# aug0211's 2022 New Build Blank Slate



## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Our new construction home is wrapping up after 16 months (!) and we're starting to get close to turf time.

I'm going to be seeking lots of input across items such as leveling, drainage, seed selection, soil amendments, irrigation, space clearing, etc.

Spinning this up and grabbing a few placeholders to get myself into gear! All focus has been on the house and it's time to start getting serious about the lawn.

The last project was a reno of Bewitched (monostand) (https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1432) and I'm excited about doing this one from the start - wish the time of year worked out to be different, but we'll deal with it!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Handful of photos from before any work starting


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Over growth had gotten to about 3' tall. Brush hog, glypho, few days of wait, and then a second round of glypho.

Also had a sunken concrete pad added for the hot tub.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Some early stage topsoil going down. Lots left to go, but it's a start. Some additional glypho applied in needed areas as well.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Had some drainage work done. Ran 6" French drain across about 200' on the side of the property and tied downspouts + pool drain into it.

Worked with the county for approval on a 1' riser for the front drain basin for a gentler slope in the front, and got that added. French drain then dumps into this basin.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

First round of landscaping coming through. My theory on landscaping is that less is more. Simple and clean is my preference. Keep it tight and keep it clean.

Nice to see some previous low spots starting to really fill in, too.

Next up we've got more dirt, more plants, and landscaping rocks.

Still have irrigation and spa delivery before we get to seed down. Targeting end of August for seed down - need to pick seed still first though!

Going to need to re-juggle these reserved posts to consolidate more later on to make room.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Reserved


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Vtx531 said:


> Reserved


Will be revisiting this post frequently for updates!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Work is underway and reserved posts up top are getting updates as we go.

Still need to make a selection on seed. I love the uniformity of a monostand but not the risk that comes with it. Going to need some input picking out what blend to go with. Pretty set on KBG - but the question is whether to go with a monostand again, or a blend - and then, which cultivar(s) are best.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

With some homework, you could probably find 2-3 kbg cultivars with a similar growth habit, color and texture, that will grow well in your region. I tried PGR this year and it has been a game changer, as many others have stated. It should even out growth rate a little bit, so differences in growth rate between cultivars is less noticeable.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

aug0211 said:


> Made a few decisions today:
> 
> 
> ProVista is off the list - not paying ~500% increase for something that is not tried and true, does not have NTEP data we can see, and ultimately @g-man himself noted that he does not consider this an elite cultivar at this time
> ...


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Need to do some leveling work. Topsoil is down but still too rough.

Was hoping to see some of the clumps in the soil break down with some rain, but not nearly as much as I expected broke down.

Debating a drag mat vs a fixed drag for this.

Also really need to get a mower that can double as my machine for dragging. Or find a friend with a quad I can borrow - this might be better, really.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Should be a great blend! If I ever ditch the mono, these are the exact cultivars I would go with. Looking forward to seeing the progress.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

I really like those cultivars, too! I have straight Bewitched and a 50/50 blend of Mazama/Beyond seed (and some Bewitched mono mini-renos and a 3-way mini-reno). After seeing all the positive TLF members experiences, I'm now interested in Bluebank to mix in, or replace the Beyond. This will be fun to watch! :nod:


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Seed is in - tag images below.

I sourced the Mazama and Bewitched from Twin City Seed.

The Bluebank came from Swell Seed Company.

I was hoping to source from 1 place for simplicity, but was not able to find a place that had all 3 cultivars I wanted. I was particularly hopeful to source from Twin City Seed as they will do a custom blend and it would've been nice to have someone handle mixing the blend for me. Unfortunately, they did not have Bluebank available and I really wanted to go with these three specific cultivars and was not willing to make a compromise.

Interestingly, all of the seed from Twin City is blue tag, and the seed from Swell is neither blue nor gold tag. As others have reported here, the tags from Swell actually reflect a more pure product. I believe it's illegal to incorrectly label so it seems as though perhaps Swell has a fantastic product but is not paying for the blue/gold tag labels.


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## kman6234 (Jul 29, 2021)

This is going to turn out great! Looking forward to seeing the progress!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Coming down to the wire on timing. Irrigation got delayed due to massive rain storms. It's about 80% in but not done yet. And they're tearing the ground up more than I had hoped so we'll have to do some touch ups once irrigation is done.

