday.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> I had my afternoon all planned out. I left work early to watch the US Womens National Team play England in the Womens World Cup and with only a 30% chance of rain I planned to give it the final cleanup before the 4th. Well 30% turned into 150%. Tomorrow is 60% so I knew I had better do it today. Watched the USWNT beat England and then trimmed, edged, mowed, and blowed the wet lawn. I put on a brand new set of blades and changed out my weedeater string for a heavier string. Both worked beautifully. The FEature and Celsius I sprayed Sunday are starting to show results. I think it will really look nice for Thursday.


Shaping up super nice and will for sure be sweet on the 4th with some rain to top it off!

All that work buddy do you need this 😳


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > I had my afternoon all planned out. I left work early to watch the US Womens National Team play England in the Womens World Cup and with only a 30% chance of rain I planned to give it the final cleanup before the 4th. Well 30% turned into 150%. Tomorrow is 60% so I knew I had better do it today. Watched the USWNT beat England and then trimmed, edged, mowed, and blowed the wet lawn. I put on a brand new set of blades and changed out my weedeater string for a heavier string. Both worked beautifully. The FEature and Celsius I sprayed Sunday are starting to show results. I think it will really look nice for Thursday.
> ...


I'm known as the Ibuprofen Guy at work. I have a bottle on my desk about the size of a 4 gallon backpack sprayer. Everyone knows if they need some street legal drugs to hit me up.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

The FEature I sprayed seems to have starting kicking in. Yard looked very green.


But I did get some yellowing from the Celsius app. No NIS. Sprayed at medium rate.


But the kids had a blast. We'll see what all the water and soap does.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Color looks great for sure but those smiling kids :thumbup:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Color looks great for sure but those smiling kids :thumbup:


I bet they played on that thing for a solid 3 hours. I can't take credit for the idea. My wife dreamed it up. Fun was had by all. I hope you and the girls had a great night too. I'm sure Paw Paw made it extra special for them.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

https://youtu.be/W3j58n8SyH8


----------



## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Looks really good!


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Nice video...but did you ask them if this was fescue :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Nice video...but did you ask them if this was fescue :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:


I told them to stay off the grass... what do they thinks it's Fescue. Meaning that a higher end cultivar such as common Bermuda should not be trampled on like it is fescue.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> ctrav said:
> 
> 
> > Nice video...but did you ask them if this was fescue :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:
> ...


Oh I got it... :thumbup:


----------



## Austinite (Oct 4, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> The FEature I sprayed seems to have starting kicking in. Yard looked very green.
> 
> 
> But I did get some yellowing from the Celsius app. No NIS. Sprayed at medium rate.
> ...


 that is a beautiful green color. even with the yellowing, LOVE FEature! I put it down 2 days ago along with PGR and my lawn darkened up nicely in 48 hours. Love it.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Austinite said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > The FEature I sprayed seems to have starting kicking in. Yard looked very green.
> ...


Im pretty impressed. The 1st time I sprayed it rained about 4 hours later and I didn't see any change to the color. This time it sat for about 10 hours before it rained. This also tells me that my soil ph is on the high side as granular iron does very little if anything. Last year it was in the 6.8 range on a soil savvy test. I don't reckon it improved much naturally in a year. I'll find out for sure when I get a soil test but just a hunch.


----------



## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Beautiful green color!

Lawn is looking good!

I remember last year when you first posted your Bermuda lawn. It looked awesome then as well as now!


----------



## JTCJC (May 31, 2019)

Looking good! Looks like the kids had fun too! :thumbup:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

JTCJC said:


> Looking good! Looks like the kids had fun too! :thumbup:


Thanks for the compliment. The kids flat out wore themselves out. Two of the younger ones fell asleep during the fireworks. Hopefully it's a night they will remember as there were no video gamesmanship, no TV, and no inside time all night. Just old school 4th of July fun.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ENC_Lawn said:


> Beautiful green color!
> 
> Lawn is looking good!
> 
> I remember last year when you first posted your Bermuda lawn. It looked awesome then as well as now!


Funny you should say that because I just pulled this picture from last year to compare to today's picture:
From August 3rd with a lot of Fescue still mixed in


From Today with No Fescue Mixed In



I'm starting to feel a lot better with where the lawn is.


----------



## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> > Beautiful green color!
> ...


Yep...both pics look good...but the picture without the Fescue looks sharp!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ENC_Lawn said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > ENC_Lawn said:
> ...


Thank you, I'll do my darndest to keep it like till dormancy.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I'm starting to feel more in "mowing" shape so I went with angle cuts tonight. By far the hardest stripes to keep straight. Mowing side to side is tougher physically because of the hills but easier because the stripes are shorter. It will take another mowing to get the stripes to really pop but it looked ok tonight.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Beautiful color you got going!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Beautiful color you got going!


