# New Lawn Journal



## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

I am going to admit right out of the gate that I am really bad at documenting things as I get to working and forget to take pictures! So I am hoping I can stick with this journal throughout! As a bit of history, I have been mowing lawns since I was 4, and I can proudly say that my dad got me started on a reel mower right out of the gate. After graduating to something with a motor, I was only tall enough to push the lower bar (it was long enough ago there was no safety lever you have to hold so it worked great!) Ever since I have loved being in the lawn! I just recently moved from a home in town with a postage stamp yard to a home I built on 5 acres! I have been deprived of having a really great lawn for too long so this may get a little out of hand. I'm planning on just over 24,000 Sq Ft of SS1100 KBG from seedsuperstore as my cultivar. So far all I have done is moved what seems like an entire mountain of dirt in order to level things off as best as I can but things are about to move really quick! I am getting underground sprinklers installed next week and then should be seeding the week after that! I'm looking forward to any advice you all can give me!


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## gregonfire (Sep 18, 2017)

Looks like a beautiful home and property. I look forward to seeing your progress! My wife and I will be visiting montana later this month, I'm very excited.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Thanks! I hope you enjoy Montana! Too bad you are about a month too late for all the work I would have had you come run a rake! lol


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Quick update of work from last night! Just a bunch of dragging to get things smooth. I am hoping to get a couple more evenings in continuing to do the same so I can have a yard as smooth as Connor Ward


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@wardconnor is getting some competition.


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## wardconnor (Mar 25, 2017)

g-man said:


> @wardconnor is getting some competition.


If this really happens... I am going to break some legs


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Unfortunately for me I am learining from Connor so I will always be one step behind! But if my lawn turns out anything like his I will be quite happy! But.... I do like competition so who knows pally-O I just may try and make a pass for the win at the last minute!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Its a big week this week! Got my seed and starter fert and should have the irrigation finished up this week I am hoping! My goal is to do some releveling where the irrigation work is and the seed down and fert all weekend! Cant wait to get growing!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Well that was a big weekend!! I'm starting to think I may have gone a bit big on this project! 7.4 miles on saturday and 7.2 miles on sunday according to my Iphone but seed is down and hopefully only minor washing away as of course we had a random storm roll through an hour after I got done seeding  Here's the list of what I put down:

1 Gallon Hydrotain
2 Gallons Chelated Iron
3 Oz Tenacity
100 Lb Andersons DG Humic
122 Lbs Starter Fert 19-26-6

50 lbs ss1100

Total Sq Footage of yard is just under 25,000
Sorry my math scares me sometimes so I hope for any of you that double check my app rates that I didn't screw anything up too bad!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Day 3: The wait is killing me!! I don't see any new baby grasses coming up yet. I have used the time off to get most of the outer sprinklers dialed in a little better. I would really like to get in and make a few minor adjustments to my middle ones but really don't want to walk on anything so I have made adjustments to the time on each zone to make the best of the current setup and it looks like it is working well. I do have a couple low spots showing up with some small puddles that stick around for probably 10 to 15 mins after that zone runs so I am hoping this wont be a problem but maybe some of you can let me know if I should back those zones down a bit and run them more frequently? I am currently running pretty short run times on each zone and am running a full program at 7am 10:30am 12:30pm 4pm and 7pm. This seems to keep everything wet without getting any runoff but I am learning that the wind and sun vs cloudy times change that quite a bit! I'm nervous as I am going to be gone for a few days this weekend and I have the wifi unit coming for the sprinkler system but I don't have any sort of camera to monitor things! Hopefully maybe I can have a friend check it once in a while and let me know if things are looking good! Hopefully when I return I will have a bunch of baby sprouts to go look at! I am also noticing a few spots of the crested wheat grass greening up due to all of the water and am thinking that they maybe were too stressed at the time of my glyphosate apps to be affected and now are coming out strong so this sucks! Not sure how I will handle this?? I am guessing there isn't anything I can do about it now. Would the Tenacity kill this and maybe just hasn't taken its toll on it yet? I did spray it the day before seeding. Also is there anything I should do before I leave town that anyone can think of? Thanks for the help in advance!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Still out looking for the first seedling to pop up!! But in spending all that time looking so closely, I'm starting to see little weeds coming up already :roll:. What is the timeframe before I can go back in with Tenacity or something for the weeds? Also, each day the crested wheat grass that apparently didn't die with the 3 apps of gly are coming in quite a bit. Do you guys think I should just let them grow and figure out how to thin them out in the spring next year or should I go in with another round of Gly and re seed those sections so I don't have to deal with them later? It's amazing what will come back to life with this much water going down.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Sorry I was gone for a bit but am really excited that the grass is starting to come in pretty good finally! I definitely have some spots that the first storm we had washed out but this side did really well! I am thinking I want to get some N on it before too much longer. Any opinions on if its too early? Today is day 19 and haven't had a cut yet. Also I am wondering if I should back off watering a bit yet or keep going with the keeping things wet the entire time?


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

The baby grass is finally starting to fill in! We have been getting a bunch of rain the last few days so I'm hoping the few puddles I have don't hurt anything but it does look like we will have a fwe days of sun before the rain comes back at the end of the week. I am hoping I can get things slightly dried up so I can get out and put some fert down and do a little weed cleanup. I'm really suprised how well the Tenacity has kept things in check but today is day 30 so I can see a few coming up. Would love to get to mow for the first time if it dries up enough as well!


