# SimonR's Perched Water Table (Capillary Fringe)



## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

So if I am going to win LOTM, I figure I better have a journal! :lol:

I am a long time Bermuda lawn grower from South Australia. Previously I lurked in the Warm Season sub-forums, banging on about how good bermuda was and that I would never even consider a cool-season lawn. That changed when @Ware overseeded his bermuda with PRG. I couldn't believe the stripes. Since I was to be demolishing my then house, I figured why not give it a crack and overseed the bermuda. From that point on, my love for cool-season lawns was born.

Fast forward 2 years, after the house was done, I finally had the opportunity to do a lawn right and build it with no compromise with the prep. We have a few issues during the planning section where-by my lovely wife kept making the house bigger and bigger. An error with the surveying lost me more space that I thought I was getting for my lawn. Once the lot the was leveled we also had to build a 1.4m retaining wall so the yard was the same level as the alfresco. So what I had was a much smaller yard than I ideally wanted; a narrow, heavily shaded yard that would only get 4-5 of midday sun per day. On the up-side, I still have the same budget!

I spent my sabbatical planning the ultimate prep. What I wanted to do initially was a full USGA spec golf green construction with gravel blanket, drainge and USGA spec sand. Sourcing the gravel that would work with the USGA spec sand was difficult to find. I did find some quartz based gravel, but it had a pH of 10 and I was worried about iron precipitation and cementing at the gravel/ sand interface that I started to look at other options. I found a company in the US doing what they call "airfield" constructions, using drain tiles with a geotextile filter above the tiles and below the sand. Turns out USGA have done some research with this method, and it has real merit. In some tests it showed to have a higher capillary fringe and just as effective drainage values.

You may be asking what is a capillary fringe? Essentially the rootzone is like a giant sponge. If it free drains out the bottom, eventually the force of gravity pushing the water down is offest by the suction of the soil pulling the water up. This creates a zone where the sand/soil is a maximum moisture capacity; but the top is very dry. It also has effectively unlimited drainage potential. Think of when you water a pot plant; eventually the water stops flowing out the drainage holes, but the soil at the bottom of the container is still wet. The characteristics of the sand/ soil as well as the depth dictates how fast that drainage happens and how "high up" that fringe occurs. A coarse material will drain very well, but it has very little suction and wont' hold water very well. The opposite is true for a small particle soil like silt and clay.

Grass type was initially to be seashore paspaulm; a grass that I had always been interested in. With the lack of sunlight I knew this would never thrive. Cue the cool-season! Fine Fescue was chosen as one of the grasses that would cope with the site. I had doubts that KBG or PRG would cut the mustard, but I decided to go with a blend of Chewings and Strong Creeping Red Fescues, Mediterranean and Continental PRGs and Colonial Bent Grass.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

So this is the starting point. All the sludge from the exposed concrete plus all the builders rubble


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

I went and chipped around the retaining wall footings so there was a nice transition where planned hedge can grow around the footings


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Plan was to take the sub-grade down 320mm below the finished height and dump the old soil. I had a Skid-Steer in to scrape and level the grade. My biggest concern was the storm-water piping running straight through the yard. I measured the top of the pipes and looked like I will just have enough clearance to get the depth that I wanted



Next was to level the sub-grade to match as closely the top profile such that the depth of the sand was the same over the whole yard. Too shallow and you can have poor drainage and a high water table, too deep and the fringe may be too deep for the roots to access. Obviously I had to cut the IPs down and cap off


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

When the house was being built I put an 8-core irrigation cable inside the house. No one wants controllers outside!
Before the concrete perimeter paths were laid I put 4 irrigation lines in to service the rear yard. 2 zones for sprinklers and 2 for garden-beds and plants.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

8-zone, 4 front, 4 back. 2 each front and rear with pressure reducing valves for drippers. Main feed line with back-flow prevention


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

With the subgrade laser leveled and ready to go, the first step was a layer of geotextile fabric. I want the old soil as far away as possible from the new stuff! I am putting a layer of drainage gravel down before the drain tiles so I also don't want the gravel migrating into the sub-grade.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

The gravel is there for some extra drainage as well as a nice firm base to lay the drain tiles on.



