# TheSwede's 2019 KBG Reno



## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

OK, so I have now passed the point of no return for the two stage lawn reno I want to do. If I'd had the money to spend and no kids I would have done the whole yard, but the kids needs a space to play on and I have another project already going that takes time and cost money so I decided to start with the front yard and do the bigger back yard next spring.

So, my reno-thread starts in my storage/utility room where my water meter is located. A big part of the reno is to get an irrigation system installed. Where I live, plumbing is expensive, so I decided to do this part myself rather than getting a contractor in. Instead I spent the money on hiring a bunch of guys to fix the uneaven stone paving in the front yard and to dig the trenches for the irrigation system. Got a lead from my neighbor for some Polish guys that did his retaining walls and couldn't be happier -they are cheap, work hard and efficient and got the work done in just a few days.

The only thing was that I had to do the copper pipe work for the irrigation system before they finished the stone paving because the pipes would have to go under the new stone paving. And they wanted to start right after the weekend, or they would not have time until mid August...  So, I said "yes, start monday!" and then realized that there are no rental pipe pressing tools available in my area.

OK, so i just said  and then went ol' school, soldering the pipes together. Day 1 I didn't have the proper tools so I went full McGyver and used my wifes creme brulé torch and silver solder used for soldering copper roofs that was like 1/2" thick. When the store opened at 9 I managed to get hold of some more suitable solder to finish of the rest of the pipework without it looking like a five year old did the soldering....

Naturally, after a day of insanely slow progress, I felt the urge to Facebook that I had gone ol' school and soldered some pipes together, fishing for som sympathy, but naturally the first reply was from one of my neighbors that basically posted "Oh, you should have asked me, I have an electric pressing tool lying around that I havn't used for three years -press fittings are just so much easier...". Gah!

Anyway, what I did was to remove the old valve and underdimensioned backflow valve, as well as keeping the pipe dimension consistent (28mm outer diameter) compared to what the crackhead plumber that had done the original pipework had installed which was really restricting water flow... Preliminary testing (it was difficult to get all the water into the bucket because the flow was so high!) I am in the +20 gpm region, which is good.

The bottle neck right now is the water meter, which is exactly how I want it to be...


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Cool, what grass type you going with?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Cool, what grass type you going with?


I'm going for KBG. Up here in the Nordics it is difficult to get anything else than KBG, red fescue and rye-mixes of various proportions. The only reason I can get pure KBG is because I had the good fortune to hire the right person on my team last year. Turned out that her husband is a nutcase level lawn nerd and maintains a 6mm golf green in his garden! So through his connections I can get pure KBG mixes and even pure cultivars... I'll go for a Nordic *** mix for my reno....


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## Wolverine (Jan 17, 2018)

Copper piping looks good. I'm an electrician by trade and now into controls, but anything with water I've ever touched seems to leak. I keep my plumber buddy's close.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

The project is inching its way forward but now I finally have some time off (quite a lot actually!) and can finish the irrigation system. One thing that sucked is that the trenches for the irrigation has caved in a little due to the soft sandy soil (I have about 5-7" of good soil on top and underneath it is about 12 ft of moraine before bedrock). Since the guys that did the digging for me won't be available for another three weeks, I'll have to do some digging as well, to lay them at the proper OCD-approved depth .

I am still waiting for a few parts to arrive before I can do the final decision if I can go with just one zone for the front yard. I fixed my test setup for static pressure and max flow. I have 67 PSI static pressure, which is consistent with what should be expected when comparing the minimum water level they guarantee and the elevation difference between the water tower supplying my area and my house, that is located on top of a hill, basically. So minimum 64PSI and normally about 70PSI. It is not great, but I think it is sufficient, even if I would have liked some safety margin.

For the flow measurement I measured at the end of approximately 65ft of 1" poly tubing (20m of 32mm poly tubing, but I believe you guys measure inner diameter where as in europe it is outer diameter, so 32mm outer and 3mm thick walls equals about 1" inner diameter). At the end of that pipe I measured 27 GPM. To cover the front yard I will use 5 heads that require about 12 GPM so think I should be OK with just one zone for the front yard, even with some pressure loss in the valves and pipes etc.

Apart from the yard looking like crap right now and there's a ton of work left before I can seed, it feels great to *finally* get this project moving...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Wolverine said:


> Copper piping looks good. I'm an electrician by trade and now into controls, but anything with water I've ever touched seems to leak. I keep my plumber buddy's close.


Thanks, it is just that I know how perfect it can look if done by a plumber that knows how to solder...but while it was fairly time consuming and frustrating at times, I also find these kinds of things very satisfying -at least if the end result is somewhere near what I had imagined before I started  . Personally I need to do DIY projects on my house, boat, car, stereo etc. to balance my professional life. I mean, I absolutely *love* my work - i have the best job I can imagine, but being able to shift from power points, executive briefings, quarterly reports and what not and just focusing on something else for a while, fuels my batteries and gives me new perspectives on things.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

TheSwede said:


> If I'd had the money to spend and no kids I would have done the whole yard, but the kids needs a space to play on


Amen to this :thumbup:

Looking forward to the progress!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Bussy few days getting the irrigation system in the ground, planting a few new trees and shrubs that my wife found on 70% sale. Oh, and naturally the dishwasher broke down yesterday so I had to go buy a new one and install it. The new one is wifi-connected so it has the added ability to annoy me not just when I am home with noise and beeps, but this one can annoy me wherever I am in the world, sending toasts to my phone when it starts, finishes, need me to refill rinse-aid and what not.

The irrigation system is coming along nicely. Pretty much all the pipes are in the ground -the only poly pipes that are available here are obviously specially engineered to suck the will to live right out of whoever tries to handle them, let alone trying to lay them in the ground -It has the flexibility of a 1" rebar, yet wants to spring back to its original shape. I had to roll them out and weigh them down with large rocks for a day in the sun before I could even attempt putting them in the ground and I had to use large rocks to keep them in place!

Before covering the trenches I thought I'd test the front yard zone to make absolutely sure I have enough flow to it so I hooked all parts up and with great anticipation and with the mental image of sprinklers proudly rising from underground, perfectly orchestrated and synchronized, decisively shooting out perfectly formed water droplets the 35 ft necessary for head-to-head cover, I turned on the water. Frist there was nothing. Then, sloooooowly the sprinklers rose to like half the way up and just drizzled water perhaps 5 feet out. After a moment of experiencing the not so pleasant feeling of shock, utter defeat and general misery, I realized that I did not remember that I had plugged the end of the pipe going to the other valve box. Note to self: one layer of Gaffa tape is not enough to hold back the water pressure of an irrigation system... With that end plugged properly I turned on the water again and this time it worked flawlessly. Very happy with the result so far.

The only thing left before I can fill in the trenches and valve box is that I need to get a few fittings. I will have three drip irrigation zones and I did not realize that the low flow valves I ordered are not 1" but 3/4" so I probably don't have the fittings to put the manifold together properly until monday.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

...so I kind of just figured I'd extend the irrigation project with an additional zone. Because it felt right. :ugeek: The digging was a breeze down to about 6". Then there was clay and rocks...large rocks. Lets just say I don't have to go to the gym tonight...it was hard work. Hard Work.

One of our Siberian forrest cats, Stormborn, that usually follows me wherever I go, rain, deep snow, mud, whatever, has obviously had enough of being soaked with cold water from the irrigation system 5 times a day the last week, so he decided to spend yesterday "helping" my wife wrapping birthday gifts instead of watching me break my back in the garden... Hopefully he'll be back on track and ready for some water tomorrow!


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

How much do you pay for water there? That beautiful system you are putting down will certainty throw out some water!

Does that cat follow you around outside too? That's so cool.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Well, I think we have a similar system to you guys where we pay a fixed charge per year depending on the size of the water meter, the size of the property and a buch of other parameters, but here, the fixed part is fairly small. Since my property is hooked up to both city water and sewage the volume charge for my property is around $2 per m3 which equals around $5.7 per CCF (if google is correct). I estimate I'll spend around $100-$700 for the irrigation depending on how the summer turns out. The summer so far has been absolute crap -so far it is the coldest summer in 40 years, but still not that much rain.

