# Zee's 2020 M&M KBG Renovation (WI)



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

My wife and I purchased our forever home in 2013 and although it had good bones, not much (including the yard) had been updated since it was built in 1967. The shrubs were overgrown and the lawn was thin and patchy but there was a nice mixture of mature and adolescent trees that made it feel established.



Fast forward to 2019 and the Emerald Ash Borer wiped out nearly all of the Ash trees, bunches of Fescue stuck out like a sore thumb and widespread patches of Poa Trivialis would turn brown for months at a time during the heat of the summer.





I decided it was time for an overhaul, so last August I started by removing four Spruce trees that had become a messy nuisance along with the remaining Ash trees in the Back Yard. A Prairie Fire Crabapple and two fledgling Birch trees were next to follow and in October I spread 25 yards of a 40/30/20/10 mixture of Brown Loam, Composted Manure, Peat and Sand over approximately 11,000 sq. ft. The intent was to level the uneven areas while enhancing the soil with some beneficial organic matter; the soil profile for my area is Silt Loam, which is 40% Sand / 40% Silt / 20% Clay.







Over the winter, the two remaining Maples were thinned and the crown of a mature Honey Locust on the Southeast corner was raised to allow for more light to filter through to the ground. As soon as the ground thawed, I was ready to get to work. After pulling soil samples for analysis, I turned my attention to a particular thorn in my side: water drainage. We had a French drain installed in the back yard last year to alleviate water pooling that occurred even after moderate rainfall, but I hated that two of our downspouts laid on top of the sidewalk and that the sump pump evacuated through a long black hose on top of the grass. I wanted them all gone, so I trenched lines mainly by hand to bury 4" PVC beneath the ground. After two weekends, all the drain lines from the house were buried 40' into the yard.







Next, I manually edged around all the remaining trees and beds. I rented a Bed Redefiner and traced the lines that I had painstakingly made by hand and after spreading nearly 40 yards of mulch, the landscaping was starting to look polished.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

After reviewing the soil testing threads by @Ridgerunner and @g-man , I turned my attention to the results of my own soil test to put together a strategy for the 13K sq. ft. that I will be renovating.



The most pressing issue was the high pH, so on 4/27 I mechanically aerated and spread 5#/M elemental sulfur over the area. I timed the application with forecasted rainfall and after a few days all evidence of the granules had disappeared. On 5/27, I aerated again and spread another 5#/M sulfur over the area along with 3#/M TSP and 2.7#/M SOP. Again, I timed the application with forecasted rainfall. Admittedly, I was hammering the soil a bit with the second application but I wanted to give it a chance to buffer itself now before I start adding more P and K when I seed.


----------



## doverosx (Aug 7, 2019)

Looking great! Your hard work is definitely going to pay off.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

doverosx said:


> Looking great! Your hard work is definitely going to pay off.


Thanks @doverosx ! The landscaping has never looked better but the front lawn is in terrible shape right now. I knew this year would be hard on my patience leaving it so shabby but hopefully it will be worth it.

On 5/29, I had 8 yards of topsoil delivered that I intended to use to finish covering the buried downspout lines and even out the grade along the driveway. Unfortunately, the soil was contaminated with debris and I didn't want to use it to top dress so I used it instead to build up a depressed area beside the ditch that I wanted flat anyway.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

The area that I'll be renovating is currently on auto-pilot. Aside from occasional mowings over the next three weeks, it's mostly in a holding pattern until the target glyphosate application on July 1. In the meantime, I thought I'd share what else I've been working on.

On June 6, I applied 0.5 oz. / M Bifen IT to the back yard. Mosquito control is a necessity for us, and since this is my first time using Bifen I'm interested to see how long it will last before I'll need to reapply.

Over the weekend, the Maple trees started dropping their seeds and making a fine mess of things.



With ground temperatures hovering near 70 F, I figured 6/9 was a good time to put down a second application of Prodiamine (0.275 oz. / M) in the back yard. I'm not sure if Prodiamine will inhibit germination of the Maple seeds, but I figured I'd also apply it to the beds since clumps of seeds tend to aggregate and cause problems there.



I decided to mix in Imidacloprid (0.58 oz. / M) to the bed application since ants have been a nuisance in several spots, especially in the rock beds. I didn't have to worry about watering everything in since rain was in the forecast thanks to Cristobal, which is only the third time a storm that started as a hurricane has made it all the way to Dairyland.

Finally, I moved the raised garden bed that was beneath a mature Maple tree at the back of our lot to a better location. The new spot is on the South side of the house where it will benefit from ample sunlight and constant irrigation. My wife is crazy about tomatoes and basil, so those were the first five plants we put in. I like the aesthetics of sunflowers, so I hope to get some of those in the back row and maybe a Ghost Pepper plant or two.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

The irrigation system in the front yard was installed while I was at work over the weekend.





Now we have a Hunter Hydrawise Pro-HC controlling 6 zones equipped with 24 K-Rain Superpro Heads.





I'll be doing a sprinkler audit soon to get everything dialed in before seeding since not everything will be covered by the irrigation system because I didn't want this project to be too easy


----------



## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

Holy crap. You've put in a ton of work already. Looking forward to seeing how your Reno turns out. Have you decided on what seed you're getting?


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

jrubb42 said:


> Holy crap. You've put in a ton of work already. Looking forward to seeing how your Reno turns out. Have you decided on what seed you're getting?


I'll be using a 50/50 blend of Midnight and Mazama from Seed Superstore. I thought about doing a monostand and I like the shade tolerance Mazama showed in the NTEP trials, but decided instead to do a blend for better disease resistance.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

As the saying goes, there's no time like the present so with that in mind I took advantage of the dry weather and light winds this week to officially begin my renovation project. Truth be told, I wasn't planning to put down a blanket glyphosate application for another two weeks but I figured the extra time might be useful for preparing the seed bed. The glyphosate solution recommended 2.5 oz./gallon for 300 sq. ft.



Based on ~13 K sq. ft., I figured that I'd need roughly 43 gallons to complete the job but since I was using a new method of application and I wasn't sure how evenly it would be applied I mixed in a bit more glyphosate. Each 5 gallon pail contained 14 oz. 41% glyphosate + 5 TBS NIS and 4 oz. of blue marking dye.