Going to pick up a new mower this week hopefully to help with dragging and rolling to get this surface in shape.

Time is not in my favor right now.


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## Spex180 (7 mo ago)

Looks good I'll be coming back to check on the progress. &#128077;&#127997;


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Very nice! I have the exact same cultivars in my reno area this year. Just saw the first grass babies last night. Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!

Have you done any soil tests?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> Very nice! I have the exact same cultivars in my reno area this year. Just saw the first grass babies last night. Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!
> 
> Have you done any soil tests?


I think I recall your thread - really cool bunker work, is that right?

No soil tests, I know everyone says to do them and I'll be honest, I never have done one.

Very jealous of your timing - congrats on your first seedlings! I still don't have seed down and am anxious about it. Irrigation is set to finish up today, I have some weeds coming up that got some natural fallowing from serious rainfall... so I can spray that 2nd round of glyphosate and nuke them. BUT.... I really want to do some more leveling work. That might take 1-2 days to knock out, but the bigger concern is all the weed seed this will stir up. That could add another 1-2 weeks of fallowing and killing weeds before I could get seed down and I just don't think I can wait this long. Seed needed to be down a week ago :shock:


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

aug0211 said:


> I think I recall your thread - really cool bunker work, is that right?
> 
> No soil tests, I know everyone says to do them and I'll be honest, I never have done one.


I do have a grass "bunker" in front of a chipping green I made. 

This is my first year doing any soil tests. Think about it like this… many of us spend time and money figuring out the best possible grass seed to get. The grass can survive in many different types of soils, but if we take some time to improve the soil, getting the proper balance of nutrients, imagine how much better off the grass will be in the long run!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> aug0211 said:
> 
> 
> > I think I recall your thread - really cool bunker work, is that right?
> ...


I know it's the right thing to do, and I've read it's not hard to do. I guess I've just never prioritized it ahead of the other stuff to get done. Shame on me. What's the quickest/easiest/most accessible test kit you recommend?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Irrigation wrapped up last night. I of course went through today and started re-adjusting heads. I got through 10 of the 16 total zones today.

Tomorrow will be the final 6 zones and another round of glyphosate.

Also picked up a zero turn yesterday to use not only for mowing but also to pull stuff around the yard in the future (levelers, mats, sprayers, etc).


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

I sent in a soil sample to Midwest Labs, and they got me the results 2 days after they received it.

I'm not sure what the most common or quickest soil tests are, but don't worry if you don't have it all figured out before seeding. You can still improve your soil later on as well.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Another round of glypho on the front today and hope to hit sides and back tomorrow if weather allows.

I know I'll end up stirring up more weed seed that I won't get to fallow, but I picked up a leveling rake I plan to tow behind the ZTR and a yard cart to help spread some topsoil in the few low spots remaining.

Also need to get a tank sprayer to help with tenacity once seed is down.

Thinking about a tough to help with mixing seed as well. Lots to do and so little time.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Still too far behind schedule - seed isn't down yet :shock:

Did another round of glypho (and picked up a nice sprayer). Problem is needing to fill in low spots with yet more topsoil, and fixing the surfaces that irrigation tore up (a lot).

Irrigation is in though and I think I have it adjusted well. 14 lawn zones and 2 flower bed zones, maxing the thing out.

Picking up some feed troughs today to help with seed mixing for the 3-way Bluebank, Bewitched, Mazama blend (and soil moist).

Going to need to pre-germinate based on projected seed down date of next weekend (9/10). Yikes!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Still no seed down which is now nerve wracking - we're going to go for it this season even with such a late seed down date, but wow it's going to be close to see if we make it through the winter.

Seeds are pre-germinating now (tonight will mark 24 hours) and we'll go for as many days as seems safe before we get this stuff down, in hopes of accelerating our timeline.

Had another 10 yards of topsoil delivered and I'll be chipping away at this to fill in low spots that we're finding. I'm generally not happy with the final grade and unfortunately expect to be doing more topsoil and sand leveling next year - probably next fall.