Regarding our Siberians, yes, they like hanging out with you and follow you when you work in the garden, take a walk around the block or take a run around the lake. My wife absolutely loves cats but since I am allergic to cats I have just tried to stay away from them for as long as I can remember -keep them on a distance and you'll be good, kind of tactic... So, after hooking up with me, turns out she did a *lot* of research (we're talking years of research here, folks) to find cat breeds that people claim to be hypoallergenic. Most of the breeds suggested where just ugly looking cats with no hair at all, or cats that looked like they had been beamed down to earth from a UFO, naked, and in some cases, a it looked like mold had suddenly started growing on them (but I was ensured it was in fact fur, according to the breeders). But I still got the itchty eyes and the sneeze, no matter how much mold or how naked the cats where...

Fast forward a few years and my beloved Ms suddenly have this "I have this totally figured out" look on her face and then forced me into the car and drives me to a small house with at least 20 extremely large, fluffy, furry cats inside. I thought that if I just stand in the door, I will be a sneasing, snoddy, red-eyed wreck within seconds. But it did not happen. Siberieans do not trigger any allergic reaction whatsoever on me! The breed produces very low amounts of the allergen Fel-D1, which I am allergic to. So, now we have a bunch of them, and I love them -except for the fur. Gdamn, it like they shed at least one fur per day in the house! It is insane, the amount of hair you need to remove from your clothes every morning before going to work, but still I would not want to be without them. The last two years I have had three robot vaccum cleaners driving themselves to the recycling station begging to be recycled...


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Haha that's wild about the vaccine but thanks for sharing the story. I think it would be fun to have a large cat follow you around!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Jconnelly6b said:


> Haha that's wild about the vaccine but thanks for sharing the story. I think it would be fun to have a large cat follow you around!


Siberians are like the cat-version of a dog, if that makes sense.

Today I have pretty much finished this years goal of the the irrigation system install and continued to do some cleaning up of the front yard and the side strip. I now have 4 zones in the ground -the front yard, the awkwardly shaped side strip and two drip irrgation zones.

I've fallen a bit behind schedule, but tonight I let the irrigation put down 1". I noticed some puddles so I might have to do something about that... Tomorrow the plan is to put down some fast acting nitro and continue to irrigate to get the weeds growing vigorously. First glyphsate app will be when I see some real activity from the grass and weeds. which hopefully will be in a couple of days...

 (yes, it is my thumb)


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Today I applied a little fast acting calcium nitrate fert to get the grass and the weeds growing. I let the irrigation system water it in with about 3/4" of water. I'll make a second application in a few days (I usually do several small apps of calcium nitrate since it dosn't take much to fry the grass with this stuff).


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

The irrigation on my "south strip" puts down way to much water compared to what I had anticipated. I use Rain Bird R-VANs in a square pattern and it lays down 1/2" in just 15 minutes, which is about 3-4 times more than the charts state. I have adjusted the flow through the valve to have 45 PSI at the head (used a Hunter T-coupling borrowed from my neighbor to measure pressure at the head -a really good little gadget to make sure the pressure is correct!) , but it still lays out way to much compared to my 5004 with MPR nozzles I use on the front lawn. Not sure what to do about it.

The good thing is that the grass and the weeds are starting to pick up pace with the irrigation going and some fast acting nitro so I can probably do the first app of Glypho in a couple days.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Tried to tweak the side strip irrigation with little success. Still puts out way more water than the spec. Maybe the R-VANs will go in the bin. Not that impressed with the performance compared to my neighbor's MP-heads.The 5004 with MPR nozzles works beautifully, though.

To get the weeds growing I did a second app of calcium nitrate (granular) and watered it in. Starting to see good growth so first Glypho app is just days away, I think. Only problem is the weather -forecast says about 1" rain monday, and on and off drizzle tuesday, wednesday, but the last few weeks they've changed the forecast drastically from day to day so it seems the weather is hard to predict right now. Guess I just have to bide my time before I go for the kill...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

I'm fallig further behind...At least for the next three days it will rain -going in for the kill will have to wait until stable weather... The last few days've just been amazing, spending 24/7 with my beloved 4-year old while my wife has been away since friday, helping her best friend deliver a baby (the father passed away a couple months ago). and the delivery has not been a smooth ride so far, so Mom will be gone at least two more days, so lawn renovation wise, I am at idle right now...

So, for distraction, today me and little guy went to dad's work to bring home one of the ol' drones I have been working with the last couple years, and naturally, the frustration of little guy went nuclear level when the rain started to pour down just as the battery indicated it was fully charged. Even more frustrating was that the brand new battery daddy had ordered released a puff of magic smoke when it was turned on. Another battery had to be charged, which installed whithout smoke, so we got a 6 minute flight before my phone, used for control and video, signalled low battery. It's just one of those days...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Ordered seeds today. The market for lawn enthusiasts up here is pretty much non-existent so if you want something else than what is offered to the ignorant masses you need to put in some serious effort. I was originally looking for someone that could provide a KBG monostrand, or 100%KBG mix, so during the last year I have contacted at least 15 seed distributors but in 14 cases of 15 I've gotten the "interesting project, but we only sell to the professionals" reject.

Until a few weeks ago, when I got a "interesting project, tell me more!". So, after the mail conversation we've had he will send me a 55 pound bag (smallest bag they offer...) of the highest grade SOD quality KBG mix (my top three strands that I had selected, as it turnes out), but only charge me for 20 pounds (which is less than $190 including freight!) ,"since you won't need more than say 20 pounds for your project".


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## Severin (Feb 12, 2019)

TheSwede said:


> Ordered seeds today. The market for lawn enthusiasts up here is pretty much non-existent so if you want something else than what is offered to the ignorant masses you need to put in some serious effort. I was originally looking for someone that could provide a KBG monostrand, or 100%KBG mix, so during the last year I have contacted at least 15 seed distributors but in 14 cases of 15 I've gotten the "interesting project, but we only sell to the professionals" reject.
> 
> Until a few weeks ago, when I got a "interesting project, tell me more!". So, after the mail conversation we've had he will send me a 55 pound bag (smallest bag they offer...) of the highest grade SOD quality KBG mix (my top three strands that I had selected, as it turnes out), but only charge me for 20 pounds (which is less than $190 including freight!) ,"since you won't need more than say 20 pounds for your project".


Nice that you have found someone that can deliver, seeds are good to have when you're doing your lawn reno.  
What stands does the mix include?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Severin said:


> Nice that you have found someone that can deliver, seeds are good to have when you're doing your lawn reno.
> What stands does the mix include?


Thanks, Severin. We have very different strands herre in the EU than you guys have. Grass is under *extreme* export regulations so what we have here is different strands than what you guys have. The strands I have in my mix are all KBG; "Miracle", "Yvette", and "Princeton". They all have similar dark green color and width and can be cut short (sub 1/2") but handle sun and shade differently. This mix was developed especially for soccer fields, fairways and tees, so I think it will work perfectly in my garden with a bunch of kids running around tearing it up.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Tomorrow is G-day, as in Glypho. Due to the rain, I have not had to run the irrigation for several days. Tomorrow and the following days looks like sun and reasonably warm weather (it has been ridiculously cool for the season so far) so tomorrow I will do the first Glypho app. Due to the weather I am now 10 days behind schedule, but unless there's more weather delays I will be fine with seed down now August 10. What bugs me is that with this miserable summer, I could have seeded in June, and would not had any heat stress or drought to deal with during July but I guess it could have been the other way around. Can't control weather.

Took one of the smaller drones for a spin yesterday (DJI Inspire) to get a before picture and it is interesting to see how much the calcium nitrate darkens the lawn!



For reference, my lawn in the top has not had any TLC this year -no fert, no water (except rain). My front lawn has had water and calcium nitrate fert for a week (much darker). My neighbors lawn (strip to the left), was rolled out a month ago and has bin vigorously irrigated the last month.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

You should drop some nitrogen to the back, so gly works better.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> You should drop some nitrogen to the back, so gly works better.


I'll only do the front lawn this year. I originally planned to do the whole lawn but I figured it would be better to do half the lawn this year and let the kids play in the backyard until the front yard has established. The back yard will be done next year.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Oh, and naturally, despite the forecast, several small thunderstorms prevented me from doing the first glypho app. Hopefully I can get it done tomorrow -since I have had to postpone so many times there are now weeds as big as trees in what-used-to-be-the-lawn...

