# Jameson's Journal



## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Hey all! I've really enjoyed looking through many posts and seeing all the inquiries and great discussions, along with some damn fine looking lawns, so why not put something up myself. Here's our story for the lawn this year:
We built a new home here in Nebraska (it's a state near the middle of America 😉). We're on just over an acre and there is a nice tree line along the north west portion of our property, so luckily they won't be too much competition for light. 
We finished in January and still had several "to do" items for the grade, hardscaping, and paint for the main things. All that said, we stared at dirt all spring and summer and my "plan" was to be ready for seed down mid to late August. The grade was ready August 19/20 and after speaking with a friend who does sprinklers (we had an understanding agreement, so I didn't want to skip out on him) he wasn't going to be able to get them in until the week after Labor Day. Labor Day came and as many of you had, it rained for 5 days and left some pretty deep ruts. I'd say I'm pretty lucky to have a wife who doesn't mind getting out and using a rake and some equipment, so we got those back to a decent smoothness. September 15/16 the sprinklers were able to be installed, timing wasn't perfect but...life right?! While waiting for the sprinklers, I decided to audible from all Barenbrug HGT to a 50/50 mix based on weight with the Barenbrug RPR and HGT with Yellowjacket. My logic is that the Yellowjacket is marketed as faster germinating and has a fungicide included, along with the non Yellowjacket RPR might postpone that germination by a day, maybe. Time will tell. Plus we live on a somewhat sloped land, so erosion control is important. 
September 17th I had great weather and a personal day to use, by the looks of many of your lawns, that personal day is a preferred way to spend some PTO. After using a drag/harrow and a 4wheeler, the grade and smoothness was in good shape. I went with the yard mastery X-starter fertilizer at roughly 3#/ksqft, then I put down the HGT and RPR at 4#'s/ksqft using a rotary spreader. I was able to seed nearly 25,000sqft. After spreading I had several areas where the coverage was too concentrated, so I used an infield drag to even things out and work the seed in. I then used a roller to further embed the seed. I then applied Mesotrione at the gal/1000 rate. I did not have to refill as much as I thought, so possibly a little lighter than that. The dirt/weed emergence has been drug several times, had a pulverizer groom it and been pretty beat up. Sporadically I would glyphosate several large patches, some weed pressure is a reality since I couldn't germinate all the weed seeds with a hot and dry summer and no irrigation until recently. 
The weather looks great for two weeks, but I'm pretty late getting seed down so I'll "throw er down and hope for the best." Pray for a warm October for me will ya? 
Zones are set for 10 minutes at 7/9/11/2/5 and I'll keep a close eye on it. I have straw erosion blankets, but seeing the forecast, seed might pop and fill in best before we get any rain. I decided to roll the dice and hold off on those and potentially return them to the sod farm I purchased them from. 
Backup plan is to try to get a little seed down after a few weeks post initial germination. Beyond that, a complete blunder will bring me to a dormant seeding come January or February. 
Thanks for reading!

The layout

Lawn test results:


Starting point after grade:



My wife and I cut in the beds and my folks and in-laws came to help spread the mulch. This was before the photos of the grade: 

Doggo looks pretty weird in the panoramic pic. 

Rain...and pictures of the ruts left from said 2.5" of rain in 48 hours-ish

Getting somewhat close to original grade:







Seeding with 50/50 RPR and HGT Turf Blue


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## MNLawnGuy1980 (May 10, 2019)

Beautiful property and home. Good luck with the seed!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Thanks @MNLawnGuy1980. Your lawn though 👌🏻 Amazing color. Love that pond you get to look at as well!


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## MNLawnGuy1980 (May 10, 2019)

Thank you @jamesonw, had a tough year with the lawn but it is making up for it this time of the year. I do love seeing that sunrise every morning, will miss that when we eventually move in the next year.