I appreciate that. It is definitely greener than than my neighbors but I really want the deep green color you have. I know with common Bermuda it probably won't happen but I'm hoping the FEature will get it a few shades darker. I'm just so glad that I will be able to spray pre em this fall and properly care for the lawn going into winter. I really think next year will be the best yet.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> ctrav said:
> 
> 
> > Beautiful color you got going!
> ...


I find the deep free color an elusive task. Pictures are dependent on the time of day 😎


----------



## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> So... I'm not sure what happened in the main part of my front yard but it actually looking pretty nice. I guess if you treat fungus, feed it regularly, you get some decent rain, and the sun shines the lawn likes that. I'm wondering if it was the starter fert I put down 2.5 weeks ago. I never got a chance to do a soil test so I may have needed some P and K. I haven't put any Carbon X or FEature on this but the green is getting nice and dark. I wish I could say 100% that it is the N-Ext products. I'm sure they haven't hurt but since this is my first full summer with this grass I honestly don't know.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


HOC and color is looking great!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ENC_Lawn said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > So... I'm not sure what happened in the main part of my front yard but it actually looking pretty nice. I guess if you treat fungus, feed it regularly, you get some decent rain, and the sun shines the lawn likes that. I'm wondering if it was the starter fert I put down 2.5 weeks ago. I never got a chance to do a soil test so I may have needed some P and K. I haven't put any Carbon X or FEature on this but the green is getting nice and dark. I wish I could say 100% that it is the N-Ext products. I'm sure they haven't hurt but since this is my first full summer with this grass I honestly don't know.
> ...


Thank you. I was able to get some FEature down a few days before the 4th and it really popped. I'm sold on liquid iron. I may even dip my toe into spraying AMS next season.


----------



## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> > TN Hawkeye said:
> ...


I don't know anything about liquid iron?

Do you have a link?

The only Iron I have experience with is IRONITE...which I am sure there are better options at a lower cost.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ENC_Lawn said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > ENC_Lawn said:
> ...


There are a couple different threads going about it:

This one talks about mixing and spraying your own:
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=211

This one talks about alternatives to FEature. I was lucky enough to get a bag of FEature and that is what I used. I'm not confident enough to mix and spray my own stuff yet.
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11477


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Full service trim, edge, mow, and blow. Also started a fertilizer test. I'll start another thread about that.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Lawn looks terrific!! &#128077;&#127998;


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Lawn looks terrific!! 👍🏾


Thank you. It's due another FEature spray buy I'm gonna hold off till the fertilizers kick in.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

I decided to tackle the bare spot I have out by the road. So I gathered a bunch of sprigs, roughed up the soil with a garden weasel, manually aerated the area, drilled a bunch of holes and spread the sprigs. I top dressed it with some garden soil I had and sprayed the area with a dose of Air 8. Hopefully it will start to fill in some.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> I decided to tackle the bare spot I have out by the road. So I gathered a bunch of sprigs, roughed up the soil with a garden weasel, manually aerated the area, drilled a bunch of holes and spread the sprigs. I top dressed it with some garden soil I had and sprayed the area with a dose of Air 8. Hopefully it will start to fill in some.


Awesome! 👍🏾


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > I decided to tackle the bare spot I have out by the road. So I gathered a bunch of sprigs, roughed up the soil with a garden weasel, manually aerated the area, drilled a bunch of holes and spread the sprigs. I top dressed it with some garden soil I had and sprayed the area with a dose of Air 8. Hopefully it will start to fill in some.
> ...


I probably should have done it a month ago but we'll see what happens. If it takes but doesn't make it through winter then I will do it earlier next year.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Did a quick mow and applied Humic 12. Having a small family BBQ this evening so have to switch gears from Lawn Master to Grill Master.


----------



## JTCJC (May 31, 2019)

Looking awesome!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

JTCJC said:


> Looking awesome!


Thank you. It is growing like crazy. I mowed Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday and was amazed how much I was cutting off. I'm a little scared once the Carbon X and Scotts start kicking in. About time for another shot of FEature as well. Thanks for the compliment.


----------



## JTCJC (May 31, 2019)

Did you apply PGR again? I know you had used it earlier. I was thinking about FEature for mine, never used it though


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

JTCJC said:


> Did you apply PGR again? I know you had used it earlier. I was thinking about FEature for mine, never used it though


I have never used PGR. I'm quite scared of it. Actually I'm scared of me applying it. I feel like it would be the equivalent of a magician calling me on stage to saw his assistant in half... and at the last minute I use my own saw.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> JTCJC said:
> 
> 
> > Did you apply PGR again? I know you had used it earlier. I was thinking about FEature for mine, never used it though
> ...


Great answer as that's how I feel. I would do something wrong for sure...


----------



## JTCJC (May 31, 2019)

Oh sorry thought you had used it.

I was pretty scared at first too but now I love it with the exception of the slow recovery from top dressing.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

So... something is working too much. I have mowed Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, and this was today (Tuesday).





On the plus side, I have maybe mowed this direction twice in almost 2 years but damn it striped nice.