Yesterday I prepared by calibrating my sprayer, a Field King Max. It was pretty much the first time I used it seriously and I can't say I am that impressed with the spray pattern of the included nozzles. The yellow nozzle is kind of narrow IMHO and delivers a lot of spray to the edges and not so much in the middle so I had to adapt to that. I think I'll be OK spraying this area with glypho but I would appreciate suggestions for a nozzle set that are better performing. I plan to use this sprayer to blanket spray glypho, spot treat with glypho, blanket spray tenacity as well as 3-way, spray my hedges with atrimmec pgr, and also blanket spray liquid iron and PGR on the lawn. Any suggestions?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

First gly app done! Think I figured out the problem with the nozzle performing poorly -turns out that the pressure vessle in the tank wasn't fitted properly/had come loose so I did not get the correct pressure to the wand. Tightened it and now it sprays OK.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Right now, I so much want to be "The Ruthless Sallad Bar Killer". The impatient 99% of me hates the waiting for the gly to kick in, but I guess since I went down the murder by poison road, I have just have to wait it out...but the "not-showing-even-the-slightest-sign-of-damage-charade" is really getting to me. I've pored myself a big glass of Californian Pino Noir. And it is helping.

On the positive side, temps over here in the Norse regions of the world are finally moving from record low 66-70F to the 85-90s, which will warm up the soil, give the gly some much needed help and I'll hopefully see some effect of it in the next few days. I am still waiting for the seeds to be delivered but they should be here any day now...


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Did you include a surfactant in your glyphosate cocktail? Can you get methylated seed oil?

I do my gly with the below per gallon mixture, and everything it touches is toast after 1 week provided there is some rain.

2 oz 41% glyphosate
1 oz methylated seed oil
2 oz Ammonium sulfate


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

You should see some browning in 2 days or so, enjoy the wine until then!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Thanks for the info. I use Martin's Eraser which supposedly has a surfactant in it already. I'll add Amonium Sulfate to the next rounds to see if it improves the effect.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Update: Most of the weeds are looking fried. Some are still hanging in but they are definitely suffering badly. The creeping fescue has turned all gray, the vast amounts of POA is turning yellow, but the KBG and some of the Rye is still green. Die, gdnamit die, before I loose my mind!!!


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Have you been getting rain or watering?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Jconnelly6b said:


> Have you been getting rain or watering?


I've been watering every night. Most of the lawn actually looks pretty dead now, except for a few areas that I believe was perhaps still a bit dormant when I did the first app.

Weather will be in the 85-90F for a few more days but it will get windy Sunday and Monday and on Tuesday and Wednesday it will rain so I decided to do the second app today. If the app does the job, next step will be to bring in a truckload if top soil and level the lawn.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

The only green left yesterday are some areas with moss (drone image)-did not know that gly does not kill moss...

However, I'm not worried about the moss -I've hit it with iron sulphate and and running a verticutter over the lawn a few times it is gone together with most of the dead grass. Besides, the shady slope where the most moss was growing will be converted to a plant bed.

12 metric tonnes of dirt is due to arrive Tuesday and then the leveling/grading will begin, hopefully having it all done by the end of the week. Weather is extremely cool right now but I'm hoping temperatures will go back to normal within a week or so, since I really need a bit warmer temperatures to help germination.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Got my topsoil delivered today. When I ordered it they said they could only deliver around 17 yards due to the weight classification of the street where I live. I said to the guy that I wanted as much as they could deliver. Turns out the person I spoke to went the extra mile and assigned their lightest big truck to my delivery so I ended up with no less than 26 yards.

So, eager to get things done, I decided to leave work an hour early today and spend the evening leveling the "southern strip". I'ts taken a while, but it finally starting to come together. This is how it looked May 5, just before I started:


Since then I have straightened up and extended the retaining wall, dug down irrigation and added stone edging. The leveling was easy since I put a lot of effort into getting the stone edging absolutely level so I could use a long board resting on each side of the edging to level the soil. This is how it looks today:




So, this little piece of the soon to be new lawn is now officially in fallow until seed down!


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Wow that looks beautiful just with the dirt like that!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Jconnelly6b said:


> Wow that looks beautiful just with the dirt like that!


Thanks -I actually was surprised what a huge difference a little dirt can do to how it looks! That said, hopefully it will look even better with some grass on there!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

26 yards is 20 cubic meters. That's is a very large qty of topsoil.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> 26 yards is 20 cubic meters. That's is a very large qty of topsoil.


Ah, I think I might have screwed up the conversion... Let's see now -I got 17 metric tones of highest grade, prefertilized loam soil on my driveway right now. With a stated density of 1.3 that equals around 13m3, or 17 yards(?).

It is still quite a lot of dirt and more than I need for the front lawn. Whatever is left I'll use for the backyard next year.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

OK, part of the leveling project for the front lawn is to move some soil that has eroded down from the slope. After having started that me and Ms took a long good look at the slope and realized that a small retaining wall would look so much nicer.



So, I've paused the leveling effort and spent the last evenings digging out part of the slope to build a retaining wall.

One big drawback with my property is that it is not easy to get heavy machinery in so it is just me, a couple shovels and a wheelbarrow-no need to go to the gym this week, for sure!

Removing the top soil was fairly easy. Now for the part I dreaded the most -digging down deep enough to build a decent footing. The house and the yard sits on moraine, basically broken down rock the size of sand, pebbles all the way up to boulders the size of cars. I was sort of lucky, the largest one I had to dig up was probably around 500 pounds, so it was manageable with a little help from my neighbor. Still I probably had to remove at least 20 large ones, so I was quite beat yesterday evening.





Today I finished up the digging and finished the footing (nothing fancy, just some gravel, landscape fabric then sand to level it of). I also took the trailer to pick up some blocks for the wall so I can start laying them early tomorrow morning. All in all I have about 7500 pounds of retaining wall to build tomorrow. :banana:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

I just realized that this lawn reno just turned into a landscaping project.. Anyway, got up early and started laying the first blocks at 07:30. The footing I had made the day before was pretty level but it still took almost 4 hours to level and lay the first layer. SInce it is arched I had to kind of eyeball the curve as I laid the blocks and then go back and make some adjustments a few times to get a curve that looked good. The middle and top layer took about an hour each, with most of the time spent on moving the blocks from the trailer to the wall. I had to go to the lanscaping supply twice to get more blocks which took some time, but provided some well needed rest for my arms and back. Finished the wall 17:30.







Sunday I'll get up early (again ) getting all the stones baged up so they can be craned out (my huge, insanely strong neighbor has promised to help out so I hope it will be done in no time...). After that I'll continue to put down dirt and try to finish level the lawn...


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The rock wall looks great. I think you should place gravel/rocks behind the rock wall so it drains and avoids the soil from pushing it out.


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## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

TheSwede said:


> Got my topsoil delivered today. When I ordered it they said they could only deliver around 17 yards due to the weight classification of the street where I live. I said to the guy that I wanted as much as they could deliver. Turns out the person I spoke to went the extra mile and assigned their lightest big truck to my delivery so I ended up with no less than 26 yards.
> 
> So, eager to get things done, I decided to leave work an hour early today and spend the evening leveling the "southern strip". I'ts taken a while, but it finally starting to come together. This is how it looked May 5, just before I started:
> 
> ...


That is beautifully flat dirt!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> The rock wall looks great. I think you should place gravel/rocks behind the rock wall so it drains and avoids the soil from pushing it out.


Thanks @g-man! Yes, the plan is to backfill the space behind with gravel. I've cut a few corners building this wall compared to what the text-book says, but I think I'll be fine this time. I'll putt a little landscape fabric against the soil and then fill the space with gravel. The space behind the wall should've been much wider if sticking to text-book construction, but the ground conditions are so good I am betting it will drain OK anyway. I also built the wall with a slight angle so it is leaning back against the slope and the concave shape of the wall will probably help keeping it upright too. I guess time will tell...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Thenenk said:


> That is beautifully flat dirt!


Thanks -Can't wait to get some grass groing there!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Got up at 6:30, out in the garden at 7:30 with the following chores:
1. Bag the boudlers.
2. Remove all roots and other debris from the wall build.
3. Fill up the trailer with the dirt dug up during the wall build, roots etc.
4. Go to recycling facility and empty trailer
5. Return rental trailer
6. Haul dirt

1. Neighbor who had promised to help (he's doing his garden as well after an extension) had torn his left bicep completely off yesterday evening moving a *drumroll* boulder! So, all I got from him was an audience. A very big and strong spectator, for sure, but still just a spectator. To his defense my boulders where tiny compared to the insanely large one he had managed to dig out.

