# Ken-n-Nancy's Lawn Journal 2022



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

I don't know if we'll have time to keep an active lawn journal this year. We always seem to be short on time to do everything we want to do. In regard to our postings on The Lawn Forum, sometimes our participation here is fickle, as we figure it's more important for us to be working on the lawn than to make postings about working on the lawn!

For those of you that may not already know us, we're something of "serial renovators" having done six renovations in the last nine years:



We renovated all lawn areas of our property in the three years from 2013 to 2015, with a different section each year: 
2013 Front Lawn Renovation (Northern Mix)
2014 Back Lawn Renovation (Fine Fescue / Prosperity KBG Mix)
2015 Side Yard Renovation (Bewitched KBG)

In 2016, we did unexpected mini-renovations to repair localized lawn damage from a transformer oil spill and septic tank replacement.

In 2018, we did our first "re-renovation" of previously renovated lawn, converting the front lawn from northern mix to KBG, and as a "War on Triv".

In 2020, we converted the "lilac area" of our lawn from a northern mix to KBG as our second "re-renovation".​
Last year, we just maintained the lawn, without any new renovations.

In any case, we have now caught up on our early spring lawn maintenance, with each of the following completed during the past couple weeks:

Picked up twigs and sticks throughout lawn
Sprayed prodiamine at 3-month rate within one week after initial forsythia blooms seen on next door neighbor's property
Divided hosta to a newly-created landscape bed in back of house where grass has declined due to insufficient sunlight (even fine fescue cultivars for shade) 
Divided day lilies to a newly-created flower bed in front of a huge boulder (car-sized) at edge of our property that we better revealed by clearing brush
Sprayed initial Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent on tulips, lily plants, and emerging hosta plants (so far, so good!)
Mowed lawn for first time on portions that have needed it (lawn now all woken up except side lawn with Bewitched KBG)
Spread Bay State Fertilizer with Sulfate of Potash at bag rate on entire lawn
Spread Scotts GrubEx1 at bag rate on entire lawn
Sprayed 2,4-D on patches of unidentified broadleaf weeds in the "lilac area" renovated 1.5 years ago
Hand-pulled various _Poa annua_ plants from throughout lawn as they've been observed (by different color and starting to show distinctive seedheads) - still many left to pull, though!
Observed (but haven't yet dealt with) two significant (approx 2' square) patches with _Poa trivialis_ in front lawn (plan is to glyphosate, then remove sod, replacing with donor patches of KBG that have invaded flower beds, supplementing with plugs if needed)
Collected soil sample (before new fertilization) and sent for analysis to Logan Labs (just sent today!)


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

With no rain in the forecast for the next seven days, I did a quick check of the irrigation system tonight and found that everything is working except one of the rotors will need to have the "right side of the arc" adjusted, as I had adjusted it last year to provide extra watering to a section of new grass, and I never adjusted it back. This adjustment will require at least tightening/loosening it a bit on the plumbing or possibly digging out the sod around the rotor.

FYI, if you ever need to do this, I always watch the Hunter Industries video for Rotor Right Stop Adjustment as a memory refresher.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

ken-n-nancy said:


> With no rain in the forecast for the next seven days, I did a quick check of the irrigation system tonight and found that everything is working except one of the rotors will need to have the "right side of the arc" adjusted, as I had adjusted it last year to provide extra watering to a section of new grass, and I never adjusted it back. This adjustment will require at least tightening/loosening it a bit on the plumbing or possibly digging out the sod around the rotor.
> 
> FYI, if you ever need to do this, I always watch the Hunter Industries video for Rotor Right Stop Adjustment as a memory refresher.


You can get away with about a quarter turn more counterclockwise than your normal/default position without any issues, since you're basically loosening the threads at the bottom. This is according to my irrigation guy. Any more than that, and you might have to dig it up and unscrew the body, reposition in the case, and screw back. (I've never had luck getting the position accurate when digging it up and unscrewing/re-screwing the head...it always wants to move as I screw down the cap. Let me know if you figure out the secret touch.)