I went ahead and mixed Soil Moist (2x label rate, as seems to be the standard and matches my previous use) in while doing our blend of the three seeds together.

Blending was quite the process - my lovely wife helped me out and it took a few hours. We used 20 pound buckets with an equal parts mix of Bewitched, Mazama, Bluebank (5 lbs of each seed totaling 15 lbs). First weighed out each seed in separate buckets, then slowly poured into a 4th bucket while I ran an electric mixer to blend the seeds together. Then poured back into 2 buckets and mixed again with the electric mixer. Finally, buckets were poured into a large trough where I used the electric mixer again, and then shovel mixed (because why not). LOTS of mixing here, trying to ensure a good even blend.

Every few rounds, we added in soil moist and mixed again.

I weighed out 15.2 lbs of mixed seed into pillow cases (3.8 lbs/1k sq feet * 15.2 lbs = 4k sq ft per pillowcase bag).

These bags are all soaking now for pre-germination (in the troughs, with random extra tiles I found in the basement as weights). Changing water every 12 hours. Will let this go for anywhere from 3-7 days before throwing seed down.

This gives me 3-7 days to finish spreading all this topsoil we have, plus get things as smooth as possible with the drag that I bought.

Planning to mix with Milo before putting seed down to help as the carrier for spreading through the broadcast spreader. This will come after the pre-germination soaking is complete, of course. I plan to use a combination of the two troughs we bought + the large dump cart I have to help with this final mixing stage.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Your brave. It's getting late. Hopefully a warm fall.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Your brave. It's getting late. Hopefully a warm fall.


I'm very nervous about how late this is. I guess worst case it's a good dry run 😂 would rather give it a shot then sit on my hands though. If we need to go again next season I guess we will!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Seed went down yesterday, I wound up mixing 48 lbs of milo to 15 lbs of seed or a ratio of 3.2:1 for milo to seed.

Everything spread pretty well. I used a lower setting on my spreader and just drove around for hours (maybe 4 hours) spreading it as evenly as I could, in every pattern I could think of and then finally at random for the last 30 minutes or so when I ran out of patterns. Used a walk behind spreader for the tighter areas.

Peat moss did NOT go down yesterday. I'm debating whether to put it down tomorrow or not.

I can keep this moist no problem with irrigation and I have a lot of topsoil so it's a nice spongy surface and easy to see if it does start to dry out.

It's a LOT of peat moss to cover the area (I recalculated and I think it's more like 40k sq feet) - at 1/8" of depth, we'd need 400 cu feet of peat moss or 139 bags of 3 cu feet. Could my math be off? This seems nuts to me and I'm having trouble justifying the benefit of the peat right now. I've used it in the past on a reno and loved it but at this scale I am second guessing it now. Or maybe my calculation is off.

40,000 sq ft * 1/8" of depth = 40,000 * (1 inch / 8 / 12 inches per foot) = 417 cu ft / 3 ft per bag = 139 bags.

My math must be off somewhere here right?


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## gatorguy146 (5 mo ago)

Ran some math using the assumption that it took me 2 bags to cover my roughly 1,250 square foot reno. I could be wrong here so someone please correct me, if you think so.

1/8 = .125 (just to make it easier to plug into a calculator)

Material required to cover 1 sq ft at 1/8 of an inch: .125 * 12 = 1.5
so 1.5 inches of peat moss required to cover one square foot

Now I need to figure out inches of material in one bag- a bag is 3 feet high which is 36 inches. So I want to figure out how many 1/8 inch square feet coverings there are in 3 feet of height

36 / 0.125 = 288

Bag are 3 feet wide so multiply the 288 (amount of square foot 1/8 inch coverings) by 3

288 * 3 = 864

So now to calculate the amount of bags needed - 
1.5 * 40,000 = 60,000

60,000 / 864 = 69.44 Bags

So 70 Bags, which roughly agrees to my napkin math double check of 2 bags per 1,250 sq ft. 2 / 1,250 * 40,000 = 64.

Hope this makes sense


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

This seems much more reasonable


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

You could do a trial of 10 bags on the areas you are most concerned about and see how much it ends up helping. I wanted to do a test like this, but couldn't find a peat moss spreader to rent, and had no plans to hand spread.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

My biggest concern is tearing up the yard when spreading it. It's somewhat damp from rain and watering after seed went down - had to get seed down but then we got rain and then I started the clock with trying to keep moist.