2. 5 minutes and it was done. Yey!

3. I thought it was the perfect spot to put about a ton of moraine and dirt, but it turns out that rainwater pools in just that spot. I know that now, because it had been raining during the night and the pile was soaking wet and it felt 10 times heavier than usual to get it onto the trailer.

4. It is now ten to 9 and the recycling station opens at 9. I allways dred going here and this morning was no exception. Ther's a LOT of cars in front of me waiting to get in when I arrive. Now, the moron designing this place made sure that every visitor must reverse in to the containers. Yes, you heard that right. Reverse. Now, imagine 20 cars with trailers in a space made for say 10. Imagine that none of these drivers have ever driven a car with a trailer before, all seemingly completely clueless on how to properly reverse with a trailer, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, jack-kniving here, blocking each other there, some are just sitting inert, completely shut down, and so on. The irony of it all is that concrete, gravel and dirt is *drumroll* in a big, open area, but you need to pass all the containers to get there.... What could have taken 5 minutes took over an hour. It is just sucking the will to live right out of you!

5. 15 minute drive away from the madhouse -just enough time calm myself down a bit and grab a free coffee at the rental.

6. It is now 10:30 and I am finally starting to move the dirt. The 40+ years since they did the original grading of the lawn has left one side of the lawn sloping a little more than I like. Not sure if it was done that way or if the ground has sunken during the years but I need to fill out allmost 8 inches to get it to look flat but still have an OK grading, away from the house. This 20% part of the lawn is where more than half of my dirt will go. I spread around 1-2" of soil and then roll it with a lawn roller. I have put a temporary support around the perimeter of this part of the lawn that also serves as a height-guide. I'm doing the coarse leveling now and when it is reasonably level I'll go in and do the final touches.

After 8 hours of hauling dirt and leveling the lawn mother nature decided it was time for me to quit for the evening with a an unusually heavy rainfall. At least now I know where my low spots are!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Originally the plan was to make the lawn "reasonably flat", and I had calculated the amount of dirt needed based on smooting out the height differences, rather than make it absolutely flat. But, since I got so much soil delivered I decided to go the extra mile and really try to make it flat. This means adding up to 5" extra soil in a quite large area of the lawn, and a lot of extra work for me. I also ordered another 5 tonnes of dirt to make sure I had enough...

The last few days I've been working hard on getting the soil out and level not to fall further behind -I've done 2-3hrs before I go to work, and then a second 3-4 hour session in the evening (work until it gets too dark to see what I'm doing). If the weather permits, I'll probably be able to finish tomorrow evening. 

I love the smell of freshly rolled dirt in the morning!

Night shift signs off at 11:30PM:


One more day of hauling and rolling dirt, then I'll try my luck with a DIY leveling drag to finish it off...


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

You are killing this! So impressed.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Jconnelly6b said:


> You are killing this! So impressed.


Thanks!


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

Awesome stuff!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

OK, so yesterday evening I finished the leveling. I have now raised the lawn on average 3", with part of the lawn raised as much as 10" and other parts with just 1/4" (even shaved 1/2" of a few smaller areas):

The last load of dirt to complete the lawn levelling:


This is how the lawn looked yesterday night -it is now level, but lots of smaller deviations, footprints and so on that needs to be taken care of:




After finishing i turned on the irrigation for 20 minutes to soften up the soil a bit for the upcoming finishing touches the following day.

Today I woke up, went to work early prepping for a gruesome day of endless meetings. Somehow I managed to sneak out and pick up a bunch of 2x4 during lunch time (good thing to have the office next to a hardware store). Managed to get through the day and headed home to build myself a leveling drag. I figured the wider the more level so I built it 8ft by 3ft and hoped I would be able to pull it by hand.

The Idea is to distribute 1/2" of loose soil over the lawn and use the drag to even everything out, go over it with the roller and then drag, roll, drag roll until even. My son who I havn't had time to play with this week volunteered as extra weight until he got bored and I replaced him with a block left over from the wall build:







I only had time to distribute the finishing dirt and go over the area in one direction, but allready, it is pretty much perfectly level. Tomorrow I'll go over it a few more times to get it dead flat:





The soil I have bought is supposed to contain very little weeds and the smaller area that I levelled allmost two weeks ago and have been fallowing since, only had two tiny little weeds growing when I checked it today, so I have decided to skip the fallowing for the front lawn hoping that it is just as weed seed free, and go for seed down tomorrow if weather permits.

So, tomorrow I will:
1. Put down starter fert
2. Do final levelling passes using the levelling drag
3. Seed
4. Apply Tenacity
5. Roll
6. Irrigate
7. Sit down and watch the grass grow, because I'm officially exhausted!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

ericgautier said:


> Awesome stuff!


Thanks! It's been a ton of work to get to this point but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Only worry now is that my seed down will be almost two weeks later than originally planned, so if I'm unlucky and the temperatures drop early this year, I might have to reseed in the spring (at least I don't have to start from scratch and haul in another 47000 pounds of dirt by hand if that happens )


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## jabopy (Nov 24, 2018)

Impressive work young man :thumbup: now you deserve to sit back and watch the grass grow  it's a good job you have an easier day job that you can graft on the garden projects :lol:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

jabopy said:


> Impressive work young man :thumbup: now you deserve to sit back and watch the grass grow  it's a good job you have an easier day job that you can graft on the garden projects :lol:


Thanks! Not sure I qualify as a "young man" any more, thanks for the compliment! Job-wise I have some flexibility to shift things around so some things I can postpone to when the kids are asleep.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Seed Down Date: Aug 17, 2019.

Cat woke me up 05:30 Saturday morning so I decided to get up and do the final levelling and prep before I had to take the kid to a birthday party at 10:00. Made 3 more passes with the leveling drag in different directions (quite exhausting), did some final touchups around trees and other places where I could not use the drag, applied Tenacity (7-8 fl oz/A) and then distributed the seed. As I was seeding the wind picked up some and it was a bit tricky to get an even distribution but I think I got decent coverage. After that I lightly raked the seeds down and then made two passes with the lawn roller and turned on the irrigation. Great feeling to finally be done! After the birthday party I did the smaller side patch -this area has been fallowing for allmost two weeks so I sprayed it with gly the day before to take care of the few weeds that had germinated.

The irrigation (Rainbird 5004 with MPR-nozzles) on the large works pretty much as expected except for the only 180 degree nozzle that tends to flush away the seed and finer soil near it. Any suggestions on how to prevent this is wellcome -I am thinking of covering the area closest to the head with the thin landscape fabric. That way light and water will go through, but hopefully the seeds will not get flushed away:





The 1804 with R-VAN nozzles in the smaller side patch is giving me a real headache -they lay down way to much water and they constantly seem to clog up and stop rotating. It might be that the soil not beeing tied together by grass roots tend to flow back into the nozzles so in frustration I have made some sleeves of white tubing that sits on top of the 1804 preventing most of the sludge from running back into the R-VANs. If this does not work I have to switch to some other heads because as it is now, it is just not working OK.

Other than that I am clearing out the last few wheel barrows of dirt from the driveway and tidying up the rest of the garden while I wait for the germination to start...



The night between Sunday and Monday it rained quite a lot -we got 1 1/2" during the night,. mostly light to moderate rain but also a real heavy downpour that lasted about half an hour. Went out this morning but it looks like it has done OK -a few areas where the seeds have shifted but all in all I think I'm OK. Weather for the following 10 days looks promising with partly cloudy, no rain and temperatures in the 68-75F range.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Third downpoor in less than three days... Weather service said 0% chanse of rain but the lawn just got hit with another quite intense downpoor that came out of nowhere -the third since Saturday. Naturally I had just finished an irrigation cycle so the soil was allready wet when the rain hit.

Luckilly for me it was a quite short downpoor this time -as water started to pool pretty badly it stopped just as sudden as it started. Some of the seed has shifted around a bit but I think I'm still in the game.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

The weather has been awful this week with temperatures around 65F and we got hit with another inch of heavy rain yesterday night. After inspection I decided to throw down some new seed in a few areas. It has been 7 days since seed down and I took some seed samples and examined them under a loupe and no sign of germination. As temperatures have been considerably cooler than expected I'm problably looking at atleast another 4-5 days before germination.

