# Dlux4life - Intro, Reno, and Results



## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Hey All-

Been lurking on the site for a bit. Figured I'd introduce myself. My name is a keith and I'm in Salem NH. Always loved working in the yard. Previously had 7 acres on a southern facing, very sandy hill without irrigation. Needless to say I had to redo the lawn every fall.

I now have an acre and a half with about 20,000 sq ft of finished turf, some broken shade, and irrigation. I finally have a chance to get a good base down, and build on it year over year.

Being an avid golfer, I wanted to replicate the fairway look on my lawn. I ended up going with 150 lbs of Lesco's 80/20 Fairway Supreme mix. 80% KBG and 20% Perennial Rye.
I used a Toro Dingo and a soul cultivator attachment to prep the surface. Mixed in 15 yards of compost. Spread Boston's finest (bay state fertilizer), Blanket sprayed tenacity, And spoon fed starter fertilizer for 6 weeks.

I was lucky enough to find an older, well maintained GM1000 for 300 dollars from a local golf course. Not a ton a reel life left in it, but had a new bed knife and was just sharpened and serviced by their course mechanic.

I still have lots of leveling to do, but am excited to be able to build on what I hope to be is a solid foundation.

A Few before shots:


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

During


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Growing


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Rotary mow


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Reel mow3/4"


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Back yard shot today


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## DbShep (Aug 10, 2020)

What a lovely property!


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Thanks a lot. It's been a lot of work so far. Lot of work to go too! We had a lot of over grown plants to clear out. The people before us did a lovely job landscaping, but kind of let things go towards the end. Trying to get it back to its original glory.

Nasty forsythia for example. We're fortunate enough to have a nice in ground pool supported by this retaining wall. I had 4" vines growing out of the wall that must have gone untouched for 25 years. If that wall failed, it would be 40,000 gallons down the hill into the neighbors yard.


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## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

Very nice lots of work indeed


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

One piece of advice for anyone looking to start over. Never use a soil cultivator unless you are laying down sod. The grass clods were absolutely endless and prevented me from effectively leveling the lawn. It was 100 man hours of raking between me, my father and my father in law to get rid of them.

I would absolutely recommend killing what is there with round up, scalping, dethatching, and then laying top soil down.

I would be so much further ahead if I did that.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Boy oh boy, after seeing the work you put in and your results, I'll listen to and need any advice you give, that's fer sure! :thumbup:


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

Dlux4life said:


> One piece of advice for anyone looking to start over. Never use a soil cultivator unless you are laying down sod. The grass clods were absolutely endless and prevented me from effectively leveling the lawn. It was 100 man hours of raking between me, my father and my father in law to get rid of them.
> 
> I would absolutely recommend killing what is there with round up, scalping, dethatching, and then laying top soil down.
> 
> I would be so much further ahead if I did that.


Having just done something similar all by hand. I agree. However my application was only 400sqft... armed with a pitchfork, a sifting box and a shovel i got to work and took everything larger than 5/8" out of the soil down about a foot in most areas. Talk about work. Great job with your space!


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)




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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

A few shots from today. Still a little thin this season. Will be sand leveling and overseeding with prg this fall.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

A quick shot from today. Reno done last fall.


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## Liquidstone (Mar 31, 2021)

Looks great. Well done on your project.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Starting to prep for an overseed of the front lawn. Weather shows mid 70's all next week. Detached today and put down a small dose of nitrogen. Plan on putting 25 lbs of ss9000 prg in 2 or so weeks. I'm in southern NH.

Yayyyy! It's a great time of year!! I'll take a bunch of before and after pictures.


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## LawnMavrik (Sep 22, 2020)

Looks like this season's/newer SS9000 has other crop. Stuff I bought last year did not.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Hmm..what could the other crop be if it isn't a weed?

Am I going to have corn growing in the middle of my lawn?


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## JDgreen18 (Jun 14, 2018)

Dlux4life said:


> Hmm..what could the other crop be if it isn't a weed?
> 
> Am I going to have corn growing in the middle of my lawn?


Other crop is undesirable grass that's not on the label...like poa a and poa trivialis etc. Other crop I would say is much worse than weed seeds as there isn't much in the way of selective herbicide control.