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## badtlc (Aug 22, 2019)

I got excited when I saw Barenbrug but then I see you are not doing the RTF. Bummer! Good luck. I'm sure your final product is going to look great. Hopefully the HGT comes in quick enough.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Lol @badtlc sorry to disappoint. Some friends have that stuff. It is amazing and all the rage around here since we have a large sod farm just down the road from me. We shall see about the grass. Gotta play the hand you're dealt right? Haha


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## badtlc (Aug 22, 2019)

jamesonw said:


> Lol @badtlc sorry to disappoint. Some friends have that stuff. It is amazing and all the rage around here since we have a large sod farm just down the road from me. We shall see about the grass. Gotta play the hand you're dealt right? Haha


I will be closely following anyway because I am also looking at the HGT for my front yard reno next fall. Fast germination and low thatch production sounds perfect for me.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Seed was down on the 17th and I'm seeing some nice overall germination from the PRG here on the 23rd. I noticed a small amount in opportunistic spots on the 21st/22nd, but it's tough to "count" that and say things are working out. I'm really hoping I see some of the HGT pop, those are still yet to come along. Shots from tonight, along with some dropseed grasses planted.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Day 8 after seed down. Back yard, neat ground level from indoor.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Fun to see some KBG starting to wake up. 

Great night to see some more germination and overall coverage. 









Friday night obligatory pizza night.

Look at this little thief.

Someone posted about ants stealing seeds and I thought that was funny, sure enough.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

6 DAG
Rye has mostly germinated and is near 2" and the KBG is slowly coming along, many have germinated, some are still yet to do so. KBG is around 1/4" possibly. It has been a variety of weather from hot and dry to warm and windy and cool and windy. Wouldn't mind a little rain. 
Morning shot 

Afternoon/Evening shots


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## Justmatson (Apr 4, 2020)

Beautiful house and property!!

Whats the plans for the beds around the house?

Is the whole property irrigated?


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

@Justmatson thank you! And your scenery and property are beautiful as well my man. The beds will be perennials and some annuals next spring. I have some ideas for plants and we'll see how those pan out lol. I wanted the beds cut it before grass seed. The edges will need to be cleaned up a bit. 
We have about 25k irrigated, kicking myself for not going ahead and just finishing that corner that's still dirt. We have only had about .1" of rain in the last 3 weeks, so I'm glad I didn't waste the grass seed. Thanks for checking it out!


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## Justmatson (Apr 4, 2020)

Thank you really appreciate that!
Still a lot of work to do with the property.

I've got a few beds as well but not sure what to do with them. One is heavily shaded so that one might be a Hosta bed.

Good luck with the reno! Its looking really good so far. &#127867;


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

@Justmatson Always fun working with a blank slate. I have a nice sized bed on the north and have thought about hostas as well, there are so many varieties. Depending on your size and space to use up, I like hydrangeas and azaleas as well. 
Cheers!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I applied a second round of XStart at 3#/M yesterday. I'm already high in Phosphorus, but I had already purchased the XStart when I was in the process of having things on hand. It will at least give me around .24#of N. I also have CarbonX on the way. Bringing in lots of soil originally, it was deficient in quite a bit, so I'm just going the soil amendment long game. Feel free to throw out ideas if you have them... I didn't want to spray Urea with a 4gal backpack. More equipment sometime down the road. 
The bluegrass definitely does pout. I'm not far from germination and the whole watched pot never boils sounds about right. Day in and out it's not giving me much to be excited about. I'm probably wanting it to move along too fast though. I also put some peat moss in some areas that dry out quickly.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I should mow right?! Here's why I ask:
DAG15 for the PRG and 12 for the KBG. The bluegrass is still pretty short but the rye is 3 or 3.5" in thicker places. Some of the bluegrass is still sprouting and I don't want to kill it. I did read several studies that said in order to promote bluegrass, keep the rye short, like around an inch. I'm thinking my first cut will be around 1.75". The old mow early and often applies as well. Thanks for any feedback. Pictures included...


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Mow job last night. Went down to about 1.5" or a little more depending on the mud that stuck to the tires. Still some areas to fill in. Several spots were very wet even after skipping the afternoon watering, so I let it dry out just a tad this morning yet. Damn slope.
Lowering watering to 1-2 times per day depending on the weather.












Premow picture, my wife wanted to document my excitement haha.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Got a second mow and threw out some CarbonX (22.5# for .216# of N/M) held off on watering a little long, the lawn was a little dry. Grow in is slowly happening nicely though.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Some thin areas, but overall I like the way this thing has filled in. I have urea coming Friday and Saturday will be around 70degrees, so I'll spray about .25# of nitrogen per 1,000. Definitely some thin areas and the colder weather will shut the grass down quick I'm sure, but next spring should help me fill this thing up. Wondering if some dormant seed would be a good idea or not, either way the weather has been great for planting grass this fall.