So, I decided to lightly rake the soil, trying to redistribute the seeds that had piled up due to the rain, and then I added some more seeds to a few areas that looked a little thin before going over it with the roller again. I think it turned out OK and the seeds are now fairly uniformly distributed again. I also added some more seed around the sprinker heads and pinned down a thin garden fabric around it to make sure the seeds will not be washed away by the sprinkler. It seems to work



Weather for next week looks more promising with temperatures around 75-80F. I want my grass babies to hatch. Now!


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## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

TheSwede said:


> Ordered seeds today. The market for lawn enthusiasts up here is pretty much non-existent so if you want something else than what is offered to the ignorant masses you need to put in some serious effort. I was originally looking for someone that could provide a KBG monostrand, or 100%KBG mix, so during the last year I have contacted at least 15 seed distributors but in 14 cases of 15 I've gotten the "interesting project, but we only sell to the professionals" reject.
> 
> Until a few weeks ago, when I got a "interesting project, tell me more!". So, after the mail conversation we've had he will send me a 55 pound bag (smallest bag they offer...) of the highest grade SOD quality KBG mix (my top three strands that I had selected, as it turnes out), but only charge me for 20 pounds (which is less than $190 including freight!) ,"since you won't need more than say 20 pounds for your project".


Dont feel bad, i live an hour north of where they grow a large portion of the seeds in the US and i couldnt find good seed without a lot of hunting. I emailed several growers and distributors and only got responses from 2. Thankfully they were two of the better ones(Mazama KBG, and 4th Millenium when i was looking at TTTF). Most of the KBG and super new elite varities get shipped out to Midwest and east coast distributors. Not many people in western Oregon care about seed varieties, they buy whatever is at the local home improvement store thats cheap.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

:dancenana:


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Jconnelly6b said:


> :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:


Yes, now I'm just eager to see if I managed to rake the seed back to where I wanted it. It is still too early to say for sure, but it actually looks pretty good. In a few days I'll know...


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## hammerhead (May 14, 2019)

Finally! Congrats. I was checking your journal every day to see if that grass is finally showing up. Looking forward to see that European *** lawn. You are a pioneer!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

hammerhead said:


> Finally! Congrats. I was checking your journal every day to see if that grass is finally showing up. Looking forward to see that European *** lawn. You are a pioneer!


Thanks -I've been like a little kid waiting for santa, checking the lawn four, five times a day to see any sign of germination, so it feels great that it germinated so fast despite the rather cool temperatures.

This week looks much better with temps in the high 70s all week (25-26C) with a slight overcast so it will be pretty much ideal for the grass.

Haven't really thought about myself as an European KBG pioneer, but I guess you are right, there are probably not many pure KBG lawns in Europe, and definitely not in the Nordics. :ugeek:

It will be interesting to see how the color turns out when it is established and I start adding ferrous ammonium sulfate to the program.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

My latest hobby is worrying about uneven coverage, so I sent one of the drones up to take some pics of the lawn this afternoon, but you can't really see anything yet -just barely make out some faint green tint in parts of the lawn:


This is from the "lawncam" -I was hoping to do a time laps of the germination but naturally, after having worked flawless for 2 years, it shut down two times during the week so I don't know if it will be possible to create a nice time-lapse. Anyway, from this angle the green is perhaps a little more obvious:


Tenacity at work. The lawn is surprisingly weed free -this is the only weed I have found so far, and it looks like it is having some serious health issues :


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

I thought I was mentally prepared for slow germination but this KBG is really testing my patience! I'm a little bit worried about the thinner areas but hopefully they'll thicken up in the next few days.
Two days ago compared to today:


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@TheSwede You have to load yourself with much more patience! KBG will play on your nerves for the next 4-6 weeks. You will have some 'burst' and get excited and then days and days with very little progress. I am fortunate enough to be away 4 days per week and kind of missing the stagnating part :lol:. The 20% PRG in my mix also helps keep the faith.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Hang in there! It will be awhile until the kbg takes off. It seems like when you're at your wits end, the kbg comes out of its 'sprout and pout' phase.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

What's your current high temps?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

@Babameca and @Chris LI, thanks for the encouraging words -I can actually see progress every day I wake up and when I come home from work. This is the progress the last 24 hours and it is visible, so I am happy. The seemingly bare areas actually have germination but it is still very thin but I think it will thicken up the next week or two:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> What's your current high temps?


@g-man, high temps has been around 77F the last week. Cooler temps next week but it is still decent temps during nights. Watering and evaporation is cooling the soil down a bit but it is still pretty decent I would say. I took some thermal images with a FLIR One and soil temps seem to be around 65F. The rock wall accumulates some heat and germination is actually much more pronounced near the rock wall:


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## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Definitely give it time, i have an area that took a whole 6 to 7 days after the initial areas popped out to start showing. It's still thinner than the other areas, but i think it's probably a more healthy number of plants. I know the 12 plants per sq inch looks good now but doubt it's sustainable that crowded most of those will die eventually when one becomes dominant.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Thanks @FuzzeWuzze It's just that KBG really rubbs it in, that patience is NOT one of my virtues... On the other hand, it is greening up with very little weeds so far, and I don't have any eroded parts with seeds beeing completely washed out so I guess I am in pretty good shape...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

I havn't given any updates on the side strip so here goes: The side strip is giving me headaches right now. Germination is slow, The Rain Bird R-VANs installed just dosn't deliver and earth worms are having a field day wreaking havoc to the once pool-table smooth dirt layer. There is germination, but it is slower and not as dense as the front lawn, but it is getting there.

I have 8 R-VAN heads on Rain Bird 1804 and they just do not work properly. My neighbor gave up on these heads in june and I should have listened to his experiences. I have 8 of them and so far I have had pretty much 0% success rate with them from a irrigation system perspective... On every irrigation cycle, there is at least one that is stuck or clogged, usually two to tree of them. Four have broken down in the last month (unable to rotate and unable to control throw length) and have beeing replaced courtesy neighbors surplus since him switching to Hunter MP heads, which seem to work flawlessly for him....live and learn...

Worm castings:


Green stuff:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

One week after germination and it actually looks pretty good -there are still some thin spots but they are starting to fill in. I'm feeling positive about the progress, even if the weather will be a bit cooler this week:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

9 days after germination.

In general. the lawn is getting along fine. However, since this is my first 100% KBG reno, I would appriciate some advice from you guys regarding the areas I consider "dangerously thin". The difference between the thick areas and the thinner areas is way more visible than I am used to with the typical European fine fescue, KBG, PRG mixes that I have experience with and I don't know if I need to do something about them or if I am still good.

Below is a picture of a "thin area". The grass is around 1/2". From above it looks like there's no grass growing there at all, but close up there is quite a lot of grass babies toddlers. Should I drop more seeds or should I play it cool and rely on it thickening up? Gut feeling says to play it cool, but I would appriciate a second opinion from you KBG veterans, since the window is closing fast up here...


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Play it cool. You are fine. Check my thread to see how it spreads like crazy after day 15 from germiantion.


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## Mrotatori (Aug 13, 2018)

@TheSwede kbg tests your patience thdt's for sure. My 2018 Reno really tested me. Here is a link with progress pictures from my Reno. ( Day 1, 7,14, and 21 ). If you look at November 4th, it looks completely different. Best of luck and it will turn out fine

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5434&hilit=Mrotatori+2018&start=40#p104074


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

@g-man , @Mrotatori thanks for the feedback! Temps are dropping and days are getting shorter so I need to drop it now to have a chance of germination before winter hits but with your input I'll just continue waiting.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Let's see an overall picture.


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## Severin (Feb 12, 2019)

Don't worry! 'Miracle are way faster than 'Yvette. Yvette takes time but then it will give you what you looking for....


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## Severin (Feb 12, 2019)

This i a test I did. Conni - Miracle - Yvette
You can see how far ahead Miracle are f the other two in germination.

This one show Miracle and after that with no germination is Yvette.


This one has Conni first with no germination and after that Miracle.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> Let's see an overall picture.