Speaking of drain tiles..



These are 30mm interlocking tiles with a high void ratio. These are designed for use in roof-top gardens and the like as well as some sporting ground and golf applications.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Drain tiles were laid and it was surprisingly easy. It took me a few afternoons after work to get them all in. The hardest part was laying them in and around the retaining wall footings. Irrigation was roughed in ready for the nest phase.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

After all the tiles were laid, another layer of geotextile fabric went in. I did a fair bit of research on what opening size to use and whether it should be woven or non-woven. I chose a non-woven fabric with an apparent opening of 0.2mm, which is similar to what was used at the USGA trial data that I researched. The fabric keeps the sand from migrating into the drainage tiles, so it needs to be laid correctly without any tears or rips. If it did get ripped or damaged, the whole exercise would be futile.

So I had to pump up the tires on the wheel-barrow and get myself fired up for some serious haulage. 45T to be exact!


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

I chose a very specific sand for the rootzone. I found a quarry an hour south of where I live that produces various sands for use in golf and sporting ground constructions. The sand that I used meets the requirements as laid out in the USGA golf green construction guidelines.



The first 12T went in like a dream!


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

This hauling went on for the next 3 weekends. In the interim, I did install some festoon lights that really provide some nice ambiance to the area.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Pre-plant nutrition consisted of some inorganic zeolite, humic acid, poultry manure and some turf specific organic ferts that focus on building CEC as well as macros and micros. This is obviously a very different approach from the norm which probably looks at using more OM and soils with a much greater CEC.

Steel edging was used to frame it and create some formal hedging garden beds.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

With everything laser leveled and screeded off, it was time to throw some plants in and get some seed down. Euonymus microphyllus for a very small tight hedge with some Murrayas behind for the dual-hedge look which I love!


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Day 7 we had some sprout. Plenty of 'red-rockets' around the night before, but its always pleasing to see some sprouts of green emerging.


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

This is amazing! I admire all your hard work and can't wait to see the end result.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

^+ 1000


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## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

@SimonR, as a turf pro I must say how much I admire your attention to all the critical details of this project. The non-woven geo will work well and is probably more reliable than a true USGA spec gravel blanket. That part of the system has been in constant flux over the life of the specification and subsequent updates. Another conversation for another time.

Let's talk about your irrigation programs. Any thought on how those may change seasonally for your climate, especially with FF? No judgment here, just a pro geeking out on someone doing it 100% the right way. Well done, sir.


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## zeus201 (Aug 30, 2017)

Attention to detail is amazing!!!


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

osuturfman said:


> @SimonR, as a turf pro I must say how much I admire your attention to all the critical details of this project. The non-woven geo will work well and is probably more reliable than a true USGA spec gravel blanket. That part of the system has been in constant flux over the life of the specification and subsequent updates. Another conversation for another time.
> 
> Let's talk about your irrigation programs. Any thought on how those may change seasonally for your climate, especially with FF? No judgment here, just a pro geeking out on someone doing it 100% the right way. Well done, sir.


Thanks osuturfman! I am hoping long-term that all those little details make the difference and I have a successful project with all of the benefits of the perch.

With regard to irrigation programs, it will be a 'play it by ear' situation. I am hoping by the time summer rolls around, I will have some solid root mass. Present depths are at about 150mm based on some seedlings that I have plucked from the garden beds. The PRG is dominating at the moment so the Fescues could end up just being a companion grass. I am fully expecting that I may need to be irrigating relatively frequently and potentially implementing a fungicide program if needed.



zeus201 said:


> Attention to detail is amazing!!!