Last fall I borrowed my Dad's (Happy Father's Day!) airless sprayer to repaint my shed and had an epiphany that I could use it for the lawn renovation I was planning.



I tested it out in the spring to kill off a small area around the kids' playset that I eventually covered with bark mulch and felt that it would work well for that intended purpose.



The first spot I targeted was the ditch. I share a particular disdain for ditches with @Ware and after watching one of his videos where he talked about using Asian Jasmine I decided to forego reseeding this area with grass and instead plant a bare root perennial. My hope is that by choosing a stoloniferous ground cover that's hardy for Zone 5 this area will fill in and never need to be mowed again.



After finishing the ditch, the rest wasn't altogether much different from painting the roof of a large pole shed. Here you can clearly see the distinction between the treated area on the left that's been dyed and the untreated area on the right that's been stressed from lack of irrigation.



By day's end, I had used slightly less than 40 gallons of glyphosate solution so I was glad I increased the concentration slightly. Based on what I put down I should be at or near the recommended application rate and hopefully will have an effective kill.


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

:thumbup: 
This is shaping up to be a nice project. I will be following. Good luck!


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Chris LI said:


> :thumbup:
> This is shaping up to be a nice project. I will be following. Good luck!


Thanks, @Chris LI !

I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I'd give a quick update where things are at. Admittedly, I haven't been spending much time in the yard lately because we just had the wood floors in our house refinished so I've been busy staining/finishing new baseboards and cutting miters around more corners than I knew we had. :shock:

Fortunately, the renovation has been on cruise control for the past two weeks. Unfortunately, my wife has had to explain to her coworkers why our lawn looks the way it does  . Still, it's been interesting watching things progress as the glyphosate does its job:

10-days



14-days



10-days



14-days



10- days



14-days



I'm planning to scalp this weekend and after that put down some soil amendments. In the meantime, I've procured some things that I'll need:

1000# Profile Seed Aide
300# Milorganite
100# Urea
2.5 Gal GreeneStart
2.5 Gal GreenePunch
2 Gal. GreenePOP
1 Gal. RGS
2 x 90' rolls Futerra Netless Blanket



At this point, my major concern is preparing the seed bed. I'd like to get into reel mowing once I have a nice, smooth stand of turf established so getting everything as flat as possible will be my focus for the next month.


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Wow, that reminds me of projects at work! I've bought pallets of Seed Aide and like it. It worked well for me. It's almost like hydroseeding, but applying with a spreader. I used the high output spreaders from Earthway to spread it. They were the blue spreaders meant to apply rock salt (i.e. large particles and blue color for winter). They have a single large opening, instead of the triple small circle openings. It's been a few years, but they came in a couple of versions, a cheaper one, which I thought had solid wheels, and a nicer one with pneumatic wheels. Both will do the trick. Now is a great time to pick one up. I always try to buy things out of season, to get a better price.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Chris LI said:


> Wow, that reminds me of projects at work! I've bought pallets of Seed Aide and like it. It worked well for me. It's almost like hydroseeding, but applying with a spreader. I used the high output spreaders from Earthway to spread it. They were the blue spreaders meant to apply rock salt (i.e. large particles and blue color for winter). They have a single large opening, instead of the triple small circle openings. It's been a few years, but they came in a couple of versions, a cheaper one, which I thought had solid wheels, and a nicer one with pneumatic wheels. Both will do the trick. Now is a great time to pick one up. I always try to buy things out of season, to get a better price.


Thanks for the recommendation @Chris LI ! I've never used Seed Aide before, but I read that @Pete1313 used a similar product for his renovation and I figured that copying Pete would be a good strategy  . This past Spring, I picked up an 80# Lesco broadcast spreader on Craigslist that's equipped with a drop spreader chute. I was hoping that the Seed Aide would flow through the drop spreader, but after testing it out the pellets are way too bulky. Luckily, I hung on to the tow-behind spreader that I purchased when we first bought the house seven years ago. I never use it anymore because it's poorly calibrated but for this application I tested it and feel that it will work fine.





As for the project itself, I scalped the lawn this past weekend and removed all the clippings. The dry weather we've had here lately made this a very dusty, dirty endeavor that I'm glad to be done with.



Next, I'm planning to prepare the seed bed by rototilling and smoothing with a drag. I'm still four weeks away from putting seed down but getting a nice, smooth surface is the aspect of the project that I'm most concerned about because it's the hardest part to correct for afterwards.


----------



## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

Zip-a-Dee-Zee said:


> Chris LI said:
> 
> 
> > Wow, that reminds me of projects at work! I've bought pallets of Seed Aide and like it. It worked well for me. It's almost like hydroseeding, but applying with a spreader. I used the high output spreaders from Earthway to spread it. They were the blue spreaders meant to apply rock salt (i.e. large particles and blue color for winter). They have a single large opening, instead of the triple small circle openings. It's been a few years, but they came in a couple of versions, a cheaper one, which I thought had solid wheels, and a nicer one with pneumatic wheels. Both will do the trick. Now is a great time to pick one up. I always try to buy things out of season, to get a better price.
> ...


From everything I've read here, it seems like the consensus is not to till. They say that once everything settles, your lawn becomes extremely bumpy. I think most people say to go with a hardcore aeration instead and smooth the cores out with a drag. Just wanted to give you the heads up in case you regret it. I have no experience with it, just letting you know what I've read.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

jrubb42 said:


> From everything I've read here, it seems like the consensus is not to till. They say that once everything settles, your lawn becomes extremely bumpy. I think most people say to go with a hardcore aeration instead and smooth the cores out with a drag. Just wanted to give you the heads up in case you regret it. I have no experience with it, just letting you know what I've read.


Thanks for the reply @jrubb42. My original plan was to replace the tines on my aerator with a larger diameter bore so that I could pull bigger cores. @Pete1313 used that approach in his 2017 lawn journal but when I contacted every metal fabricator in a 30-mile radius with a tube laser capable of cutting new tines they all passed. I think Pete figured that it would take around 17 passes with an aerator equipped with standard sized tines to achieve the targeted amount of affected surface to create a "poor man's topdressing" and I may end up using that approach but there are some spots where trees were removed that are pretty rough and I'll need to be a bit more aggressive with rototilling.