I'll see if I have time to get a drone up after work, but this is fresh from the surveillance camera:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Severin said:


> This i a test I did. Conni - Miracle - Yvette
> You can see how far ahead Miracle are f the other two in germination.
> 
> This one show Miracle and after that with no germination is Yvette.
> ...


Ah, now I see you're a fellow Swede -I did not notice that until now! Interesting to see the different germination times!

How is your Miracle monostrand doing? I originally wanted to do 100% Miracle, but it was too difficult to find anyone willing to sell to me with short notice, so I settled for 100% KBG (Yvette, Princeton and Miracle) since I just could not stand to see the miserable excuse of a lawn I had any longer. I figured the big investment (both in time and money) is getting the lawn level, and doing a monostrand reno in a couple years will not be a big cost.

Also, where did you get your mower? I have been looking for one on "blocket" but they do not show up very often. there's an ad with a bunch of Toro Flex21 but the asking price was a bit high IMHO, besides the maximum height is a bit low for what I am aiming for (15-20mm).


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> Let's see an overall picture.


@g-man, it was raining when I took the drone up so I only got one mid res image before to many rain droplets covered the lens. I also took one picture on ground level:


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The ground image looks better than the top view. The area near the top left tree from the top view looks to be more concerning. When is your average first frost?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> The ground image looks better than the top view. The area near the top left tree from the top view looks to be more concerning. When is your average first frost?


@g-man, the area near the tree is indeed the area I am most worried about. That's where I had a washout problem since the canopy of the tree deflected a lot of water to that area. This is one of the two areas where I decided to throw down some extra seeds (August 25 if IRCC), so hopefully it will thicken up a bit soon.

Average first frost according to national weather data is October 20.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

11 DAG:
This morning, before going to work, I took some closeups of the "problem areas". For reference, I decided to put my $3 sunglasses in the middle of the picture. My conclusion is that there is quite a bit of germination and if the weather goods like me and they keep temperatures at decent levels, this will fill in. Probably not this season, but next year.



While I was at it, I examined the rest of the lawn as well and while there are still seed germinating, there are quite a lot of these guys in the lawn now:


Time to start spoon feeding, or should I wait until the "bare spots" have germinated more?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

A picture from this morning. It looks very different depending on where the light is coming from and where you shoot it from - from above it looks a lot less less dense...



Anyway, it's now about two weeks after germination and it's getting time to start spoon feeding some fast acting N. I've been trying to find urea locally but the only place that sells it only sell 750kg bags (!) and I don't really want to order it online since the shipping cost will be high.

So, I did a little bit of "urban bush craft" and got myself a jug of "AdBlue NOx reduction agent" used in SCR catalytic converters for diesel engines in the EU. It was about $8 for 10 liters at my local supply shop and is *drumroll* 32.5% high grade urea dissolved in deionized water. So, I'll get about 7 apps worth of urea for my $8, which I think is OK.

I cant tell you that even if you know the content, it is a really weird feeling spraying what is meant to go in your car, on your newly established, baby lawn! I mean, just look at the sticker -it has a big dripping gas handle on it!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Water it in immediately, don't let it sit on the leaves. Hopefully you diluted it in the tank prior to applying it.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

@g-man It was diluted to around 5% urea content which gives me a 0.2lb/k app rate with my sprayer and walking speed and I let the irrigation run immediately afterwards.


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## Mark B (May 30, 2019)

> So, I did a little bit of "urban bush craft" and got myself a jug of "AdBlue NOx reduction agent" used in SCR catalytic converters for diesel engines in the EU. It was about $8 for 10 liters at my local supply shop and is *drumroll* 32.5% high grade urea dissolved in deionized water. So, I'll get about 7 apps worth of urea for my $8, which I think is OK.
> 
> I cant tell you that even if you know the content, it is a really weird feeling spraying what is meant to go in your car, on your newly established, baby lawn! I mean, just look at the sticker -it has a big dripping gas handle on it!


:lol: I love that! Using whatever means necessary :bandit:


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

TheWhiteWizard said:


> :lol: I love that! Using whatever means necessary :bandit:


Well, sometimes you just have to ask yourself "what would McGyver do in this situation?" :nod:


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Deionized water is void of any and all minerals, and is actually highly toxic. Water naturally wants to have minerals, and when it's only H20 it will strip minerals from whatever it touches. In the factory we use deionized water in our bulk, but must use 316L stainless on anything it touches.

I would suggest adding some organic matter to that tank when you're spraying it. Your concentrations sound low enough where it shouldn't matter in the least, but to be on the safe side you could add anything like a micronutrient blend, liquid organic fert, or something as simple as orange juice or molasses. Give that H20 something to strip minerals so it's not stripping them from your baby grass, err toddlers.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

He mixed in city water, which I assume has some calcium carbonate in it. I think keeping the lid of the DEF open should help too.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Well, I agree that deionized water is void of any and all minerals, but it is actually not highly toxic. It will taste "flat" but it is perfectly fine to drink. The solution I distributed is also quite far from pure deionized water since the concentrated solution contains 32.5% of urea, so there's plenty of ions in that water... So, all in all, I am not at all worried about the effects of the deionized water used to dissolve the urea,


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

g-man said:


> He mixed in city water, which I assume has some calcium carbonate in it. I think keeping the lid of the DEF open should help too.


Ahh yes the added city water, duh.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

It is getting thicker and taller for each day. The last 6 days it has gone from this:



...to this:



Up here in the Nordics (compared to Juno, Alaska, my lawn is about 70 miles furhter north....) daylight and temperatures are still OK (13hrs of daylight today) but days are getting shorter real fast now -we're loosing about 35 minutes per week now so I expect growth to grind to a halt say late October.

From an equipment point of view, I wasn't planning on investing in a reel mower this year, but I might just have to, because every morning when I walk from the door to the car on the new paving I stop, lean down, I take a close look at the seedlings, let my hand feel the dew and the springiness in the new grass and I swear I hear them whisper "buy one. buuuuuuuuuy one -We deserve it....we deseeeeeeerve it!".

And who am I to argue with a lawn?


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@TheSwede Hahahaha. I loved the ending whisper. Mine was not that shy, screaming instead: You, cheap bastard, pull the trigger!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

@Babameca Hahaha -that's probably what they gonna scream when I bring out the ol' rotary. I did a bit of an overhaul of it last week since I used it to scalp the lawn before killing it, so now it has a new sharp blade at least, but I am not sure I want to use it on the new lawn.

I have found a used John Deere 220E that I think I can get a really good price on with some negotiation (I get the feeling they just want to get rid of it since they are into way heavier machinery and this is a bit of an odd item for them), but it's a 4 hour trip one way to pick it up and I'd have to pull off a Jedi mind trick of epic proportions on my wife to keep her from going nuclear...but it is still tempting. Very tempting...


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@TheSwede Here, in North America, walk behind reel are becoming a dinosaur. Labour becomes more and more a cost concern for gold courses and they buy less and less this type, which makes almost impossible to find a 'newer' mower. I understand it is even more challenging in Europe. I would make a nice gift (spa, nice cuicine fine resto) to my wife, simply to make her feel more comfortable with the purchase . Just. make it happen. Good luck.
And one more thing. The whole project I have done was with one goal and one goal only...to reel mow my lawn.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

@Babameca. Yes, in Sweden, labor cost is very high compared to North America and it has been since the 70s. On the other hand, in the 80s and 90s golf was picked up by a huge amount of Swedes and golf courses popped up pretty much everywhere so the relative popularity of golf among Swedes seem to offset the supply at least a bit. I think it is much harder to find a used 220E or Toro 1600 etc. in say Germany or France where golf is very expensive and golf courses are relatively few.

When it comes to convincing my wife -lets just say that after enduring 20+ years of my "crazy projects" I have a strong feeling she knew exactly where this "little lawn project" would end up the first time I mentioned it to her and she said "OK, sounds like a good idea". God, I love that woman!


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@TheSwede Our wives may share the same DNA  even so far apart. I just got a video of my 'new' reel mower sharpened and ready to go. I will receive a training next Tuesday and got it delivered for free next day. I will definitely 'tease' you a lot from that point on. It is an old 2007 Jacobsen GK526, but the seller, oh my... this where my training will happen. He has this for ...fun

I am looking forward to see your project reel low mowed


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Haha, that's just insane!


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## Severin (Feb 12, 2019)

TheSwede said:


> Severin said:
> 
> 
> > This i a test I did. Conni - Miracle - Yvette
> ...


