# lbb091919's 2021 Lawn Journal & Bewitched Reno



## lbb091919

Hi all, my name is Brad and I am finally getting around to starting a journal.

My wife and I built this home in 2019 and a few months later had our first baby on 9/19/2019 (hence the username!). Since then, it's been quite an adventure learning how to be a dad and balancing life, covid, lawn care, and everything else!

Now to the lawn, I'm working with roughly 5000sqft of cool season mix sod on top of a very rocky clay soil. It's builder grade sod and FULL of poa annua. I think I'm the only one in the neighborhood that knows it and, after a year of standing by, this fall it's all gonna die. Well, the front that is.

My main goal for the year is to reno the front 1700sqft with a KBG monostand. I was originally going with Mazama but can't seem to find it anywhere so I've decided on Bewitched. More on that to come. For now, here's a brief timeline of how things have progressed. I didn't find this forum until last winter so I my documenting has been shoddy at best.


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## lbb091919

Here's how it started:

June 2019





I was able to persuade the builder into holding off on sod until temps cooled and also had irrigation installed. If I knew then what I know now I would've told them to keep their sod, grade the lot, and leave me to it.


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## lbb091919

September 2019

Sod took pretty well I'd say. I think I was cutting this around 3.5". Funny how I thought this looked good back then, but now it just looks sloppy.


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## lbb091919

October 2019

Little domination line action. In my present opinion, still wayyy too long but looks good. My shepherd scoping out a squirrel.

One of the things I'm gonna battle if I ever reno the back is those damned squirrels. I don't know trees but something drops nuts all over and the squirrels are relentless back there.


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## lbb091919

Fast forward to June 2020

Finally got around to ripping out the hideous builder landscaping and planted some hostas, geraniums, daylilies, boxwoods, lemongrass, and relocated one surviving spirea. The rose bush and burning bush? on the left remained. The rose bush is now my favorite piece of the landscaping. For me, being an amateur gardener, it has been really fun watching it thrive.

The dogs wreaked havoc on the lawn over the winter. We didn't have our fence yet and they couldnt be trusted with those woods out back! I pulled some donor sod from the back which has since filled in pretty well.

Before




After


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## lbb091919

November 2020

Not lawn related, but missed the opportunity to get my lights up our first year in the home so I was sure to do it early. Put together the color combo myself with come nice C9 LEDs. That far left peak is about 30ft up and because of that I'm not sure if I have the guts to get back up there this year. May have to go back to the drawing board on that one.


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## lbb091919

April 2021

Took the day to extend some beds and mulch. The front rectangle bed looks so empty here it's hilarious. I experimented with T-nex the year before and thought I had it all figured out until I applied a full rate at the end of March. I believe this really stunted the spring green up and the yard is still slowly coming back. You can see it in the pics here.

I also ran out to Illinois to pick up a 220SL from a member on here. April 23, my reel low journey begins.


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## lbb091919

May 2

Bought a SunJoe and finally got a chance to try it out. It was extremely satisfying. Wanted to go another direction but ran out of time.


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## lbb091919

May 8

Planted some marigolds, hostas, columbines and some potted lantanas and dipladenias. Lawn is still working out that PGR app. This was with the Honda rotary at 1.25"


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## lbb091919

May 13

My 220SL test strip. Taught the boy to mow. The next day he tried to teach the neighbor how to go reel low. He didn't listen.


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## lbb091919

May 22

Finally got a full pass on the front with the JD. It was an adrenaline rush! HOC 1.125"


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## lbb091919

Couldn't wait to get out with the JD again so I mowed again on May 25. Same HOC and same smile from ear to ear.

Still not pleased with the color but it only has a couple months to live.


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## lbb091919

That brings us to present day

Here's my bestie rose bush. It's come a long way! The daylilies are getting ready to pop too. Right next to the hidden clean out pipe are some baby purple iris' that are from the original plant of my wife's late grandfather. It was a very cool moment for her to plant those.


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## lbb091919

Last but not least, I just realized I didn't talk about applications. Here's what I've applied so far this year.


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## jskierko

Very detailed. It sure is great to see the fruits of your labor! Great choice settling with Bewitched if that's the route you end up going  . Have you seen any rebound effect within the last week or so from the expiration of your T-Nex app (seems like it should have reached GDD threshold about a week or two ago)?

PS- what is "traffic calming"?


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## lbb091919

@jskierko Thanks, I've read through your Bewitched thread and loved watching the progress! Funny that you gave a shout out to Pete1313 for the inspiration. I've based a lot of my plan around his reno just with adjusted dates for my area.

The T-Nex expired 10 days ago and I'd say there's been some rebound effect which is kind of what I was hoping for. Not as extreme as the myths lead you to believe, but I'm also cutting a lot higher than most hardcore PGR users. GDD as of yesterday is 582.

The traffic calming is right after that sign. You may be able to see it in one of the pics, but basically the lanes narrow for about 30 feet and then go back to normal width. It's supposed to slow people down but it does nothing of the sort. People still fly down the street as it's literally a straight drag strip. I'd never heard of or seen one until this neighborhood either.

I'd also like to add that last night I officially asked for permission from my wife to kill the front yard. I've mentioned "redoing" it in passing, but thought it was time to fill her in on what exactly is going to happen. :lol: Her reaction was about what I expected :shock: and she wanted to know two things: 1. How long is it going to look dead for, and 2. What if it doesn't work? Thankfully I've got you all to turn to if things start going south!


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## lbb091919

Didn't actually mow today but messed around with this 16" earthwise I picked up for $5. Plan to use it in the early stages of the upcoming reno. It cuts fine but I can see some washboarding even at 1" HOC.

Picked up some new bins from Lowes because the sterilite lids couldn't hold the weight when they were stacked. These are much nicer. Also finally got around to hanging some hooks that I've had forever and doing some much needed organization. It's not perfect, but much better than it was. It's hard with only a two car garage!

Assembled that earthwise spreader today as well.


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## Fraust

Looking good. Glad to have another fellow St Louisian's journal to follow along with. Looking forward to your reno progress.

Btw our son is only 2 months old, but I can't wait to get him his own "mower" and capture some moments/pics like those!


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## lbb091919

Fraust said:


> Looking good. Glad to have another fellow St Louisian's journal to follow along with. Looking forward to your reno progress.
> 
> Btw our son is only 2 months old, but I can't wait to get him his own "mower" and capture some moments/pics like those!


Thanks and definitely get him started early! My boy would live outdoors if he could.

Family coming over tomorrow so you know I had to get a mow in. Didn't take a pic of the back but it's nothing special, rotary at 1.25". Dropped the JD to 1" and double cut the front because it was long and leaving stragglers. Had a couple compliments from neighbors but it just looked 'meh' to me. July can't come soon enough! Happy Memorial Day everyone!


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## lbb091919

Expensive but exciting day today.

Ordered 10lbs of Bewitched from Seed Superstore, a 36" R&R level rake, and a 24" roller from Northern Tool.

Soil Moist and gallon of glypho came in today as well as a Field King 18V backpack sprayer to replace my hand pump backpack. I plan to use the hand pump for glypho apps.

Finished the evening spraying Cyzmic @ 7mL mixed with NyGuard IGR @ 8mL rate with the new sprayer. It's an absolute dream compared to the manual pump.


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## situman

I ordered Mazama from them. Bluetag with 0 weeds and other crops.

https://www.cdford.com/lawn-and-garden-1/mazama-kentucky-bluegrass-10

Bewitched has a lighter color unfortunately. Might darken up if u wait a few yrs.


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## lbb091919

Here's the plan for the upcoming Bewitched reno. The front section is 1200 sqft and the two side strips are about 220 sqft. 1700 sq ft total.

Leading up to glyphosate, push top growth and begin fallowing

7/17 - First round glyphosate (6 weeks before seed down)
7/24 - Scalp and bag clippings
7/25 - Second round glyphosate. Add 2lb/M SOP. Continue fallowing
7/28 - Scalp and bag clippings
7/31 - Scarify. Level sprinkler heads/boxes. Address high spots
8/14 - Aerate and rake cores
8/20 - 5 yards 70/30 topsoil/sand mix delivered and begin leveling
8/27 - Scarify with SunJoe. Last round glyphosate
8/28 - SEED DOWN. Follow with 4oz/A Tenacity, 2lb/M MAP, 15lb/M Milorganite. Spread peat moss.

Definitely getting anxious that everything goes smoothly. My wife always gives me trouble that everything I do ends up taking way longer than I anticipated. Spreading the topsoil and leveling is worrying me the most because it's the biggest project and I dont want to run out of time and have to push things back.


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## situman

lbb091919 said:


> Here's the plan for the upcoming Bewitched reno. The front section is 1200 sqft and the two side strips are about 220 sqft. 1700 sq ft total.
> 
> Leading up to glyphosate, push top growth and begin fallowing
> 
> 7/17 - First round glyphosate (6 weeks before seed down)
> 7/24 - Scalp and bag clippings
> 7/25 - Second round glyphosate. Add 2lb/M SOP. Continue fallowing
> 7/28 - Scalp and bag clippings
> 7/31 - Scarify. Level sprinkler heads/boxes. Address high spots
> 8/14 - Aerate and rake cores
> 8/20 - 5 yards 70/30 topsoil/sand mix delivered and begin leveling
> 8/27 - Scarify with SunJoe. Last round glyphosate
> 8/28 - SEED DOWN. Follow with 4oz/A Tenacity, 2lb/M MAP, 15lb/M Milorganite. Spread peat moss.
> 
> Definitely getting anxious that everything goes smoothly. My wife always gives me trouble that everything I do ends up taking way longer than I anticipated. Spreading the topsoil and leveling is worrying me the most because it's the biggest project and I dont want to run out of time and have to push things back.


You can always save time by not core aerate. You will just end up bringing weed seeds to the surface and no amount of fallowing will get rid of all the weed seeds.


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## g-man

You should bring the topsoil in July, so you can fallow it.

Also plan for a mid August seed day. Most plans get delayed by some birthday party or something.


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## lbb091919

Thanks @g-man

The earliest I could bring it in is July 23 to give me the weekend to work it in. If I adjusted my seed down date to August 14 that gives me 3 weeks of fallowing the topsoil. It would also allow me time to address any leveling spots throughout that period too.

I wouldn't be up against any issues like erosion or things moving around if it's bare topsoil for 3 weeks right?


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## g-man

If you get 3in of rain, then yes. But i like to add soil early so it settles and i can then correct any problems.


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## lbb091919

I finally did a mason jar test on my native soil and, just as I suspected, it's 69% clay, 26% sand, and 5% silt. After receiving my soil science degree from the internet, I decided on a 50/50 mix of topsoil and sand. With that, I have also reluctantly decided that the couple spots that need to be brought up a few inches will have to be done with my native clay soil so I can achieve the most even depth of topsoil. We're having a patio poured in a couple weeks so I'm hoping to bribe the guy running the dingo into working some soil into those low areas.



I'm cutting at 1" currently and I probably wont cut again depending on how much it grows. I want to get as much leaf as possible so the gly and scalp will be more effective.