----------



## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

17 passes seem like alot more then I remember. Even if you have smaller tines, just keep going over it until you chew it up good and then drag it smooth.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

I haven't given an update in a while and I noticed that it's been over a month since I killed my lawn so I figure I'm overdue. When I last posted I was figuring that I would rototill everything but @jrubb42 made me think twice so I decided to use a combination of rototilling and aeration. Since I had over a month to prepare the seed bed, I thought I'd play around a bit.

So on 7/4, I used a rototiller mounted on a John Deere that belonged to my grandfather to completely grind a 1,000 sq. ft. section of dead turf.





After that, I hooked up my drag and began spreading everything. I soon realized that the large clumps of soil/turf were not going to disperse the way that I'd hoped so I ended up raking the debris into piles and relocated them to the back yard.

On 7/8, I used a plug aerator over everything. Even after multiple passes (>15), the aerator simply wasn't bringing the amount of soil I wanted to the surface so I did a single pass with the rototiller set at a shallow depth. Unfortunately, the clumps of turf that had been a thorn in my side a few days earlier continued to plague me when I started dragging so I once again raked the debris into piles and removed it.

Heavy rains followed in the days afterwards which no doubt helped the soil to settle after being heavily disrupted but slowed any further progress.

On 7/19, the timing was right so I opted to aerate since it would be less disruptive than rototilling. After dragging and removing the final remnants of the lawn that used to exist, I added weight to the drag until things finally smoothed out.









At this point, the seed bed is pretty much the way I want it but I still need to bring in some soil along the driveway in order for the the grade next to it to be flush with the surface. As fate would have it, my neighbor decided to put in a pool this year and asked if I wanted any topsoil

I still have 2 weeks until the target date for seeding and I'm happy where things are at but I still feel like there's a ton of work to do yet.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Quick update on this week's progress. Sunday I did a rudimentary irrigation audit just to figure out how much water the sprinklers are throwing out.



I'll be tweaking the spray patterns a bit but now I can roughly figure about 1/4" of water every 75 minutes.

With rain in the forecast, I figured it would be a good time to put down some soil amendments. I mixed Imidacloprid (0.6 oz. / M) for grub control and Air-8 (6 oz. / M) in my tank sprayer and applied it evenly using a bicycle speedometer mounted on the rear inside tire to keep my speed consistent.





On Tuesday, I finally broke out a new piece of equipment that I purchased for redefining my flower beds.



The existing line for the invisible dog fence was cut to shreds when the irrigation system was installed so I thought I'd see if the bed refiner would work to bury new wire. This approach worked fine and although it was considerably slower than if I had used a trencher I was able to bury the line 3" and not have to pay for a rental.





It's getting to be crunch time and I still need to add soil to some areas to get everything as smooth as possible so that's what I'll be focusing on this weekend.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

This past weekend my focus was adding soil along both sides of the driveway. We had the driveway replaced last year and the asphalt was probably 1.5"-2'' above the existing grade. As fate would have it, my neighbor recently excavated for a pool and provided me with around 15 yards of native topsoil. I had to work it up quite a bit with the rototiller but after leveling with a landscape rake I was able to roll it smooth.





I had originally planned to renovate this area (~2,200 sq. ft.) in 2020 but decided against it as I felt that I already had enough on my plate.



This section has been a work in progress for several years. There was quite a bit wild violet here that I tried getting rid of but persisted despite regular weed control applications, so last Spring l killed it with glyphosate and reseeded with Scott's Bluegrass mix.

2019:



At this point, I'm planning to overseed this area using a seed blend from a big box store. Maybe it sounds snobby, but I don't want to waste elite KBG seed unless I know that's the only thing growing there. There are matted patches of bent grass that already make the appearance inconsistent and the shallow roots are an annoyance when I detach with a power rake.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Sunday night we finally received some much needed rain. Like most of the country, it's been fairly dry here this summer. I've been tracking ET data since mid-May and currently the deficit is between 1.65"-2.88". I'm waiting now for the soil to dry out before I prep the soil bed one last time before seeding.



In the meantime, I finished redefining the border around the SE corner of the house. The black plastic edging surrounding the rock bed was shaped kind of wonky to begin with and when I cut it to bury the downspouts it needed to be replaced altogether. I'm generally not a fan of faux stone borders and prefer mulched beds, but since the river rock isn't going anywhere soon I thought I'd invest in a modest upgrade that I could install relatively quickly.



Tuesday I scoured the area for rocks and fixed the mulched borders around the trees that had been wrecked by the drag. Later, I broke out the thatch rake to remove some of the areas where patches of dead grass remained in hopes of achieving a little better seed to soil contact.

With a chance of rain in the forecast this weekend, I'm bumping up my seeding date to Friday. Still a lot to do before then but I'm definitely looking forward to getting this project into the next phase.


----------



## MarkJor (Aug 3, 2019)

Man you're putting in some great work! Tell your wife (and her co-workers) to just wait until next Fall when people are driving from across the state to catch a glimpse of your lawn!

Where were you able to find the Futerra blankets? I've been looking around online and not finding anything so was planning on giving my local SiteOne/Ewing a call tomorrow.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Last day of soil preparation. I decided to pull the aerator around one more time and then drag everything smooth again. After a little light raking and filling in a few spots the soil is looking like it's ready.







I'd avoided addressing the swale because my Craftsman lawn tractor has always had trouble pulling an aerator uphill with the pitch there. I was hoping that the John Deere I borrowed from my old man would be able to lightly till that area and, true to form, it didn't disappoint as I was able to creep alongside the ditch and back up without a problem.



Obviously, my concern is that soil erosion will be a problem in that area after having recently tilled it so I'll be using Futerra Netless rolls to hopefully mitigate some of the risk after I seed. I saw Ryan Knorr use that same product with success albeit on a grade that didn't appear to be nearly as steep as what I'm dealing with.

