# SteveB's 2019 Reno



## SteveB (Jul 13, 2018)

Hi all,

I've been a lurker on TLF for some time, but haven't posted much. I will use this thread to document my 2019 reno of cool season turf here in central Iowa.

I have been unhappy with my sidewalk strips for some time. They've become inundated with quackgrass. There are also some leveling issues that need to be addressed. With these things in mind, I decided this was the year to renovate the hell strips- roughly 700 square feet in total. I've been intrigued with low-cut turf for some time, with @zeus201 just down the street. I plan to use a push reel mower at first, and possibly graduate to a powered reel mower down the road. I purchased certified Mazama KBG seed from CD Ford, and plan to go with a mono-stand. If the hell strip reno is successful, I might take on the rest of the front lawn next year.

Today is day zero of the reno. I applied 41% glyphosate at 2 oz/gal, plus nonionic surfactant and blue marking dye.



Now the wait begins. I'll probably need a follow-up glyphosate app in a week or two. Once I have a complete kill, I will be tilling in some fresh topsoil and perhaps some sand prior to leveling. I'll then let things fallow for another couple weeks, and spot spray any weeds that pop up. My target seed down date is August 15.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Sounds like a solid plan. Good luck!


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## iowa jim (Jan 22, 2018)

You are going to love the mazama, i will be watching . good luck


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## SteveB (Jul 13, 2018)

Just a quick progress update.
This is day 3 post-glyphosate:



And this is day 5:



The second glyphosate app will likely take place tomorrow morning. We have temperatures in the mid to upper 90's forecast for later this week. I'll set up sprinklers to water the reno area during the fallowing period.


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## SteveB (Jul 13, 2018)

Here is a progress photo from day 6:



The first glyphosate app did a pretty good job, but there were a few spots that I obviously missed as well as a few weeds that popped up over the past week. A brief morning rain shower on Tuesday delayed my second glyphosate app to yesterday, day 8.


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## SteveB (Jul 13, 2018)

Here is a progress update at day 16- eight days after the second blanket glyphosate application. Following the second blanket app, I had to spot spray a couple lingering weeds. I've now achieved a full kill.



The next step is scalping, tilling, and leveling. The original sod has plastic netting underneath it, which must have been used to hold it together during transport and installation. It is going to be a real treat to remove the netting without getting it wrapped around my tiller's tines. I'd rather not have to dig out the dead sod by hand to extract the netting.
We had a stretch of 100+ heat indices during last week's heat wave. Fortunately, the 14-day weather forecast for my locale is pretty encouraging, with high temperatures in the 80's. I had planned to put seed down on August 15, but may do so 7-10 days earlier given the relatively mild weather forecast.


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## SteveB (Jul 13, 2018)

Well, it's been about three weeks since my last update. I didn't do much with the reno until two weekends ago, where I tackled the longer of the two hell strips. I scalped the dead turf with the Timemaster and bagged the clippings. I then tilled the area, which proved to be a royal pain. The plastic netting that was underneath the original sod quickly clogged the tiller tines. As a result, I had to clear the tangled mess from the tines after every few passes. After I finished tilling, I raked out and all of the dead sod, added fresh topsoil, and leveled the area with a lawn roller and drag mat.



I prepped the second hell strip in much the same way, but chose to rip out the dead sod manually rather than by using the tiller.



On Sunday August 18, I threw down Mazama KBG seed, starter fert, and Menards house brand biosolids fert. I set up my MP2000 sprinklers on spikes to water the area.

On Monday evening, August 19, I covered both hell strip areas with plastic sheeting and anchored it down with landscape pins. Heavy rain is forecast for my area early this morning, so I'm hoping these efforts will help minimize washout.


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## Digitalreality (Aug 16, 2019)

Nice job Steve! I am new to the forum and am renovating my entire front yard. Got my seed from seedsuperstore, 40% Bluebank, 30% Midnight, and 30% Mazama. Dethatching lawn after glyphosate, and going to water lawn this week to see if anything grows back for some more glyphosate blasting! Waiting for thunderstorm free weather here in NJ before I put the seed down. Keep us posted, I may need to use the plastic technique to protect the seed during thunderstorms.....


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## SteveB (Jul 13, 2018)

This morning I saw the first signs of germination, at 8 days post-seeding.



I've been seeing some weed seedlings come up as well. Tenacity seems to be taking care of the broadleaves. These grassy weed are getting bleached also. I'm trying to hand pull these grassy weeds when they pop up. From what I've read, Tenacity can bleach them but not necessarily kill them.



I noticed a few spots of fungal mycelia this morning. It looks like a preventive app of propiconazole will be on the agenda later today if it isn't raining.


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## kmw (Jun 27, 2020)

Any update on this? How does mazama look!?! Was tenacity + hand pulling effective? I hope it turned out for you!


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