KHARPS said:


> This is amazing! I admire all your hard work and can't wait to see the end result.





g-man said:


> ^+ 1000


Thanks dudes :thumbup:


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Around the day 12 mark there was some decent sprout. I am not sure if anyone else does this on seedlings, but I put down a super-low rate application of Primo Maxx. I find it helps to get some tillering and stop it from growing so unnecessarily tall


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Day 22

I was a little disappointed with the rate of establishment on the lawn. Pre-plant nutrition worked out to be around 1-1-0.8 lb/M NPK, but it just seemed to lack vigor and density. I went out with 10lb per M originally so, I gave it a quick trim and overseeded it.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

I was really starting to have some doubts that something just wasn't quite right. Call it just a gut feel, but I wasn't happy with where this was at and just how sparse it was. Being that it is basically winter now in Aus, I did some soil temperature tests and some areas are only just breaking into the mid-50s, even after being in the sun. I came to the conclusion that since the ryegrasses in this blend are all continental ryegrasses, the maybe the lack of soil temps is effecting the rate of establishment. Its the only thing that I could think of that would kind-of explain what was going on.

Previously when I overseeded my bermuda, I used a Mediterranean PRG which has around 7-times the winter activity of the continental ryes in this blend. I knew this monostand PRG works in my location, so I decided to do an overseed and bring this PRG cultivar in. I also put down another application of granular fert at 1-0.6-0.8 NPK per M.

We then proceeded to have over an inch of rain over the next 3 days..


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

So from around 5 weeks since the initial seed-down, we started to cook.

Germination at 7 days again (fairly consistent in my location) and almost instantly you could see it getting fuller and thicker by the day. The Med cultivars don't have the deep-green color of the Continentals, more of a mid-green. As I have overseeded the whole area, there isn't a massive issue with color and uniformity into the existing lawn.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

6 week update. It looks like a lawn!

I usually go out once per week for a foliar fertiliser application to complement my granular schedule. Soil pH is around 6, so I plan to apply all my iron apps as part of my granular program. I had some major iron staining at the old place and after spending megabucks on nice retaining wall blocks and exposed aggregate I am not having that again!

I generally use 3 products on a tri-weekly rotation, with a bull kelp product that I tank mix into each. Usual rates for each of these is 6 fl oz per M.

Week 1 - 8-10-5 with 1% Zn
Week 2 - 15-4-8 (50% MU) 2% Mg and EDTA Trace
Week 3 - 2-0-5 with 7% Ca 11% Si 4% S

I really want to get away from just pumping N and iron to get color and really focus on those other macros as well as implementing some Si which I have read some good things with regard to stress tolerance and hardiness,


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

I have been using low rates of PGR (0.2fl oz/M) pretty much since it sprouted. The GDD model from UNL and GreenkeeperApp seems to be the best re-application model to use.

I went out with a PGR app, tank mixed with 15-4-8 and bull kelp.

Laid down some bullets! Week 7..


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## Matty316 (Apr 2, 2020)

This looks amazing..well done


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## zeus201 (Aug 30, 2017)

Man...those strips!!!!


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

PRG stripes so nicely. Looking good!


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

bernstem said:


> PRG stripes so nicely. Looking good!


That triple-single looks very cool and different! :thumbsup:


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.

It has taken a bit of time to tune this in, particularly with regard to fert inputs. I've basically had to up the Nitrogen on my foliar apps as well as cutting back drastically on the water input. It seems that it leaches much faster than I thought it would, so my main nitrogen source is now Methelyne Urea to slow the nitrification and losing the NO3- nutrients through the profile.

Its the first day of winter on Monday and to be 10 weeks in and still getting improvement is really satisfying.

Today's mow was what dreams are made of. Firstly, for the first time in forever, the kids went to their Grandparents which left me to lay out some really nice stripes. The festoon lights sometimes distract from the aesthetics, but some light cloud cover came over and made everything just pop.

Anyway, enjoy..


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## RCUK (Jul 16, 2018)

Stunning. All the work and results are amazing to see. :thumbup:


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

RCUK said:


> Stunning. All the work and results are amazing to see. :thumbup:


Thank you RCUK!


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Fantastic....


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

How are you doing those straight lines? Laser ?


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## SumBeach35 (Jul 11, 2019)

Wow....just *WOW*


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Looks amazing! Great project!