Been crunching hard on the plan, moved some dates around, and taking delivery of everything the last few days. Here is what I have come up with. Still waiting on the roller from Northern Tool.

*7/3* - First round gly @ 4oz/M mixed with 0.25lb N via AS
*7/9* - Scalp and bag
*7/10* - Second round gly. Apply 2lb/M SOP
*7/17* - Scalp and bag. Scarify if time permits. Water in the evening to soften for aeration
*7/18* - Aerate @ 10% affected surface area (6 passes with rented Lawnaire IV)
*7/20* - Rake cores
*7/23* - 5 yards topsoil delivered and begin leveling and fallowing
*8/13* - Scarify. Last round gly. Water in evening to prep for seed down
*8/14* - SEED DOWN @ 2lb/M with 1oz Soil Moist and 9lbs Milo. Follow with 4oz/A Tenacity, 2lb/M MAP, 15lb/M Milo. Spread peat moss and tackifier on slopes.

16 DAG - Reduce watering
23 DAG - Begin weekly 0.5lbs N of Urea
37 DAG - Tenacity @ 4oz/A
58 DAG - Prodiamine @ 0.5lbs/A

To all the KBG reno vets out there, this looking like a reasonable plan? I'm also thinking I want to work some Humic and RGS into the rotation but dont know much about rates and timing.


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## SNOWBOB11

Two things to comment on. Are you using 41% gly? If yes the usual rate is 4 oz/m.

I would also move up the first scalp after gly if possible. It's probably not as much of a problem with lower cut grass but after gly if you wait too long the grass can mat down a bit making it harder to scalp to bare ground.

Otherwise your plan looks solid.


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## lbb091919

Yes, it's the 41% Compare N Save from Amazon. I'll adjust the rate and keep an eye on the turf length after the first app. This may be a stupid question but as far as the actual scalp, do I want to cut it to the ground or try to leave some green for the next hit of gly? My Honda will go down to 1 1/8"


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## SNOWBOB11

lbb091919 said:


> Yes, it's the 41% Compare N Save from Amazon. I'll adjust the rate and keep an eye on the turf length after the first app. This may be a stupid question but as far as the actual scalp, do I want to cut it to the ground or try to leave some green for the next hit of gly? My Honda will go down to 1 1/8"


1 1/8" with your rotary should be good.


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## lbb091919

Gary gets it! My wife just rolled her eyes :lol:


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## lbb091919

Picked up a couple soil samples from my supplier. One is their pulverized topsoil and the other is 70/30 topsoil compost. The compost looks like some amazing stuff but I don't want to risk losing my leveling job and will still go with just topsoil. Did a jar test and sent a sample to Waypoint and should have the results back tomorrow. Supplier claimed it was 57% sand but I'm seeing about 75% and nearly no clay.



Finally got around to lowering/straightening a few heads that were above grade. Got them right where I want, roughly 1/4" below the concrete. Tuned the MP rotators on the side strip and did an audit on all zones.

If there was any period of time where you could show someone a real life example of the importance of watering to promote deep roots it would be the last two weeks. Since 5/28 I have watered twice (0.5" each time) and I'm showing hardly any signs of drought at a 1" HOC. Currently, my worst ET deficit is 1.2. Under normal circumstances I'd have watered long before getting to that deficit but, for funsies, I wanted to see how far I could push it. Most lawns in the neighborhood are watered improperly, kept at 4", and are really struggling.





Bought a hand spreader and put down 0.5lb N Urea this evening to get a feel for how it spreads and to push some growth for the kill. I'll probably do this two more times before the July 3rd D-Day. Haven't mowed since 6/6 and plan to let it grow out as much as I can.

Here are some of the new reno goodies. Bewitched gold tag, soil moist seed coat, tenacity, gly, azoxy, 36" R&R leveling rake, and a new grease gun for the 220sl. Reserved an aerator, still need to pick up slopemaster and peat, and order topsoil. Also still waiting on the Northern Tool roller. Hoping my wife gets me a gorilla cart for Father's Day but if not, that's on my list as well.


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## Liquidstone

Your goodies pic is looking a lot like mine. I just don't have room for a roller though so will be renting that out. Why are you steering clear of a top soil /compost mix? You are worried about washouts or just simply sinking and erosion? Plan looks well thought out and lined up for success.


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## lbb091919

Liquidstone said:


> Your goodies pic is looking a lot like mine. I just don't have room for a roller though so will be renting that out. Why are you steering clear of a top soil /compost mix? You are worried about washouts or just simply sinking and erosion? Plan looks well thought out and lined up for success.


Thanks! I hardly have room for a roller in the garage but I'll stash it in the basement after the reno is over.

I'm a little weary that the compost mix will break down over time and I'll have to do more work getting things level in the long run. I also noticed quite a bit of bark/mulch material in the sample. I'd rather not deal with that since I'm reel mowing. I do need to up my OM especially to help my clay soil but I figure I can work that in over time.

I'm following your reno thread and am anxious to get started!


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## Liquidstone

Definitely makes sense (especially with reel mowing) and gives me some things to think about. I appreciate it. I need to get my hands on a sample of the material I plan on using.


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## lbb091919

Topsoil test is in! Let's compare, shall we? I like that it is not too far off from my native soil which is clay according to the triangle. Would you guys seed into this?

Native soil test from March


Topsoil test


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## lbb091919

Not much doing in the yard this weekend. Mowed at 2" with the manual reel last Tuesday just for fun. Couple neighbors stopped to chit chat about not seeing one of those in years.

Applied another 0.5lbs N on Friday right before the huge storms hit. Nearly 2" of rain finally! Fallowing is in full force and I'm already seeing some weeds popping up on the sides. It's a strange feeling scouting for weeds and actually encouraging them! Prodiamine was down 3/13 at a 3 month rate so I'm glad to see it's beginning to wear off.

To _top_ it off, ordered 5 yds of _top_soil this morning for delivery on 7/23. All that's left is to get a gorilla cart, slopemaster, and 4 bales of peat.

Also found out that I play in a Thursday golf league with the course mechanic who's willing to work on my 220SL. SCORE!

Snapped this pic this morning while taking a walk with my son. It may not look as good as some pre-reno, but it will be a little sad to see it go as this is probably the best it's ever looked.


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## bakler5

Nice SS! I had a white 06 that I had to trade-in for a mini-van for the wife a few years back. Worst day of my life. Good luck with the renovation, looks like you have put a lot of thought into it, excited to see the results.


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## lbb091919

bakler5 said:


> Nice SS! I had a white 06 that I had to trade-in for a mini-van for the wife a few years back. Worst day of my life. Good luck with the renovation, looks like you have put a lot of thought into it, excited to see the results.


Thanks! Mine is an 07. We just picked up a mini-van too but the SS survived!


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## lbb091919

T minus 4 days until first round of gly and boy am I getting anxious. I've mowed twice in the last three weeks so there's plenty of leaf blade out there. I'll probably cut it once more so it's not laying over. Disease pressure has been off the charts lately so I'm seeing signs of that which I'm hoping will aid in the kill.

Picked up some stakes and string to mark property lines, some test pots, and a gorilla cart. Yesterday, I extended the front bed on the side where the back flow and electric/water meters are since I hate trying to trim around them.


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## lbb091919

No turning back now! Staked the property lines and cut yesterday. Then got out early this morning for the first round of gly. Mixed in 0.5lb N via AMS and two tsp NIS.

DS probability has been crazy high lately and the mow highlighted a lot of spots. I'm thinking it's either DS or BP. I guess I should be happy because it will only aid in the kill. Also good to know that my model is accurate.


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## g-man

Not DS. Looks like BP.

What are your plans for the downspout water and the Reno? A rain will cause you problems in the two side of the house areas.


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## lbb091919

g-man said:


> Not DS. Looks like BP.
> 
> What are your plans for the downspout water and the Reno? A rain will cause you problems in the two side of the house areas.


Good question, for the right side I bought one of those slinky pipes and I'm going to loop it back around to exit down the driveway. I don't really have much of a choice on the left side as there's no good place to direct the water. The spout exits into that bed I just cut and I'm hoping that will at least slow it down and reduce any washout.

Also using slopemaster on the sides and will just have to really monitor those areas.


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## g-man

I would consider extending the mulch bed to be 2-3ft from the wall and planting some evergreens or something in that area. I would also route the downspout along the wall with a temporary corrugate pipe just to channel the water along the foundation towards the backyard until the reno is more mature.


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## Mark2

Here we go! I feel excited right now just following the journal.

So you're going with the Pennington Slopemaster for topdressing? I was originally planning peat moss but am going back and forth between that and slopemaster now. Might even do light peat with slopemaster on top. I'm mainly worried about birds. Don't really want to mess with fabric blankets either.


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## lbb091919

@g-man Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna take a good hard look at that side.



Mark2 said:


> Here we go! I feel excited right now just following the journal.
> 
> So you're going with the Pennington Slopemaster for topdressing? I was originally planning peat moss but am going back and forth between that and slopemaster now. Might even do light peat with slopemaster on top. I'm mainly worried about birds. Don't really want to mess with fabric blankets either.


Im doing full peat and the slopemaster over the peat on the sides. I actually found those blankets at Lowe's but I'd rather not take the chance of bringing any weeds in.


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## lbb091919

1 day after gly and it's already losing color. ~0.2 forecasted ET the next couple days. Let it bake.


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## lbb091919

3 days post-gly and continuing to fallow.


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## Liquidstone

Looking good. Rolling right along. I'll be putting down my first app of gly tomorrow!


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## g-man

Gly makes you see how good/bad your spraying overlaps are.


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## lbb091919

Definitely. Couple missed spots I think but I'm pretty happy with the coverage. I overspray on the concrete slightly which helps start my next pass.


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## lbb091919

Planned to scalp tomorrow evening but with rain in the forecast I went ahead with it tonight. Will hit it with another round of gly first thing tomorrow morning with enough time for it to dry before the rain. Ran out of daylight, pics of the carnage in the morning.

I have found so many new high/low spots, I really have my work cut out for me. I've been crunching some numbers and if my aeration goes as planned I should have plenty of material from raked up cores to address anything before the topsoil comes in.

Question for @g-man is it necessary to spike the gly with another 0.5N for this round?


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## g-man

I was talking with @jrubb42 the other day and i suggested him renting a walk behind Harley rake. It will take care of the high/low spots without having to get top soil. Something to consider.

I always add AMS before gly. AMS is cheap and it help with gly in hardwater conditions.


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## lbb091919

Noted on the AMS, thanks.

I poked around with a screwdriver on some high spots and hit a lot of rocks. I have very rocky soil so it's expected, but I'm thinking some of these spots may just be built up rocks that I need to dig up. I'll check it out this weekend.


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## lbb091919

5am gly round 2. Also spread 2lb/k SOP which should get watered in with the rain this evening. Loving the 5-7am window. Gives me two hours to get things done before my son wakes up.

Next step will be another scalp next weekend. Then I think I might run the scarifier depending on how much dead material is left. Plan to aerate after that on 7/18.


