# Re: SeeBryanGo's TifTuf Reno 2020



## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

Last year, I had some of my St Aug that died off from Grey Leaf Spot, so I did a little reno area of TifTuf Bermuda sod under the assumption that I would eventually reno the whole yard [Link Here]... well the time is now. I have roughly 4000sf of fenced in side yard where we spend most of our time and where our dogs play fetch.




In order to not have 3 different grass types in my yard (there is also some zoysia), my plan was to kill everything off and start the reno. The story about the kill off is too long to type here, so go read this post to see what I may or may not have done.

I'll try to update this thread in segments to go over the various things I did to my lawn during the reno....

*Irrigation*

Once the grass was dead, I wanted to fix the irrigation so that I had better coverage. Currently, only about 2/3 of the yard is covered by sprinklers (4x Hunter PGP) because the previous owners were idiots. I split the zone in to 2 and added 2 new heads, so that there was enough flow. Here is the before and after:

*Before*



*After*



Also, while digging all of this by hand, I realized that my grass was growing on top of a pile of building debris. Here are the things that I removed from 150' of irrigation trench. Remember that all of this was within the top 8" of soil:




Here is a final photo showing the half-filled trenches and dead grass. Up next is scalping and tilling, followed by sand leveling and sod. It'll be a very busy week as this all is happening by Friday. Thank God for teleworking


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

*Leveling*

In order to get rid of some of the humps and bumps that had found their way in to my lawn over the 78 years since the house was built, I used a small plug-in tiller/cultivator to knock down the highs and rake that in to the lows. I also got a truck load of sand (5 yards of "sandy topsoil") dropped off that I used to fill in the irrigation trenches (_something had to fill the voids left from those bricks_) and level some more. 


Anyone that has done sand leveling will know how much work it is to shovel and move that stuff, and I only did 5 yds (6.5 tons) over the course of a day and a half. I got them to drop it off in the driveway but my wife wanted her parking spot back, so I couldn't be too slow. I was lucky enough to be able to use my dad's lawn tractor (JD X350) and dump trailer to move the sand and, ultimately, drag the sand "level". If I would have had to move all of that sand in the Gorilla Cart by hand, I don't think I would have survived.



Halfway done after the first afternoon


I then used the lawn tractor, with the deck lowered, to knock down the piles before doing a preliminary level with a homemade drag. I used one of the pallets I had left over from last years sod with a large log on top for weight. I hooked it up to the back of the mower with a rope and climbing-rated carabiner.







Also, the drag mat I ordered came in the morning of the sod delivery, so I did an extra few passes with that to smooth things over.

Lastly, I cut a clean edge along the TifTuf that I laid last year so that the new sod would line up flush with the existing turf.


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

*Laying Sod AKA Insta-lawn*

Before the sod got delivered (_I was scheduled for a delivery window of 2-4pm on Friday_), I put down 2 whole bags of XSOIL from Carbon Earth. That is a rate of 25#/K of the biochar-poultry manure topdressing material with RHPP (*peptides!*). I also put out 5#/K of 13-13-13 before the sod arrived so give the roots some nutrients when they start to tack down in to the soil.



I had a few friends come over to help lay the sod. The truck finally arrived at 4:15 with 7 pallets of TIfTuf. All of the hard work over the last 2 weeks was about to be covered up with the blue-tag certified weed free, Cobalt-60 gamma radiation-blasted, hybrid Bermuda grass of my dreams (_relatively recent dreams_).





Once the driver dropped off the pallets around the yard, we went to work and tried to keep the seams tight and bumps minimal. Overall, it took about 3 hours for 3 of us to lay 6.5 pallets of sod. We were lucky that the area was partially shaded in the late afternoon and that there was a breeze blowing. Then water water water

Here is a little video I put together of the process, including a time-lapse of the sod laying:

[media]https://youtu.be/yHCKH8Q0ZwA[/media]

The next morning, I filled up the lawn roller I had purchased used from Home Depot and pulled it behind the lawn tractor for maybe 20min. This helped smash down some of the seams, but the real effect is to get better root-soil contact around the lawn.


*The Finished Product*


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

Looking good! Keep us updated.


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

Thanks @tcorbitt20. It was alot of hard work (especially the digging irrigation and removing zoysia sod) but it looks good now and will only get better

Here's to hoping that my MSM mishap doesn't come back to bite me


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

Using the last of the sod

After we finished on Friday, I had about 25 rolls (1/2 pallet) left over. I thought about selling it, then my wife asked why I left an area of 400sf of SA in the front and that it looks stupid. She was right, so I went and and scalped it with the mower, used the cultivator to remove as many of the stolons as I could and laid the sod. I was a little short, so the next day, I took some of the sod from outside of the fence (in a shady area) and moved it to the front. No I am completely rid of St Augustine and have 85% tiftuf and 15% zoysia. Once it fills in, it will look good.

