# Cjackson0314's backyard reno- Centipede to Arden 15



## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Figured since this is my biggest (and most expensive) project, I'd share with everyone. My wife and I are coming up on 3 years in our house. We built new in 2016 and at the time I wasn't super into lawn care. Just cut and trim. My only want when we were building is I wanted Zoysia or Bermuda. Well to my dismay we showed up one day and the builder had centipede sod installed. I just decided to be ok with it because we had numerous other issues with out contractor and was ready to move in.

Over the past year I've became more interested in having a better lawn (competitiveness maybe). I've primarily focused on the front yard as its only around 3500sq ft and the backyard had terrible grading and was fenced in and no one could see it. Now we have a puppy (5 months today) and along the back part of the fence there is gaps along the bottom as it slopes off and have runoff issues. Also on the garage side there is long low spot from front to back where it stays wet and soggy. So all this backyard work, I say, is for the dog lol.

So now for the project. I have a friend of mine that has a landscaping crew and had talked him about the issues. Decided to put in a french drain along the garage side and pour a concrete pad for extra parking. Then in the back to build a retaining wall and the regrade so we could have a more flat and usable space.

So the plan from the pics below next is to glyphosate the rest of the centipede and then till as teh ground is super compact around the back of the house. Then seeding with Arden 15 and covering with peat moss.

Front yard- I'm pretty happy with how its came along. Don't mind the mulching around the tree and shrubs look rough.



Backyard before











Backyard currently


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Here is a soil test I had done of the backyard at the beginning of this year. If anyone has any suggestions it'd be much appreciated. My plan so far after prepping and ground is to apply a balanced fertilizer with as much P as possible when I put the seed down.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Got the seed, fert and peat moss down yesterday. And a heck of a sunburn. I'm worried about keeping the soil moist enough but not too much. Watering 4a 9a 12p 2p 5p 9p. It's 95* here during the day and yard is in full sun.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

I have grass! Came back from a couple days at the beach and to my delight saw this. Can relax some now.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Got an area along the backside that you can see in second pic that doesn't seem to be getting good water. Need to fix that and probably put down more seed and peat moss. The areas that I had best coverage with peat moss are definitely doing better.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Have a couple questions. I see I'm going to have a couple small patches of centipede pop back up as the Bermuda continues to establish. What and when does anyone recommend I use to fight the centipede and not hurt the Bermuda? See a few spots of clover too.

Also on day 11th since seeding and maybe about day 2-3 since emergence? Should I fertilize again using starter fert at the 2 week mark or go to a balanced fert like 13-13-13?

I'll post some more pics tomorrow as a few areas are really starting to come along well.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

At day 12 now since seeding






Been hand picking the weeds as much as I can. The most common ones are these 2. Not sure what they are called.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Been getting absolutely pounded with rain for the past 4 days. Went from no rain for 2 months to a lot over the weekend. Got a lot of weeds I need to try and make a plan on once this rain stops. I was trying to hand pick as many as possible.

Looks like 2-3 of my cypress along the fence aren't going to make it unfortunately.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Day 18. First mow.

Tomorrow I plan to seed the major bare spots and cover with peat moss. The 5" of rain we got over the weekend and first of the week did a number on some areas.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Day 23. 2nd Mow. Really seeing some progress now. Even the wife has some renewed faith in me from the beginning of this process


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

cjackson0314 said:


> Day 18. First mow.
> 
> Tomorrow I plan to seed the major bare spots and cover with peat moss. The 5" of rain we got over the weekend and first of the week did a number on some areas.


This was a pretty late seeding. Wondering how much it filled in and how the lawn is doing now?


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## jasonbraswell (Aug 18, 2019)

nice work! I bet you are looking forward to spring


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Well life comes at you fast sometimes lol. The yard is in rough shape. Had some family stuff to take care of the past several months. Also all the rain really did a number on the yard.

Cut and cleaned up over the weekend. Put down some fert and sprayed some of the weeds since I wasn't able to get down pre-em.

But found a deal on one of these bad boys and can't wait to try it out


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## stevenjmclark (Sep 25, 2019)

I'm about to make the same transition in half of my back yard. How do you like the Arden 15 vs Centipede? Did you ever get clarification on the second fert app timing and fert ratios? Can't wait to see what you do this year.


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## cjackson0314 (Sep 12, 2018)

Once the Arden really fills in it'll be amazing. There is no comparison. Our mild and super wet winter really did a number on it. I'm just going to stick to fertilizing once a month to really get it spreading in bare areas and hopefully choke out some of the weeds.


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