# CFinden's Lawn Journal - BC, Canada



## cfinden

Hi everybody,

Nice to meet you all. I've been lurking here for a few months. Reading up on all the Cool Grass Season threads. I'm in Canada and I greatly appreciate the effort you guys put into the Canadian substitutes for Milo etc. thread and the Great Canadian Lawn Care Rant. I feel the pain. I've been watching lawn care videos from LCN, Ward Connor, Ryan Knorr. Absorbing information about lawn care from every source I can, trying to figure out the best way for my yard.

I'm starting this journal with some history of my front yard. (My backyard is a project for next year, we just got a Mastiff/Boxer puppy in October 2017, and the backyard has taken a severe beating. I might post a few pics where it's been relatively untouched.)

Here's my front yard in 2015 before I moved in:



I've been slowly getting into lawn care. Started using what's readily available in Canada. Synthetic fertilizers, 24-D, Glyphosate. Got pretty good results, still had a lot of crabgrass, that I didn't even notice, just thought hey it's green and it looks like grass.

Here's my front yard in September 2016 after 24-D, and synthetic fert 30-0-0.



After things starting looking like an actual lawn, I got pretty excited and more addicted to lawn care. I built a homemade lawn roller out of 4" diameter ABS pipe filled with sand, attached to an old push reel mower handle, and started striping.

Here's results of synthetic fert and 24-D + lawn striper in September 2017.



This year I discovered this forum and the YT lawn care nuts, and I've changed my irrigation to watering deeply and infrequently (1" per week). I've looked into organics, ordered the Brett Young Milo (Biosolids fert) available in Canada, bought a few bags of meal from my local feed store. I bought a 25KG bag of alfalfa pellets, and soybean meal, applied 20 lbs per 1000sqft of each 2 weeks ago. Still haven't received my BYM (Brett Young Milo). Also bought a 25KG bag of Urea, I'm planning on throwin' down the Fall Nitrogen Blitz.

Here's the latest pictures of my lawn, taken today August 15, 2018 after applying alfalfa and SBM.

































Let me know what you think, and any recommendations, should I overseed? Should I kill some weeds?

Thank you!


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## cfinden

I forgot to add I'm not entirely sure what my grass type is.

Can anyone tell from the pictures?

I have a lot of shade from the large pine tree, and cedars, so I'm skeptical that it's KBG. Probably a fescue mix.

I'd appreciate any insight from you experts!


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## g-man

Looks like a northern mix.


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## MichiganGreen

I'm pretty new myself man but gotta say you've inspired me. It's my first summer at my place and nice to see how quickly things can cha ge. Yours looks fantastic.


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## cfinden

@MichiganGreen thanks!

I really enjoy working on the lawn, it's satisfying to see little changes day after day.

I'm putting down my first app of Urea today on my lunchbreak. Putting down 2lbs/k.

What do you guys think about some light pruning in fall? I want to trim that little tree to the right of my circle garden.


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## MichiganGreen

Definitely! I like the natural look but pruning is always good. Is that a burning bush? I have a few that are about 12 feet tall, cant decide if I want to buy a pole ladder or hire somebody every other year.


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## cfinden

@g-man thanks, I had to look up the Northern Mix, I think you're right.

@MichiganGreen it's kind of similar to a burning bush, it has beautiful pink flowers in the spring, like big puff balls. Ya pruning is tough for me too, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I don't have the right equipment to reach the larger trees I have in my back yard.


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## cfinden

Bought a used Honda HR215 today in great condition. Didn't look at the cutting height adjustments till I got it home, it's max cutting height is 3 inches...

I scalped my whole lawn accidentally, cut over 50% of the length, probably went from 5" to 2-5/8". Hopefully it recovers...


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## cfinden

Scalped cut view from another angle.


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## cfinden

Putting down 10lbs/k of Soybean Meal and another 1lb/k of Urea this morning, then irrigate.


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## cfinden

Some pics of my backyard following mow with "new" mower. HOC 3".


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## cfinden

Just received 3 bags of Brett Young Milo! Info here: http://www.brettyoung.ca/sites/default/files/atoms/files/5-1-2.pdf

I finally get to experience that lovely aroma. It really is a unique smell.

$34 CAD each for 50LB bags. No delivery cost, because they shipped it to a local Golf Course and I picked it up from there.





UPDATE: My car reeks like blueberry scented sewage.


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## cfinden

Cut the back tonight at 3", it's starting to thicken up again!
.


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## cfinden

Backlogging my work from Aug 25, 2018.