Finally, I was planning to put down a blanket glyphosate application just before seeding but I decided to forego this step. Admittedly, I hadn't fallowed the soil like I should have with consistent irrigation but I diligently spot treated any areas where weeds started to emerge over the past month. I did, however, recently notice a few remnants of the old lawn popping up here and there so I'll make a quick pass in the morning with a pump sprayer and hit whatever I find.

My next post will be on Saturday after I have seed down. I've been planning for this moment for close to a year so fingers crossed all goes well!


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

MarkJor said:


> Man you're putting in some great work! Tell your wife (and her co-workers) to just wait until next Fall when people are driving from across the state to catch a glimpse of your lawn!
> 
> Where were you able to find the Futerra blankets? I've been looking around online and not finding anything so was planning on giving my local SiteOne/Ewing a call tomorrow.


Thanks @MarkJor ! It's been interesting meeting new neighbors over the past month because everybody seems to want to know what I'm doing :?

I purchased the Futerra blankets from Reinders, which has a location about 20 minutes away from where I live.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Seed went down yesterday and all things considered it went very well. There were no unexpected surprises so I was able to wrap everything up by five PM and grab a cold one while I fired up the irrigation system. Here's a run down of what happened:

I started before dawn by checking all of my calculations. Once I was confident that my numbers were good, I mixed up some glyphosate and canvassed everywhere one last time looking for anything green to spray. After that I blended up the seed with Soil Moist Seed Coating.



The KBG seed I selected for this renovation is a mixture of 50% Mazama and 50% Midnight from SSS.



I strongly considered doing a mono stand of Mazama because of its shade tolerance and overall high NTEP scores but in the end the allure of having a legacy cultivar like Midnight in the mix was too hard to resist.

I used a Scott's drop spreader to apply the seed. I spotted this one morning when I was jogging through the neighborhood and saw it at the end of someone's driveway with a cardboard sign that read, "Free. We don't need it anymore."



Since I've been amassing a collection of spreaders, I figured one more wouldn't hurt so when I finished my run I went back with a vehicle to grab it. The way I see it, using that drop spreader for seeding was good juju since they obviously wanted someone to take it instead of just throwing it away. I had to play with the dial a bit on the fly since I'd never used it before but setting 5 seemed to work nearly perfect.

After laying the seed down, mixed up a Witch's brew of RGS (3 oz./M) + GreenePOP (12 oz./M) + Tenacity (1 tbsp/M) and applied it with my backpack sprayer. I've practiced applying selective herbicides with the backpack sprayer quite a bit this summer when there's down time at the firehouse and as a result I feel much more more confident that I'm getting even coverage as compared to the tank sprayer.



I wanted to put down RGS when I seeded because of the humic/fulvic/kelp content and while the GreenePOP doesn't contribute a whole lot of N (0.17#/M) or P (0.21#/M), I guess I'm just a fan of John Perry's Lawncology YouTube channel so I figured I'd throw that in as well.

Next I dragged a roller over everything except for the swale as the soil there was still very loose after having tilled it two days earlier. Even walking that area with the drop spreader felt like I was on unsure footing, so my hope was that by driving over it a number of times with the John Deere the weight of the tractor/tiller would be enough to sufficiently compact it.

After that I mixed up 256# of Milo + 10# TSP + 11# Scott's DiseaseEX in batches and applied it with an 80# Lesco spreader. I hadn't actually considered using a fungicide until I read @synergy0852 used a preventative dose of Azoxy when seeding a mono stand of Mazama KBG just a few days ago.





The Milo contributed 1.4#/M of N and 0.9#/M of P and the TSP contributed 0.4#/M of P, which when combined with the GreenePOP meant that the total amount I was putting down at time of seeding was 1.6#/M of N and 1.5#/M of P.

Once the granular applications were on the ground, I unfurled the Futerra F4 netless erosion blanket lengthwise along the swale.





I was encouraged while walking along this section after having compacted it with the tractor as my footing felt much more stable. The Futerra unraveled very easily and while you do have to handle it with kid gloves (ie. don't try to unroll it by kicking) to keep it from tearing it I had no problems applying it. Truth be told, I had more trouble hammering the biodegradable stakes (I must've broken at least a half dozen) than I did handling the erosion blanket.





Finally, I used the tow-behind spreader to apply 700 # (70#/M) of Seed Aide over the remaining uncovered area and began watering. There's still a long way to go until this dream is realized but I'm hopeful that I created something special out there.


----------



## synergy0852 (Jun 30, 2018)

This looks great! Curious to hear your thoughts on the seed aide. I used Pennington Slopemaster which I believe is essentially the same thing and I'm not super impressed with it so curious to hear your thoughts.


----------



## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

You're making this all sound too easy. Who runs across a drop spreader for free on seed day? Love how detailed you're being with everything. Good luck with germination!

How much did you spend on the seed aide? I'm also curious to see how it performs.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

jrubb42 said:


> You're making this all sound too easy. Who runs across a drop spreader for free on seed day? Love how detailed you're being with everything. Good luck with germination!
> 
> How much did you spend on the seed aide? I'm also curious to see how it performs.


Ha! No, I actually scooped up the drop spreader a few weeks ago and have been storing it behind my shed but using it on seed day was a game time decision 

@jrubb42 Looking back at my invoice from Reinders the Seed Aide was $33.63 for a 50# bag.



synergy0852 said:


> This looks great! Curious to hear your thoughts on the seed aide. I used Pennington Slopemaster which I believe is essentially the same thing and I'm not super impressed with it so curious to hear your thoughts.


@synergy0852 I would've probably felt the way you did about the Slopemaster if I had tried spreading Seed Aide with my Lesco spreader. Fortunately, @Chris LI got me thinking about it a month ago so I tested a couple of options ahead of time and found that my Yardworks tow-behind spreader actually worked quite well for dispersing the pellets. The hopper could only handle about half of a bag though so it took some time to spread but if it holds up well I would certainly consider using it again.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

So I've read that luck plays an important role in any successful renovation and less than 72 hours after I put seed down I was grilling hamburgers for dinner and noticed the sky darkening to the west. When I opened my weather app I saw this heading our way:



Fortunately, when the storm arrived the heavy stuff skirted around us and disaster was averted:





Looks like there's still a potential for storms tomorrow afternoon but at least I'll sleep easier tonight knowing that I dodged the first bullet.


