# Ben's Bermuda Lawn



## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

My Bermuda Lawn Makeover​
*Location:* Auburn, Alabama
*Size*: 14,500 sq. ft.​
We bought our first home in December of 2016. The following summer I quickly became frustrated with our bahiagrass infested lawn. I was accustomed to mowing every two weeks but that bahia was easily knee high after seven days. I also had extensive crabgrass in the front yard.











I guess it was in 2018 that I finally got fed up enough to start trying to figure out how I could renovate this lawn and make it both nice looking and an enjoyable place for our five kids to play.

As a total beginner I went round and round on how to start getting things under control. From reading through this forum and watching the various Lawn-Tubers I eventually settled on an application of quinclorac. Target rate was .5 oz/k/gallon. Looking at the pictures I'm sure the actual rate was a little heavy due to inexperience and insufficient equipment. Using a two-gallon pump sprayer I think it took four hours to spray the front 7k sq. ft. so I gave up on the back yard.

I sprayed on September 6. It made no sense to start so late in the year but that's what I did. Here it is September 10.





And September 29.





I started watering and fertilizing. I put down 10-10-10 at 1.1 pounds N/1000 on September 22 and Milorganite at roughly 1 pound N/1000 a few weeks later. Looking back I couldn't tell you why I made those specific applications, especially in September. I guess the intention was to winterize and I'm sure there was also just a desire to be doing something. I also put down Scott's Halts pre-emergent with pendamethalin.

Here's what it looked like on my last mow of the year at the end of October.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Welcome to TLF!


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Thank you @Ware.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Father of five. Never enough time for lawn care or maintaining a lawn journal. I have been, and continue to be, plagued by "issues" but I'm still enjoying the process. 2019 started out strong. I made good progress filling in some of my bare areas that were left after I killed off the crabgrass and the bulk of the bahia. The lawn was vandalized late in the summer so that was a big setback. 2020 was kind of a rebuilding year filling in the bare areas left from that. The big concern at the start of 2021 is parsley piert that is spread throughout the lawn.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

In the back yard bahiagrass has been pretty dominant. I have just been maintaining it but now I'm taking the next step. At the end of last season I knocked it back with quinclorac and I'll be trying to push the bermuda this summer. At the moment parsley-piert has spread into most of the bare areas but the summer heat should take care of that. I may try to help it along if I get time to spray.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Got the back yard mowed this afternoon. It got a little over-grown before I was able to get it cut and one or two spots got scalped. I actually need to check what my cut height is set to. Also applied 33-0-0 at .66 lbs. N/k. My plan is to do that weekly while trying to get the bare spots filled in.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Front yard mow.


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## 12620 (Oct 2, 2020)

Following your journal as I'm trying to transition from Bahia to Bermuda too. Looking forward to your progress!


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@thundergunexpress Best of luck to you! If I can be of any help, let me know.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

I hate this thing. Instant mud pit. I guess this is the point of the lawn, though.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

It broke right after I posted that. Hallelujah.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Got home from work this morning and the front lawn was looking pretty good with a little cloud cover and dew still on the grass. Hopefully a sign of a good upcoming season.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Ben S said:


> Got home from work this morning and the front lawn was looking pretty good with a little cloud cover and dew still on the grass. Hopefully a sign of a good upcoming season.


Were you ever able to figure out who or what happened to the front lawn a couple years ago? I followed for a while and then forgot about it. You and the neighbor on better terms?


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## JLavoe (Jun 8, 2020)

Ben S said:


>


Dude.. what POS thing to do. Luckily, it's bermuda... but damn that's low.
I'm gonna assume that was a container of RoundUp out of a hand cannon.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Were you ever able to figure out who or what happened to the front lawn a couple years ago? I followed for a while and then forgot about it. You and the neighbor on better terms?


Thanks for asking. I believe it was actually a family member. I felt like the grass was the least of my worries so I never brought it up.



JLavoe said:


> I'm gonna assume that was a container of RoundUp out of a hand cannon.


I never found out what was used. Fortunately it wasn't anything that did permanent damage to the soil. I don't think I have any pictures of the lawn from last year but the spray path started out as bare dirt in the spring. Took all year to fill in.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Sprayed front and back lawns with propicanizole, bifenthrin, Trimec, and NIS at 1 oz/k each. Trimec is labeled for control of parsley-piert which is the main target with this app, so we'll see. This is my second blanket spray with Trimec this year, which is the maximum per the label so if I have any more broadleaf issues I'll have to pick a different AI.