-Had to dig up a sprinkler pipe and repair it
-Mowed at 2"
-Trimmed
-Aerated
-Put down half a yard of masonry sand and spread it/broomed it in
-Overseeded with Creeping Red Fescue, Fine Fescue, and Chewings fescue blend from a local nursery
-Put down 10lb/k Brett Young Milo
-Set sprinklers to go off 4 times/day

I'm a little worried about the weather we're having. It rained 4" today and barely hit 16 degrees C (60.8 F). Forcast is less rain but similar temps for the rest of the week. We'll see what happens!



Here's the seed I used for the front overseeding:


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## cfinden

Overseed of 3lbs/k Shady Lawn mix shown in previous post went down on August 26th, 2018.

7 days in, zero sprouts... I'm very concerned. What did I do wrong?

-I setup my sprinklers to go off 4 times spread evenly throughout the day for 15 mins.

-I did not put any peat moss on top because I didn't want to choke out the existing grass.

-The seed is sitting in a bed of aerated plugs and a 1/4" of masonry sand. Maybe the sand is draining all the water and the seeds are dry?

Is it too late to fix any problems, and get the seed to take?

Thanks guys!


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## g-man

Have you walked out just before the water set timer and check to see if the soil is moist? I keep increasing my times into the afternoon since it is 91F and sunny by then.


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## cfinden

@g-man the first day I set the sprinklers to 5 mins and it definitely wasn't enough so I bumped it up to 15. The front is soggy and I can see a few seeds that are definitely moist. Is it possible to have too much water?

Our weather has been cool the last 7 days sitting around 60-70 F. Could that slow the process?


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## g-man

Too wet and it will rot.



> Four seeds in a row one for the mouse, one for the crow, one to rot, and one to grow.


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## cfinden

Thanks @g-man !

I did an irrigation audit today. I have an auxiliary pump in my basement that boosts the flow and pressure of my system, and it needed a tune up. Did a bucket test and got 8GPM @ 60 psi.

Took all 5 Rain Bird 3500 rotors on the front yard zone from 1 GPM to 1.5 GPM nozzles and got way better distance. I have full head to head coverage now.

Took a closer look at the grass today, there's sprouts coming up! Not as many as I was hoping but maybe they're coming. Pics coming tomorrow.


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## cfinden

Ended up putting down Scott's Starter Fertilizer at bag rate on the front.

It poured all night >3 inches. Woke up to 50 degrees F this morning.


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## Harts

might be watering too much. Hard to say.

Our weather in Ontario has been hot and very humid. The front reno I water three times by hand every day.

My back over seed and patches I water only 1-2 times each day with my orbit sprinkler setup. My times vary from 3 minutes to 6 minutes. I started at 12 minutes 3 times for the first day and realized I had to adjust. Because of the humidity, my soil stays damp until almost noon most days.

Every day I am monitoring the temps and the soil and making the decision based on that particular day. After 8 days, I haven't had 2 days in a row where my schedule was the same. It is changing daily.


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## cfinden

@Harts wow I guess it takes a lot more effort and planning that I thought. Thanks for all the tips, I'm learning. I need to step my game up next year!

Temp this morning at 7am is 6 degrees C (42F). :shock:


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## Harts

Wow! it's 29 right now, with the heat index.

This forum is amazing. There is so much great content and advice. I have learned a great deal this season.

However, every situation is different. A lot of new people find this forum and think they are going to get a direct step by step guide on how to do things (I was one of them!). To an extent, they will, but what everyone needs to understand is that every situation is unique. What you find here are guidelines. But they are guidelines that you need to adapt to your own unique situation. Watering new seed is a great example. Everyone will tell you to set your irrigation to water a certain number of minutes, so many times a day for "x" number of weeks. They are 100% correct with that advice. That worked for them. But that may not work for you.

I have my backyard setup with a hose end timer and two Orbit gear drive sprinklers. Today is Day 9 and I have run the timer on a schedule just two of those days. I only watered once yesterday. There is so much moisture in the air here that my soil is staying moist all day. I can put down 4 minutes worth of water at noon, check it at 8pm and it's still wet.

The quicker you realize that your situation is going to be unique (with common elements, of course, to what everyone else on here is going through) the quicker your head will stop spinning with trying to figure out how x=y multiplied by the power of "what the hell is going on!"

This was much longer than I intended! Sorry about that! And I want to be clear that I am not discouraging anyone from asking questions! It's just we are all different. Take the advice and figure what works for you. Trial and error. At the start, it's more error! But eventually, you will get it right and it becomes routine for you.