In one area, I used my string trimmer to "fraze mow" the SA down to the dirt removing 99% of the grass. I think this sod will take better than some of the stuff that I put on top of leftover SA..... before anyone says anything, I am aware that I will have to work on that raised lip transition between last years Bermuda and the new sod



[see next post about brown spots]


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

New sod doing great except...

So there are a few areas where I didn't take the time to get the best prepared ground before laying the sod. Blame it on being a first timer; blame it on me being tired to digging trenches and removing old grass and shoveling sand. Who knows?! But 2 days in there were issues (I think from irrigation overlap problems).

Sunday Afternoon (90 degrees and sunny all day)



So I started watering more, adjusted the sprinkler heads for better coverage and things rebounded. Now, those same areas are straight brown. See the pic from last post for the spot up front



Here you can see the areas that are brown and how it correlates to the areas where I didn't sand. The existing grass was dead but not entirely removed. Sorry that the angles are opposite, but it gets the point across


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

Getting some of my Dollars back 

Our weather was forecasted to be 88-91 and sunny all week, but it seems like the forecast is changing multiple times per day. It has rained here and there (a total of 0.5" in 2 days) and been overcast and abnormally cold (high of 68 yesterday). I've started to cut back on watering since the grass isn't drying out.

This morning I went out to look at the brown spots and saw this. Its only 4-5 "webs" in the front yard (~600sf) and none in the side yard (~4000sf). I tried to rub it between my fingers to see if its a spider web or Dollar Spot..... *its not spiders*. I'll continue to monitor as its still a small area, and mostly on the sod that I put down last year and not the new sod.


I use a sheet developed by @g-man and it showed my current conditions as not so good:


1 week update:
I didn't see any more of those "webs" the next day or since then. I have also backed off on watering bc the grass is rooting well and we had a few good storms


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

That looks like a spiderweb.


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

My First Reel Mower
I drove an hour out of town to meet up with @Wag who had promised to give me his old McLane reel mower (_for free!!!_) after he upgraded to a JD180 that he got on auction last year. It looks rough (I think the machine is from late 70s or early 80s) but it cranks on 1-2 pulls. Might need a sharpen but the reel and bedknife have life left in them. I was super excited to get my first reel mower.



I took it for a few test cuts right when I got home. Not sure what the HOC is (Hole A, Notch 4... the highest setting on the lowest hole), but I was immediately hooked on reel mowing.



The next day, I adjusted the reel-to-bedknife clearance (a true PITA on a McLane) and got it to cut paper all the way across. I think I will attempt a backlap soon (also a PITA from what I've read here). Since my grass was long and the mower is old, it was bogging down some, especially with the grass being wet after rain. I started to cut the TifTuf that I installed last year (hence the weird shape) but couldn't make it through.



I have since ordered a 20" conveyor roller to fabricate a front roller replacement of the casters. I also ordered new chain to replace all 3 of the chains on the mower as they are a little stretched out. I also plan to acquire or make a grass catcher bc these things create a ton of clippings, and my wife is tired of them being inside. Overall, I am happy with the mower but still plan to upgrade to a real Greens mower one day


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

First Mow on the New Sod



At day 14, I decided to mow the new sod with my rotary mower. I have a Husqvarna 21" that I got for free when my friend's parents moved last year. I mowed the grass around 1.75" bc it was crazy long after watering it for 10 days. You can see in the picture that there were some areas that I cut in to the stems and got yellowing, but I never hit the dirt. I could definitely feel some bumps from the sod seams, but I think my sand leveling helped a lot.

Here is a before (top) and after (bottom) from my security cam. You can see the yellowing in the upper left


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

Edging and Planting Flowers
I like the look of a natural edge that I see so many people on TLF have, so I figured I'd try it out. I used 2 stakes and a string line to mark off a straight line to edge against while removing as little of the grass as possible. I think it turned out pretty good. I will continue with the other parts of the yard this weekend.



Also, I dug up some day lilys from my grandmother's yard over the Memorial Day weekend bc her flower beds were exploding. We planted them along the stone wall in between the boxwoods. I doubt they will bloom this year, but should look very nice next year. I will probably get some more to add elsewhere since she probably has over 500 throughout her yard. To the far right is a Rose of Sharon that I got as a broken twig from my boss and some wild flowers that I planted as seeds. The RoS has to be pruned back hard each year bc it grows so much


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## LA Basshole03 (Jan 17, 2019)

Coming together nice. Love the fence. Great job.


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

More edging, planting, and a NEW MOWER(!!!)