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## eball (Jun 29, 2020)

Nice journal!

So you're not going to put any more seed down in the Spring (looks like you have some bare spots like me)? Just push the Bluegrass with Nitrogen to try and get it to fill in?


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I saw your comment @eball about seeing how my lawn turns out, I'm on pins and needles as well haha. Thanks for looking! I definitely have bare spots and I so badly want a lush lawn within a year or so, but really I'm trying to think long term, and since our general contractor had to bring in so much dirt, the soil is lacking nutrients. I also saw a lot of crabgrass and many other weeds reach full maturity this summer, I'd like to prevent those from showing up again. Getting the soil right and amending my soil test is my best bet in my mind. It will work out with time and care.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Looks good and pretty awesome that your wife appreciates your excitement for the lawn


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

The dang urea did not arrive when expected and looking at usps, there hasn't been an update since Wednesday. I went ahead and picked up a bag from Menards. Just a simple feed bag. It had a 28-0-3 analysis and it said 6% was slow release. I didn't care. I just wanted to put something down since some areas look extra thin and a little lighter yellow. I also added the 22.5# I had left of the CarbonX. If I did math well enough, that's .358 from the Menards bag and .216 from the CarbonX for .574# of N per 1,000. The weather is calling for rain and some flurries tonight and cooler/cold temps for the next week. We will see if this is the last feeding, if it is, I'm glad I put down a good amount of nitrogen, some quick release and some slower.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Thanks @Vtx531 you have some amazing grass. I hope someday my lawn will be close that that thick. I'll be sure to keep an eye on your set up.
Jealous as hell with that top dresser you have there. Nice work. You deserve the luck you've earned!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

DAG30. Some weed pressure. Some thin areas. The weather has been cold. I need to drain the irrigation lines since Sunday night is calling for 18* into Monday morning of 15*. Hoping we warm back up and see a little bounce back if it warms back up next week, otherwise it's about time to throw a winterizer at it and wait until spring. Overall I'm satisfied though. 





A really nice thick area where it's still native soil, outside of that, a lot of what I have was brought in for the grade and building up our original lot.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Great evening for some leaf clean up, a fire and s'mores last night. Never mind the hair from hat heads and running like maniacs.


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Awesome progress this year. Nothing better than S'mores and a Nebraska sunset!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Although we have dealt with some cold temps, a little snow and early hard freezes, you have to take what the weather gives you. Next week we will be in the 70's again after a low of 10 last Monday. So I'm hoping to get just a little more growth and mow on Saturday. Hoping I see a few clippings. Thanks @Wiley. I'm jealous of those stripes you have.


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Thanks for the kind words. It will be cool to see how your lawn matures this next season.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I mowed with the X300 for the first time Saturday, pretty short I might add, a few scalped areas. I wanted to put urea down after the mow so I went short. The weather is calling for 70's this week and I'm hoping to squeeze every bit of growth/fill in possible. The mow was nice and the tractor has a great cut, navigating and not wanting to turn too sharply on the new grass was a bit of a struggle. Some photos from today after cutting Saturday:









Urea I applied 20#'s to my 25,000-ish sq.ft. lawn for .37#/1,000 of nitrogen.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I tried to keep track of the days after germination, but struggled with different germination dates:
Seed down: 9/17/2020
North side:
DAS5

DAS8

DAS12

DAS16

DAS20

DAS21

DAS44


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

More side by sides from similar dates:
East side:


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

South side:


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Windy mow today. Moved up to around 2". If I get to mow any more this year, I'll keep it right there. It was a warm week and I tried to push as much as I could. After mowing today, I put down a 20-0-9 using 64#'s. Came out to be .52# of N per 1,000. I'll call it good for this year. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can get some rain to close the year out.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

We had the sprinkler lines blown out today. This is probably one of the latest dates that will happen. It will probably happen much sooner in the following years, I'm sure the grass will be more established.


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## BBLOCK (Jun 8, 2020)

wow does a property ever come together when it's green versus dirt lol!

looks good!

next year will be your dream!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

BBLOCK said:


> wow does a property ever come together when it's green versus dirt lol!
> 
> looks good!
> 
> next year will be your dream!