FYI, I am really looking forward to cracking open the bag of BY next year! It's so hard to keep it sealed and not open it! It's like a child with a new toy.


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## cfinden

@Harts I really appreciate the advice. My front yard is so shady it seems to stay moist forever. I haven't watered for 5 days and the top layer is still wet.

I finally got some widespread germination. 2 weeks later haha.

Check it out.


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## cfinden

Weather has been terrible we got snow in the upper suburbs of our city...

My newly germinated grass looks like it's grown maybe an 1/8" in a week.

It's been highs of 16 C (60 F) all week zero Sun lots of rain


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## cfinden

Update


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## Harts

Looks awesome!


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## cfinden

@Harts thanks!

It's really long right now, like 5". It obviously looks better when it's long (because it's not level), but I'm contemplating mowing at 2" next year.


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## cfinden

Mowed at 3" today. Putting down 1#/M urea tomorrow.


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## samjonester

Looks great! the density is amazing! You've gotta mulch around the trees before you girdle them with the trimmer though


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## cfinden

@samjonester thank you! It's the best it's ever been after 4 years at this house.

Could you elaborate on the mulching around trees and girdling? What do I mulch with? And what is girdling? Thanks!


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## samjonester

Trees carry nutrients just under the bark layer. Damaging that layer around the tree will slowly kill it. Girdling is when you sever that layer, sometimes unintentionally, like with repeated abuse from a string trimmer.

http://foldfallowplough.blogspot.com/2010/08/stop-girdling-those-trees.html

The mulch is really just to prevent the need to trim directly against the trunk. Any type of mulch will work, just be sure to leave the root flare of the tree exposed, and not create a mound, or mulch volcano, up the trunk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnjMOCMwUoM


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## Outerspace

Looks good, seems like you could cut shorter.


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## cfinden

@samjonester thanks man! I'd love to mulch the trees I hate mowing around them.

@Outerlimits I agree, I'm going 2.5" next cut, then 2". A ton of new growth came up so I think it should handle it fine.

Put down 1#/M of urea today.


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## cfinden

Mowed at 2.5" on Wednesday, September, 26th, 2018. Looked pretty bad.



2 days later today. Friday, September, 28th, 2018 looks much better. It's growing super fast now. I think I needed to cut er down low.


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## cfinden

Mowed at 2.5" and put down 1/2lb/M of urea.


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## Harts

Looking great @cfinden. How's the weather been lately?


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## cfinden

@Harts Thank man. It gets pretty cold at night because of clear skies, but the sun has been out everyday for the past week and a half.

No frost yet. Lows of 1 degree C, Highs of 16 degree C.


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## Harts

Bah! I'd kill for that forecast. But I'd take the Leafs over the Canucks right now! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## cfinden

Looks like spring is here!



@Harts how you doing in Mississauga?

I'm thinking Prodiamine WDG in 2 weeks if this weather sticks around.


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## Harts

@cfinden still some snow on the ground. Should be snow free by end of week.

I probably won't get my pre-em down for another couple weeks.


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## cfinden

A lot of powdery mildew survived the winter. Not sure what to do about it. I'm thinking it will grow out of it.


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## cfinden

Current state of green-up. Planning to put down Pre-M this weekend.


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## zinger565

You that warm already? If so, I'm jealous. I'm sitting here in Iowa with mid 40s avg soil temps. Barely starting greenup.


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## cfinden

zinger565 said:


> You that warm already? If so, I'm jealous. I'm sitting here in Iowa with mid 40s avg soil temps. Barely starting greenup.


I was seeing 50 F soil temp last week in the warmest part of the day, going down to 40 F at night.

Maybe I am early, greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature doesn't cover Canada.

Forecast is looking ok:


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## cfinden

Listened to LCN's podcast about observation, and was inspired to investigate the amount of sun/shade I'm getting.

Here's how the sun hit my front lawn today (in chronological order):


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## cfinden

Greening up a bit more. Soil temps are 50 in the half of the yard that's closest to the street. 
Putting down split-app of Prodiamine this weekend, might be early but I figure it's better than late? 
Had some sprinkler issues on spring startup, have to replace 2 heads near the road.


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## cfinden

Much greener today. Lighting probably makes it look better, but the green is quite dark in real life.



Soil temps almost 55 degrees F, still a lot of cold spots.

Would it be too early to put down Humic/Kelp? How about Milo?