Debating letting it dry out today and spreading peat or just keeping it damp and skipping peat.


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## gatorguy146 (5 mo ago)

I vote to skip the peat. I think you're inviting more issues than what it's worth if you have to let the soil dry out, run equipment over it to spread, and then get it wet again.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

gatorguy146 said:


> I vote to skip the peat. I think you're inviting more issues than what it's worth if you have to let the soil dry out, run equipment over it to spread, and then get it wet again.


Thank goodness. I really just needed one person to say this to sell me!


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## gatorguy146 (5 mo ago)

Hahaha I totally get it. You went through a lot of work with the pre-germination. I think you'll be just fine. Probably some areas will come in thin or won't germinate for whatever reason, just always seems to happen whether you put peat moss on or not. Praying for good weather for you.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Thanks! Need these warm-ish temps to hold for a while.

I'm bummed we did not get leveling to where I wanted it, so we'll have some work to do even after grass comes in. I told my wife, worst case if this one is a bust we might try ProVista sod next spring.

I was surprised we didn't see any germination after 7 full days of pre-germination. That seemed really odd and had me concerned.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

I did my first reno of TTTF and kbg over 4k with only 2 bales of peat moss. Spread by hand, very fine. It helped for sure. I didn't have any fresh topsoil and my native soil is heavy clay.

My second reno I used a peat moss spreader. WAY more peat moss. It was 7k and I'm sure I used more than 8 bales.

Peat moss gives you a larger room for error when watering i.e drying out. Over watering kills stuff slower than dry out (in my experience). So if you can watch it and water precisely go for it. 40k is a lot of area but I think you can do it with 60 bales, just walk fast when you use the spreader.

I know when pete1313 did his reno he used cover aid it can flow through a spreader and I think has a tackifier as well built in if you have a slope.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Log for myself - Scott's starter + mesotrione applied on 9/22


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

uts said:


> I did my first reno of TTTF and kbg over 4k with only 2 bales of peat moss. Spread by hand, very fine. It helped for sure. I didn't have any fresh topsoil and my native soil is heavy clay.
> 
> My second reno I used a peat moss spreader. WAY more peat moss. It was 7k and I'm sure I used more than 8 bales.
> 
> ...


I used a fair amount of peat on the first reno (smaller property) and I think the biggest help it gave was some confidence insurance in ability to keep seedlings moist without over-watering. So I'm expecting to have to be a bit more diligent with watering due to less "wiggle room" without having the peat this time around.

If we don't see good results here, I'm not necessarily going to attribute it to the lack of peat though, too many other variables here (including a very late seed down date).


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

What range of high temperatures are in your 10 day forecast?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> What range of high temperatures are in your 10 day forecast?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

As of yesterday, 9/26, we’ve got our first seedlings.

These came up at 6 days after seed down (which was after 7 days of pre-germ).

Let’s hope we see more start to pop!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Probably not a bad idea to pray for a long warm fall, and that frost gets delayed as long as possible. Glad to see some grass babies happening! I hope your efforts will give you a good start to be all ready for things to fill in next spring!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> Probably not a bad idea to pray for a long warm fall, and that frost gets delayed as long as possible. Glad to see some grass babies happening! I hope your efforts will give you a good start to be all ready for things to fill in next spring!


Thanks! Yes we’ll see. It’s going to be close certainly. Spring might be a tough call in terms of nuking it for sod or giving it time to fill in based on how it looks then.

saw a few new blades popping up today, fingers crossed for some sunshine and a bit of warmth.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

This morning was exciting. Lots of growth occurred yesterday.

We’re at the stage now where early morning sunlight across the ground (not a lawn yet!) shows a nice peach fuzz of grass Not 100% uniform yet, and I’m trying to think through whether the stronger areas seemed to get slightly more water or slightly less water, or sun, etc compared to the further behind areas - not sure yet.

Those who know this stage know that you can’t capture it well via photos, but I took some pictures to look back on hopefully in a week or two as a progress comparison.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)




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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

That’s awesome! Grow babies grow!