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Things have been cold here over the last week or so. When I say cold, its 60F max and 32-ish overnight lows. Growth has slowed so I have stopped with the Primo-maxx applications for now.

I'm trying to limit myself to once-per week mowing as to not put too much wear on one end that is currently in significant shade (darkness).

I also noticed a hint of mycelium on a few shaded areas, so I have done an app of chlorothalonil 720 and some foliar Ca/K/Si for some extra protection. No obvious signs of any foliar blight or spotting yet so hopefully I caught it just in time.

Here are some pics from the weekly mow, I have gone with the "burnout" look.


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## Matty316 (Apr 2, 2020)

I could look at that all day..stunning sir


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## JoeyDonatelli (Apr 4, 2018)

Absolutely amazing!


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## liamjones (Apr 29, 2020)

What HOC are those latest pictures? looks amazing


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

liamjones said:


> What HOC are those latest pictures? looks amazing


Thanks LJ, the last ones are at 18mm. I took it down to 15mm on my last mow but I think I will bring it back up again


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Its time to start thinking about the front yard. I will need to build a retaining wall along the front edge and bring in some more gravel. Plan is to have the same set-up as the back with the perched water table over drain cells.

I have had a bobcat in to get rid of the top mess, but the soil is terrible and very hard to work with when it has been raining.


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Ripper winters day here in Aus.

I am settling into a decent routine with foliar apps now that soil temps are really low.

I decided to try something completely different as I really need to give the ends a break with excessive turning of the mower. Diamonds are not cutting it so I decided to go with Chevron look.


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## Richard Slater (Aug 25, 2017)

That's looks amazing @SimonR, insane how smart that looks.


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## SC Grass Loon (Jun 7, 2019)

Warm season guy here and I happened to stumble into this. Wow, amazing setup and results!


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Looks great... Must be fun mowing that.. Small enough you can crawl over it and pull any offending grasses...


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## rob13psu (May 20, 2018)

Wow, amazing work and attention to detail. Looks awesome.


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## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

Wow, very impressed with all the planning and hard work you've done! Bravo!


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Richard Slater said:


> That's looks amazing @SimonR, insane how smart that looks.


Thanks Richard, it was one of those ones where you start mowing it in, but not really sure how it will come up! 



SC Grass Loon said:


> Warm season guy here and I happened to stumble into this. Wow, amazing setup and results!


I have gone full dark-side! I used to scoff at cool-season lawns, but the move in the last few years, particularly on here, to reel-mown, short cool-season has really grown my appreciation for cool-season turf.



Stuofsci02 said:


> Looks great... Must be fun mowing that.. Small enough you can crawl over it and pull any offending grasses...


I definitely would have liked a much bigger yard. but you have to make do with what you have got. I am very envious of the big open spaces and beautiful homes that you have over in the US. That being said, with a small yard you can absolutely obsesses over every inch of it!



Shindoman said:


> Wow, very impressed with all the planning and hard work you've done! Bravo!


Grazie Grazie


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

How in the world did I miss this thread @SimonR - oh, it's in the cool season journals. You are lost. :lol:

This is incredible. :thumbup:


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## SimonR (Feb 1, 2017)

Ware said:


> How in the world did I miss this thread @SimonR - oh, it's in the cool season journals. You are lost. :lol:
> 
> This is incredible. :thumbup:


Thanks JW! You are to blame for the move to the dark-side! Without your PRG overseed, I never would have had a crack at overseeding my Bermuda back in the day and I never would have fallen in love with the shiny leaf of the PRG!


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## Ballistic (Mar 19, 2018)

Amazing Job!


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## ndrewreid (Oct 13, 2020)

SimonR said:


> Its time to start thinking about the front yard. I will need to build a retaining wall along the front edge and bring in some more gravel. Plan is to have the same set-up as the back with the perched water table over drain cells.


Simon, I've absolutely loved watching your progress. Well done mate, it's next level.

I've also got a front yard on the cards. Is it at all possible to achieve the perched water table with anything less than a perfectly flat base? I'm dealing with a bit of a slope across the ~300sqm area I'm working with.

- Andrew


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