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Looking good. You definitely have areas that need to fill in or need to be seeded again, but overall that's looking awesome for such a big project.

Definitely start spoon feeding some nitrogen and make sure to let the ground dry before cutting it.

Good job!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

> Looking good. You definitely have areas that need to fill in or need to be seeded again, but overall that's looking awesome for such a big project.
> 
> Definitely start spoon feeding some nitrogen and make sure to let the ground dry before cutting it.
> 
> Good job!


I reseeded some of the bigger areas you can see in this picture last weekend so hopefully those will establish before it gets too cold here! Do you think I need to focus on some of the smaller areas as well or will those fill in over time? I am thinking I am probably too late to do much more this year due to an early winter being predicted but maybe you guys can tell me differently?

Is urea ok to start spoon feeding at this point or should I use something different? And how much would you recommend per k?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Urea at 0.20lb of N/ksqft weekly.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Awesome thanks @g-man


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Got my first app of N down yesterday and got my first mow today!! Just ran the rotary over it at about 1.5 inches HOC but man it felt good to get to mow again for the first time in a really long time! I did realize that it's is a HUGE yard to try and mow with a 21" deck with no propulsion. I'm sore! Some things I'm not impressed with is my leveling. I thought it was pretty good but I've got a lot of work to do to get it where I want it. I think part of it is it is settling some still it seems like.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Well we went straight from fall to winter this weekend. BUT, with bad news comes good sometimes! I just found my new mower! Picked up a JD triplex for so cheap I can't even say it out loud or people would get mad! The bad news is now I have to wait for all this snow to melt before I can go get it and chances are I won't get to mow with it till spring. Man that's going to be hard! I guess its probably a good thing as I will have some reel rebuilding to do it sounds like. I cant wait to cut some grass with this baby!! I will try and get some pictures this week once s#@w melts hopefully!


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Sorry about the early snow! But congrats on the JD. Can't wait for next year.

WIth regards to leveling, this will be a multi year project for you - sand will be your best bet. Soil is always going to find its own level. Especially with the amount of water being put on it for the new seed.

Look forward to next year!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Got the new mower!! It runs great but I am going to have to do some work to the reels. They are worn down to almost the webbing so I may have to replace them but the fact that everything runs and works is amazing and I only paid $500 for it! Its really hard to not go mow with it but I did make a pass in the rough grass and it pulls more out than it does cut so I better get it working right before mowing at all. Cheers to joining the reel world!!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Got most of the reel parts and housings sand blasted and repainted this weekend! I have to keep telling myself it is just an old mower and not get so detailed but my ocd kicks in sometimes! New reels and bed knives will go in at reassembly hopefully this week and maybe I can take it for a test run next weekend if it doesn't snow again!












Also took an hour sat night to go flying since the weather has been so nice!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

That just took me 2 hours to get the first one back together! Hopefully now that I know how to do it the next ones go faster!


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## Bmossin (May 31, 2018)

Your property is amazing...congrats on the reel....that baby is sweet! I am jealous of your shop. I'll be following along. Keep us posted, especially with the work on the reel since we are all pretty much heading into the winter slowdown.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Thanks @Bmossin !


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Well it was a long break but we're back at it! The John Deere lays down some beautiful wide stripes! Things are filling in fast I can't wait to see how it looks a month from now!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Enjoyed an old fashioned with some good MT bourbon and watched the lawn fill in for a bit last night. The doggos are starting to like it!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

I can't believe how much the kbg has filled in this month! Got a good double diamond mow in this morning though and the stripes are coming in great!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Had a bit of a pisseroffer this weekend! It had been raining for 2 days straight which we really needed but then the neighbors horse got out and on his freedom jaunt he trotted right through the yard! Oh well my dogs have dug a couple holes too so it looks like I will be leveling this fall for sure now! On a positive note the grass is looking better and better every day! I just started moving topsoil for an additional 10,000 sq ft to seed this fall! I must have forgot how much work this was last fall!!


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## Bmossin (May 31, 2018)

Pesky neighbors.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Finally getting around to prepping the 10k sq ft side addition. Got the irrigation in and first set of rocks picked. I think there must have been a gravel pile buried here 100 years ago!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Sand showed up for my first leveling job! Got 25 ton :shock: I am waiting to borrow my local golf courses aerator to spread it but I'm hoping I can get the aerator this weekend and at least get that done!


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## badtlc (Aug 22, 2019)

looking nice.


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

I get discouraged some days throughout the hot summer months but looking back on what the lawn looked like this spring sure is a good reminder that I'm making great strides and this doesn't happen overnight! Things have filled in so well and keep getting better and the new addition is in the sprout and pout stage so can't wait to see if evolve! Also I've got my HOC down to 5/8 now and can't believe how much better it looks! Also I'm really impressed how much better the gm1600 cuts once you get the HOC down to where it was intended to operate! Excited for fall and some dark green instead of the faded heat stressed lawn!


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## jhealy748 (Jul 25, 2019)

Finally finished my aeration and leveling project and man was it a project! I definitely need to come up with a better way to get rid of all the cores because the snow shovel and rake about killed me! So happy that my golf course friends hooked me up with some equipment to make the rest of it easier! Never even lifted a shovel while spreading sand!!


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