The prop. and bifen were preventative apps.

I also dropped a soil sample off at the Auburn University soil lab.

I read something on @Pete1313 's journal that I found inspiring:


Pete1313 said:


> I do take a sports turf approach to maintaining my lawn, and will continue to do it as cost effectively and efficiently as possible.
> 
> The plan is to maintain it all year at a .75" HOC and will try to not bounce around HOCs as I have done in the past. A quote from @MNLawnGuy1980s lawn journal is something I strive to do as well, especially regarding the HOC.
> 
> ...


This is something that I want to strive for as well this season. As a dad with four small children and a full time job I feel like I spontaneously seize an hour here and there for lawn work which leads to me just running outside and applying basically whatever strikes me in the moment with no plan or consistency. This year I want to be more professional with a logical plan and consistent follow-through.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

I was planning to mow Monday and Tuesday but it looks we are going to be getting three straight days of rain. I really wanted to get those mows in but the grass does need water, after all. Maybe God is telling me to take some time off and I should try to enjoy it. The kids have been asking for some one-on-one time so I'll try to focus on that and the wife as well. I seem to be a very project/goal focused person. Need to try to be more people focused.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

It didn't rain as much as expected today so I was able to squeeze in a mow after all. Still need to get one section of the front yard as soon as I can.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Got my soil test back. Results below. The main thing I see is that my pH has come up since my last test two years ago, which was 5.2. They didn't recommend more lime even though it's still in the acidic range. Maybe because of the calcium levels? I'll make a corrective app of 15-0-15 this week and go from there.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

A couple pictures from yesterday morning. I like the morning dew look.







And from today.







The parsley-piert was definitely affected by the 2,4d application. It's not long for this world. I'm excited to see how it shapes up once that's gone and the little bit of poa I have dies off. The real key is going to be rain. Since I don't have irrigation I have to move sprinklers around and it's just a lot to keep up with. This year I think I'm going to focus on the back since I'm trying to get that filled in so if we don't get consistent rain we may be struggling.

I have the day off so I went to the hardware store and picked up some 15-0-15 and was planning to put that down per the instructions from my soil test but my spreader wasn't working. The drop holes wouldn't open. I started trying to take it apart but that turned into it's own project because I had one Phillips head screw that had a stripped head and one of the carriage bolts that attached the bucket to the frame was just spinning when I tried to remove the nut. I ended up having to drill out the screw and I cut the end of the bolt off with a cut-off wheel. After finally getting it apart it turns out the actuator cable had just slipped off the little pulley. This both created too much slack and meant the cable wasn't pulling in line with the travel path of the slider. All I had to do was seat the cable back in the pulley, rinse everything off, and put it back together. Probably took about 45 minutes start to finish.







I came inside for lunch and I'll probably get back out this afternoon and finish my application.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

Interesting what salt in the fertiliser will do


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@Buffalolawny You think that's what it was from? There was definitely lots of corrosion.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

What is the 33-0-0 fertiliser?

Urea, Ammonium nitrate, Ammonium sulfate mixed fertiliser???

Might need to stop the reaction with car wash soap after use.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

It is 10% ammonium sulfate and 23% urea.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Mowed the back over the weekend and the front today. So far I've been able to keep up a five to seven day interval. I'm happy with that and at this point in the year that feels like a bit too much at times. It just is not growing a ton, at least not in all areas.

Bench HOC is 1.5". This is the lowest I have ever maintained the yard. There is only one notch lower which is where I scalp so I can't keep it any shorter without modifying the mower. My yard is also so uneven that there are a number of spots that get scalped at this height. I'm not sure if I can expect any of that to clear up as we get further into the growing season or if I will need to go up a notch. I'm going to stay the course for now.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

Post mow. Quite a bit of growth since I mowed on Saturday. I feel I am in for a real grind this summer trying to get the grass to spread and fill in. I also finally got around to starting to fill in the divots above the septic tank.