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Green said:


> You can get away with about a quarter turn more counterclockwise than your normal/default position without any issues, since you're basically loosening the threads at the bottom.


I can attest to this as I have tweaked several heads in order to water/not water certain areas when renovating. I would venture to say I've even gone past a quarter turn without over tightening or causing any damage.


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

Green said:


> You can get away with about a quarter turn more counterclockwise than your normal/default position without any issues, since you're basically loosening the threads at the bottom. This is according to my irrigation guy. Any more than that, and you might have to dig it up and unscrew the body, reposition in the case, and screw back. (I've never had luck getting the position accurate when digging it up and unscrewing/re-screwing the head...it always wants to move as I screw down the cap. Let me know if you figure out the secret touch.)





jskierko said:


> I can attest to this as I have tweaked several heads in order to water/not water certain areas when renovating. I would venture to say I've even gone past a quarter turn without over tightening or causing any damage.


Thanks, @Green and @jskierko, for the suggestion.

Last year I had reduced the arc on that rotor from the original 180° to about 40° and had to adjust the right edge to focus irrigation on the needed area. When I did that I did so by digging and then installing the innards with the desired right stop on a well-tightened body.

Last night, I tried to adjust by further tightening the body, but I was only able to get to about 90° (but needed 180°). When I tried to remove the cap, I couldn't get it to budge while in the ground (doing so ended up unscrewing the body from the pipe), so I ended up needing to remove a circle of sod (as shown in the video), unscrewing the body from the line, and taking the entire rotor to my workbench to use the vice to remove the cap. While I had the rotor out of the ground, I took advantage of the opportunity to clean out the innards before re-installing.

It usually takes me a couple tries of screwing on the cap to get the "right stop" in the correct place -- last night it did take two attempts, so I can't say I have "the secret touch."

I really wish there were a standard rotor that had above-the-ground adjustments available for both the right and left stops!


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

Good to see you Ken and Nancy!!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

You know I only just realized you are only about 15-20mi north of me. I'll have to stop into this journal more often!

We need to try that Liquid Fence. My wife is upset we never get to have tulips because of all the deer in my area.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

ken-n-nancy said:


> @Green, when do you do your gypsum application along the road edge? I have salt damage along the road edge this year (more than in past years) but have never made gypsum applications there in the past. How much do you use? Do you basically apply it at "bag rate" and only in the area near the road?


Very late Winter or early in the Spring. Soon after the ground thaws out, first thing after collecting soil samples from the edges. Before the damage shows up, but after the salt is applied. Rate is supposed to be up to 30 lbs per thousand. I don't really measure it. One of the few things I just throw down or spread a healthy amount of, without going crazy. Heaviest on the worst edges, feathering the amount as I get further away. I usually broadcast it about 6 feet into the lawn from the road. It also depends how far you snowblow road snow onto your lawn over Winter. In bad Winters, I do more Spring gypsum along the driveway, and even the front walkway grass edges (even though I've never used ice melt products, some salt from the road makes it's way onto the driveway). Usually I throw some gypsum down by hand first, and then go back with a spreader and apply a little more to broadcast it a bit. It goes in the mailbox much bed, too. March 23rd this year.


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

Carlson said:


> You know I only just realized you are only about 15-20mi north of me. I'll have to stop into this journal more often!
> 
> We need to try that Liquid Fence. My wife is upset we never get to have tulips because of all the deer in my area.


I've found the Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent to work extremely well. Just a couple days ago, I found deer prints in the garden that came to the new hosta plants, and then walked away again, but without the hosta being touched! Seems like the deer must have seen the hosta, came up to it to eat it, but then got a whiff and decided not to! Made my day!

However, it is *expensive* -- seems to me it shouldn't cost a fraction of the retail price to make and ship it. I buy the concentrated version, which is about $35 at Lowes or Home Depot for a 32-fl oz container, which lasts me about 1 year for our gardens. Yet, I feel it is worth it, given the frustration and disappointment we've felt when the deer have eaten the just-bloomed tulips or just-spread hosta plants. To avoid that, however, one needs to be ready to spray the new plants first thing in the spring as new growth emerges -- this year we've been on top of it!