Continued the next day on edging and got some Forsythia to plant in that back corner where the stone wall and fence meet. Also got more Day Lilys for along the stone wall where we ran out before. Plans for behind the pecan tree (_fingers crossed it keeps on living after the MSM debacle_) is maybe some Oak Leaf Hydrangeas or regular Hydrangeas







I also acquired a new (to me) John Deere 180 E-cut walk behind greensmower. A guy on TLF that is local to me was selling it after picking it up on auction recently. I think I paid a fair price for the mower. It is kind of intimidating, and I still can't get over how heavy it is. I had to cut the transport axles off in order for it to fit in my shop door and the fence gate. I look forward to using this thing for many years to come. It is a 2012 JD 180E with GTC and light. I am looking for a grass catcher for it if anyone has one laying around that they'd be willing to part with. I now have a set of transport wheels for sale/trade


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## Chase (Jul 1, 2019)

Looks good man, I laid out 7 pallets of TifTuf in my front yard on May 12 and it is already filling in and you can barely see the separations between the pieces of sod.


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

The Long Road to Scalp-Town

I mowed again with the rotary mower (2nd lowest setting) at Day 17 and it was looking lush. My wife loved that it looked like a green carpet. _She even said I had done a good job... _ :shock:. But I knew that I wanted to go lower.



So the next day I cut it at the lowest setting on my rotary mower. I had been bagging all of the clippings and so far I was at 5-30gal trash cans for 4000sf. Then out came the reel mowers. I first started with the McLane bc the JD was kind of intimidating but the grass was ~1.25" and the mower was acting up. A few passes took about 5min



I then broke out the JD 180E. I had raised the HOC to the highest it would go (_I was wrong about this, I think it can go higher_) and started to scalp. Since the grass was so long and I don't currently have a grass catcher, all of the clippings were taxing the electric motor and causing it to torque-out. I would have to stop and reset the electric reel motor then continue on. Only cutting about 6" passes at a time. I eventually got it done (took about 3 hours bc I had to go slow and go over it so many times). All of the grass was now at the same height.... HOC unknown bc I hadn't made a HOC bar yet.





I cut again 2 days later in a 90-degree direction and then put out 0.52# of N-P-K/M in the form of 13-13-13 fertilizer from HD. Not the best but not the worst. Forecast calls for rain the next 4 days, so grow baby grow


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

Going Green
2 weeks since the last update. I have been continuing to cut the yard at 0.5" every 2-3 days. My overpriced grass catcher from JD came in, so I have been collecting clippings instead of having them all over the inside of my house/bed. I am getting so many clippings. *Remember, I am only cutting 5500sf total*



The grass is starting to green up all over and looks good but I am not where I want it. I want 100% green at 0.5". The sod that I put down last year (7/3/2019) is 100% green (front left of picture) and I have to remind myself that the rest of the yard is only 1 month old as of today (laid 5/18/2020)



Here is a picture of the front yard. The greener section (foreground) is sod from last year and the area closer to the tree was laid this year. It is coming around. Just needs more water and time and good weather


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## seebryango (Feb 21, 2019)

I am bleeding money

*Power Rotary Scissors*
Since going down this rabbit hole, the bank account has taken a hard hit. As many of you know that getting the actual reel mower is just the beginning. Then comes the replacement parts (bedknife, bedknife screws, reels, grease, backlapping compound etc) and then comes the Power Rotary Scissors (and other fancy tools).

I ordered an Idech PRS unit from Seago International using the discount code provided here. (_Mention 'TLF' when you call for 20% off_). It came in within a few days. I went to my local Echo dealer and bought another string trimmer attachment for my PAS-225 so that I could sacrifice the shaft towards the PRS. The install was quick and easy (square adapter, 25.0 shim)...... all I can say is I love this thing. It is loud and the gearbox gets hot, but it is so awesome and way better than a string trimmer for reel low turf.

*Micronutrients and PGR*
I ordered a bag of FEature 6-0-0 from @SumBeach35 over on the marketplace. It arrived within 3-4 days, was packaged well and had USPS tracking info. I really appreciate him providing this service to some of us here. I haven't used it yet, but plan to add it to a spray tank soon. Link here

I also split some TNex with a group of ppl from here. I am about to go out of town for 6 days, so I wanted to get something down to help with the lack of mowing. From reading the label and having both hybrid bermuda AND zoysia, I plan to spray it at 0.125oz/K/gal this afternoon unless anyone has any better ideas. I had heard through the grapevine that TifTuf might need a little higer dose, but I dont want to mess anything up on my first go at it..... @Greendoc thoughts?


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

@seebryango 0.125 oz per K is the suggested dose for non ultradwarf Bermuda at tee or green height. For Bermuda at 0.5-0.75" a higher rate applied less often works. If you are applying PGR to hold down grass that is normally mowed very often, I would think that 0.3 oz per K is a reasonable rate.


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