# jurkewycmi 2018 Lawn Journal



## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Ottawa, Ontario lawn

This is my first year ever maintaining my yard, so all suggestions are graciously welcome. I'm here to learn and enjoy this new hobby.

Herbicide and fungicide availability will greatly depend on whether my wife will let me indulge in international shipping, or border runs, as I'm 45 mins away from the Ogdensburg NY border.

So let's just bank on me maintaining via proper mowing, irrigation, fertilization, overseeding etc.

The back is a KBG sod that was laid in May 2018.

Front is an absolute mess of NoMix and KBG sod transplants.

Soil Testing is next on my to do list, just sourcing local labs.

Here's an outline of my activities this year so far, and a rough plan of what I would like to do ideally going forward. This is subject to my ability to afford these chemicals of course.

May
Front
- Scalp, rake, top dress black earth, Scotts starter, Scott's sunshade overseed. Resulted in some increased thickness, ++ weeds

June 
Front
- Sod plugged where weeds
- 18th Weed B Gone ready to spray 24d mecoprop dicamba/ Milo 0.2lb/k
- spoon feed Milo weekly 0.2lb/k, spot treat weeds prn
- last week of June raked out the dead weeds in the front, massive heat wave, lawns looking rough
Back lawn
- irrigate 1/2" Mon/Wed/Fri
- spoon feed Milo weekly 0.2lb/k

July
- spoon feed Milo 0.2lb/k
- irrigation 1"/wk, increase prn
- crabgrass growth in front hand pulled
- July 7 Back - yellowing areas in sod most likely fungal/leaf spot? localized dry spots that look like drought stress, showing some gray/purple . Decided to irrigate 1" water and mow at 3.5

Current status
Front Lawn

Back Lawn


August
- 1st wk weed control if necessary
- reduce mowing height down to 2-2.5" gradually for Sept 1 overseed in front and Nitrogen Blitz in back

September
FRONT
- topsoil/compost topdressing, aerate, 3-4-2 ratio starter, milo, overseed (seed moist?), tenacity, roll lawn?, peat moss
- 21 days post seed down Milo 1/2 rate
- 28 days post seed 1/4lb n/k, tenacity

October
- 35 days post 1/4lb n/k
- 42 days post 1/4lb n/k
- 49 days post 1/4lb n/k
- 56 days post 1/4lb n/k
- 60 days post seed down prodiamine


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

I'll post some pictures with better angles and lighting and closer shots of the problem areas


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

FRONT

Liquid Aerate
Milo 0.2lb/k
1" water


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Brown spots on the back lawn


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

1" front and back

Soaped the browned out area in the front on the neighbors side, starting to green up with more water, guess is was just dormant.

Going to keep hammering the front with water and see if the whole thing will wake up and hopefully I can get an even HOC on the entire thing, hide the bumps


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

July 13 1" water front and back

July 15 mowed at 4", trim and milo spoon feed. Scalped down the two blonde spots in the back yard, at 2" and 3" just to see how they recover since they werent growing out very fast.

July 16 1/2" water front and back

thinking of trying to water by ET calculations...https://aroundtheyard.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119:cactus-water-balance-irrigation&catid=9&Itemid=117

soil type based on some older documents for my region give me clayey silt and loam,

1.8 in/ft water capacity conservatively
4 in root depth, im in the 2-3 in range but need to grow dem roots
avg ET last week was 0.17in/day

0.6 in water every 4 days if my math is right


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

That looks right.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

We got rain on Tuesday, no rain gauge out but local precip said enough that I didnt need to irrigate for a bit.

July 19 0.5" to back, double cut because its so small i always do at 3.5, lower cut down areas growing back well even though they look pretty brown from above, im assuming they were just bleached from when we had a blow up pool down a week or two ago. Crap plastic bleaches stuff???

Ill add that the lawn looks a bit brown from up here. As per a previous post, some areas are displaying leaf spot like symptoms, yet other areas are appearing drought stressed. Cant win. It gets water and Milo for now. until the Fall N Blitz.

July 20 0.5" to front as per ET.

Hoping to get an answer as to how to improve front via the cool season forum. Stressing me out.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Rained about 0.25" today. Calling for rain all week. 🤗 For the water bill.

Mowed back at 3"
Mowed front at 4"

Fall overseed in the front is going to be a 70/30 KBG/PRG blend...

Plus I'm going to add 1 lb of Appalachian KBG that I found at a local feed store.

I figure that gives me a pretty quality KBG blend on a budget.

I may see if a landscape supplier will load the back of my SUV with compost/sand for topdressing. I'm not paying $150 to have it delivered, don't have a trailer, may see if a friend with a truck can help.