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## BruceAlmighty22 (May 12, 2021)

How is the bahia doing? I'm fighting bahia in a portion of my backyard where sod was not initially laid. I've sprayed two apps of MSM Turf this season and not seeing any bahia growth, so I'm hoping/praying it will not come in this summer.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@BruceAlmighty22 The bahia is pretty widespread in my yard. All those bare areas in the back yard are areas where I killed off bahia but a good bit of the green you see is also bahia. I haven't seen the dreaded seed heads yet but it's still early. I'm planning on an app of MSM Turf as well to get rid of the rest.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

I mowed the back yard yesterday and spent this morning mowing the front and moving the sprinkler around in preparation for going out of town tonight. We are travelling to visit family in VA and will be gone until 5/31. The lawn won't be mowed or watered (unless it rains which is not in the forecast) for ten or eleven days. It looks decent right now but it will be interesting to see where we're at when we get back. This is where real life meets the lawn hobby.

I haven't made any applications in a few weeks. I'm due for preventative bifenthrin and fungicide apps.

In the first pic you can see the new outlet I put in for the septic pump. I'm planning to do a more thorough write-up on that soon as there are some mysteries with the wiring.















This spot by the AC for whatever reason has some of the nicest turf in the lawn. The next best is the area over the septic tank in the back yard. The bare spots in the pic are where some trenching was done for electrical work.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

Condensation off the aircon fins


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

The Return​
We went out of town for 10 days and here is what I returned to in the lawn. I am very pleasantly surprised. Before we left the forecast called for 10 straight days of 85-90 degree highs and no rain. I was expecting carnage but as we approached the house and the lawn came into view I was shocked by how green it looked. On the right hand side (facing the house) there is only one small dead spot up by the house that you can't even see from the street. The other side is struggling a little more but not nearly as bad as I was expecting. We must have had at least a small shower because there was water in the kids' water table. It's also interesting how a couple of areas went crazy with seed heads but they are not as prominent in the rest of the lawn.

Pre-Mow​














Post-Mow​
I mowed the whole lawn and starting the process of giving it a little water. We do have some rain forecast later this week. I hope that comes through.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

I had just finished my edges with the string trimmer and I was sharpening my mower blade and a pop-up shower hit. I ran and put a tuna can out to see how much we get. Guess I am done for the day.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

A couple that my wife is close friends with recently had a large pond in their yard drained and filled in and they are preparing to lay some sod. The husband said he wanted to talk to me about it and I recommended he get a soil test which he did. I'm really excited to help but somehow whenever I bring it up the conversation doesn't seem to go anywhere. He sent me his soil test results and asked what it meant so I replied with a few messages about my interpretation. His situation is pretty straightforward so I felt comfortable making some suggestions. I've been waiting for days for some kind of follow up or reaction. Hopefully I am not coming off too eager, lol.

Back at home I'm happy with how my lawn is looking as the growing season heats up. The drought stress from the week I was gone is healing up nicely due to me watering and the rain we've had. I mowed the front yard on Saturday. The back is overdue but I did not have time to get to it this weekend and it has rained most of the day today, which is great.





I am wondering what to do about my height of cut. When we got back from vacation I bumped up the mower one notch when cutting the left section of the front yard since it was overgrown and there are some really bumpy spots that had already been scalping. The other side doesn't have the same kind of really bad spots but it's still pretty bumpy and but I am seeing circles all over where it is scalping the high spots. I had been planning to soldier on keeping it as low as I can because ultimately I do want the grass to be trained for a low cut but I know it would look a lot better if I bump it up. Part of the problem is my height adjustment is pretty coarse so it would be quite a bit taller even at just one notch up and it's already pretty tall at 1.5". I'll be mowing the back tomorrow so I'll have to make a call on that by then.

The bahia in the back yard is starting to shoot up the dreaded seed heads. I think this is the year I smoke those for good. I've been studying the label on the MSM Turf I already have that I bought a few years ago when I started all this. I think I feel comfortable enough with my equipment and procedures that I am finally going to use it. Maybe this week, maybe next.

I bought some tee jet tips and parts for a two nozzle boom wand setup a la this post. I'll go into more detail about my tip selection etc. in a future post.