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## situman

Be careful when aerating. You might just bring up seeds that u dont want to and may have to start the fallowing process all over again.


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## lbb091919

No worries there, I'm bringing in topsoil and fallowing it for nearly two weeks before seed down.


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## jrubb42

g-man said:


> I was talking with @jrubb42 the other day and i suggested him renting a walk behind Harley rake. It will take care of the high/low spots without having to get top soil. Something to consider.
> 
> I always add AMS before gly. AMS is cheap and it help with gly in hardwater conditions.


@g-man I looked around for a manual push one and couldn't find one. Found a reputable topsoil company that I'm going to bring in soil from. Thanks for the suggestion though. Maybe the back yard I'll use a Hurley rake. Much more uneven back there


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## lbb091919

Nearly 4 inches of rain this weekend. Just had a decent downpour so I went out to preview where the washout areas might be. Just as I suspected, the property line of the side yards will be my nemesis. Both houses are graded away from the foundation and meet in the middle. There was a nice stream headed down the hill. Doesn't help that my downspout is unmanaged and neighbors on both sides have pop ups right there too. I'm currently trying to figure out the most logical way to route the water to the backyard.

Anyone with a setup similar to this have any advice or ideas? I'm using peat AND slopemaster in these areas but will that be enough?


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## situman

I'm thinking using a scarifier and make grooves parallel to the slope? Not much you can do with that level of sloping.


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## lbb091919

Thanks, I do plan to use the scarifier the day before seeding. I may just need a bit of luck that no bad storms hit early on!


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## lbb091919

All this rain has given the grass some false hope. First scalp and second round of gly was 3 days ago. Surely these stragglers will die off right?


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## g-man

Stop mowing for a bit. Let those grow some more and then hit it with gly. Hopefully you get some sun after the gly.


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## lbb091919

g-man said:


> Stop mowing for a bit. Let those grow some more and then hit it with gly. Hopefully you get some sun after the gly.


Thanks. Think I'm still ok to aerate on Sunday? Topsoil will be delivered on the 23rd.


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## lbb091919

Green stragglers are losing the battle. Whatever thick-bladed fescue/k-31 that's mixed in there is some tough stuff but I can tell it's going. Little nutsedge action too.



First germination in the test pots. These were planted last Friday night 7/9. So around 6 days.



Supposed to rain some tomorrow and Friday so that should have the soil nice and loose for aerating on Sunday.


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## lbb091919

Aerated and raked the cores today. Never operated an aerator so I was a little nervous but got the hang of it real quick and I now want to buy one. The rain we had a couple days ago had the ground, I think, a perfect level of saturation so I easily pulled 2.5-3" cores. I was looking for 10% affected surface area and my calculations brought me to 6 passes.



Dumped about half the cores to build up a big low spot on the hell strip. Dug out the valve box and stacked another on top to get it level with the concrete. If not for raking it would've been a relatively easy day. Plan to finish that spot at some point this week before topsoil on Friday.









After raking


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## Stuofsci02

Looks good…. Things are coming along nicely…


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## Liquidstone

Looking real good. How many yards of top soil are you bringing in? Are you planning to dethatch prior to bringing in top soil?


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## lbb091919

Stuofsci02 said:


> Looks good…. Things are coming along nicely…


Thanks!



Liquidstone said:


> Looking real good. How many yards of top soil are you bringing in? Are you planning to dethatch prior to bringing in top soil?


5 yards. If I can get to it this week I'd love to dethatch and possibly roll it too. There's some bumpiness after the aeration that I should probably address.


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## lbb091919

Dethatched on Wednesday at lowest setting then went over it with the rotary. What a dusty mess that was. Scalped some more areas with the string trimmer. Pretty happy with the overall kill and condition before topsoil.

7:30am 5 yards delivered. Took a deep breath and started by dumping piles all over and then pushing them down with a dinky rake. Then, all of a sudden, my neighbor comes out with a landscape rake asking if it would work better. It absolutely did. He was the real hero of the day because had I not had that thing I'd probably still be out there pushing dirt. To be honest, I liked it better than the level rake. They both work very well, but the landscape is so versatile. Spread a pretty thick layer and built up some low spots. Rolled. Spread some more and rolled again. Finished off the day around 4pm watering everything in. I have about 1.5-2 yds of soil left for the side and then touch ups. I probably could have screened it before spreading because there are some large dirt pebbles but I'm really not too worried.

My takeaways:
1) GET YOURSELF A LANDSCAPE RAKE. It's a game changer. 
2) Rolling is by far the worst part of this entire reno so far. I'm also not very strong. 
3) If you have steep hills, don't fill the roller all the way up and think you can pull it back up the hill. You can't. You will fall and get attacked by a wasp in the process.
4) Write down why you killed the grass, yes your wife knows what you're doing, you think you know what you're doing, what grass you're planting and all the reasons why, and yes you're crazy. Make 100 copies and hand them out to everyone that stops and asks.


----------



## Liquidstone

Haha. #4 is the most crucial step of the process. Enjoyed that. Sounds like an eventful day. What was your topsoil screened to? It looks nice and fine from the pics. Not going to lie, this whole reno process is a lot of work, especially without "heavy" equipment to get the job done.

Looks like you did a stellar job. Bravo


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## lbb091919

Thanks. Not sure what it was screened to. Good thing about the bigger pebbles is they tended to collect in the low spots so I could see them easier. Round 2 is today. It's supposed to be even hotter than yesterday.


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## Mark2

lbb091919 said:


>


Your prep is shaping up nicely! I'm also happy to hear how much you enjoyed the landscape rake. I have one, and don't have a leveling tool so I'm just planning to use that.

Is this first picture all 5 yards of the topsoil? The pile just seems a little smaller than I would imagine in my head for 5 yards.


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## lbb091919

Mark2 said:


> Your prep is shaping up nicely! I'm also happy to hear how much you enjoyed the landscape rake. I have one, and don't have a leveling tool so I'm just planning to use that.
> 
> Is this first picture all 5 yards of the topsoil? The pile just seems a little smaller than I would imagine in my head for 5 yards.


I think you'll be just fine with the landscape rake.

That was the full 5 yards. Maybe it's the angle of the pic that makes it look small.


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## Liquidstone

Agreed on the landscape rake, it's a must. I used it to spread out piles and then finished them off with the level lawn. Pretty good method. Hope you're keeping up with the Advil @lbb091919. I know I've had to hit that bottle a few times.


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## jskierko

Looks great. I think you are going to be very happy with all the work you are putting in up front. My biggest regret of my reno was not spending more time leveling. I just filled a few low spots when I really should have gotten a nice flat surface when I had the chance. Now I will likely have to spend a few seasons topdressing to get to a satisfactory place.


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## lbb091919

Liquidstone said:


> Agreed on the landscape rake, it's a must. I used it to spread out piles and then finished them off with the level lawn. Pretty good method. Hope you're keeping up with the Advil @lbb091919. I know I've had to hit that bottle a few times.


I was on the bottle the entire weekend haha



jskierko said:


> Looks great. I think you are going to be very happy with all the work you are putting in up front. My biggest regret of my reno was not spending more time leveling. I just filled a few low spots when I really should have gotten a nice flat surface when I had the chance. Now I will likely have to spend a few seasons topdressing to get to a satisfactory place.


Thanks!

Touched up some areas today and really focused on the edges. Tried rolling with the 220SL and it worked ok but the actual roller works much better. Finished it off by firing up the irrigation to check coverage. Definitely needs some tweaking. Planned on cleaning up the mess but ran out of time.


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## lbb091919

Fallowing in full force but the FedEx guy just doesn't get it.



Also noticed this on the side yard. This area does not get a lot of sun. Should I be worried? It looks like moss or something.


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## lbb091919

Double post


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## Liquidstone

FedEx hombre needs to get with the program! I'm not sure about your moss issue. I have some in the back where I plan to put rock down so I never gave it much thought. If you're able to scale down watering on that side, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.


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## g-man

I think you should let the soil dry a bit and then roll it. It should not be making those deep foot print.


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## lbb091919

g-man said:


> I think you should let the soil dry a bit and then roll it. It should not be making those deep foot print.


I don't know when he did that but it was probably right around an irrigation cycle. I've rolled this thing maybe 15 times.


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## g-man

Dry/wet cycles will help it settle.


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## lbb091919

Sounds good. Supposed to get some rain Saturday morning so I'll pause the irrigation today and maybe even tomorrow. Still have a couple areas that need a touch up anyway. Thanks @g-man


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## jskierko

You will definitely have a good knowledge of when your soil it too wet to roll it (and how long after an irrigation cycle before you can roll) which will be good for seed down day. On my reno day I wanted my ground to be damp for good seed to soil contact, but I ran into some frustrations where clumps of mud (mixed with the seed I had just put down) stuck to the roller and I had to do my best to fix those areas by hand. I really should have let it dry out a bit more. I believe I watered in the morning for 10-15 minutes per zone, but that turned out to be way too much.


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## lbb091919

jskierko said:


> You will definitely have a good knowledge of when your soil it too wet to roll it (and how long after an irrigation cycle before you can roll) which will be good for seed down day. On my reno day I wanted my ground to be damp for good seed to soil contact, but I ran into some frustrations where clumps of mud (mixed with the seed I had just put down) stuck to the roller and I had to do my best to fix those areas by hand. I really should have let it dry out a bit more. I believe I watered in the morning for 10-15 minutes per zone, but that turned out to be way too much.


This has been one of my biggest concerns going into seed down day. I want to give it some water the night before but not enough to make a mess of everything walking all over it.


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## lbb091919

Been on vacation the last week and came back to a lot of weeds. I actually cut back the watering to once a day since I couldn't monitor it. All I can say is FALLOW YOUR SOIL. I've still got a week of fallowing left. Hopefully will have time to touch up a few areas tomorrow and might give it a round of gly.

I do have a question about the yellow nutsedge popping up. I know gly is not very effective so I was either going to get some Ortho nutsedge killer or dig them out making sure to get as much of the tubers as possible. Any suggestions?


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## g-man

You should blanket spray with gly. The sedge might survive, but i would deal with it next year.


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## Liquidstone

Not sure about the nutsedge issue, could mix a little prosedge in your gly mix?? Something to look into. I have had plenty of clover pop up as well. That stuff is resilient as all can be. I had an issue with it prior to my Reno, it is coming back strong and will likely be an issue for some time.

Glad to hear from you and that you were just on vaca. What's your planned seed down date, this weekend? I'm thinking my drop dead date for KBG is this weekend, at least for denver..


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## lbb091919

Liquidstone said:


> Not sure about the nutsedge issue, could mix a little prosedge in your gly mix?? Something to look into. I have had plenty of clover pop up as well. That stuff is resilient as all can be. I had an issue with it prior to my Reno, it is coming back strong and will likely be an issue for some time.
> 
> Glad to hear from you and that you were just on vaca. What's your planned seed down date, this weekend? I'm thinking my drop dead date for KBG is this weekend, at least for denver..