@g-man Is there a guide for timing applications with soil temps on this forum? I didn't see a formal one with a quick search. For example soil temps (70F?) where microbes are most active are ideal for Milo.


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## g-man

I don't think there is one.


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## Chris LI

Nice sequential photos showing greenup. I like the last one for the nice color and pair of flamingos. 

I think you could drop some Milo now, unless you plan on dropping any synthetic. If you mix the two, it might be a little difficult to gauge N amounts to avoid dropping N during the spring flush.


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## cfinden

@Chris LI Thanks!

I did my first mow yesterday. Sprayed some potassium bicarbonate with surfactant on the powdery mildew spots shown above. Trying to find a Canadian source for Serenade Bio-fungicide.

Waiting on a delivery of Black Earth granular humic acid that I'm able to get from my local farm supply store: 
https://www.blackearth.com/products-california#ACTIV80GG

Planning to apply the Black Earth granular humic with some liquid kelp I found at Canadian Tire.


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## Chris LI

:thumbup: 
I'm not sure if Bioplex 5-3-1 is available in your area, but one of my local suppliers for work turned me onto it a couple of years ago. It's basically Milo on steroids. It's compromised mostly of biosolids, a spec of urea, humid acid, SOP and seaweed...and don't forget, iron.


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## Baretta

cfinden said:


> @Chris LI Thanks! I'm gonna go ahead and drop Milo this week.
> 
> I did my first mow yesterday. Sprayed some potassium bicarbonate with surfactant on the powdery mildew spots shown above. Trying to find a Canadian source for Serenade Bio-fungicide.
> 
> Waiting on a delivery of Black Earth granular humic acid that I'm able to get from my local farm supply store:
> https://www.blackearth.com/products-california#ACTIV80GG
> 
> Planning to apply the Black Earth granular humic with some liquid kelp I found at Canadian Tire.


I'm a newbie to lawn care. I'm thinking of trying the liquid kelp and humic from OGP based out of Victoria.

https://www.gardenerspantry.ca/


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## cfinden

@Baretta I've heard good things about Gardener's Pantry. I might try their EM (Effective Microorganisms) this season. I'm wondering if it could help with fungus prevention. I believe @Harts is using humic acid from Gardener's Pantry, so I'll be following his journal this season.


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## Baretta

Right. I came across the topic on The Great Canadian Lawn Care Rant

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3638&hilit=Great+canadian

Good read.

What are your thoughts on the Brett Young fert so far? I'm going to the Nature's Best from HH. May also try Biofert.


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## cfinden

@Chris LI that stuff looks awesome, it's got everything I want to apply in one product. I had no luck searching for it in Canada though. I'm planning to drive across the border next week and visit some farm supply stores.

@Baretta Check out this thread too if you haven't: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4025

I've only used the Brett Young's Milo equivalent as "starter fert" on my fall overseed, and it worked well. It stinks pretty bad, like way worse than I thought it would.

I assume the Brett Young Milo will work just as well or better than Milorganite. It's a good slow release organic nitrogen source with a decent amount of iron. LCN says it adds carbon to your soil, so it's good for building soil and feeding microbes. How's your soil in Vancouver? Sandy?


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## cfinden

A closer look at the condition of my lawn coming out of winter:







There's a decent amount of bare spots... I'm not sure if they're going to fill in without seed. I haven't put down Pre-M yet, I might avoid application to these spots and do a bit of seeding.


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## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> @Chris LI that stuff looks awesome, it's got everything I want to apply in one product. I had no luck searching for it in Canada though. I'm planning to drive across the border next week and visit some farm supply stores.


Try calling the number on the front of the bag. Maybe there's a distributor within driving distance. Good luck!


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## Baretta

Yes, great thread also. I'm guessing a sandy slit clay soil. :? I'm going to try the jar test.

https://bcfarmsandfood.com/three-simple-ways-test-soil/

I think my area in Poco not long ago was farm land and river way converted into housing in the early 70's.

Watched the recent Ryan Knorr video going over his soil test with John Perry was helpful should I get mine analyzed.

Sorry just noticed you referencing TGCLCR in your first post of your journal. I see you were inspired from the same three people. LCN is awesome but a little overwhelming with all the products. I'd be statified with Tenacity, Prodimine and Grub control.

Nice touch with the flamingos by the way. :thumbup:


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## cfinden

@Baretta I'm getting my soil tested for the first time this year. A sales guy from BrettYoung (https://www.brettyoung.ca/professional-turf-and-reclamation/contacts-0#British) came and took samples and sent them to Logan Labs (https://www.loganlabs.com) for $75 CAD.