Sorry for my delayed reply.

My Miracle are doing OK I think, I have one area that still are a bit thin, this is where I draged more soil witch made the seed to drop down a bit deeper because it coming up slow. 
For me it was a close call between Yvette and Miracle, Yvette was really slow when I did the test box. When I already got more of Miracle, Yvette looked amazing. (more dense and stands up more than Miracle) But I will let you know what I think later on.

Seed went down 19/8, this is yesterday (13/9).


Yeah, I did find my 220e on blocket sold by an auction site. I think most of the ones I've seen has been up there. The machine had only been used on bigger golf events. 
But I read your last post that you did find one?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Looks fairly similar to mine, progress wise (I seeded 2 days before you IIRC). I only have one fairly small area that Iooks really thin but I'll transplant some grass into during the week from a donor area I seeded the same time I seeded the front lawn.

Regarding finding a used greens mower there are some available but I believe the sellers are asking too much for them (some of them are totally living in la la land asking like $10000 for a used 2011 200E :shock: ). There's a bunch of Toro Flex21, but the max HOC is too low for my target -besides they're asking quite a lot for them as well so it's not really an option for me.

However, I have a lead (thanks to a workmates husband who is a hard core lawn nerd) for a 220E with low hours that I think I can negotiate down to a decent price, but the deal is not closed yet -I am not really in a rush, but I think sellers are more willing to give a good price this time of year than in the spring with a full season ahead. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a 220E in the next month or so...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

The plan was to do an app of urea yesterday but it was too windy. Today I had to work late but hopefully I can squeeze an app in tomorrow morning.

I have to go to Orlando next week for work and thought I might try to pick up a few Hunter MP sprinkler heads while there (to replace my dysfunctional Rain Bird R-VANs). Any suggestions on a local shop or a online stores with decent prices that do reasonably fast deliveries (I need them delivered Wednesday next week at the latest)?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Sprinklerwarehouse is pretty fast.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> Sprinklerwarehouse is pretty fast.


@g-man , thanks for the suggestion -I have actually ordered from them before but they're really picky about the credit card details. Only US credit cards and no virtual cards are accepted so you need to use a proxy shopping service to be able to order from them if you're not US/Canadian resident. I have an account set up with such a service but while they are really good for slightly larger orders they're not really cost effective for small orders like the one I'm planning this time...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

I month since seed down, and 20 days since germination!

Temps have dropped significantly the last few days. Highs have dropped from about 70F to 55. Lows have dropped from 55 to 34F this morning (no frost on the ground but ice on the windshield). Looks like it is going get a bit warmer during the weekend and statistically I have about a month left before frost will hit and days will be so short everything grinds to a halt.

Decided to do my second app of urea done today. This time I hit it with 0.20 lb/1k. Watered it in immediately after, and then we got an hour of light rain a couple hours later.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

Pictures?
I replaced Urea with something lower in N, still fast release but micro prills SGN 100. I hated Urea low app rate and from there the distribution consistency.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Babameca said:


> Pictures?
> I replaced Urea with something lower in N, still fast release but micro prills SGN 100. I hated Urea low app rate and from there the distribution consistency.


I use an urea solution, so I spray it. It is time consuming compared to using a spreader, but I could only find urea in liquid form. I can imagine it's difficult to spread larger prills evenly at such low rates. For the 2020 spring reno of the back yard I've promised myself be a bit more prepared and most likely use a different fertilizer.

Sorry, no pictures today -got home late from work so it was already dark...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

I'm 4hrs into a 10hr flight to Florida and thought I'd kill some time by doing an update. In-flight internet is kind of unreliable so you won't get any pics this time. Anyways:

First frost today -still OK temps during the day but I don't expect much more growth this season. Still looking for a JD220E. I might have another lead, but it is looking more and more as I'll have to wait until next season...

That's all for now!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Still flying?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> Still flying?


@g-man, haha, no, I'm back in Sweden. As always I had a fantastic time in the US -great folks and great hospitality! This was a work trip so I was pretty much locked up in a conference room between 8 and 6 at a large resort outside Orlando for the duration, but I managed to get a couple close encounters with the local turf of the resort's golf course during my early morning runs. 

Got home Saturday after some delays -had a layover in Frankfurt and most of their systems where down so we had to wait in the plane for 2 hours before we could take off. When landed they could not get the boarding bridge to dock so another 30 minutes passed before they could get a truck with stairs out to the plane. And naturally, the luggage did not arrive due to the problems at Frankenstein Airport so I am kind of dreading the luggage since it has my wet swimpants in it that has baked for 6 hours in the trunk of a rental car exposed to the Florida heat and humidity, and then has marinated in my luggage at various airports for more than 48 hours...

When it comes to the lawn it has pretty much stopped growing. This is from today, from the all so revealing elevated position -it looks like several thin spots but close up they still have good growth with say 5-10 seedings per square inch so if they survive the harsh winter, it will fill in in the spring:



The chase for a JD220E continues. Turns out that the company advertising four 220E from 2010 with 150hrs on them that I am interested in has only withdrawn the ads, they haven't sold them yet (according to a reliable source) so I will probably hold off for another couple weeks until the market for greens mowers goes into hibernation and then see if I can make a deal with them...


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The joys of international travel. At least the luggage got lost on the way home. Landing in EU on a Sunday evening without luggage is a pain. Finding a store open to get clothing is not easy.

Is the green color correct in your image?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> Is the green color correct in your image?


No. It's the low light conditions in combination with a china-made low cost surveillance camera. The color of the grass is what I would expect it to be at this stage. It is hard to take pictures that are representative now, since when I get home from work it is not much light left. However, this is perhaps more representative of the color of the lawn:



What is bugging me the most right now when it comes to what is growing, it is these things -not sure what they are but they're not boat tipped and while there's still just a few of them, they are growing like crazy compared to the KBG:


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@TheSwede I don't want to scare you, but look at the base of the blades where it meets the stock. Can you take a close-up pic of the ligule there... It is a winter grass. The question is, is it Poa T. The root is way too long though for new establishment…


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Looks almost like a Sedge. Triangular stem, leaves in groups of three, light color and upright growth..


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I don't see POA t. Is the stem part flat?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

@g-man, yes, the stem is flat. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow morning (it was too dark to find a good specimen when I got home from work today). I'll probably just hand pull them for now since season is pretty much to an end up here, but I'd like to ID these little fellas so I can make a plan for how to deal with them in the spring because I have a feeling I'll see a lot more of them in the spring...


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Season is officially closed!

Been insanely busy at work the last month so in a sense, it is a relief to officially close the lawn season -one thing less to keep you awake at night.... No growth whatsoever for the last few weeks. Blew the irrigation system dry with compressed air today. Still a fair share of leafs left on the trees so I'll have to wait a few more weeks before doing the final fall raking. Since the lawn and irrigation system is now "winterized", Saturday will be devoted to "winterizing" my cars with studded tires, putting foldable snow shovels and tow lines in the trunks, and so on.

To wrap things up: All in all 2019 has been a stellar lawn season for me, much thanks to you guys, that has inspired me, challenged me and made me think, reflect, adjust, or just collectively cheered me on in this crazy quest we're all more or less immersed in..

Looking forward to 2020 season


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

No end of season pictures?


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

g-man said:


> No end of season pictures?


I'm posting these pictures of my lawn from a few days ago when I finally got back home after a month of travelling:

So, temperatures have been insanely high for the season and so has the percipitation levels. It is now January 2nd and it is almost 50F. It has been redicilously hot for the season and Snow and frost has come and gone atleast 10 times since november.

Coming home there's lots of round patches -I suspect serious fungus infestation in "my precious lawn". I have a bottle ofHeritage DF-50. Can I do an applcation now, with perhaps 5 days above 0C or should I just wait for spring and everything will have already sorted itself out?
Dropped a credit card for reference in some of the pics:


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Yes that looks like fungus. It looks like snow mold to me. Applying heritage won't hurt the lawn (only your wallet). It might prevent further damage.


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

I would apply the fungicide as well. Doesn't look like the grass is dead, so it should bounce back when temps warm.


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## Jakob H (Feb 13, 2020)

Great to see another swede here!