Went ahead with gly yesterday with a heavy downpour a couple hours later. Hopefully it will still be effective. I watched the water and my current downspout setup is actually sending it right down the driveway and causing some bad erosion. I'm considering getting some 16" tent stakes and suspending the corrugated down the hills to the backyard. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way the soil has handled the heavy rains. It actually helps to level out some imperfections and makes it so smooth.

Current seed down date is 8/14. Right now the forecast is looking good. I need it to dry out ASAP because there are some erosion spots I need to touch up and I want to get the soil down with enough time to fallow.


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## Bob Loblawn

lbb091919 said:


> Liquidstone said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure about the nutsedge issue, could mix a little prosedge in your gly mix?? Something to look into. I have had plenty of clover pop up as well. That stuff is resilient as all can be. I had an issue with it prior to my Reno, it is coming back strong and will likely be an issue for some time.
> 
> Glad to hear from you and that you were just on vaca. What's your planned seed down date, this weekend? I'm thinking my drop dead date for KBG is this weekend, at least for denver..
> 
> 
> 
> Went ahead with gly yesterday with a heavy downpour a couple hours later. Hopefully it will still be effective. I watched the water and my current downspout setup is actually sending it right down the driveway and causing some bad erosion. I'm considering getting some 16" tent stakes and suspending the corrugated down the hills to the backyard. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way the soil has handled the heavy rains. It actually helps to level out some imperfections and makes it so smooth.
> 
> Current seed down date is 8/14. Right now the forecast is looking good. I need it to dry out ASAP because there are some erosion spots I need to touch up and I want to get the soil down with enough time to fallow.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the gly a few hours before the rain got the job done. And if not, luckily you can spray again right before seed down. Looking forward the seeing the updates on 8/14!


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## lbb091919

The last two rain events made quite a few full-length ruts down to the street making the overall bed pretty bumpy. Leading up to seed down this weekend I'm only able to work on things after my son goes to bed at 7pm so efficiency is key.

Tonight I started off filling the deep ruts with more soil, leveling, and rolling. Then moved on to the other areas trying to pull the landscape rake. It would have taken way too long with poor results. After some brainstorming, I decided to throw a bit of a hail mary and pulled out the SunJoe with the scarifier cartridge. Tested it in a small area and it worked perfect at -10. (I plan to use it prior to seed down so I wanted to see how well it worked anyway) I did one full pass, avoiding the areas I just repaired, then dragged and rolled it. By golly we're back in business!

Now, I understand I may have taken a few steps back in the fallowing process and some additional settling may occur. But choosing between more weeds or a bumpy lawn after all this work, I'll take the latter. I owe the people at SunJoe a cold one because that thing just saved me some precious time and I feel as though it's even flatter than it was before the rain.

Here's what I'm up against leading into the weekend. Friday rain is supposed to be all day and through the night but it may be light enough to prep the seedbed just enough. Just look at that Sunday high!


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## Liquidstone

Good call on the scarifier attachment. I'm with you on your logic to avoid the bumps. Weeds will come and they will just have to be dealt with. Hoping you can avoid any severe rains. That high of 82 looks great. No rain on the horizon in Denver. Fingers crossed if it does it's light.


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## Bob Loblawn

Think you definitely made the right move. You already killed majority of the weeds and hopefully a tenacity app at seed down (if you plan for it) will keep any new stuff at bay.

And good thing you'll be growing a nice thick KBG lawn - it'll suffocate those weeds eventually or you'll be able to hand pull 'em at some point.

Weather looking good for seed down! Seed down, raking and rolling is a much faster process than everything else. Or at least it's more fun so it feels faster...ha. So if you've got everything ready to go, you may be able to sneak it in sooner...just keep a close eye on that storm because washout after less than 24 hours would be painful. Also, if you seed after some rain, just make sure it isn't too wet. I had a few small issues with raking seed in wet spots, but my hope is the roller got the job done.


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## lbb091919

Bob Loblawn said:


> Think you definitely made the right move. You already killed majority of the weeds and hopefully a tenacity app at seed down (if you plan for it) will keep any new stuff at bay.
> 
> And good thing you'll be growing a nice thick KBG lawn - it'll suffocate those weeds eventually or you'll be able to hand pull 'em at some point.
> 
> Weather looking good for seed down! Seed down, raking and rolling is a much faster process than everything else. Or at least it's more fun so it feels faster...ha. So if you've got everything ready to go, you may be able to sneak it in sooner...just keep a close eye on that storm because washout after less than 24 hours would be painful. Also, if you seed after some rain, just make sure it isn't too wet. I had a few small issues with raking seed in wet spots, but my hope is the roller got the job done.


Tenacity will absolutely be going down :lol:

Friday storm chance has been reduced to 30% and appears to be nothing but a drizzle. Clear forecast through 8/19 so many prayers that stays the same!


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## lbb091919

Welp, got a bit of a dilemma and I'm wondering what you all think.

We were supposed to have a patio poured in the backyard about a month ago but the company got backed up and is finally going to be out next Wednesday. The only way to get to the backyard is down the right side of the house so there's no way I can seed it this weekend with all the dingo/foot traffic. I have soil left so I can re-prep that area after they're finished.

Do I stick to the original plan and drop seed this weekend except for that side and then seed it next weekend?

Or do I wait and seed everything next weekend running the risk of a not-so-ideal forecast?

I'm leaning toward still seeding this weekend and then just having everything a week apart but wanted to hear some thoughts.


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## SNOWBOB11

As long as the concrete installers aren't going to be walking on the main area in any way to get to the back I'd go ahead and seed the front this weekend and do the side when there finished.


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## g-man

Do both now. The dingo is not going to destroy everything. Just reseed after they are done.


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## lbb091919

Put in a call with the concrete company but I'm pretty sure they lay plywood down over anything they walk or drive over. I'll be there in the morning to talk to them about it anyway. With that said, the 10 day forecast keeps getting better and better so I think I'm gonna seed everything this weekend and fix anything that gets messed up.


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## lbb091919

lbb091919 said:


> With that said, the 10 day forecast keeps getting better and better so I think I'm gonna seed everything this weekend and fix anything that gets messed up.


Mother nature heard me boasting and had other plans for yesterday evening as she dumped an inch of rain and nearly 50 mph winds on my seedbed.

We'll see if it's dry enough by tomorrow to get seed down but I'm thinking I may have to wait until next weekend after all.


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## Liquidstone

What's the diagnosis after the downpour? Seed down still this weekend? Hopefully things didn't get too beat up.


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## lbb091919

Liquidstone said:


> What's the diagnosis after the downpour? Seed down still this weekend? Hopefully things didn't get too beat up.


Same spots as before. After the dust settled it's really not as bad as I was expecting. Gives me time to get the downspout drains set up properly because my first attempt failed miserably.


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## lbb091919

Deja vu. Just praying this rain isn't a total downpour like last week.



It's been an interesting week so far. Concrete was supposed to be today and tomorrow but utility locators dropped the ball which pushed everything to Friday.

Then last night my SunJoe broke while repairing some ruts (stripped motor gear). Luckily I was able to pick one up at Menards and will deal with the warranty stuff later.

Inspired by @jrubb42 and @Zip-a-Dee-Zee, I found a distributor in Iowa that LTL'd me 3 Futerra blankets. I've seen three times what the rain can do to my slopes so I'm not taking anymore chances.

Seed down attempt #2 set for Saturday or Sunday depending on how heavy this Friday storm is.


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## Bob Loblawn

Good luck, I'll say a prayer to the grass gods for you that the weather is in your favor! Can't wait to see seed down.


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## Liquidstone

Man you have had to jump through some hoops. It's only fair now for you to have an extremely successful reno and for great coverage all over the board! Looking forward to updates. Those blankets look awesome and definitely will keep the anxiety down.


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## jrubb42

Seed going down this weekend?


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## lbb091919

jrubb42 said:


> Seed going down this weekend?


Seed is down. Well, most of it. Took the day off because there is a nasty storm headed our way and I do not want to fix the dirt again. The concrete guys were here and will be back on Monday so I decided to leave the side they were using alone and seed when they're finished. They were very respectful which I greatly appreciated, but I wouldn't have been happy with the end result so therefore I wait!

The rest of the front is done! Here's what I did:

- Final round gly followed by scarify at -5 in two directions.
- Weighed out seed and mixed with 1oz Soil Moist seed coat.
- Spread seed at a little over 2lbs/M with drop spreader set at 9.
- Raked everything in and then rolled it. 
- Hit it with 4oz/A Tenacity and 0.38oz/M Azoxy.
- Followed that with 15lbs/M Milorganite and 2lbs/M MAP. 
- Drove 40 mins to pick up the Futerras which were delivered at 1pm. I was sweatin bullets literally and figuratively if they were gonna make it on time because of the rain coming.
- Got back and spent the rest of the day laying down the blankets. Watered them in and was going to roll but ran out of time. I forgot how much I hate how rocky my soil is. I used some 4" metal staples and it took me, on average, about 30-40 seconds to get those things in the ground because of all the rocks.

All in all it was a very tiring but rewarding day to finally get some seeds in the ground. Still some work left to do and I'm very curious to see how well the blankets work tonight. Didn't take many pics but here's a few.

My mixing station



After raking in



Blankets down



Storm on its way


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## jrubb42

lbb091919 said:


> jrubb42 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Seed going down this weekend?
> 
> 
> 
> Seed is down. Well, most of it. Took the day off because there is a nasty storm headed our way and I do not want to fix the dirt again. The concrete guys were here and will be back on Monday so I decided to leave the side they were using alone and seed when they're finished. They were very respectful which I greatly appreciated, but I wouldn't have been happy with the end result so therefore I wait!
> 
> The rest of the front is done! Here's what I did:
> 
> - Final round gly followed by scarify at -5 in two directions.
> - Weighed out seed and mixed with 1oz Soil Moist seed coat.
> - Spread seed at a little over 2lbs/M with drop spreader set at 9.
> - Raked everything in and then rolled it.
> - Hit it with 4oz/A Tenacity and 0.38oz/M Azoxy.
> - Followed that with 15lbs/M Milorganite and 2lbs/M MAP.
> - Drove 40 mins to pick up the Futerras which were delivered at 1pm. I was sweatin bullets literally and figuratively if they were gonna make it on time because of the rain coming.
> - Got back and spent the rest of the day laying down the blankets. Watered them in and was going to roll but ran out of time. I forgot how much I hate how rocky my soil is. I used some 4" metal staples and it took me, on average, about 30-40 seconds to get those things in the ground because of all the rocks.
> 
> All in all it was a very tiring but rewarding day to finally get some seeds in the ground. Still some work left to do and I'm very curious to see how well the blankets work tonight. Didn't take many pics but here's a few.
> 
> My mixing station
> 
> 
> 
> After raking in
> 
> 
> 
> Blankets down
> 
> 
> 
> Storm on its way
Click to expand...

Well done man! That's a long day! If it makes you feel any better, I didn't roll my blankets on and they stuck just fine with just water. Those blankets should hold up very well with the storm coming. Good work and keep us updated with how they do with the rain tonight.