If not whatever, gonna use a Classen overseeder to lay down my mix

Do I still need to use peat and a 1/3 full roller if I use the overseeder machine? Probably not but dammit if I want to make sure it germinates.

Weather for the next two weeks is plenty of showers and 80/66 almost every day. Figure now is good temperature to put down seed.





Also nabbed this guy off Kijiji for $40, retail $125 around these parts. Only came with the brass nozzle. Time to browse the teejet thread and get ready for urea. Again any help is appreciated. I think I need some sort of continuous flow valve and the proper nozzle?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Are you planning on spraying your urea? Urea is usually put down in granular form.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

I wasnt too sure how to go about it since this is my first go around.

The front lawn is being overseeded, so I dont think it will get any fast nitrogen. Although I think some do 0.25lb weekly after the new seedlings are established. For that scenario I think I would have to dissolve and spray to get such a small amount applied to such a small area.

I can do the blitz on the back, its only 500 sq ft though as well. Any recommendations on fert type (urea/AS) and schedule? Weekly, biweekly, monthly? Handheld spreader or sprayer?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Urea or AS is fine. I use urea. I wouldn't spray it. I'd use it in granular form. Use a hand spreader for such a small amount. Start spoon feeding urea or AS weekly on the overseed after 2-4 weeks from seed down. That's what I would do.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Thanks Bob, I'll do just that!


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Quick mow today to the back yard at 2.75. rain all week and more tomorrow.



The back ditch is super soggy. It's all clay so it's got elevation and poor soil quality and no subterranean drainage all working against it.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

That looks great!


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

:thumbup:


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Cut the front today at 4. Planning on overseeding tomorrow. Shock cut, rake, vacuum, fill low spots, drop seed and peat.




That's how it looks today. I'm thinking 3lb/1000 rate for seeding.

Back was mowed at 2.25 earlier in the week. May be a bit low, some areas were looking at little crowney.Will start N blitz next week and see if it adapts to the lower cut height after a couple weeks. If not up to 2.75.

Made a big order from seedworldusa and a sprayer supply for some teejet goodness, so as soon as I get those I'll have prodiamine to put down in the back yard and tenacity to put on the front as a stopgap pre em while my little babies grow.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Ive had what looks like leaf spot on the sod all season. Would it be a good idea to lay down a curative rate of both fungicides when I get them?


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Mow at 2.25. 




Again I know it looks pretty brown. Water tomorrow, N blitz starting Monday. If it still looks crappy at that mow height by September, I'll raise it up a notch. Mostly going by the 2.5 reccomedations for fall height. 2.25 is the deck setting btw.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

water back. timer jammed so it got 6 hours.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Let the blitz begin. 0.5 lb N urea to the back yard. Gonna do weekly apps. Just spread it by hand sprinkling so we will see how deft my touch is


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Mowed the back today at 2.5. Raised the front of the mower deck by a notch and that seemed to help the scalping going over the little hill at the back. No burn from the urea so that went well.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Overseeded the front today. Pulled as many weeds as I could. Bag mowed 2.25, raked, bag mowed again at the second lowest setting 1.75. Mushroom compost on the bare areas. 2lb of my seed blend (80/20 KBG/PRG after I added in extra KBG). This works out to about 4lb/1000 for the area. Rolled lawn North South East and West. Peat moss over the whole lawn and about 10-15 mins water. Calling for some showers here today so shouldn't have to run the sprinkler again. Edit: correction calling for almost an inch of water this afternoon and evening. Praying for no washout. Edit: after some heavy rain just a small strip maybe a couple inches on the edge of the driveway washed out. I'll take that as a win.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Good stuff. You should see the p rye seeds start popping up in like 4 days.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Front has been getting 10 mins 2-3 times a day since seed down. My wife isn't as enthusiastic about lawn care as I am so Friday and Saturday it went 13 hours between watering 430 am to 530pm. Results of that are the bare spots near the curb and driveway looked dry when I got home. We will see how that effects germination.





Some sprouts coming up on one of the interior spots. Pretty sparse by the edge of the driveway.

Grass didnt really stunt the way I wanted it to when I cut it, so I will have to trim things up at some point if I want the KBG to have any chance of getting some sun when it pokes through. I don't mind mowing before it germinates because I'm less interested in the PRG anyway


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Got my goody bag from SeedWorldUSA today.

Sprayed the back yard with Prodiamine at the 0.8oz/1000 rate *WRONG RATE SORRY GUYS*along with 0.5lb/1000 urea in 1 gallon carrier and immediately watered in with 0.5inch water.

Used the Teejet XR11004 tip, no CF valve yet but its in the mail. Had to make about 3 passes, so I will get that dialed in when the CF valve gets here. Want 2 passes in the future.