You said it my friend! I can't tell you how miserable it was for nearly 9 months of dirt/mud with a dog, a 3 year old, and a 5 year old! 😂. The build was the dream, the prep work and seeding the fun, and watching it slowly start to grow in the stress. 
I see you have a large dog and know the struggle is real! Sweet JD reel mower by the way! And thats a hell of a comeback on your lawn! 👌🏻


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

So pretty, but so depressing. The frost covering the grass and the sun shining on it...


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

November 19th mow. We didn't cut a lot, but while being at home and forced to quarantine due to a possible exposure, we're making the most of it.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Progression pictures from morning walks:


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

March 21:
I still have some spots that need work yet and will fill in slowly. Applied menards first app with dithiopyr and fertilizer according to the MSU GDD website.






Prior to any application I got my soil data for the year:


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

A few mows later, some weed pressure and a little dry. Plan on spraying quinclorac or dicamba on the Dallas grass and crabgrass that sprouted a little before pre-m. Some broadleaf pressure and wild violets have popped up too. I sprayed some with 2-4D to see how they would react and it's knocking them back. Next app will go down soon to keep pushing the young grass and stop some competition. Edged the beds Friday and Saturday, mowed and working on watering and I irrigated area I put some dormant see down on. Happy Easter! Christ has risen!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Looking great. Monitor that moisture in the young grass. It is getting warm and dry.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

g-man said:


> Looking great. Monitor that moisture in the young grass. It is getting warm and dry.


Thanks @g-man, went ahead with a heavy watering this AM. Flattered you stopped to say the kind words. I have followed lots of advice from your posts. I'm pleased to say the steps for renovation/new lawn from you prove successful.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I try to view all the journals. I like to see the images , but I don't read or comment on all. Your progress images last year look really cool. Try to error in more water/fert than a normal lawn. Yours is new plus your soil is also new. It is going to take time to develop and get more organic matter.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Fun little garden prep today. 10ish by 10ish turned over. Had a helper at the end.



Garden area soil sample: if anyone has any tips, I'm all ears. Planning on putting down a pretty good application of a 10-10-10.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

g-man said:


> I try to view all the journals. I like to see the images , but I don't read or comment on all. Your progress images last year look really cool. Try to error in more water/fert than a normal lawn. Yours is new plus your soil is also new. It is going to take time to develop and get more organic matter.


All the tips are appreciated. I will plan to keep the water coming. Nice being on my own well. Hoping we see rain in east Nebraska Tu/Wed/Th. I think I'm ready to put down another .25-.5 lb of urea here shortly. Again, thanks for all you've done for members and myself.

Come fall, I'm planning to do a mechanical aeration and possibly overseed with perennial rye (depending on coverage toward the end of the year) the lawn is definitely compacted.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I put down 40oz of the Bayer Crabgrass All-in-One (2-4D, Quinclorac, Dicamba) to cover roughly 5,000 sq feet of edges that have crabgrass, a few chickweeds, and a few other broadleaf weeds and in problem areas where dirt/sand was placed and the weed seeds were brought in with construction material. I'll have to update with pictures.
Trying to kill off the crabgrass/Dallas grass (if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me).

Edit to say: it appears after researching that's it's smooth brome. This won't be fun to get rid of. I'll mow around 2 1/4" and see if that knocks it back. I'm thinking I'll see how tenacity does at eliminating some of it. A Nebraska University study from 2013 had some promise with applications applied at label rate 10 days apart. Our property is on an old grazing field so it's about a surprise that it's in small batches throughout the lawn. I keep reminding myself that my whole goal with nearly 30,000sq feet and now another 5-6k of seed I'm trying to get going (unirrigated) is to have a space we all enjoy outside. 

and these boogers:

Fair amount of rain the the last 24 hrs with more in the way today:


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I applied another .25# or so of Urea/1000 last night. Watering this morning. Another mow will be due tonight. I will have to update continuously with the sparse areas I'm hoping the KBG can fill in relatively quickly. With compaction (new construction, new dirt, lots of materials and vehicles on the property) I ordered Air-8 to try out, snake oil, maybe, but we will see. I have enough for a spring app and I'll plan a mechanical aeration and overseed with PRG in the fall.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I'd love these spots to slowly fill in this spring.