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## Bob Loblawn

Congrats man, has to feel nice getting that seed down. Looking real nice-you've controlled the controllables so you're set up for success. Here's to some grass babies in the very near future. For now your beverage of choice shall do.

For the blankets, do you have to cut them to size in order to fit the parkway strip? Just curious how those work, or if overlap is totally fine.


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## lbb091919

jrubb42 said:


> Well done man! That's a long day! If it makes you feel any better, I didn't roll my blankets on and they stuck just fine with just water. Those blankets should hold up very well with the storm coming. Good work and keep us updated with how they do with the rain tonight.


Thanks! I'm definitely anxious.



Bob Loblawn said:


> Congrats man, has to feel nice getting that seed down. Looking real nice-you've controlled the controllables so you're set up for success. Here's to some grass babies in the very near future. For now your beverage of choice shall do.
> 
> For the blankets, do you have to cut them to size in order to fit the parkway strip? Just curious how those work, or if overlap is totally fine.


Haha thanks for the support. I wish I could say I cracked a cold one but it was only water for me today!

The blankets cut very easily with regular scissors so I just cut everything to size with about 2" of overlap. The parkway strip I actually laid down horizontally and the blanket was about 4 inches too narrow so there's a little exposure there. Gonna toss some peat on it tomorrow. If I could do it again I'd lay that strip vertically like the rest so I could get full coverage but you know what they say about hindsight!


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## jskierko

What a relief to have the physical labor behind you! Now the mental anguish of watching and waiting. With how meticulous and diligent you were in the planning, prep, and execution I am certain you are going to be pleased.


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## lbb091919

Blankets were not tested last night as it didn't rain a drop. Why do we put ourselves through this stress!!


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## Mark2

Of course it works out that way! We got 1.2" of rain here in KC. I'm planning for my seed down a week from today.


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## jrubb42

lbb091919 said:


> Blankets were not tested last night as it didn't rain a drop. Why do we put ourselves through this stress!!


It's because you put down those blankets. If you would've used peat moss it would've rained 2 inches in an hour.

I could've gotten away with peat moss on my Reno this year. But what do you do? At least you're covered for the next 3 weeks!


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## Liquidstone

Nice work man! It looks great. Another huge benefit of those blankets is it just makes things look so much more tidy. Im sure it's a relief after staring at bare dirt for the last month. You know I'll be checking on germ up!


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## lbb091919

Thanks all! The blankets do make it look tidy. Tidy enough for people to walk all over too. Barriers going down at nap time!

Neighbor on the side that hasn't been seeded yet decided to aerate and overseed with Scott's Thick'r Fescue mix today. I asked him politely to not seed near the property line but he got it over there anyway. Hopefully the tenacity will take care of any weeds and my HOC should keep the fescue from thriving.

Anyone else have this happen and what did you do?


----------



## Liquidstone

lbb091919 said:


> Thanks all! The blankets do make it look tidy. Tidy enough for people to walk all over too. Barriers going down at nap time!
> 
> Neighbor on the side that hasn't been seeded yet decided to aerate and overseed with Scott's Thick'r Fescue mix today. I asked him politely to not seed near the property line but he got it over there anyway. Hopefully the tenacity will take care of any weeds and my HOC should keep the fescue from thriving.
> 
> Anyone else have this happen and what did you do?


I didn't even think about that but the tidiness has a downfall for sure in that regard.


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## lbb091919

I just assumed people would see that something was going on and stay off but clearly that wasn't the case.

Yesterday and today has been tweaking heads and monitoring moisture levels. The blankets really hold it in. Tomorrow evening will be seed down on the right side of the house.


----------



## lbb091919

You know what they say about rain as soon as you put seed down? Well, the opposite is true when you lay blankets down. There was a heavy thunderstorm headed right for us this afternoon that all of a sudden vanished. I've never seen anything like it.

Since I was spared the downpour, I was able to seed the other side of the house this evening. I ran out of blanket with about 200 sqft left so I spread some slopemaster and covered with peat.

Because these blankets retain so much moisture, I'm worried that I'm overwatering. Current schedule for the front (Hunter i20s) is 5 mins at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm. ~0.05" per run which comes to about 125% ET. The sides (MP rotators) are more shaded so they run for 8 mins at 10am, 1pm, 4pm. Here's some pics I took this afternoon. The first pic you can see the middle is getting more water and I was able to see a green hue developing under most of that area which I'm concerned about. The second pic you can see it on some exposed soil too.





Curious to see what some others think. I know frequency is better than duration so should I reduce watering times across the board? There are some spots that may not get enough water if I end up doing that. @Zip-a-Dee-Zee did you have to reduce irrigation because of the blankets? @g-man thoughts?


----------



## g-man

If it is staying wet between cycles, then reduce the duration and or frequency. You just want it moist.


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## lbb091919

Thanks for the reply. Sucks I can't sneak back there during the weekday to check things. Here are some shots of the right side finished yesterday.

Pretty compacted from the plywood. I scarified, added some dirt, fixed a head they ran over, re-leveled, dragged, raked rows for seed, dropped seed, raked in, rolled, sprayed tenacity/Azoxy, dropped milo and MAP, laid blanket, spread peat, and watered. Took me way too long and ended up having to break out the spot light and head lamp but everything is now done! Time to sit back, relax, water, pray, and wait.


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## Liquidstone

Congrats man! It looks great. What a good feeling finally being done! I'm sure you'll have great success with how dialed in your process was. Keep dodging those nasty t-storms.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee

lbb091919 said:


> Because these blankets retain so much moisture, I'm worried that I'm overwatering. Current schedule for the front (Hunter i20s) is 5 mins at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm. ~0.05" per run which comes to about 125% ET. The sides (MP rotators) are more shaded so they run for 8 mins at 10am, 1pm, 4pm. Here's some pics I took this afternoon. The first pic you can see the middle is getting more water and I was able to see a green hue developing under most of that area which I'm concerned about. The second pic you can see it on some exposed soil too.


I had a couple of areas that looked similar and were probably a bit slower to fill in but eventually did. Your watering schedule looks good and you should be fine dialing it back a bit after the first week.


----------



## lbb091919

Went green baby hunting this evening and SURPRISE! The anticipation was killing me so I'm very relieved to see some action on day 5.



A lot going on in this pic. This is one of the wetter areas so there's some moss and also seeds opening up. But what I'm most interested in is those two little ants. When I lift the edge of the blanket there are hundreds of those suckers. They seem to be isolated to one small area but still concerning. Anyone know what they are and if there's anything I can do?


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## Jay20nj

Dont lift the blankets. The grass will get smothered then. Let it grow up through. Made that mistake last year


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## lbb091919

Jay20nj said:


> Dont lift the blankets. The grass will get smothered then. Let it grow up through. Made that mistake last year


Ahh good thinking. I will leave them alone and check the peat areas from now on. Just read through your reno journal. Did you end up removing the blankets on the sides?


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## Bob Loblawn

Congrats on the green babies!


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## Liquidstone

Congrats brother! The waiting game for establishment is not a fun one. Not sure about those ants, are you seeing them toting away seeds or grass blades?


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> April 2021
> 
> Took the day to extend some beds and mulch. The front rectangle bed looks so empty here it's hilarious. I experimented with T-nex the year before and thought I had it all figured out until I applied a full rate at the end of March. I believe this really stunted the spring green up and the yard is still slowly coming back. You can see it in the pics here.
> I want to do these natural bed edges like you've done, but how do you maintain that crisp edge? The black mulch looks awesome BTW.
> I also ran out to Illinois to pick up a 220SL from a member on here. April 23, my reel low journey begins.


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Thanks for the reply. Sucks I can't sneak back there during the weekday to check things. Here are some shots of the right side finished yesterday.
> 
> Pretty compacted from the plywood. I scarified, added some dirt, fixed a head they ran over, re-leveled, dragged, raked rows for seed, dropped seed, raked in, rolled, sprayed tenacity/Azoxy, dropped milo and MAP, laid blanket, spread peat, and watered. Took me way too long and ended up having to break out the spot light and head lamp but everything is now done! Time to sit back, relax, water, pray, and wait.


So the blanket ends up decomposing? Have you used them before? I don't think I've seen others put peatmoss over the top, but from a strictly irrigation standpoint, it's super convenient to gauge the wetness of the ground. 
I need to consider this for next reno.

Did you hook up a temporary downspout pipe to redirect water during your seeding, or is that a permanent solution?


----------



## lbb091919

steffen707 said:


> I want to do these natural bed edges like you've done, but how do you maintain that crisp edge? The black mulch looks awesome BTW.


I just string trim them every time I cut. Kind of a hassle but it does look nice. I usually redefine them once a year. They're gonna need some work after this reno.



steffen707 said:


> So the blanket ends up decomposing? Have you used them before? I don't think I've seen others put peatmoss over the top, but from a strictly irrigation standpoint, it's super convenient to gauge the wetness of the ground.
> I need to consider this for next reno.
> 
> Did you hook up a temporary downspout pipe to redirect water during your seeding, or is that a permanent solution?


Yes, the blanket will decompose and I have not used them before, but others here have. Some pulled them up and others left them down.

The areas with peat are just peat because I ran out of blanket. Peat over blanket, now that would be something!!

The piping is strictly temporary for the reno. Once I feel everything is safe enough I'll remove it and see how the KBG spreads into the bare areas. If it doesn't work out, my backup plan is to cut like a 1-2' bed all the way down both sides of the house.


----------



## lbb091919

Had a decent storm roll through with about 0.6" in 45 minutes. Washed away some peat on the right side but the blankets held up flawlessly. I'm wondering if I should try to redestribute the washed peat or just leave it be. Probably won't see any germination on that side until Saturday.

The front and left side seeded 7 days ago is looking good. Flashlight test confirms pretty even germination. Only areas I'm seeing less is on the parkway and in the areas that have a lot of that green algae building up. Gonna have to keep a close eye on those spots. I guess I'll call today 0 DAG.


----------



## Liquidstone

Flashlight test approved! Looks like great distribution!


----------



## lbb091919

10 days after seeding and 4 DAG

Right side is starting to germinate well too. Neighbor's fescue mix is easily spotted as the sprouts are nearing 2" tall.


----------



## jwill

Nice job! Congratulations on the grass babies!


----------



## CaffeinatedLawnCare

Germination looks great.

Those bugs however don't look like ants ... I tried searching google and two of the closest looking things were rove beetles and western subterranean termites.

I wouldn't take my chances with them.


----------



## lbb091919

CaffeinatedLawnCare said:


> Germination looks great.
> 
> Those bugs however don't look like ants ... I tried searching google and two of the closest looking things were rove beetles and western subterranean termites.
> 
> I wouldn't take my chances with them.


Thanks!

I think they may be rove beetles and just found this on the Iowa State extension:



> There is no special control for these predatory insects. They are not harmful to the house, contents or occupants. The only necessary control is to try to locate a dead animal or other decaying organic matter that is attracting them to the area and remove it. No insecticide sprays are necessary. When the dead animal is removed (or dries completely) these beetles will disappear on their own.