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

I’m rooting for you. You did a good job on seed bed. If fall is warm I think you still have time to end up in good shape before it colds down.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

This is when your irrigation woes really show up  And also when it’s hard to fix them, because you don’t want to walk on the surface. I spent a lot of time trying to get it right but somehow I still have two problem areas. And both right in the middle of the main areas (center of front yard, center of back yard 😅).

We have growth in both areas but not as much, and some standing water from low spots that I’ll need to fix once I can walk on it, and seed in the spring.

The areas that look more bare have grass that is 1/8” to 1/4” tall now. The areas that show up as more green have blades in the 1/2-1” (wow!) range.

I’m not super happy with my irrigation/low spots but I am pretty happy to have seen germination as quickly as we did, to be seeing these growth heights at this point. Pre-germination effect, I suppose?

Oh, also, it’s clear which spots aren’t getting as much sun. Another important reason to seed earlier in the year to get the effects of a higher sun for less shade during germination.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Not loving the frost in the front this AM.

Also going to be seeding in the spring certainly for bare spots - like around the sidewalk and some the watering issue spots.

Surprised at growth rates for the other areas though. I wonder what that frost will do to these grass babes?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Little bit greener today.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Not sure if it actually greened up more or perhaps just time of day lighting. Bright green at the moment.


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Looking great!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Trying to take photos here and there from similar angles. This is the view from my office window so I tend to snap this one often. It’s going through a window but pretty accurate in terms of color and “fullness” of the lawn at this point.

Definitely have some broader bare spots to seed in the spring, and some spots that will need to fill in (counting on rhizome spread for much of this).

I estimate about 1.0-1.5” height across the board here.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Almost time for a cut. It’s looking good.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Almost time for a cut. It’s looking good.


Thanks! Considering a cheap hand powered reel. Probably only need 1-2 cuts this year and I want to keep as much weight off as I can.

I’m still watering a lot in case there are any seedlings that haven’t sprouted yet. Think it’s time to pull back on the watering or stay aggressive with it for a bit more to promote growth?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

aug0211 said:


> Thanks! Considering a cheap hand powered reel. Probably only need 1-2 cuts this year and I want to keep as much weight off as I can.
> 
> I’m still watering a lot in case there are any seedlings that haven’t sprouted yet. Think it’s time to pull back on the watering or stay aggressive with it for a bit more to promote growth?


I think you should continue to keep it moist for a bit longer. As it gets later in the year things usually stay moist for longer so maybe you can do the first watering later in the morning or cut out one irrigation but it probably still needs the water.

Definitely keep an eye out for any fungus damping off for any areas that stay wet longer. But looks like you have lots of sun so I think your in good shape.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

A cheap manual reel mower has been a great investment for me. I’ve just got a few areas I want to keep mowed shorter with a reel, and I’ve actually been able to put off spending the extra money on a powered reel mower for quite a while now.

Obviously you’ll want to let things dry out if you’re going to be out there mowing it. What height of cut do you think you’ll be maintaining it at?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> I think you should continue to keep it moist for a bit longer. As it gets later in the year things usually stay moist for longer so maybe you can do the first watering later in the morning or cut out one irrigation but it probably still needs the water.
> 
> Definitely keep an eye out for any fungus damping off for any areas that stay wet longer. But looks like you have lots of sun so I think your in good shape.


I do definitely have some spots that are water problems and will need work next year to level more.I saw some mushrooms the other day. Should probably hit this with an anti-fungal everywhere to be safe. There are also a few shade spots (sections) that I may have to actually try something else in - like an ornamental grass, not sure yet.



Ben4Birdies said:


> A cheap manual reel mower has been a great investment for me. I’ve just got a few areas I want to keep mowed shorter with a reel, and I’ve actually been able to put off spending the extra money on a powered reel mower for quite a while now.
> 
> Obviously you’ll want to let things dry out if you’re going to be out there mowing it. What height of cut do you think you’ll be maintaining it at?