Got a mow and some other odds and ends tonight too.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Put down Air-8 at a solid 8/9 oz/1,000sq ft last night. I'm hopeful to see how it turns some of my compaction in a few weeks to a month or two. 
I'm continuing to try to keep the newly seeded areas (around 5,000sq ft) in unirrigated areas moist. I'm just wanting some coverage in those areas. I dormant seeded mid-March and put down Mesotrione. It has taken some time for the bluegrass to come up and it has been pretty dry and a struggle. The Mesotrione has worn down and weed pressure is strong while the grass has not germinated fully. Those areas will be a struggle, but a fun project. There is brome grass in those areas as well, but it will be a good challenge to fill in those areas.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

A nice angle of today's mow. Sun out and nice temps. This area had nice germination and has gotten dense. I also applied some starter fertilizer since I'm starting to see some KBG germination. Dang spring seeding is proving quite difficult. More herbicide and spring aeration and overseed coming for sure. The area is roughly 4,000sq ft and there's another 100/200 sq ft to the north.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

A nice weekend of putting in perennials and a tree. Enjoyable mow Sunday after putting down the 2nd app from Menards. Plus patchy area progress and general photo dump:


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## BBLOCK (Jun 8, 2020)

good work it's all coming together now!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Applied tenacity with a surfactant to the entire lawn to target the velvet grass. I'm not positive of the results, but I'm going to follow a University study done by Lincoln on brome grass. 



Target areas:



Spotty areas after Air-8 and fertilizer:


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

@jamesonw interested in following your results with these applications. Last year I had a bout of the same so having a game plan for future control has me following. Loving the dark green of your lawn and I'm thinking it should fill in well this season with a little push.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

BBLOCK said:


> good work it's all coming together now!





Wiley said:



> @jamesonw interested in following your results with these applications. Last year I had a bout of the same so having a game plan for future control has me following. Loving the dark green of your lawn and I'm thinking it should fill in well this season with a little push.


Thank you guys. I will try to keep things updated. The knowledge here is incredible and has been a Godsend when planting and looking to keep unwanted weeds out. I wish I could have fallowed with more fidelity, but the timing didn't allow that as much. 🍻 to a great 2021 lawn!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Patchy grass attempting to fill in:





Some velvet grass starting to yellow:









A handsome ruby throated hummingbird stopped on my late grandmothers feeder.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

I haven't been able to get the second app of tenacity down. Unfortunately it appears the velvet grass has bounces back in some areas, but I have noticed when hand pulling along edges, the root structure is even more shallow that past and throughout the lawn, it has knocked it back significantly. Rain in the forecast all week, so I'll try to find a good evening to get the next app down. 

Update of the patchy area still working to fill in until overseed. 

Overall status of the north lawn:


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

It was a fun double cut in today while summer break has begun for educators. Congrats if you survived this wild COVID school year! I gave it the full treatment today. It could use some iron, that or I'm looking at the stress blend from YM since my sodium numbers are pretty low to begin with. I cannot complain about the rain, but I did begin my disease program with Scott's Disease X (azoxystrobin) with the rain, humidity, cloud cover, and lack of wind.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

The sun helps bring out some nice stripes. Pretty happy with this lawn still giving hell even in the weather we have been having. She's only 9 months old and still pushing to fill in some small spots. 










Hydrangeas have been enjoying the sun while begging for lots of water. 




The hostas are popping as well.


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## BBLOCK (Jun 8, 2020)

The property is looking awesome! &#128077;&#128076;

I know how much work this is to get to this point!


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

BBLOCK said:


> The property is looking awesome! 👍👌
> 
> I know how much work this is to get to this point!


Thank you! You're exactly right, it's a lot of hard work and very rewarding when you get to take a minute to enjoy it.


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Random photo dump 7/28/21 
Notes:
- cutting at 3.5" (it's been a few days)
- after 1 tenacity application mid spring, violet grass lightened and desirable grass has filled in well then the summer heat may have taken care of a good majority of it as well
- planning to push the areas that still have some holes in fall
- one light fert app 24-0-10 @ .45#/1,000 and disease X for preventative mid July


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## jamesonw (May 3, 2019)

Some spring photos: 
It's been an eventful spring of adding to the landscaping, adding plants and trees, cutting in a large new bed in the front of the house, the wife and I added to our garden area, getting the lawn to wake up via fert, despite cool temps, and grooming with the thatch drag.


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