Just read the whole thread and I have to say that you have done a wonderful job! To bad this winter will do our lawns bad. About the spots I would say that it is snowmold, it looks almost exaly like my spots wich are snow mold. I'm planing to take the fight during the spring since I'm expecting it to get worse due to the weather. I live about 400km south from you (70km south of Jönköping) and here our flower bulbs have started to grow :O

The mower then, I would go for the Flex 21, I LOVE that one! The Deere I sold quite quickly actually but as you said, our prices are... Lets just say bonkers.

The ad you mentioned (Flex 21) are from one of the official Toro dealers. Hako Ground & Garden in Västerås. They have a few in stock, 12-15 last time I called, everyone in different shape but for 37000sek you will get a mower in great condition! Grinded reel, new bedknife, serviced etc.

Great company imo. I'm planing to have them come here for a spring service on both the Flex 21 and Reelmaster 3100D.

The Deere you can pick up a "new" or as good as for 50000sek acording to yesterdays Blocket search due to "lagerrensning" didn't find the English word.
Great machine but for me the Toro is miles ahead in feel and quality!
The Deere cuts great but all the small things just makes the Flex better.

A tip for shrewd negotiation is the Toro Greensmaster 1000 om Blocket for 61000SEK. It has had the same price since atleast spring 2019. Looks like there is a few things go do on it but I would consider giving him/them an offer. Just search all object and type Toro, sort by price and scroll.

I have found that go be the best way on every make since Blocket is extremly sensitive to spelling.

For you US guys reading you should be happy for your prices, a good reelmower for 1000USD will never happen here, a Deere or Toro in need of an overhaul starts at 1500-2000USD..

Edit: If you want the Flex 21, Hako Ground & Garden can suply the kit for higher cut and have it mounted when you take delivery of it.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Hi Jakob -thanks for the info!

Yes the kind of winter we've had so far has not been kind to the lawn, constantly thawing and freezing with lots of rain in between...

About the mower, maybe I should take a look at the Flex21 -It's only a 1-1.5hr ride from me. The price is a bit high for me I think, but it might be possible to negotiate the price to a point where I am more comfortable.


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## Jakob H (Feb 13, 2020)

Indeed! Today we woke up to -4,5°C and frost/ice. Now it is +5,8°C with rain (once again).

Yes I think that might be a good idea. They might have sold a few since I last talked to them but I would guess not.
It seems that the reel have a slight starting delay when the drive is engaged on the Flex21 but I like it that way. 
The Greensmaster 1000 are more direct. There is one on the link below. I mentioned it before, way to expensive but I would still go up there (Uppsala) and try talk some sence into the seller. Bil och traktorservice - Uppsala (Car and tractor service for you US folks). Since mowers or reelmowers aint their main product you might be able to do a good deal, espesially since it has been for sale for a long time.

If you end up with a Toro I would consider using Hako Ground & Garden for any spares since they have great knowledge about these machines.

April 2 they have a spring "show" at the HQ in Halmstad where they will show their products and you will be able to try some of them. It might be a good idea to go there or wait for the next exhibition so you can try both Toro and John Deere back to back before you deside what to go with. Check them out on Facebook, they usually post the dates there.

Link to the Greensmaster 1000 mentioned above:
https://www.blocket.se/annons/uppsala/toro_1000/78152212

Ps: My advidse is not to rush since the machines are as cold as ice in Sweden.
Most people buy the Klippo reelmower becauce of the price. I will try and locate one for you but I have to mention that the quality is not even close to a Toro or John Deere and parts can be hard to find since they don't make them anymore AND if you call Klippo/Huqvarna they actually have to go through some folders by hand depending on what you want.


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## Jakob H (Feb 13, 2020)

Here is a Klippo Lawnmaster: https://www.blocket.se/annons/skane/klippo_lawnmaster/88393248
They came in two versions, Lawnmaster and Lawnmaster golf. Difference is clippingrate and height (a few more minor things aswell). New the Lawnmaster were about 22000SEK, I guess that says it all.. Not the same quality as Toro, Deere, Jacobsen etc and it can be really hard to find parts. I would skip theese even if the price is more appealing if I were you.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Again, thanks for the info. I've used a Klippo/Husqwarna but it is a Toro or a JD I'm looking for, partly because I used to mow greens at the local golf course 30 years ago during the summera with a JD and a pro grade reel is what I want. Not because I need it or my lawn needs it, but because I would like to own and mow with one of these beasts again. &#128578;


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## Jakob H (Feb 13, 2020)

I envy you!! I'm actually planing to ask my club for a full time mechanic and greenkeeper job.
Sounds like a good plan! And as you said, homeowners dosen't need the better machines but the beasts are always way more fun than the regular versions.

Looking forward to see your lawn this summer and what mower you deside to go with.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Hehe, working at the local golf course was nice, but not as nice as my other work as a garbage collector -insanely hard work but extremely well paid and good hours. It actually was what financed my engineering degree, and it actually took me 3 years as an engineer with a Ms of Sc degree to get better pay than a garbage collector... Now, 30 years later I opt for mowing lawns rather than collecting garbage or working as an engineering manager. Go figure....


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

Temperatures are just f***ed up this winter! It should be about a foot of snow and freezing but the magnolia I planted last year has buds that seem like they will flower any day now, my hedge is at least two months early...





I've also planted some chili the last weekend -I'm addicted to spicy food so it felt like a natural transition to grow my own. I'm not really that patient so we'll see if I can get at least a few plants to survive...



The good thing about this weird winter is that there has been ample opportunities to practice my passion for Nordic skating. The high temperatures and the lows during the nights has kept the lakes on "black ice" for months. This is about 1 1/4" ice that I am about to skate -had to leave the phone on the shore due to the risk of going through the ice, but isn't it beautiful?!



This clip from National Geographic captures what it's all about:


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## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

That's awesome! My wife showed me that vid the other day. Looks incredible!


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

OK, so what about the lawn, then... Well, the winter wasn't really "winter" this year with way, way warmer temperatures than usual so while the reno looks OK, there are a few problems I need to manage. Since the temps have been higher than usual, things happen that I am not used to. The main problem I need to address now is a grassy weed that is establishing itself in the lawn while the temps are low enough for the KBT to stay dormant. Now, while it does not quite look like the Poa A I am used to seeing in established lawns, I believe this is Poa A? Right? It is definitely lighter green in color than the KBG:





Temperatures are still quite low (35F to say 55F in the air) but the lawn is greening up nicely and to kick things off I did a first app of iron sulfate for moss control, and then an app of NPK and left the irrigation on to water it down.


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Yes this is definitely poa annua. Hand pull, spot spray with glypho, or spray them with tenacity to light them up and then hand pull. I find on a warm day when top of soil isn't frozen in late winter they are easy to pull. Once the soil thaws for good they root pretty hard.


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## TheSwede (Jul 10, 2018)

@Jconnelly6b , thanks for the input!

I've had to focus on other things than my lawn this spring but today I managed to get some work done. I spent an hour on putting down a simple stone edging around the plum tree and restored the soil level to the "pre-reno level" closest to the stem -the tree was in one of the low spots with a good 8" of soil added around it. It feels better to not have that much dirt up against the stem, and even if this is just a quick fix with some left over stones I had laying around, it looks so much nicer with the edging, IMHO.



Then it was time to test the pimped up sprayer wand. Last season I used the nozzle that came with the sprayer and it absolutetly sucked. The sprayer came with a CF valve but the nozzle was misting quite a lot, and it had a very narrow spray angle. So, last week I ended up ordering a 2 nozzle boom kit and two CF valves (all Chapin) of Amazon. I also bought a bunch of teejet nozzles from sprayer depot. However, the nozzles are still making its way through the mail so I currently only have the Chapin red nozzles that came with the boom kit.



The Chapin red nozzles put out quite a lot so I really had to pump a lot. Good thing is that I covered the whole area with blazing speed. Can't wait until the tee-jets arrive!

What did I put in the sprayer? Well, originally I had only planned to do half a dose of Prodiamine. But, with the POA problem I added Tenacity to light them up, and I will either hand pull them (its a lot!) or I will continue with multiple treatments to try to kill them off (I'm not sure this is possible during the spring or not). I totally forgot there where some blue spring flowers poping upp each spring in the old lawn, and these little fellas poped up this spring too -just barely reaching up, but also a bit of other weeds so I decided to put some three-way in the tank as well to get rid of them once and for all.


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