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## BruceAlmighty22 (May 12, 2021)

Ben S said:


> A couple that my wife is close friends with recently had a large pond in their yard drained and filled in and they are preparing to lay some sod. The husband said he wanted to talk to me about it and I recommended he get a soil test which he did. I'm really excited to help but somehow whenever I bring it up the conversation doesn't seem to go anywhere. He sent me his soil test results and asked what it meant so I replied with a few messages about my interpretation. His situation is pretty straightforward so I felt comfortable making some suggestions. I've been waiting for days for some kind of follow up or reaction. Hopefully I am not coming off too eager, lol.
> 
> Back at home I'm happy with how my lawn is looking as the growing season heats up. The drought stress from the week I was gone is healing up nicely due to me watering and the rain we've had. I mowed the front yard on Saturday. The back is overdue but I did not have time to get to it this weekend and it has rained most of the day today, which is great.
> 
> ...


Don't be afraid of the MSM Turf. I was able to successfully apply it with my backpack pump sprayer without any issues; it will just take a couple early morning apps with about 4-5 weeks in between apps. Keep up the good work!


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@BruceAlmighty22 Thanks for the reassurance! I watched a Matt Martin video a while back and he made it seem like if you have too much overlap while spraying you could sterilize the ground in that spot. Maybe that is true if you are running the max rate but the range for bahiagrass control is .25 to .75 oz/acre. So if I am aiming for .25 and I somehow 3x the rate the worst I will get is some extra chlorosis. Just need to take my time with my conversions and measurements and I know I'll be good. Knowledge is power.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

I did end up going up on the hoc and it was the right call. The grass is growing so fast now that on the last mow I'm sure I was removing over half the height. On one hand we've been fortunate to get a good amount of rainfall but it does interfere with mowing and seems to be promoting lots of growth. I haven't got around to spraying yet. I've been lucky just to keep up with the mowing.













I did manage to get out and finish up my reno on the septic pump outlet. I like it. It's always been awkward keeping the grass trimmed around the cord. The brick will give me something to trim to and then I'll just periodically spray inside the square with glyphosate. When I first stepped back to look at it I realized it's not really centered. I have more bricks so I may fix it.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Update: 6/30/21*

I bumped up my hoc another notch mostly because I was leaving clipping trails in the lawn at the lower height, even when bagging. I could have double cut but that is usually just not feasible time-wise. I really like the way everything is looking right now.

Last weekend I sprayed the front yard with 1 oz./M of Talstar P and propiconazole. I was behind on these two apps and I had some ant beds popping up. They appear to be inactive now so crisis averted. I ran out of Talstar so I wasn't able to get the back.

This morning I sprayed the back yard with .321 g/M of MSM Turf to continue the process of knocking back my bahia. Bahia grass is the reason I started investigating lawn care in the first place. When those seed heads start popping up walking through that back yard is very unpleasant. I have it cleared out in the front except for one small patch maybe ten feet in diameter. After this year I am hoping to be done with that stuff for good and have a clean bermuda lawn in the back.

















For my spray apps I'm using a new two-nozzle boom wand set up with XR11003 Tee Jet nozzles. My goal with this set up was to reduce my carrier volume allowing to spray my entire yard with two four gallon tanks whereas I was using four. This is much easier and faster.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Update 7/18/21:*

Here's a few progress pics of the bahia kill off. It's been 2.5 weeks since my first application of MSM. I'm planning another one at four weeks, per the label. It took at least week to start seeing the effects.









Don't mind the roof on the play structure. It got destroyed yesterday in a wind storm. This makes the second canvas one that's been damaged by wind. This time I'm going to build a wooden roof.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

My wife asked me if was going to mow today and I said, "Not if I can help it." We've reached that part of the season. This has been a good year for the lawn. We've had plenty of rain and I've hardly had to water at all. The bahia kill-off in the back is going well. But I'm tired of thinking about it all the time, mowing two to three days a week, constantly paying attention to the weather and looking for a window to mow between rainy days. But I can't slack up too much just yet because there's still plenty of season left. I just need to try to enjoy it, not overthink it, and work on it when I want to and not when I feel like I "should".


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## kdbalkom (Jun 6, 2019)

You've come a long way with your yard. It's looking good! When you can, I'd highly suggest looking into a zero turn. I'm the king of buying used tools and equipment on Craigslist instead of buying new lol. It'll cut your time spent on the yard big time and you'll be able to enjoy it again. Pushing in the southern heat on a yard that size is brutal both in effort and in the time it takes.


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## Bmossin (May 31, 2018)

Awesome progress. I love shots where the undesirable stuff is in the process of dying out, while the turf you want is all around it chugging along.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@kdbalkom @Bmossin Thank you for the kind words. I agree, some equipment upgrades would help a lot.