----------



## Mtsdream (May 2, 2019)

Great work, cant wait to see it in 6 weeks


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

I'm glad the Yardworks spreader worked for you. It looks like you got nice, even coverage.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Any issues with the rains today?


----------



## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

I have used the futerra seed blankets on a 18 degree slope. They work well to prevent washout. My advice would be to make sure they are laid smooth and I would roll them after application. I had areas where the new grass pushed the blanket up instead of growing through it. I ended up removing the blanket from those areas about 2 weeks after germination.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

g-man said:


> Any issues with the rains today?


Thanks for checking in @g-man . We missed the bull's eye here again and ended up with 0.10" of light rain today.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

bernstem said:


> I have used the futerra seed blankets on a 18 degree slope. They work well to prevent washout. My advice would be to make sure they are laid smooth and I would roll them after application. I had areas where the new grass pushed the blanket up instead of growing through it. I ended up removing the blanket from those areas about 2 weeks after germination.


Thanks for checking in @bernstem . I'm pretty close to an 18 degree slope where I applied the Futerra. The blanket certainly seems to be adhering well but I did wonder about rolling after I applied it (I didn't). I'll keep my eyes open for bubbles as I dial back the irrigation going forward.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

I guess at this point there's not much to do but obsess over watering so here goes. Now that I've finally had a chance to put the new irrigation system through its paces I found that one of the corner rotors was stuck. I played around with it a bit but had no luck resolving the problem. Since the system was installed just over 2 months ago, I contacted the installer and they're coming to replace the rotor on Thursday. Aside from than that, I've found the K-Rain heads to be somewhat frustrating to adjust. In theory, it should be easy because you're just selecting a start point and an angle but I feel like it's still difficult to get the coverage that I want.



I targeted 150% ET on Saturday and felt that my irrigation schedule was spot on. Running all 6 zones for 15 minutes at 9:00, 11:30, 2:00, 4:30 and 7:00 left the soil moist but not squishy. I manually shut down a couple of heads on Sunday because one of the shady spots was getting a bit too wet and after a dose of rain (0.20") Sunday night I cancelled the irrigation program on Monday altogether. I've been impressed with the Hydrawise app so far and found it to be relatively intuitive when I want to suspend or initiate manual watering of any/all zones.

I knew supplementing where the irrigation system didn't reach would be one of the more challenging aspects of this renovation. Technically, the lot line ends 4' away from my neighbors' driveway. While I definitely wanted to renovate this area for a consistent look, I also didn't want my irrigation lines buried on their property. Fortunately, I have a good relationship with my neighbor and while he allowed me to kill his grass I knew that I would need to run hoses to water that area completely.

I never thought I'd run out of hose but this project exceeded my limits. I burned 4 sections just to get all the way to the ditch (~185' lay), but I wasn't about to leave any section unwatered. I set up one whirring sprinkler there partly for posterity (I'd been using it forever for small seeding projects), but mostly because it just worked well for that spot.



The areas around the daylily bed required a different approach. There's a small swath on the south side that belongs to my neighbor and the other side is devoid of irrigation. In hindsight, I should have just added another zone there but since it's too late for that now I fashioned some above-ground sprinklers using Ryan Knorr's method and linked them together with 25' hoses.





Next I built an irrigation manifold. Credit where credit is due, I saw Pete Denny of GCI Turf build this in a video and I copied it. Super easy and it cost about $50.



I've used big box store timers in the past but for this project I wanted a bit more control than what the dials will offer so I purchased an Orbit B-Hyve timer with an indoor WiFi hub and three bluetooth timers to connect to it.



The cost of the timer + WiFi hub was around $70, but the price of the individual bluetooth timers was only a few bucks more than the dial timers I'd been using. Plus the B-Hyve app offered more precise programmability so it seemed like a good option.

Getting everything setup took a while because all the timers needed firmware updates, but once everything was connected it was a breeze setting up the irrigation programs. The B-Hyve app does limit you to 4 programmed start times so any more than that and you have to start the sprinklers manually.

I'm continuing to adjust the watering program daily based on what I'm seeing and so far so good. The weather forecast for the next week looks promising so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the bluegrass seed will find a home here!


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

After finishing up a 24-hour shift this morning, when I got home something seemed noticeably different as I drove past.







My wife confessed that she looked the night before and didn't notice anything, but then again she doesn't stare at it for hours every day :lol:

Earlier in the week, I did see shoots from the old lawn popping up here and there but today was the first signs of new germination. The fact that some of the old grass still survived is testament to its resilience and the importance of fallowing properly. I neglected to irrigate after a single application of glyphosate, and given the dry weather that followed the stragglers apparently just went to sleep until I turned on the sprinklers last week. I'm not overly concerned because they're interspersed sporadically and I don't see any of them showing up in pockets that might be problematic so when the KBG does establish itself I'm hoping that they will be crowded out.

After seven days in the books I wondered if I might be overwatering. I've spent a fair amount of time adjusting spray patterns and shutting down sprinkler heads to prevent pooling in spots and to keep the shaded areas from becoming oversaturated. Looking at my irrigation log I averaged close to 115% ET for the first week, which was actually far lower than what I was targeting. Still, based on the eyeball test I'd like to maintain this amount of irrigation moving into week two as it seems to be working. I'm planning to reduce the number of waterings, however, to three per day at 11:30, 2:00 and 4:30 and will incorporate manual waterings as necessary from 8:00-9:00 on mornings when I'm around.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

I haven't posted anything in the past week so I wanted to give an update where things are at 8 DAG. The pictures from the second story don't really do justice to how things look at ground level but I'm including them anyway for documentation.

















I averaged 102% ET for the week but the numbers fluctuated quite a bit from day-to-day, so I'm still trying to find the sweet spot for my irrigation program. Since it's still August and forecasted overnight lows are in the upper 60s/low 70s for the next few days, I'm somewhat concerned about creating a breeding ground for fungus by overwatering. I did put down a preventative application of azoxystrobin at seeding and will follow up with propiconazole but I'd like to minimize any problems before they arise by using good cultural practices instead of relying entirely on fungicides.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

So far, the biggest disappointment of this renovation has been seeing remnants of the old lawn popping up with increasing frequency.