Ideally I’d like this short, around reel height. I don’t want to reel mow the whole lawn consistently though so will be using a rotary ZTR. I can get down to 1” on my ZTR by the book but we’ll see how it goes in reality with the final grade and leveling result. I may need to go a tad higher.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Grabbed a few photos between meetings this AM, didn’t have time to snap the front.

Side are the tough spots - as expected, due to drainage and shade.

Filling in pretty nicely. May look for a hand powered reel tonight with a plan to do a first trim in a week or two. Perhaps next weekend along with an anti-fungal.

Weather has been warm, but colder temps are coming! Going to need to shut down irrigation and winterize the pool soon.


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## gatorguy146 (5 mo ago)

The paver and stone work around the pool is absolutely beautiful. Such a slick look, I really like it


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Very nice sea of green you have there! So cool to see things going well considering how late you got delayed in getting seed down.

Every day before the ground freezes is another day for the grass to get more mature. 👍

Have you noticed if all the grass is still in the 1 leaf stage or are you noticing plants starting to produce multiple leaves?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

gatorguy146 said:


> The paver and stone work around the pool is absolutely beautiful. Such a slick look, I really like it


Thanks! The pool itself was a blast for us this summer with the kids. Will be even better next year with a lawn around it to play in!



Ben4Birdies said:


> Very nice sea of green you have there! So cool to see things going well considering how late you got delayed in getting seed down.
> 
> Every day before the ground freezes is another day for the grass to get more mature. 👍
> 
> Have you noticed if all the grass is still in the 1 leaf stage or are you noticing plants starting to produce multiple leaves?


I saw some two leave plants today for sure but didn’t look closely for that - just happened to noticed it and it didn’t even register until I saw this question. I’ll look more closely tomorrrow!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Front shot!

A tough area is waaaay up in the far right of this photo on the other side of the driveway where there’s a hill. Have a bare spot that I’ll need to address in the spring.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> Very nice sea of green you have there! So cool to see things going well considering how late you got delayed in getting seed down.
> 
> Every day before the ground freezes is another day for the grass to get more mature. 👍
> 
> Have you noticed if all the grass is still in the 1 leaf stage or are you noticing plants starting to produce multiple leaves?


I looked in a bare-ish spot (easiest to see individual plants in a bare area) and all plants are 2-3 leaf, mostly 3 leaf. I imagine the areas that are doing better are the same or better hopefully.


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

Looking great! Is that blank section going to be your driveway?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

livt0ride said:


> Looking great! Is that blank section going to be your driveway?


Off to the left in the photo just above is what I think you’re referring to, that’s actual off property and we went a bit beyond our property when grading. The driveway is the concrete part off to the right in the photo just above.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Put in an hour of debris pickup tonight. Lots more to go!

Some spots are really looking great. Will have to seed others in the spring but happy with what’s coming in so far.

A few close ups below, grabbed a rock and my shoe for scale. Pretty vibrant color, these are unedited.


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## livt0ride (Jan 10, 2021)

aug0211 said:


> Off to the left in the photo just above is what I think you’re referring to, that’s actual off property and we went a bit beyond our property when grading. The driveway is the concrete part off to the right in the photo just above.


Oh haha. Thought that was your walkway to the front door.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

livt0ride said:


> Oh haha. Thought that was your walkway to the front door.


This might help visualize it - part of the concrete in that above photo is the walkway to front door and part is the garage. These photos showed more I think:









aug0211's 2022 New Build Blank Slate


Our new construction home is wrapping up after 16 months (!) and we're starting to get close to turf time. I'm going to be seeking lots of input across items such as leveling, drainage, seed selection, soil amendments, irrigation, space clearing, etc. Spinning this up and grabbing a few...




www.thelawnforum.com


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Mowed the front yesterday, blew the leaves off first which was half of the time  Used a Scott’s manual reel on its lowest setting. 

Little guy did a test strip in the back and loved it, couldn’t get him to stop. A good sign 🤣


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Wow…. looks fantastic for only a month this late in the season..


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Stuofsci02 said:


> Wow…. looks fantastic for only a month this late in the season..


Thanks! I’ll pass this along to our 6 y/o (shown mowing above).