The liquid fence does need to be re-applied every couple weeks or after a significant rain event. I use a cheap sprayer for the liquid fence that I have dedicated for the purpose, so I just mix up a batch every couple months and it only takes a few minutes to make a quick tour of the flower gardens to spray everything.


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

JerseyGreens said:


> Good to see you Ken and Nancy!!


Thanks, JerseyGreens! Your lawn journal was one of the ones I couldn't resist checking when first logging in to the site this spring -- Wow, your renovation and continuing care has turned out awesome! Congrats!


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

Green said:


> ken-n-nancy said:
> 
> 
> > @Green, when do you do your gypsum application along the road edge? ... How much do you use? Do you basically apply it at "bag rate" and only in the area near the road?
> ...


Thanks, @Green - exactly what I was looking to find out. I'll need to put a gypsum application in the plan as the first lawn activity of 2023!


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

One of this spring's mini-projects was to divide the two hosta plants which a few years ago we transplanted as an experiment into this shady area on the back side of our house where we couldn't get even shade-tolerant fine fescue to thrive.

The hosta really seemed to grow well here, so we decided to divide each of the two hosta into three pieces to have six plants in this area. We still have room for three other small shade-loving plants in front of the hosta -- not sure what we'll put there yet...

We decided to segregate this area from the lawn with a border of small granite blocks. In the photo, you can see the pavers we laid out to mark where we intend to place the granite blocks; we needed to figure out the placement of the border to know where to move the sprinkler head which had been in the corner so that it would once again be in the lawn. Moving the sprinkler head ended up being the most difficult part of this mini-project. We haven't purchased and installed the granite yet.

We didn't get a "before" picture, but we have a picture halfway through the move of the sprinkler head, and another one at the end of the project. In another week, we should be able to get a new picture with the hosta leaves out and the granite blocks installed, Lord willing.

Halfway done with the sprinkler head move on 2022-05-03:









Hosta Area -- Divided Two Plants to Six Plants on 2022-05-03:


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

ken-n-nancy said:


> Carlson said:
> 
> 
> > You know I only just realized you are only about 15-20mi north of me. I'll have to stop into this journal more often!
> ...


A little pricy but likely dwarfed by the dollar value of bulbs, hostas, and even rhodos we've had destroyed over the years haha


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

Even though there's still a lot of work to do on the lawn this spring, I figured getting some "current status" photos up will be good for us to appreciate future work, as well as possibly be an encouragement to others, even though the pics are a little embarrassing due to the KBG overgrowing the granite cobblestones, noticeable patches of weeds under attack, a significant patch of _Poa trivialis_, and splotches of tree-filtered morning sun on the grass making a few patches of grass look off-color,

Here are three of our typical views of the lawn. (I forgot the one from the "far end" -- out of practice on taking lawn photos!)

Mailbox View as of 2022-05-11:









Lamp Post View as of 2022-05-11:









Lilac Area as of 2022-05-11:


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Lawn is looking great, I wouldn't have noticed the weeds if you didn't call them out!


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Since we've all posted in the past about mower suction and your mower uses the same blades as one of mine, (and has the same engine as my other newer mower), I thought I'd mention:

I'm starting to look into finding a higher-lift blade for that mower (MTD type 21" blade). So far, my research has confirmed that:

-The stock blade (at least the one Craftsman picks; not sure if CubCadet picked the same style) is a compromise that leaves a lot to be desired. It's basically a low to medium lift standard blade that adds in the extra long edge and bend of a mulching blade, but it's not particularly good at either suction or mulching (though it does produce very good cut quality if you only mow off a small bit of grass). I have two of them.

-The Oregon Gator G3 is a huge improvement on this mower for mulching, but due to the cutouts, is not great at suction either. A mulching blade is never a good sucking blade...because it sucks at lifting, so it actually doesn't suck, pun intended. I've been using one for a couple of years. I don't currently have it on the mower, as it needs sharpening. It does pull a little better than the stock blade.

-Therefore, a true medium or high lift blade is what I'm looking into for bagging late in the Fall, particularly. I know there are some 3rd party options out there for it. It would probably work well for side discharge, too.