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## RussellJ (May 31, 2020)

Great read.
Look forward to seeing more.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Update: 8/12/2021*

A few quick pics of the bahia kill-off. It's definitely working lol. I did a second application of MSM four weeks after the initial spray and also applied .5 lbs/M of nitrogen via 34-0-0. I don't expect it to completely fill in by the end of the season but I have high hopes of it looking much more filled in.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@RussellJ Glad you enjoyed it, sir.


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## Amoo316 (Jul 8, 2021)

I'm with @Bmossin I enjoy the shots of the bads dying out. It's much more enjoyable for me when the bads are Bahia. It kills me that I actually grow it in the pasture at work


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Update: 9/14/21*

Progress pics of the bahia kill off / bermuda fill in. There seems to be very little change indicating the growing season is likely drawing to a close. The ten day forecast has highs in the high 70s to low 80s and night time highs in the 60s. I was hoping to see more fill in this year but it gives me something to look forward to for next year. It's all about incremental progress.









I am trying to get things spruced up for Halloween, LCN style. I trimmed up the shrubs and I'm planning to get some fresh pine straw down around the trees. I also decided to attempt a HOC reset on the front yard. I approached it as an experiment because I know it is late in the year. Given the weather forecast it may not turn out like I hoped but there is only one way to find out.





I've noticed a few ant hills under construction. They did not obtain the proper permits and the penalty for that is death. I'm spraying my fall pre-emergent this week as well. Here's my application break down:
Prodiamine - .415 oz./M (6 month rate)
Simazine - 1 oz./M. This one is a new addition this year to address the poa annua and parsley-piert infestations I've had the last several years.
bifenthrin - 1 oz./M for the ants and other insects
MSM Turf - .16 g/M to clean up some spurge and also give me some suppression on chamber bitter I have popping up


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## RussellJ (May 31, 2020)

Great to see Ben.
I look forward to seeing if there is any preparation you will be doing as you go into the cooler winter months.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@RussellJ Other than the pre-emergent which I outlined above I didn't have anything planned. I did also apply . 5 lbs/M of N which I guess will count as my winterizer.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Update: 10/04/21*

I snapped a quick pic through the door because it's raining at the moment. I'm not sure how evident it is from the picture but the former bahia areas have filled in significantly in two months. There are likely only three or four weeks left before the first frost so I will be staring at bare spots all winter, as I predicted. Everything has pretty much gone as I expected and I'm actually really happy with it. Next year will be my year to take things to another level.



On another note I was excited to help some friends lay about 12,000 sq. ft. of centipede sod a couple of weeks ago. Since I have never laid sod I was just there as labor. They had already worked out their system when I got there. To save money they had the sod delivered in 100 ft. rolls which we unrolled with a skid steer and then used stiff garden rakes to drag them into position. The area being sodded used to be a pond that they had filled in with free construction site dirt. It was extremely rocky so I'll be interested to see how the lawn turns out. They had somebody go over the area with a harley rake but they said no matter how many passes he made it just kept turning up more rocks.


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## RussellJ (May 31, 2020)

that's one to watch!


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@RussellJ Are you referring to the centipede? If so, I agree. As far as I know I had never seen centipede in person before. I'm very interested to see what their experience with maintaining it is like.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Update: 11/21/21*

Another season is in the can. Looking pretty good. I also limbed up the trees. Why did I wait so long to do that?! It made the mow so much more pleasant not having the branches in my face. Might need to trim that big holly bush again and we'll be ready for Christmas lights.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

The 2022 Season is under way!​
Temperatures are climbing. Soil temps are in the 60s as well. We still have some near-freezing temps in the forecast but it's time to start laying the ground work. I scalped this weekend and got down my first application of the season. My main goals for this year are to complete the grow-in in the back yard and do some leveling. I'm also planning to tone down my inputs. The last couple of years I have over-done the nitrogen, making it hard to keep up with the mowing and avoid scalping. I'd also like to try PGR for the first time. I just have to see what all I can fit into the budget. I'm looking forward to a great year!