All the bad spots (there are plenty) will be attributed to myself 😂


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

aug0211 said:


> Thanks! I’ll pass this along to our 6 y/o (shown mowing above).
> 
> All the bad spots (there are plenty) will be attributed to myself 😂


I can’t see anything in your photos that would suggest you will need to do anything next year..


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Stuofsci02 said:


> I can’t see anything in your photos that would suggest you will need to do anything next year..


I’ll see if I can grab some shots this weekend.

The sides need some help and work, one side will probably have to go a different route - maybe an ornamental grass I can leave higher as an edge buffer, if there’s one that does well in the shade?

And two other side sections may need another seeding, I think they can come in and do ok but rhizomes won’t be enough for these two currently sparse sections.

Then way in the back I have a major mole problem. Worst I’ve seen. I have 4 traps set currently (need to check), but at a minimum I’ll have re-leveling work with some spot repair likely. Rhizomes may take care of that but I also could end up with a ~7’ path across the entire back of the yard that needs topsoil to help level, and may end up re-seeding that stretch.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

That boy is a chip off the old block! Keep fueling that interest. You might be surprised how it continues to fill in late this season. Since you are 100% kbg, I would use a Pro Plugger to fill thin areas in next season. That should fill in nicely next spring, even without seeding.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

The mole spots - awful (4 empty traps to reposition), and some photos of those side areas I mentioned above as my trouble spots.

Much can fill back in especially if I plug, but leveling is inevitable now I think. I’ll have to decide if it’s so drastic I need to seed it anyway or if plugging may be ok with gradual leveling over next spring and fall.

There is one more section, top of a hill out front, that will need some TLC next spring - did not remember to get photos of it yesterday.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Chris LI said:


> That boy is a chip off the old block! Keep fueling that interest. You might be surprised how it continues to fill in late this season. Since you are 100% kbg, I would use a Pro Plugger to fill thin areas in next season. That should fill in nicely next spring, even without seeding.


Forgot to add, I do have some sections I intentionally let stray seed venture into, like in future rock beds that don’t have rocks yet, slightly over the property line, etc. that I intended to use as plug donors. They’ve come in pretty well and would be good candidates soon to start plugging.

maybe I should go for plugging and handle leveling separately. It’s pretty tough out there in mole country though and I’m concerned I won’t be patient enough to level that section slowly enough to not kill the plugs anyway.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Yikes, looks like fungus - do you agree?

I had thought it was just different areas growing in at different rates when looking from far away through the week - and hadn’t had a moment to get out and look close this past week. Today I looked closer and I think it’s fungus. Especially in the couple really bad spots where I got close ups.

Got down Azoxystrobin; my tow behind spreader stopped spreading halfway through. Had to finish off with the smaller walk behind.

Going to pick up some urea to spoon feed and hope we can push through the fungus.

Thankfully I haven’t been watering as much (actually maybe too little and maybe growth slowing plus lack of fertilizer was the problem).


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

When was your last N app, and how much?

Bummer to see the fungus, hopefully your efforts will have the grass bouncing back to good health soon.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> When was your last N app, and how much?
> 
> Bummer to see the fungus, hopefully your efforts will have the grass bouncing back to good health soon.


I’ve been very hands off - and paying for it now. Nothing since the milo at seed down and starter + mesotrione at seed down. 🤦‍♂️


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Looks like it has been almost 6 weeks since your grass started germinating. Probably would have been good to start feeding it a couple weeks ago. I’m no fungus expert, you said you didn’t think you were overwatering so maybe your new grass was getting weak because it was hungry and disease found a chance to take hold?

That’s purely a guess, so someone please chime in if I’m wrong.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> Looks like it has been almost 6 weeks since your grass started germinating. Probably would have been good to start feeding it a couple weeks ago. I’m no fungus expert, you said you didn’t think you were overwatering so maybe your new grass was getting weak because it was hungry and disease found a chance to take hold?
> 
> That’s purely a guess, so someone please chime in if I’m wrong.


I think this sounds about right. Could also be some from moisture that set it off when we had tons of water flowing in from germination time.

I didn’t do this any favors here. Started a new gig and have been busy and this project has taken the hit!


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

😬😬😬

Think I’ll lose it?


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Applied N @ 1#/k on 11/11.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Nice to see that you've got some dark green areas! 👍


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