----------



## Bob Loblawn

Looking great! Is it me or do you notice the germination is nice and uniform, almost as if following the SunJoe tracks? It is a beautiful sight.


----------



## lbb091919

@Bob Loblawn it is absolutely following the lines from the SunJoe!


----------



## Stuofsci02

Looking great! Nice and even.


----------



## lbb091919

Thanks @Stuofsci02

Finally took some overall pics today. The full-sun parkway is taking its sweet time.











Right side that's 3 days behind


----------



## Liquidstone

Looks great man, like you said definitely following those sun joe lines! I'm sure you are pumped. I can't wait to get out and mow but I know it's a ways off!


----------



## Wile

Doing work! My wife wouldn't let me kill it off. So, now I'm praying it will look good like your reno is going to.


----------



## lbb091919

I guess the Amazon driver didn't see my PINK RIBBON when he decided to stomp right through the middle of my reno. Luckily this is the only part that got ripped up. Dropped a pinch of soil, some seeds, covered with peat, and we're back in business.



I don't think the HOA would approve of the electric fence I'm going to put up on the next reno.


----------



## Stuofsci02

People are so stupid..


----------



## Bob Loblawn

Ugh what is wrong with people! Sorry you had to deal with that annoyance. But hopefully it'll feel like nothing in the grand scheme of things. Looking good and can't wait to see more updates next few days.


----------



## Liquidstone

I swear man, with what I've seen out of delivery drivers lately, it makes me even more concerned about humanity…

Glad you got her all fixed up. Shouldn't have had the need if people weren't so oblivious!


----------



## joec-ct

@lbb091919 Amazon... Yesterday the driver was 5 FEET away from the driveway and decided to walk on the reno instead.


----------



## lbb091919

That's even worse! Salt in the wound after all the rain you received yesterday.

I said to my wife "It looked like he slipped so I hope he fell on his a** in the process" which I quickly took back as I realized that would have caused even more damage.


----------



## gregonfire

Great journal! I'm so jealous of you reno-ing this year. You put in the time to properly prep so I know this will turn out amazing. Your grass will look insane come summer next year. Keep up the awesome work! Look forward to seeing more updates.


----------



## lbb091919

@gregonfire Much appreciated. Pretty excited to get the fall season started. I believe Ive officially entered the pout stage so the next few days are going to be stressful!


----------



## Marzbar

Do you think caution tape would work better than string? I don't know if it would make any difference.
Great job on the reno BTW.


----------



## lbb091919

Caution tape was vetoed by the boss. It's actually 1" wide ribbon but it gets kinda twisted up with the wind and sprinklers.

Honestly, I think this guy/gal was going through it no matter what was there haha


----------



## gregonfire

lbb091919 said:


> Caution tape was vetoed by the boss. It's actually 1" wide ribbon but it gets kinda twisted up with the wind and sprinklers.
> 
> Honestly, I think this guy/gal was going through it no matter what was there haha


I used caution tape for my reno and it worked pretty well. I agree with your wife though it is ugly. Just temporary though :thumbup:


----------



## Liquidstone

lbb091919 said:


> @gregonfire Much appreciated. Pretty excited to get the fall season started. I believe Ive officially entered the pout stage so the next few days are going to be stressful!


The pout stage hits hard my friend. You are looking good tho. How's your later seed down on the side with peat moving along? Hopefully it is doing well also.


----------



## lbb091919

That side is right on pace I'd say. The property line got washed out because it turns into a river with even the lightest rain. I'm going to fix it later.





I want to see if anyone has thoughts on this area. There's some algae building up under the blanket and I'm wondering if I should let things dry out for a day or so. Germination in this spot is decent despite it looking bad in the pic, but am I going to do more harm than good by letting it dry? Currently at 9 DAG.


----------



## JerseyGreens

I'd back off watering on that area. You've got more than enough live plants there. From my experience you almost want this stage of the Reno to look a little "bare" versus beautifully thick and dense...aka overcrowded.

You are looking fantastic! Hard work pays off man.


----------



## Liquidstone

Agree with @JerseyGreens. I have one section near the back that stays too wet and I was seeing some algae/moss. I shut off that head and am now just watering that area once mid morning and once in the afternoon - the moss is dissipating and it looks healthier now. Your front portion looks like it is taking names! I love it


----------



## lbb091919

@JerseyGreens @Liquidstone Thanks for the tips fellas. I'm nearing the stage where I'll be backing off the irrigation anyway so that's good.

The problem with the algae spot is I only have heads on all four corners and they just so happen to all converge in that area leaving it more saturated than anywhere else.

First N going down next weekend. Excited to finally be able to walk on it.


----------



## Bob Loblawn

Coming along so nicely man, looking forward to seeing it pop even more soon


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> I guess the Amazon driver didn't see my PINK RIBBON when he decided to stomp right through the middle of my reno. Luckily this is the only part that got ripped up. Dropped a pinch of soil, some seeds, covered with peat, and we're back in business.
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think the HOA would approve of the electric fence I'm going to put up on the next reno.


I thought I subscribed to your journal, guess not. Dumb delivery guy. My ups guy is awesome, gives my dog a treat every visit, he'll stop for a min and ask what I've been doing to the lawn.

Looking good. Are you happy with your blankets?


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Caution tape was vetoed by the boss. It's actually 1" wide ribbon but it gets kinda twisted up with the wind and sprinklers.
> 
> Honestly, I think this guy/gal was going through it no matter what was there haha


Next time put in 4' stakes with the line at like 36",then somebody has to awkwardly limbo under it, or really want to jump over. I bought 100' of green snow fence and cut it in half. So far kept the kids and dog out.


----------



## lbb091919

steffen707 said:


> I thought I subscribed to your journal, guess not. Dumb delivery guy. My ups guy is awesome, gives my dog a treat every visit, he'll stop for a min and ask what I've been doing to the lawn.
> 
> Looking good. Are you happy with your blankets?


Overall, I'm happy with the blankets. They saved me from at least two heavy washouts which is well worth it in my opinion. Watering was a bit tricky in the beginning.



steffen707 said:


> Next time put in 4' stakes with the line at like 36",then somebody has to awkwardly limbo under it, or really want to jump over. I bought 100' of green snow fence and cut it in half. So far kept the kids and dog out.


Definitely should have gone with something taller because obviously what I have was not enough. With a 2 year old and another due in December I'm not sure if there will be a next time!


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I thought I subscribed to your journal, guess not. Dumb delivery guy. My ups guy is awesome, gives my dog a treat every visit, he'll stop for a min and ask what I've been doing to the lawn.
> 
> Looking good. Are you happy with your blankets?
> 
> 
> 
> Overall, I'm happy with the blankets. They saved me from at least two heavy washouts which is well worth it in my opinion. Watering was a bit tricky in the beginning.
> 
> 
> 
> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Was the watering tricky because you didn't know if the ground was moist or not? That has me wondering if blankets and peatmoss is the way to go. Others are laughing at my comments because their renos grew according to plan.
> Next time put in 4' stakes with the line at like 36",then somebody has to awkwardly limbo under it, or really want to jump over. I bought 100' of green snow fence and cut it in half. So far kept the kids and dog out.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Definitely should have gone with something taller because obviously what I have was not enough. With a 2 year old and another due in December I'm not sure if there will be a next time!
Click to expand...

Well you might be on the 4-5 year wait plan. My boys are 4 and 7. Since you know what it takes to do a reno, i'm sure you'll be quicker at it next time. I spent way too much time getting the dead grass up. If I can cut that time down, a 3-4k reno can be done in a weekend (plus the spraying and waiting of glyph). I think I soaked up 2 weekends doing it and half of another day fixing/adding new seed from Rain Pain 2021.


----------



## lbb091919

Some progress pics from this morning.

August 30 - 10 DAS / 4 DAG



September 7 - 18 DAS / 12 DAG



August 30 - 10 DAS / 4 DAG



September 7 - 18 DAS / 12 DAG


----------



## Liquidstone

Your coverage looks awesome. I think you'll be mowing by this upcoming weekend! What are you thinking?


----------



## lbb091919

@Liquidstone Thanks! I'm very happy with the way things are coming in. It's a little thinner near the edges but there are plenty of sprouts there that should fill in. If you look close you can see where my raking moved the seeds into like a wave pattern. Definitely could've done a better job at raking it in more evenly.

This weekend will be first urea app for sure and maybe a mow if things are getting too tall. Wasn't planning to until next weekend which would be around day 29.

My neighbors have been so fun throughout this process and especially now that there's some green stuff. We were out cleaning up the beds this weekend and had a few people stop to cheer me on and tell us how cool it's been to watch it all take place. It definitely makes all the hard work totally worth it.


----------



## steffen707

This looks so good. Definitely doing the blankets on my next reno! Where did you buy yours? Sorry if I asked this already.

Everything looks so even. Jealous!


----------



## lbb091919

steffen707 said:


> This looks so good. Definitely doing the blankets on my next reno! Where did you buy yours? Sorry if I asked this already.
> 
> Everything looks so even. Jealous!


No worries! I got them from ASP Enterprises. I called Profile directly and they gave me a list of distributors in my area. SiteOne actually carries them too but they only had one in stock locally and couldn't get more in time.


----------



## Bob Loblawn

Wow this is looking so good. It has really taken off the last few days. Nice work!!


----------



## gregonfire

Looks awesome man!! Finally seeing some payoff from all your hard work.


----------



## kman6234

Looks awesome! Love seeing the progress!


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Some progress pics from this morning.
> 
> August 30 - 10 DAS / 4 DAG
> 
> 
> 
> September 7 - 18 DAS / 12 DAG
> 
> 
> 
> August 30 - 10 DAS / 4 DAG
> 
> 
> 
> September 7 - 18 DAS / 12 DAG


I just heard Pete from GCI Turf say that using those blankets will screw with reel mowing short for years.......I know he's just one guy, but have you ever heard this? I figured the blanket would decompose and after a year or so if you scarified, it would tear up whatever is left of it.

Thoughts?


----------



## SNOWBOB11

I can't see why this would be a issue. Was he trying to sell another option?


----------



## lbb091919

Was he referring to the Futerras specifically? I can see how it might be an issue with a straw blanket held together by netting. There have been at least three people I know of reel mowing after using Futerras.


----------



## steffen707

SNOWBOB11 said:


> I can't see why this would be a issue. Was he trying to sell another option?


I'm watching a documentary with the wifey right now, i'll check later, but here is the video 



Around 1:22 he talks about it.

He wasn't selling another option, he ended up just using dirt, no peat, no straw no blankets.


----------



## lbb091919

He's pretty vague, but mentions 'netting' which Futerras have none so he must be referring to something else. I'm also not planning to cut at 0.5" or verticut ever. Not sure why you'd need to verticut KBG but to each their own. Cool project nonetheless!


----------



## lbb091919

Broke out the tape measure after work and decided I'll be mowing this weekend. Jury's still out on which mower. I backlapped the manual the other night but, on the other hand, I'd love to flatten things out with the 220.



With temps in the low 80s, it will probably take close to 2 days for it to completely dry out so is tbat ok on the new plants leading up to the first app/mow?