I realized shortly after seeding that I didn't have a complete kill when I saw shoots of Tall Fescue emerging from the ground before the KBG seed had germinated. I had hoped that what I was seeing was a meager collection of holdovers, but I should have figured that where there's smoke there's usually fire. My assumption is that whatever I'm seeing now obviously survived the glyphosate application in June and then went dormant in July when we hit a dry spell. Because I didn't properly fallow the ground using irrigation when the soil dried out, I didn't encourage any new growth so I didn't have any reason to reapply glyphosate (beginner's mistake). At this point, there's really no recourse but to pull the plants by hand and I've removed more than I'd care to admit but it looks like the pristine KBG stand that I envisioned will have some degree of contamination


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

12 DAG update. These days, I can't get home fast enough in the morning to see how things have progressed while I've been at work. We had our first significant rainfall (1.52") yesterday since the beginning of August so I suspended my watering schedule until this morning. Fortunately, I avoided any heavy downpours until now so everything seemed to be far enough along that it held together fine. I snapped a few pictures this evening to check out some of the areas that are still somewhat bare.









My daughter assured me that I shouldn't worry though and that those spots will fill in eventually. :mrgreen:



I finally addressed the last major aspect of this renovation today: the ditch. 
On August 11, I applied a second dose of glyphosate and I scalped what was left with a thatch rake this past weekend.



I seeded ~2,400 sq. ft. with 6# of a monoculture of MiniClover.





I spread 3#/M Scott's starter fertilizer, hand rolled and covered the area with erosion blankets. Last, I adjusted the sprinklers to start watering the ditch with my irrigation cycles.





I really wanted to plant Bowles periwinkle as a perennial ground cover but knowing that it would take a few years to establish and I would be fighting weeds until it did, I opted for a quick fix instead. @zinger565 posted about using Clover Lawn to seed a tough area, and even though I was initially skeptical I eventually warmed up to the idea. This past spring I cut a hard line with a bed edger to separate the ditch from my stand of KBG, but I'm planning to add a stone border to try to keep the clover from spreading unimpeded. Finger's crossed.


----------



## Coleman2084 (Aug 7, 2019)

13 dag for me...hopefully right on track...award and Everest mix went down. Had rain that weekend I put it down but very little since. Also it was in the 90s all week this week and very much looking to the rain/cool off tomorrow. Might not be great but something to compare yours to.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Coleman2084 said:


> 13 dag for me...hopefully right on track...award and Everest mix went down. Had rain that weekend I put it down but very little since. Also it was in the 90s all week this week and very much looking to the rain/cool off tomorrow. Might not be great but something to compare yours to.


Thanks for checking in @Coleman2084. I've been noticing some very firmly rooted tufts of grass about the size of a silver dollar popping up in different spots despite the overall coverage being somewhat sparse.



There's been some interesting discussion in @jrubb42 lawn journal about different KBG cultivars and the varying speed of germination so I wonder if the Midnight is still sleeping  If I remember right, Ryan Knorr did a video last fall and the mono stand of Midnight he planted was by far slower to fill in than either Mazama or Bluebank.


----------



## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

Funny you mention it. I swear the Everest decided to wake up today. It looks much fuller for some reason today. Or I'm starting to imagine things from staring at it every day. I just fed my babies 0.5 lbs of N. We're about to get cool weather and I bet things start to take off soon. @Zip-a-Dee-Zee your yard is looking great. Good work. Very curious to how the clover ditch works out. Haven't seen that before.


----------



## Coleman2084 (Aug 7, 2019)

@Zip-a-Dee-Zee

I believe mine is similar and some smaller spots. I'm hoping one of my cultivars is still sleeping. Really hope it explodes out of the ground next week with the cooler weather. I was also mistaken I'm seed down for 13 days and 6 dag. Saw some babies on Friday the 21st. Some additional close ups. With everything I read about germination time I was surprised to see anything that quickly.

I have some weed pressure, any idea how long I should wait before spraying tenacity again?

What height are you planning to cut at?


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

jrubb42 said:


> Funny you mention it. I swear the Everest decided to wake up today. It looks much fuller for some reason today. Or I'm starting to imagine things from staring at it every day. I just fed my babies 0.5 lbs of N. We're about to get cool weather and I bet things start to take off soon. @Zip-a-Dee-Zee your yard is looking great. Good work. Very curious to how the clover ditch works out. Haven't seen that before.


Thanks @jrubb42. My goal is that next year I'll have stripes that look as good as yours! I really racked my brain trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the ditch but decided in the end that bunting to reach first was a safer play than swinging for the fences.



Coleman2084 said:


> @Zip-a-Dee-Zee
> 
> I believe mine is similar and some smaller spots. I'm hoping one of my cultivars is still sleeping. Really hope it explodes out of the ground next week with the cooler weather. I was also mistaken I'm seed down for 13 days and 6 dag. Saw some babies on Friday the 21st. Some additional close ups. With everything I read about germination time I was surprised to see anything that quickly.
> 
> ...


Good question @Coleman2084. I haven't gone all-in on reel mowing yet so initially I'll be using a manual reel and eventually transitioning to the rotary deck on my lawn tractor which limits my options for HOC. As for applying post-M tenacity I'm figuring mid-September.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Thus far I've managed to avoid any major calamities but my luck ran out yesterday.



When the clouds parted, I cleaned up the downed limbs and assessed the damage. Other than a few small indentations the ground was fine but the tree trunk was sheared down the middle all the way to the ground so I decided that the rest had to go.



Don't get me wrong, I love my chainsaw but the idea of felling a tree onto newly seeded grass wasn't part of my strategy for success. Still, I looked at what was left as a dead man walking so I figured I'd cut back the canopy to give some of the fledgling areas beneath it better access to sunlight.



By this point, I felt like I could drop the rest and not incur too much damage so I went for it. By day's end, I had all the debris removed and patched the blemishes with garden soil. Heres a couple 15 DAG pics with the new landscape:







I also finished the fieldstone border along the ditch today.