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

Green said:


> Since we've all posted in the past about mower suction and your mower uses the same blades as one of mine, (and has the same engine as my other newer mower), I thought I'd mention...
> 
> -The stock blade (at least the one Craftsman picks; not sure if CubCadet picked the same style) is a compromise that leaves a lot to be desired. It's basically a low to medium lift standard blade that adds in the extra long edge and bend of a mulching blade, but it's not particularly good at either suction or mulching (though it does produce very good cut quality if you only mow off a small bit of grass). I have two of them.
> 
> -The Oregon Gator G3 is a huge improvement on this mower for mulching, but due to the cutouts, is not great at suction either. ...


Thanks, @Green, for reaching out to ask about mower blades. Following your recommendation, I requested and received one of the Oregon Gator G3 blades as a Christmas present this past year. However, I haven't yet installed it on the mower to try it out. I can say, though, that the blade is truly *massive*, being quite thick and heavy compared with the stock blade!

I think the stock blade really does provide a very high quality cut of the lawn, and agree with your assessment of it having some deficiencies. I have found that the stock blade mulches up leaves and pine cones exceptionally well, in that it cuts anything that gets under the deck into small pieces, without clumping or leaving the remains all at one side of the mower or the other. My only complaint is that the design of the mower deck is such that when there are just a few leaves on the lawn (rather than complete coverage of them), that individual leaves tend to be blown to the right just before they go under the mower deck. It isn't like all leaves get blown to the right, but probably about a quarter of them do, which is a little frustrating if trying to mulch up all the leaves on the lawn so that it looks leaf-free for at least a little while! I have learned to adjust to that by mowing the lawn in a clockwise spiral when I really want to get all the leaves mulched up.



Green said:


> -Therefore, a true medium or high lift blade is what I'm looking into for bagging late in the Fall, particularly. I know there are some 3rd party options out there for it. It would probably work well for side discharge, too.


I haven't tried bagging at all with my Cub Cadet mower. I've become a fan of mulching all the grass and leaves back into the lawn. The only time I've bagged within the last couple of years has been when scalping the lawn for a renovation, and the most recent time we did that, I used our old mower, which I still had before later recycling that old mower -- I was sad to let it go, as it served well for a long time!


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Yeah, that is super annoying that the leaves get blown to the front right, I know what you mean.

If you think the G3 blade is heavy, you should have seen the G5. I had to return it because it was huge in width, and about double the weight of the G3, which I replaced it with. Never having seen them in real life, I ordered the heavier one accidently a few years ago. Immediately replaced it with the G3. I didn't think the MTD mowers could handle the G5 as they're too flimsy and thought it would strain the engine and mechanics, too. I was even slightly concerned about the G3, so asked my mechanical engineer neighbor, who has repaired his mowers in the past. He said it would take more to get it going with a heavier blade, but once it gets going the heavier blade would put less stress on the engine due to more momentum. It works just fine, though. Enjoy it! I'm going to put mine back on soon. (I rotate the blades and sharpen them as they get dull with use.)

By the way, Stanley Black and Decker fully acquired MTD (parent company of all these mowers we've been talking about) recently.


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

Mowed the lawn again today. It turned out to be the 10th mowing so far in 2022. Currently it seems that the front lawn wants to be mowed every four days. Seeing some significant drought stress in the lawn, so I guess it's time to run the irrigation system. Up to this point, it has been sufficiently rainy and cool that I haven't needed to water the lawn, but it's now overdue.

Also pondering whether or not to apply any more late-spring fertilizer. Trying to balance the line between supplying enough fertilizer to keep the grass growing without pushing lush growth when the heat of summer arrives to just encourage fungal diseases. Probably should have been applying Serenade long before now...

Thinking maybe we'll do a half-rate application of Bay State Fertilizer (would be about 0.32#N/ksqft) in conjunction with sulfate of potash at 1.0#K/ksqft, but that isn't something we've done before. At least the forecast for the next week looks like great grass-growing weather, with the 7-day forecast showing daily highs in the mid-70s and overnight lows in the low to mid-50s.


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