Here's my 10 day forecast:





Application details:

Prodiamine - .208 oz./M (3 month rate)
Simazine - 1 oz./M
Bifenthrin 7.9 - 1 oz./M


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Update: 4/11/22*

Mowed this weekend at the same height as my scalp because we've had some pretty cold nights. At least one that dipped down to freezing. I sent a soil sample to Waypoint about two weeks ago but it seems USPS lost it so I bagged a new sample today and will send it off this week. Fingers crossed that they get it. I'd been trying to wait for the test results before fertilizing but last week I went ahead and put down 1 lb/M of 33-0-0 (0.33 lb. N/M). I know it will need some N as it gets going. I've also been out pulling weeds. I've had quite a bit of break-through. Either my pre-E app was inadequate or (more likely) the rain we've had has impacted the barrier.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

*Soil Test Results*



Everything is low. I stocked up on 10-10-10, 15-0-15, and lime.

I applied 3.5 lbs/M of 15-0-15 for roughly .5 lb/M of N and K. They recommend 1 lb of N per 1000 sq. ft. but I have a hard time keeping up with the mowing so I want to see what happens with a consistent .5 lb every four weeks. According to their recommendations I should have done the 10-10-10 but I guess I missed that note when I was getting ready to apply. I'll probably just do that next time. I also applied 11 lbs/M of lime. That is kind of low but I've been doing it that way because it's just easy to remember one bag of lime per section in front and then two in the back. It also makes the work load more manageable.

I like how things are looking so far. I've been watering via sprinkler. Temperatures have been mild but we've had very little rain there is none in the 10 day forecast. Last year was so wet I don't think I manually watered one time. It's not shaping up to be like that this year.





In the next picture are some low spots I filled in. I had a pile of dirt that I dug out from around the peach trees to make a border around them. I shoveled that into these low areas and I also had a couple bags of topsoil and sand that I used as well.





These are the bare spots left from the bahia I sprayed out last year. I got a Pro Plugger for Christmas and just transplanted a few plugs. They are visible in the second pic but they're kind of hard to make out because I didn't water them so they dried out. I'm not going to obsess over them. I'm kind of curious to see if they will wake back up the next time I put the sprinkler out. Call it an experiment.





These are peach trees I grew from seeds. I think they are four years old. They are another experiment to see if I get fruit from them. I used seeds from store bought peaches and according to what I read that probably won't work. Trees from a nursery are pretty expensive so I just wanted to try it this way.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

My lawn is doing this:



Here is a thread about it.

Chime in if you have ideas what it may be or what I can do about it.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

I've been working on the lawn as much as ever but I lost interest in updating the journal for a while. That's a shame because now I can't remember exactly what I last applied. I'm enjoying it though and I think it looks really good. Here's some update pics of the back yard. I'll post pictures of the front after the next mow.





Had the back patio pressure washed and got the edges looking decent.





As you can see, no more bahia. Thank goodness. The bare spots are filling in quite well. I have realized that I have more than one bermuda cultivar, probably common and hybrid. At least, that's what I suspect. One is very fine and soft and the other is coarser. I'm wondering if I can use plugs from the nicer one to crowd out the coarse one.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

That's looking great! How are your peach trees doing? I don't know about peaches but citrus trees are usually grafted at the nurseries so it could be different. I think you can grow lemons from seed though. Curious to see it they ever produce. I could take 5 to 6 years though before anything sticks.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

@Redtwin Thank you! Funny you should ask about the trees. They produced ONE peach this year lol. It was actually edible and tasted good! I really don't do anything to take care of them besides thinning out the branches a little each year and they get whatever fertilizer I put on the lawn which I suspect is probably too much nitrogen for fruit production. I really don't know though as I haven't looked into how to care for them at all. Currently they don't look as healthy and bright green as in the other picture.


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## Ben S (Oct 6, 2018)

A few pictures of the lawn. The front and back pics were taken on different days and they are actually a week or two older than the date of this post. I'm pleased overall with where I'm at. I have a lot of spurge in the lawn. You can really see it if I fall behind on the mowing but when the grass is cut it doesn't stand out. In the front yard I finally got around to putting some fresh pine straw down around the trees and I also added a pine straw bed up by the house. It looks really good!

I just made my fall pre-emergent application:

6 month rate of prodiamine
1 oz. per M of simazine
1 oz. per M of bifenthrin

Adding the simazine last year solved my annual bluegrass and parsely-piert problems. I need to look into what I can add to keep out the spurge and nutsedge as these plagued me all summer.


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