I guess I've always thought fieldstone was kind of a lazy man's border but since I wanted something that I could do quick, cheap and with minimal disruption it was the right fit . Aesthetically, I also thought fieldstone might look nice next to a bed of clover which appears to be on the way.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

22 DAG update. KBG is filling in well, some spots more than others. A few ground-level photos illustrate what I mean.









Pictures from the second floor show a different story (no pun intended).





First mow was Saturday. I set the manual reel to the lowest setting and walked it. Mostly I just felt like I was flattening worm castings though. After that, I gave the seedlings their first feeding. I tank mixed a concoction that consisted of RGS (3 oz. / M), GreeneStart 9-0-1 (12 oz, / M), Urea 46-0-0 (0.1 # N / M), and Propiconazole (1 oz. / M) and watered it in.

As for watering, I'm also adjusting my irrigation schedule. I had been watering three times per day for the past few weeks but will now target one heavy & deep watering in the evening. This should coincide nicely with the cooler temperatures that are forecasted for the next week and I'll be targeting 90-100% ET.

One last thing, I thought I'd post a picture of the plants that I've been removing by hand. The KBG seedling is on the left for scale.



As I mentioned previously, I only applied glyphosate once prior to seeding and suspect that a fair amount of the old grass survived by going dormant. I originally thought it was Tall Fescue but when I noticed the purple color at the base I thought it might be PRG. If any TLF experts would like to weigh in I'm curious what this is?


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Cool, wet weather here this week has been great for growing grass but not much else so I thought it might be a good opportunity to add an entry to my journal addressing the "test plot" on the north side of the driveway. In early August, I added soil alongside the driveway (which was replaced last year) in order to bring the grade even with the surface. Since the adjacent area is a cool season mixture, I decided to throw a big-box store seed down and see how it fared.



I seeded the area on August 8, rolled and sprayed it with Tenacity. Next, I applied Scotts Disease EX and Scotts 24-25-4 starter fertilizer at the rate specified on the bag. I added Seed Aide and set up three impact sprinklers and an oscillating sprinkler in order to span roughly 130' with overlapping coverage. Each sprinkler was attached to a digital timer that watered twice daily for 30 minutes at 6A and 6P.

After 4 weeks, the test plot went from this:



To this:





No surprise, at this point the KBG/PRG mixture is much further along than the pure KBG blend on the other side of the driveway. Monday night I gave this area its first spray application of urea (0.2#/M) at dusk and allowed it to rest on the blades overnight until rain moved through in the early AM. I'll continue spoon feeding Nitrogen throughout the fall and will utilize this area to try out FAS and T-Nex (both of which I have never used) before I scale them up for more widespread use.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

31 DAG update. I had the stump removed last Friday. The ground was still pretty wet from steady rain all week so I laid down plywood to prevent any ruts from the heavy equipment. More rain on Saturday but on Sunday the skies parted so I picked up a half yard of topsoil right away in the morning and spread it in small loads to even things out where the tree once stood. With the calendar already on September 13, I knew I was running out of time (maybe too late?) to get any new seed down but I wanted to give that spot a chance to establish itself alongside the rest of the first-year KBG so I sowed, rolled, fertilized and covered it with peat moss. By the time I had a sprinkler line laid and began irrigating I was still able to watch Rodgers and the Pack take care of business against the Vikings (sorry @jrubb42 , had to add that  ).

Monday I mowed for the second time. Still using a manual reel so I'm able to keep the HOC below 1.5". Here's how things are looking on the ground.











I'm behind a few days on my second application of Urea and will be getting that down today. My first application was 0.2# N/M but I'm planning to increase to 0.3# N/M for the second app. My understanding is that the turfgrass is absorbing more N now than it will in October, so I'm thinking about increasing the Nitrogen load a bit for the next couple of weeks and then backing it off at the end of September. I still need to refine my application though, as evidenced by pictures from the second story.







Not having clean stripes to follow makes it a bit more difficult to spray evenly and it's clear in the pictures that sometimes I had overlapping coverage but it's a work in progress


----------



## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

I believe your correct and that is PRG that you say grew back after glyphosate.


----------



## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

Man. That game was brutal. Our D is in big trouble this year. I'll give you guys credit, you man-handled us.

As far as the grass goes, it's looking great! I'm having the same issues with my established grass and urea. It looks like a spotted leopard out there. I think I'm gonna put down some milorganite on top of the blitz to hopefully make the coverage look a little more even.

It's safe to say you've had a successful reno at this point! Now it's the just waiting game of watching it spread this fall and spring.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> I believe your correct and that is PRG that you say grew back after glyphosate.


Thanks for checking in@SNOWBOB11 . I appreciate the verification :thumbup:


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

jrubb42 said:


> It's safe to say you've had a successful reno at this point! Now it's the just waiting game of watching it spread this fall and spring.


Thanks, @jrubb42. Luck played a significant role since I managed to avoid any major downpours but I think I'm finally at the point where I feel like this project has been a success!

37 DAG Update. I'm still using a manual reel and have been working the HOC down over the past week to the lowest setting. I'm also adjusting my irrigation schedule from a light watering every day to a deeper watering every other day. We haven't had any measurable rainfall in the past 10 days so the current ET deficit is a bit deeper than I'd like at 0.56". With more dry weather in the forecast though I'll be paying close attention to see how the grass responds to less frequent irrigation and adjust as necessary.

Third feeding was on 9/20. I sprayed a combination of RGS (3 oz./M), GreenePunch 18-0-1 (15 oz./M), and enough Urea to bring the total N to 0.5 #/M. I also mixed in Tenacity (0.5 tsp/M) and NIS to the application on Sunday for some post-emergent weed control. I'll apply another 0.5# N/M next Sunday, then reduce the amount to 0.25# N/M weekly until mid-October.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

44 DAG update. First rotary cut was on Sunday 9/27. The honeylocust started dropping its leaves and made enough of a mess that I wanted to mulch everything before fertilizing. I dropped 0.5# N/M of humic-coated urea with a rotary spreader this time just to gauge how well that rate would work with a granular application. I think I managed to get even coverage but I felt like I was rushing, so when I back down the application next week to 0.25# N/M I'll go back to spraying. I definitely prefer the control of hand-spraying but covering ~10,000 sq. ft. with a backpack sprayer every week is getting old. I have a 15 gallon towable tank sprayer that I purchased a couple of years ago for spraying Bifen in the backyard (when I wasn't so concerned with precision), but it will take some practice before I feel comfortable using it for fertilizer applications. That being said, this week's pictures clearly show where I focused my attention the previous week. I typically finish off the tank by hand spraying the areas that are more sparse but I forgot (oops!) that there was Tenacity mixed in:







I haven't had any issues other than bleaching and the KBG seems to be recovering fine in the areas where the Tenacity was a little heavier. By and large, the turf seems to be developing well considering it was bare dirt 7 weeks ago. For comparison, the seed that was sowed on 9/13 seems likes it's eons behind everything surrounding it:


----------



## Chris1 (Apr 22, 2020)

good work. where did you purchase humic coated urea ?