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> He's pretty vague, but mentions 'netting' which Futerras have none so he must be referring to something else. I'm also not planning to cut at 0.5" or verticut ever. Not sure why you'd need to verticut KBG but to each their own. Cool project nonetheless!


apparently if you verticut KBG it promotes rhizomatic growth. But that's good to learn about the netting on the Futerras.


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Broke out the tape measure after work and decided I'll be mowing this weekend. Jury's still out on which mower. I backlapped the manual the other night but, on the other hand, I'd love to flatten things out with the 220.
> 
> 
> 
> With temps in the low 80s, it will probably take close to 2 days for it to completely dry out so is tbat ok on the new plants leading up to the first app/mow?


Dang, look at that height, killer!


----------



## g-man

You should be mowing today ( before work?). 2.5 to 3ib is too high for a KBG Reno.


----------



## lbb091919

Thanks @g-man I will be mowing this evening.

I think the highest I can get the 220SL is just over 1". Do you think that would be ok to use if I decide to? The rest of the front is not that tall.


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> With temps in the low 80s, it will probably take close to 2 days for it to completely dry out so is tbat ok on the new plants leading up to the first app/mow?


Were you letting it dry out so that you can mow? Do manual push reel mowers not perform well with wet grass?


----------



## lbb091919

steffen707 said:


> Were you letting it dry out so that you can mow? Do manual push reel mowers not perform well with wet grass?


More so letting it dry out so I can walk on it


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Were you letting it dry out so that you can mow? Do manual push reel mowers not perform well with wet grass?
> 
> 
> 
> More so letting it dry out so I can walk on it
Click to expand...

Maybe I should borrow my sister's snow shoes to displace the weight more. Or teach my 7 year old how to push a mower. =)


----------



## g-man

lbb091919 said:


> Thanks @g-man I will be mowing this evening.
> 
> I think the highest I can get the 220SL is just over 1". Do you think that would be ok to use if I decide to? The rest of the front is not that tall.


I mowed my Reno at 3/4in with the 220E. You can use the Honda too.


----------



## Mark2

Where's the first mow pics??


----------



## lbb091919

Mark2 said:


> Where's the first mow pics??


No pics yet because I ran out of daylight and this morning the sun was preventing me from getting anything decent.

So the first mow was interesting to say the least. I got out there after my son's bedtime and removed the stakes. Pulled the 220 out and ended up having to adjust the reel to bedknife followed by a quick backlap. :roll: Set the HOC to 1" and went at it. Overall, it went well except for the areas where the grass was over 2" tall. It ended up mostly getting pushed down by the front roller and a lot was not getting cut. I ended up going over it multiple times in opposite directions to try to pick up the blades but I still wasn't happy.

It was getting dark so I took the blower to fluff it up some and then went over it with the manual reel like 3 times. Doing that seemed to help but I couldn't really see much. This morning I took a look and there were still some stragglers but overall it was pretty good. I'm planning to cut again on Saturday with the manual and will probably raise the HOC to get those taller guys before they get out of control.

If I could do it over, I'd start with the manual higher in the taller areas and then work it down so the blades are actually getting cut. Although, it was nice to get the greensmower out to flatten things and get a little striping preview


----------



## Robs92k

Pics!


----------



## Liquidstone

Robs92k said:


> Pics!


+1. Bet it's looking good! Did you shut down watering for the day prior to the mow?


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Mark2 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Where's the first mow pics??
> 
> 
> 
> If I could do it over, I'd start with the manual higher in the taller areas and then work it down so the blades are actually getting cut. Although, it was nice to get the greensmower out to flatten things and get a little striping preview
Click to expand...

Thanks for this advice. I'm doing my first cut tonight I think..........."striping preview" :lol:


----------



## lbb091919

Pics from yesterday's mow


----------



## Liquidstone

This looks so good. Nice Work man!


----------



## jskierko

This looks great! The growth in the front looks so structured, can still tell the growth followed the Sun Joe tracks.


----------



## joec-ct

Looking good, that first mow must've felt great too! And I see you took care of any water problems


----------



## Robs92k

Looking full and doing great!! Are all the Matt's up yet?


----------



## lbb091919

@Liquidstone Thanks! Your coverage is looking stellar too!

@jskierko The SunJoe tracks are pretty funny. Had a neighbor stop and tell me it looks like a farm field

@joec-ct It did feel great to finally be able to walk around on it like old times! The pipes are so ugly, I cannot wait to take those out haha

@Robs92k Thanks! I'm actually leaving them down and just pulling up as many of the stakes as I can find. It's definitely too late to go and try to pull them up.


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> @jskierko The SunJoe tracks are pretty funny. Had a neighbor stop and tell me it looks like a farm field


In a way, we are all Hobby Farmers. We're not planting corn, we're planting KBG! :mrgreen:


----------



## Bob Loblawn

Looking good! That first mow is a good feeling...let the spreading begin!


----------



## bf7

This is great coverage. Still feeding the babies this weekend?


----------



## lbb091919

bf7 said:


> This is great coverage. Still feeding the babies this weekend?


Yes sir. Tomorrow will be mowing the longer spots and Urea


----------



## lbb091919

Mowed the 3-day-behind right side at 1" today with the manual. The front and left sides are at 16 DAG and right side 13 DAG so I followed up with the first Urea app at 0.4lb N over everything so it's on the same schedule from here on out.

Also adjusted irrigation to run only at 10am and 3pm and increased run time.


----------



## lbb091919

Also replaced the random golf course stickers on the 220SL with some TLF swag.


----------



## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Also replaced the random golf course stickers on the 220SL with some TLF swag.


Awww yeah! getting work done.

Where are the after mow pictures?


----------



## lbb091919

Peeked out the window and just had to step out to take a night shot.

23 DAS


----------



## gregonfire

Dude that looks so good! Nice work.


----------



## lbb091919

gregonfire said:


> Dude that looks so good! Nice work.


Thanks man! I forgot to follow up with you about the area I sprayed with Nutsedge killer before seeding. There was germination but definitely less than everything else. Good to know for the future!


----------



## gregonfire

lbb091919 said:


> gregonfire said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dude that looks so good! Nice work.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks man! I forgot to follow up with you about the area I sprayed with Nutsedge killer before seeding. There was germination but definitely less than everything else. Good to know for the future!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it wasn't too bad. Either way, once your KBG matures it will fill in any gaps, so nothing to worry about there!


----------



## lbb091919

Manual mow at 1" this evening

Day 25


----------



## Jay20nj

I never removed the blankets in the runoff area and you can see clearly where they are. (I did fail the prodiame app as you can see)


----------



## Liquidstone

This looks great man. Really solid coverage. You've got to be proud!


----------



## lbb091919

With @g-man 's words ringing in my head, "We baby our lawns too much" I put my big boy pants on and dropped the 220 down to 3/4" and let 'er rip. Still getting used to the mower so it's not perfect.

I was rushing to get inside so I only snapped one pic. I am a couple days away from backing off watering again and hopefully, to my wife's delight, will be removing the orange tape and stakes.


----------



## bf7

Removing the caution tape is a big milestone. The wifey finally made me take it down before Halloween so the trick or treaters wouldn't trip over it.

To your credit - if the reno is ready to have a greens mower, I'm sure it can handle a few neighbors or delivery people trampling on it.

Looking awesome with the stripes!


----------



## lbb091919

bf7 said:


> Removing the caution tape is a big milestone. The wifey finally made me take it down before Halloween so the trick or treaters wouldn't trip over it.
> 
> To your credit - if the reno is ready to have a greens mower, I'm sure it can handle a few neighbors or delivery people trampling on it.
> 
> Looking awesome with the stripes!


Thanks! It's obviously safe to walk on for the most part. My main concern is someone walking on it right after an irrigation cycle when it's a bit more soggy.


----------



## steffen707

bf7 said:


> Removing the caution tape is a big milestone. The wifey finally made me take it down before Halloween so the trick or treaters wouldn't trip over it.
> 
> To your credit - if the reno is ready to have a greens mower, I'm sure it can handle a few neighbors or delivery people trampling on it.
> 
> Looking awesome with the stripes!


Take it down? HA, i'm going to put up more so the trick or treaters don't walk all over my grass babies!


----------



## gregonfire

Looks great man.


----------



## Bob Loblawn

lbb091919 said:


> With @g-man 's words ringing in my head, "We baby our lawns too much" I put my big boy pants on and dropped the 220 down to 3/4" and let 'er rip. Still getting used to the mower so it's not perfect.
> 
> I was rushing to get inside so I only snapped one pic. I am a couple days away from backing off watering again and hopefully, to my wife's delight, will be removing the orange tape and stakes.


* chefs kiss * looking fantastic!


----------



## lbb091919

Thanks @Bob Loblawn

Im planning to water one time a day at 100% ET but I'm not sure if it should be in the morning or evening. Wondering what other reno vets have done @g-man @Stuofsci02 @bf7 Thoughts?


----------



## g-man

Too early for once a day.


----------



## steffen707

g-man said:


> Too early for once a day.


Should we be at two or three waterings still?


----------



## g-man

Impossible to tell. Don't let it get dry.


----------



## Stuofsci02

It's has more to do with the weather. Here we are now low 70s in the day and low 50s at night. Dew at night is heavy and takes until 10am to dry. Several rain events have happened too. As such I went from 3 times per day to skipping several days. I am now watching it and doing what needs to be done based on the soil.


----------



## lbb091919

Received 0.6" of rain last night. Temps are finally dropping. 70s and low 80s for the next two weeks. Barriers are off for good so now we get to see how savage some people are. Tenacity at 4oz/A and weekly urea coming this weekend.

Things are starting to thicken up and fill in. There are some spots slacking because of washout or too much moisture but I'm leaving them alone and will just monitor. I have my sprinkler heads tuned as good as I can but their locations could be better and cause some areas to get more water.

Here are some pics from the fourth mow yesterday. Double cut at 3/4". I probably shouldn't have double cut but I just couldn't resist. If the neighborhood didn't know what was up before, they know now.

32 DAS / 26 DAG











This area on the property line gets a lot of moisture and is one of the spots I will be keeping my eye on.



Right side of house that is technically 3 days behind but on the same schedule as everything else. Some washout where there was no blanket on the right. I still have not mowed this side with the JD because it's so tight down the hill and I dont want to turn around down there. So it's been getting the manual treatment at 1"



The Bewitched's shade tolerance is going to really be put to the test as the entire side of the house is very shaded. I plan to eventually turn the space under the AC units into a rock or mulch bed because I really dont think anything will survive there and it's so hard to mow.


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## steffen707

Dang, its coming along. I wonder if the over watered areas will also just eventually fill in with grass that doesn't mind it a bit wet.

I have a sprinkler I need to fix. its a fixed 90 degree pattern but it shoots out like 12 foot and only needs to be like 4 foot so i'm getting tripple coverage in a spot...TOO WET. I tweaked my back the other day, so i'm not sure when I'll get to it. Should have fixed it before Reno.......oh well


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## Liquidstone

This is looking great man. I believe that mowing under that AC unit is a B! Like you mentioned, these cooler temps are definitely welcome.