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## LawnDetail (Apr 15, 2020)

JDgreen18 said:


> Dlux4life said:
> 
> 
> > Hmm..what could the other crop be if it isn't a weed?
> ...


@JDgreen18 Would you take the chance with that seed then or would you find something without other crop? Do you take the chance ?


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## LawnDetail (Apr 15, 2020)

Lawn looks beautiful man. What's in the bags piled in the garage.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

I don't have any poa in my yard as of now and I'd really like to keep it that way. Think it is worth returning and maybe going with champion gq? Assuming it has no undesirable crop…


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

LawnDetail said:


> Lawn looks beautiful man. What's in the bags piled in the garage.


It's bay state fertilizer…basically Massachusetts version of milorganite. 3 bucks a bag direct from the processor.


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## LawnDetail (Apr 15, 2020)

Dlux4life said:


> LawnDetail said:
> 
> 
> > Lawn looks beautiful man. What's in the bags piled in the garage.
> ...


Wow that's a great deal on the fert. I did a full reno last fall as well with SS9000 0% everything. I have no weeds or Poa and I'm doing a over seed this fall and just don't want to take a chance of introducing anything undesirable to the lawn. So I'm sticking with the 0% strategy.

Here is my SS9000


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

That makes complete sense to me. I'll likely try to return the seed. I'll follow up with how that goes.


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## JDgreen18 (Jun 14, 2018)

LawnDetail said:


> JDgreen18 said:
> 
> 
> > Dlux4life said:
> ...


I always get 0 weed and 0 other crop....if I'm gonna do all the work to get a great lawn might as well spend a little more then regret it later.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Just emailed them to start the return process. Looking at champion gq from Hancock. I asked them to send me a picture of the label on the bag before I buy to make sure there are 0 weeds and 0 other crop.

Lesson learned this time.

If this doesn't work out, I may just do the nitrogen blitz to try and get my kbg to spread.


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## LawnDetail (Apr 15, 2020)

My experience with KBG it always looks a lot better the following fall. If it was mostly PRG I would definitely over seed. Ryan Knorr has a 80/20 blend certified and 0% weed and crop if you want to check that out. At least SSS did the right thing in leaving you return it. Keep us posted.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

I'll probably go that route. Champion gq has .10% crop seed in it.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Meh…was going to send the ss9000 back, but after 60 dollars in shipping and 20 bucks in restocking fees it isn't worth it.

I have a small section on the other side of my driveway that looks like garbage. I'll use the ss9000 there. I got some of Ryan knorr's prg mix that is 0 weed and 0 other crop coming in the next week that I'll use on my main lawn.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Just found out my gm1000 needs 600 in parts from the toro dealer to get the reel engaging again. If anyone knows of a parts machine in the north east, or is willing to ship parts, please dm me.


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## Vinnyx3 (Aug 2, 2021)

Amazing job!!!


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Brand new reel this spring. Just spent 600 Redoing the clutch system. First mow after getting the mower back from the mechanic and this happened.


I hate rocks.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Everywhere on the reel makes perfect contact with the bed knife. Do you think I would be okay just cutting that part at the tear to remove the part that is bent back?


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## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

Did you hit something? Looks like there's a gouge in that blade. The yard looks great - very nice job on the reno!

As an aside, I ordered seed from Hearne and it had 0% crop in both varieties of seeds purchased. Shipping from CA was brutal, but it got here quickly.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I think that's the first one I've seen break like that. Most just bend. What did you hit?

Yes, remove that section understanding that a small section might not cut perfectly.


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Just finished putting a new reel and bed knife on after hitting a rock. First mow after all the rain we've had in the north east. Down to .7".

Getting ready for overseeing some prg. I'm also renovating a section near my driveway. Pictures to come.

First mow:


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

New reel and bed knife:


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

One other shot from tonight. Out working on my side project this fall.

Beautiful night. Big shadows!!! Aerate and overseeding this weekend.



And the side project this fall. Little side yard area. I have some ss9000 going there. Hoping to get it level enough to use the gm1000. I'll need to add an irrigation head or two.



And a new tool to help with sand leveling and top dressing!


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Let the overseed and leveling begin!





70 % 2mm sand 30% peet


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Early season mow!


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## Dlux4life (Oct 10, 2020)

Put down my first pgr and second fert app of the season. It's game time


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