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Thanks for checking in @Chris1. I purchased The Andersons HCU from Reinders. At $40 for a 50# bag it was roughly the same cost as the prilled urea I've also been using. One thing I found though is that the HCU is a bit more difficult to spray because it doesn't dissolve as completely and there are fine particulates which clog the filter screen in the sprayer tank. As a result, I've been running the solution through a fine mesh paint filter before adding it to the tank which is a bit cumbersome.


----------



## Chris1 (Apr 22, 2020)

@Zip-a-Dee-Zee .......thanks for the feedback and process. There is a Reinders 40 minutes North of me so that is good to know. You may want to contact WI ConservFS . AMS is $20 and $15 for urea . If you want to take a drive Wauconda, IL is ConservFS primary turf supply location


----------



## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Exciting renovation and lots of heavy lifting put in before getting it all underway. Nice work. That will make for a smooth cut when it fills in. Call it a silver lining getting all that extra sunlight on that beautiful KBG with that tree gone. Looking great!


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Chris1 said:


> If you want to take a drive Wauconda, IL is ConservFS primary turf supply location


Thanks for the heads-up @Chris1. Typically when I travel to Northern Illinois to purchase items I can't readily get in Wisconsin I don't have much cash left over but I'll keep it in mind 



jamesonw said:


> Call it a silver lining getting all that extra sunlight on that beautiful KBG with that tree gone. Looking great!


Thanks for checking in @jamesonw. I feel the same way. When the tree was there the grass was really struggling beneath it. I kept looking at the branches, trying to figure out how to get more sunlight through. In the end, Mother Nature took the decision out of my hands and I haven't looked back.


----------



## Chris1 (Apr 22, 2020)

Zip-a-Dee-Zee said:


> Chris1 said:
> 
> 
> > If you want to take a drive Wauconda, IL is ConservFS primary turf supply location
> ...


Trees should be in parkway or property line


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

51 DAG update. The KBG has rebounded well from the Tenacity app two weeks ago and the bleached areas are greening up again with every mow. On Saturday I put down the penultimate Fall Nitrogen (0.25# N/M) application. Along with the Urea I mixed in some SLS Lawn Booster (10 oz./M) for chelated Iron and micros and a light dose of PGR (0.3 oz./M). A light rain that afternoon rinsed everything from the leaves and into the soil.







Sunday morning I decided to finally calibrate my tank sprayer. After a few measurements with a stopwatch, I figured that I would spray roughly 4.5 gallons at 3.0 mph over 9,000 sq. ft. I had some SLS Soil Hume that I wanted to get rid of so I decided to test out my calculations with an application at 3 oz./M. Coverage ended up being pretty close to what I expected, so using my tractor for liquid applications moving forward will be an incredibly huge time saver.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

58 DAG Update. Final fertilization was yesterday. Gave it another cut with the rotary mower before fertilizing. I'll probably be using a rotary for the rest of the year since I'm planning to mulch leaves instead of bagging (as I've done in years past). Used the tank sprayer to apply a 6 gallon mixture of Urea (0.20# N/M), GreenePunch 18-0-1 (0.05# N/M) and Prodiamine (0.5 oz/acre). I'm loving how quickly I can complete a blanket application now that I'm using a tank sprayer with the tractor. Here's how things are looking:















I haven't posted many pictures of this area. This has been by far the weakest area for KBG to establish itself. It's plagued by low sunlight due to a couple of established trees immediately to the south and because I don't have in-ground irrigation here the watering hasn't been as consistent as the rest of the renovation area.



As things wind down for the year, I'm hoping to play around with FAS a bit in my test plot area. I've been hammering this zone (~2,100 sq. ft.) pretty hard with herbicides and fungicides over the past few weeks to try and knock out the junk that's been festering there for years.

End of September:





I like a challenge so I'm hoping to see if I can restore some vigor in the old established turf there. This area received soil amendments in the Spring (TSP, SOP and 10#/M Sulfur) and a no holds barred Nitrogen blitz this fall with 3# N/M over the past 5 weeks so I'm curious to see what the NoMix here can deliver.


----------



## zinger565 (Nov 28, 2017)

Hey, just checking in for spring. Has your clover popped back up yet? How did it handle the winter?

Mine is just starting to show itself. I noticed a bit more green this weekend. Although I plan to overseed the area again to help. I read (somewhere on here) that the microclover only has a 2-3 year lifespan, and doesn't always regenerate itself.


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Hey @zinger565 ! Clover is greening up nicely; I like its contrast alongside of the KBG. I don't plan on doing much with it so I'm hoping it will continue to spread and fill in the bare spots. Here's a pic from last weekend:


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Kbg looks really dark for immature grass. How does it look, now?


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

Chris LI said:


> Kbg looks really dark for immature grass. How does it look, now?


It really is striking how much darker it looks compared to everything around it. These are a couple of pics from this evening comparing the old NoMix lawn side by side with the KBG.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

So when is the backyard reno?


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

You're not kidding...REALLY nice and dark. Once it matures, it'll be even more beautiful!


----------



## Zip-a-Dee-Zee (Apr 9, 2020)

g-man said:


> So when is the backyard reno?


@g-man I'm preparing to renovate a portion of the backyard August 1. I'll be posting on that project in my 2021 Lawn Journal:

* Zee's 2021 Lawn Journal *


----------