You meant 4oz/A rate of tenacity right? I've seen the .4oz rate on a couple other journals as well and I figured it was just a typo but maybe I'm missing something?


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## lbb091919

@Liquidstone Thanks and yes I meant 4oz. Fixed!


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## lbb091919

Weed pressure has been low so I probably didnt need it, but went ahead with Tenacity on Saturday as well as the weekly 0.4lb N. Watering has been cut back to once per day at about 100% ET. Some spots still taking their time but from what I've read, it starts to take off from here. Fingers crossed!

My son's bedtime has been moved later so I cant mow after he goes down anymore. I've been mowing in the morning before work or during lunch breaks instead. It's so nice to be able to knock it out in 30 mins and nothing beats a morning dew mow.

38 DAS / 32 DAG


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## lbb091919

Out of town wedding this weekend so not much doing in the yard. It needs a cut desperately but wasn't able to squeeze it in. Tenacity bleaching is no joke, it looks awful right now. My son's new favorite hobby is to hunt for weeds. No complaints there!


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## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Out of town wedding this weekend so not much doing in the yard. It needs a cut desperately but wasn't able to squeeze it in. Tenacity bleaching is no joke, it looks awful right now. My son's new favorite hobby is to hunt for weeds. No complaints there!


At first I thought those were very small adult feet.


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## lbb091919

Had just over an inch of rain on Saturday so things were still a little soggy this morning but I was able to mow with the manual at 1". Followed that up with 0.5lbs N urea.

It's so ugly so hopefully the N can help it recover. I am happy to say that I've only pulled a few grassy weeds and other than that it's been little broadleafs here and there. Funny thing is the Scott's Fescue mix my neighbor put down lit up like a Christmas tree so I pulled some of those too (on my side of course).

It should be dry enough for the greensmower tomorrow so I'd like to try to get it back down to 3/4"


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## gregonfire

Don't sweat the bleaching, it'll grow out of it in no time and look even better than before!


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## lbb091919

Today is Day 48. Mowed two days ago at 3/4".

My neighbor will not stop watering his overseed so the right side of the house is staying very wet. Because of this, I am mowing the sides with the manual at 1" indefinitely (it wont go any lower). The 220 is also such a bear to turn around down there, it's just doing more harm than good. Wanted to post some progress pics to show how the bare areas have been filling in.

Temps have been in the mid-70s but expected to go up in the next few days. Still watering once per day at about 95% ref ET. Sides much less. Another dose of 0.5lbs N scheduled for this weekend then hopefully I can cut back the watering again by next week.

*Day 25*


*Day 32*


*Day 48*


*Day 25*


*Day 32*


*Day 48*


*Day 25*


*Day 32*


*Day 48*


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## steffen707

Amazing transformation. Love that the photos are all taken from exact same spot. I forgot to do that. DOH!


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## Bob Loblawn

Looking great! Love the progress pics


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## jskierko

This is looking superb, nicely done!


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## bf7

Very quick fill in. You won't have much work to do in the spring.

The worst part is the neighbor thinks they are doing you a favor by letting the water migrate over to your side.


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## Liquidstone

Awesome progress pics! Looks great and like @bf7 said, come spring you're going to be killing it.


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## Stuofsci02

Looks great.. amazing transition..


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## lbb091919

Thanks all. Got another lunch mow in today.

Ordered a roller kit for my Earthwise manual last night so it can get below 1". Now at least the sides wil match the rest.


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## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> Thanks all. Got another lunch mow in today.
> 
> Ordered a roller kit for my Earthwise manual last night so it can get below 1". Now at least the sides wil match the rest.


Jealous! Wish my Fiskars had a roller kit.


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## lbb091919

@steffen707 Check out @CaffeinatedLawnCare 's journal. He put a conveyor roller on his fiskars.

Some observations today. I'm guessing these light spots are from overcrowding? Also seeing what I think is DS. Probability has been above 50% for over a week but trending down for the next week. Wondering if I should treat with Propi?







This will be hard to describe but I also found a "squishy" spot about 2 feet in diameter that's actually a little raised up but sinks down considerably when I step on it. I have never noticed this, even before the reno. It helps to mention that this little area gets the most overlap from the sprinklers. I poked it a bunch with a screwdriver but no water actually came out. Any ideas how to fix this? Should I just let it dry out?


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## Wile

It you're due for some fert, I would spray a light round of ppz just to help until the risk drops.


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## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> @steffen707 Check out @CaffeinatedLawnCare 's journal. He put a conveyor roller on his fiskars.
> 
> Some observations today. I'm guessing these light spots are from overcrowding? Also seeing what I think is DS. Probability has been above 50% for over a week but trending down for the next week. Wondering if I should treat with Propi?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This will be hard to describe but I also found a "squishy" spot about 2 feet in diameter that's actually a little raised up but sinks down considerably when I step on it. I have never noticed this, even before the reno. It helps to mention that this little area gets the most overlap from the sprinklers. I poked it a bunch with a screwdriver but no water actually came out. Any ideas how to fix this? Should I just let it dry out?


Oooh, good to know, thanks.
Looks like your grass has some of the zebra leapard spotting that mine does. More fert for me today.


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## lbb091919

Hit the front with Propi at 1oz/M on 10/10. Then it rained nearly all week to the tune of about 1.5" total. I was already planning to cut back watering to every other day but I haven't had to run any irrigation for 8 days.

Yesterday was finally dry enough to mow and it was long. Started at 1" with the manual and then a double cut at 3/4" with the 220SL. Followed that up with another 0.5lbs N.

Prodiamine, MAP, SOP, and Feature up next.


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## Wile

Looks great! How's your DS damage? I have a lot of DS damage again. Wasn't checking my email, but your post reminded me.


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## bf7

This is a reno? And we are supposed to believe you didn't lay down sod?

Amazing work! &#128079;


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## lbb091919

Wile said:


> Looks great! How's your DS damage? I have a lot of DS damage again. Wasn't checking my email, but your post reminded me.


I only had about 5-6 spots all about the same size. On the left was 10/9 and the right from today, 8 days after Propi.





bf7 said:


> This is a reno? And we are supposed to believe you didn't lay down sod?
> 
> Amazing work! 👏


Thanks! Your reno thread has been a great reference for me.

Attempted my first doubles with the greensmower today. It could be much better but I kept having to stop and think where I was! I do prefer the look over singles.





Finished up the day installing the Ashland roller on my manual reel. I bought the roller kit from Earthwise to replace the rear wheels that it came with and then picked up the Ashland to replace the plastic roller.


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## bf7

I appreciate the reference! Never seen a heavy duty roller like that on a manual. I am curious how the stripes will turn out.


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## lbb091919

bf7 said:


> I appreciate the reference! Never seen a heavy duty roller like that on a manual. I am curious how the stripes will turn out.


Me too. It's a conveyer roller and weighs nearly 5lbs compared to the hollow plastic one. Got the idea from this thread.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23804

It's probably overkill for me since the manual is used primarily on the sloped sides that can't really be seen, but the idea is cool and I couldn't resist.


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## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I appreciate the reference! Never seen a heavy duty roller like that on a manual. I am curious how the stripes will turn out.
> 
> 
> 
> Me too. It's a conveyer roller and weighs nearly 5lbs compared to the hollow plastic one. Got the idea from this thread.
> 
> https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23804
> 
> It's probably overkill for me since the manual is used primarily on the sloped sides that can't really be seen, but the idea is cool and I couldn't resist.
Click to expand...

I wonder how changing the angle will affect things. The roller sits lower than with the wheels.


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## lbb091919

The wheels picture is sort of a bad comparison because that mower is adjusted very high so it looks a lot different. The bedknife attitude is definitely decreased the lower you go, but it still cuts great.


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## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> The wheels picture is sort of a bad comparison because that mower is adjusted very high so it looks a lot different. The bedknife attitude is definitely decreased the lower you go, but it still cuts great.


Awesome. I need to look into this, because there are a few spots on the lawn that I scalp with no front roller.


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## lbb091919

steffen707 said:


> lbb091919 said:
> 
> 
> 
> The wheels picture is sort of a bad comparison because that mower is adjusted very high so it looks a lot different. The bedknife attitude is definitely decreased the lower you go, but it still cuts great.
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome. I need to look into this, because there are a few spots on the lawn that I scalp with no front roller.
Click to expand...

That's actually the back of the mower. I wish it had a front roller because it's tough to get close to the flower beds without the front wheel dropping down and scalping.


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## steffen707

lbb091919 said:


> steffen707 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> lbb091919 said:
> 
> 
> 
> The wheels picture is sort of a bad comparison because that mower is adjusted very high so it looks a lot different. The bedknife attitude is definitely decreased the lower you go, but it still cuts great.
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome. I need to look into this, because there are a few spots on the lawn that I scalp with no front roller.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> That's actually the back of the mower. I wish it had a front roller because it's tough to get close to the flower beds without the front wheel dropping down and scalping.
Click to expand...

OHHH, ha ha ha!
My Fiskars has the drive wheels on the rear I think.


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## lbb091919

SOP and MAP down at 2lb/M on 10/23. Prodiamine down at 0.183oz/M today and watered in. I've been mowing every other day and I honestly think it's doing more harm than good. I've been switching up my patterns to avoid high traffic areas but I'm still seeing damage.

I've been enjoying getting the greensmower out often to practice on different patterns and what not, but with the growing season declining I think I'm going to give the turf a break and see what happens. I also think I am going to stick with singles. Doubles look great, but singles seem to compliment the smaller yard a little better.

I wasnt planning on applying any more N this year, but may hit it with one more small dose to help recovery.

*Reno Totals*
N - 5.05lbs
P - 2.68lbs
K - 2.00lbs







Some of the higher traffic areas


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## Stuofsci02

Looks great…. Congrats on a very successful reno…. Looking forward to following this over the next year..


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## jskierko

Definitely looks awesome! I will try to snap some photos at some point to show areas of my reno that were "rough around the edges" ending the season vs what it looks like at the end of its first full season. You will be amazed at the spreading and repairing capabilities. Bewitched for the win!


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## steffen707

jskierko said:


> Definitely looks awesome! I will try to snap some photos at some point to show areas of my reno that were "rough around the edges" ending the season vs what it looks like at the end of its first full season. You will be amazed at the spreading and repairing capabilities. Bewitched for the win!


Yeah buddy! :thumbup:


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## lbb091919

Stuofsci02 said:


> Looks great…. Congrats on a very successful reno…. Looking forward to following this over the next year..


Thanks and congrats on your reno as well!



jskierko said:


> Definitely looks awesome! I will try to snap some photos at some point to show areas of my reno that were "rough around the edges" ending the season vs what it looks like at the end of its first full season. You will be amazed at the spreading and repairing capabilities. Bewitched for the win!


Thanks! I am definitely looking forward to what the Bewitched can do. I know it will be ok, but the perfectionist inside me wants it NOW!


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## Wile

I'm amazed at how dark it is already. Every comment I read said it was so light to start and by year two it was dark. Truly awesome!


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