Have Tenacity now as well but I dont think I will spray that on the overseed in the front. Will deal with weeds through PreM and PostM next season.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

So I way overapplied on the prodiamine.

Sorry guys, I know that's not a good start to my lawn care regimen for the fall. I'm not sure where I got that rate in my head but it's more than it should be. I screwed up.

Any possible side effects I can expect?


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Came.home from work this morning and snapped a few pics of the bare overseeded areas. All those little guys exploded out of there over night. Proud papa.





I definitely think I should bag mow down at 2 inch again today to give all that new emerging stuff in the main lawn a chance to see some sun.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

12 days post seed down. Main lawn is up to 6 inch in some places. Will probably mow for the first time this week's at some point.









Backyard mowed at 2.5. Third dose of fall nitrogen. Have been applying 0.5lb Urea in 1 gallon and spraying, then watering in right after. Spraying for uniformity of coverage, not for foliar absorption.

Got my CF valve and that makes things easier except I now notice the wand leaks around the trigger when pressure is maintained. DFW wand for winter project.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Haircut Day for the front overseed. Mowed from jungle tall to the lowest setting without scalping, I think it's 2".

Before after of overseed day to now


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Mowed front and back.

0.5 urea and watered in back


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

First N application on the front overseed.

Sprayed 0.25 urea and watered in.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Sprayed 0.5 N front and back, watered in immediately


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Looking good. When did seed go down again?


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Thanks @Harts seed went down Aug 8

Pretty happy with how its filling in. Cant wait to see how good it looks in another 28 days with an aggressive N schedule.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Mowed front at 2 and edged. Looks better at this height and should promote spreading.

Mowed back at 2.5


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

0.5 urea front and back on Monday

Mow on Tuesday

Small portion of the back lawn has some pale green blades, which I understand to be from accelerated growth.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Mowed and 0.5 N urea front and back watered in.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Picture update?


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Been away for a bit but here's where I'm at for end of season.

All pictures are from today after a mow at 2", trimming and edging. No filters to hide flaws.

I made my last urea app on the front lawn Oct 2.

I then made a blanket app of Q4 Plus for weed control. Weeds died but I also noticed a big change in turf colour. I had some patches show bleaching(grassy weeds?) and others show yellowing(fine fescues).

Overall not much change to the lawn post overseed. The mostly KBG mix was true to form and couldnt outcompete the existing turf. May have thickened up some. The overseeded bare spots (the corner by the flower garden) look great though.

This lawn started the year as weed salad and it will only improve with another year of good practices, but I need to temper expectations knowing what I really want is a full Reno lawn.

[EDIT]I found some pictures of the lawn pre lawn forum. Collaged, look how far it's come [EDIT]












The back lawn hasn't seen any N since mid September. I stopped because portions near the back were growing in pale green, too fast. I'm guessing this is due to the slope in the lawn and the urea draining naturally towards the slope leading to a higher concentration of fertilizer in that area.

The back also dealt with some fungal issues earlier in the month as we had very wet conditions. I put down propiconazole and thiophanate on Oct 6 and that along with some drier conditions has sorted out the fungus.

We have some dog pee spots and thin areas created by traffic and wet conditions but it's looking okay. I think this combination of cultivars likes taller mowing heights, but the yard is also uneven so I can't mow lower than 2 inches.





That's probably all for this year. I will be soil testing in the spring, and since locally they are $65 I will most likely do a combination sample for the front and back yard.

I will also be continuing with a hybrid organic type program. Pre Em in the spring for the front (remember I OD'd the back accidentally), weed control as necessary, and organic fertilizers and whatever ammendmants the soil test recommend.

Off season planning includes an above ground MP rotater set up for the front and back(post to follow in irrigation), and the DFW wand.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Minimal growth since last week, so I'll call it halted for the year on Oct 20


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Animal has made 2 appearances, leaving this for damage after raking up what was loosened.

Grubs found when I pulled up turf. Maybe 3/sq ft.

Repair solutions for spring include grub control next year and:
- sod
- plugs from backyard KBG
- home grown pots/flats

Will be using pre-emergent so seed will not be used.

Input for repairs appreciated.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

For clarity, 3 grubs per sqft after the animal cleared the area or 3 grubs/sqft in an area that was not touch?


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

Apologies, an untouched area

I don't have access to 24 grub killer on short notice, I realize that would be the easy fix. Canada problems.

Nematodes are ineffective at current seasonal temperatures


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

MSU recommends treatment at 10 grubs/sqft, so you should be ok for root survival without treatment.


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## jurkewycmi (Jun 3, 2018)

:thumbup:


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