I was not wearing a kilt despite what the pic looks like.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Yea but it looks great...


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Yea but it looks great...


Thank you. I can't imagine how much I would have to cut with a reel like yours. I'm at 2.75" and I could mow every day. I don't know if it's the clay soil or the rain and heat or all 3, maybe it's the N-Ext products but it it is growing like crazy.


----------



## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> So... something is working too much. I have mowed Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, and this was today (Tuesday).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks good to me. I'm mowing every two days too. Do you have T-nex? That will slow it down for sure.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Cory said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > So... something is working too much. I have mowed Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, and this was today (Tuesday).
> ...


I don't. I think I've reached the point where people go "I have to slow this down." Luckily we are in between seasons for both boys sports. Games start in the next 2 weeks. I may try to ride it out this season and look for a split next season.


----------



## JTCJC (May 31, 2019)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Cory said:
> 
> 
> > TN Hawkeye said:
> ...


I just started with T-Nex this season. I was scared at first as well but once I learned how to "calibrate" my walking to 1 gallon per 1000 sqft it became real easy. Actually I kind of enjoy it now. If you are not sure of your pattern when walking you can always add a maker dye to see where you sprayed. I also read you can do it in the morning when there is dew on the lawn and you can see but I have not tried yet. My GDD always ends during the week... I just follow the stripes on the lawn.

I just bought some a month ago. I can split some off for you if you want to try it for a fellow Tennessean


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

@JTCJC I really appreciate the offer but I got so out of shape (and a bit plump) after my surgery that I actually need to mow a lot to drop some of this weight. There's a very good chance I will look into the marketplace for a split next season.


----------



## JTCJC (May 31, 2019)

TN Hawkeye said:


> @JTCJC I really appreciate the offer but I got so out of shape (and a bit plump) after my surgery that I actually need to mow a lot to drop some of this weight. There's a very good chance I will look into the marketplace for a split next season.


No worries and good for you! I will probably still have the entire jug next year too... :lol:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Another 2 days... another mow job.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Your cut always looks good. How's the dirt patch coming along?


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Your cut always looks good. How's the dirt patch coming along?


Dead. I put the sprigs out in anticipation of rain that never came. It is slowly filling in on its own from the edges. I may try to dig some plugs from another area and stick them in there and remember to water. Thanks for the compliment on the cut.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Initial stage of maiden voyage completed. Pics in my journal later. I chose this song &#128526;
https://youtu.be/btPJPFnesV4


----------



## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Another 2 days... another mow job.


Looks great 👍🏻


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Thor865 said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > Another 2 days... another mow job.
> ...


Thank you. I appreciate that.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

ctrav said:


> Initial stage of maiden voyage completed. Pics in my journal later. I chose this song 😎


Very appropriate. :thumbup:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Setting up for the yard sale this morning and the morning dew makes everything look so nice.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Once again the weather forecast screwed me. Rain supposed to start mid-morning and get heaviest after noon. I see white clouds and blue skies right now. I rushed out to mow this morning while it was still wet. Side discharges and it clumped like hell. Went over it again on mulch to clean them up. One nice thing is the double cut makes the stripes glow.


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Hate when that happens :lol: :lol:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Gave the lawn a reset on July 25th. Didn't get any pics but it looked like crap. Think I had some leaf spots back as well. I put out some Disease Ex and propiconazole a few days before I scalped and then bagged the scalp. Haven't done anything to it other than mow when it needed it. Lawn has recovered well.










I'm planning to try my hand at plugging one of my bare areas. Definitely plan to set a sprinkler up on a timer to keep it moist. I will also throw out a handful or two of Carbon x into the area and hit it with some RGS to help it recover. 
I've been holding off on my Celsius app but the weeds are getting out of control. Going to spray a medium rate with no surfactant this evening. Then I plan to apply round 2 of the Carbon X vs Scotts fertilizer tomorrow night. Rain is supposed to move in Wednesday but who knows anymore.


----------



## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

Great color as always!

Looking good!


----------



## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Outstanding color and looking thick!!


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

It's amazing what not having back surgery can do for your lawn. I was able to get down fall pre em and spring pre em as well as a proper scalp and fertilization. I applied milorganite a 4 weeks ago and a starter fertilizer (soil test was way low on phosphorus) 10 days ago. I applied Ironite at the same time as the starter. First 3 mows after scalp were with a fiskars manual reel. Since then it is with my timemaster at 1.75. Still have SDS that I will treat in the fall. Really looking forward to this season.





I'm also killing off a large section of pasture Bermuda that I plan to plug from the good (common) stuff.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

A few pictures from the same angles I used last season:


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Got in a quick mow and got out grub ex. Cooked tacos and now sitting on the front porch with food and a beer watching it start to rain.


----------



## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Gave it a mow today. Temps are finally getting into the 80s.







I'm really happy with where it is right now. The SDS spots are almost filled in except for a few. Color is good. And it is way ahead of last year.


----------