Yep those 3 YouTuber's gave me the lawn bug for sure.

You're so close to the border it might make more sense to ship products to one of those border shipping addresses and pickup. (www.seedworldusa.com) is good.

Thanks!


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## cfinden

Today I sprayed 0.17oz/M of Prodiamine WDG with 1oz/M marking blue and a few drops of Dawn dish soap.

Second mowing @ 2.5" HOC was on Sunday, April, 21. Next cut will be at 3" HOC.


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## Baretta

Thanks for the info.


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## cfinden

Cut at 3" HOC


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## cfinden

Built a path into my backyard. The grass here turned into dirt and weeds from all the foot traffic. Might throw down some PRG seed this spring in this area just to have something.


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## cfinden

Put down 20lbs/M of Black Earth Activ80 AG granular humic/fulvic acid.

Mowed again at 3" HOC.

Putting down 1lb/M of K via SOP as per soil test. Soil test says I need 6lbs/M of K does it make sense to split it into a few apps?
Soil Test Thread here:
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=9308


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## cfinden

Put down 2lb/M of SOP 0-0-50 + Sulfur 13% to give me 1lb/M of K as per soil test.

Put down a light dose of fert, 5lb/M of my Milo clone from BrettYoung for a 0.25lb/M of N, smells like success!

Watered it all in so I can mow in a couple days and not suck up the granules.


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## SNOWBOB11

Grass is looking good @cfinden. Really starting to thicken up.


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## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 thanks. How's the weather where you're at? We're getting summer temps this week (see below).

The biggest issue I'm facing in the front yard is shade. I'm getting an estimate on trimming the 40' cedar hedges separating my yard and the neighbors yard.


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## SNOWBOB11

@cfinden Looks like you've got some nice weather coming up. Unfortunately can't say the same where I'm at. It's been a cool and very rainy spring here. Last two days were actually very nice with sun and warmer temps but looks like we'll be getting back to cool and rainy weather again until the weekend.

I think it's a good idea to try and trim that hedge to let in more sun for the lawn. One of the most difficult things when it comes to growing grass is shade IMO. The more light you can let in the better.


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## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 your weather in ON might be more ideal for KBG then mine? I'm still trying to figure out what grows best here. Our climate is a semi-arid desert with regular highs in 30-40 degrees C during July/Aug with basically no humidity.

I'm getting my 120' fir tree limbed up another 12' and my cedar hedges topped off 12' down, should make a major difference in sun and the quality of our view.

I'm seeing some disturbing patches of lime green grass that I somehow missed earlier this spring. This one spot in particular was a spot I heavily seeded last year with a shade mix. (see pics below before and after). Is it really possible that all the seed that germinated was Poa T? Is there another explanation for very lime green color in fall overseeded grass?

Sept 9th 2018 (the bare dirt spot is the same spot that is now lime green)


May 7th 2019


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## SNOWBOB11

What was the name of the seed you used? I know scotts seed can contain a lot of annual rye. That might be the light green grass you see growing. Some other shade mixes purposely contain poa triv because it likes moist shaded areas. Hopefully it's annual rye and not poa t.


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## cfinden

SNOWBOB11 said:


> What was the name of the seed you used? I know scotts seed can contain a lot of annual rye. That might be the light green grass you see growing. Some other shade mixes purposely contain poa triv because it likes moist shaded areas. Hopefully it's annual rye and not poa t.


I used this mix, apparently Canada #1 seed is the highest grade, but does allow for some noxious weeds and up to 4 other weeds lol...
If it's annual rye it will die over winter right? The closer I look at my lawn the more I want to reno it, but then it feels like the products I put down until fall are a waste. I guess I'm getting my soil in good shape according to my soil test so that's beneficial.


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## SNOWBOB11

In my experience annual rye doesn't always die over the winter. Not to say it never does but I've seen it come out of winter dormancy before several times in my lawn before I reno'd it.

The fertilizer you put down isn't going to be a waist if you decide to renovate your lawn. I guess any seeding you do would then have to be rounded up. If I were you I'd first overseed and try and find a grass seed type that I was happy with and grows well in your climate then renovate to that grass. With your shade I think you will always need to get something with fescue mixed in.


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## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 thanks for the advice that's a good strategy.

Cut today at 3" HOC. The shadiest section is starting to fill in.

Put down 5lbs/M of my Milo clone for 0.25lb/m of N


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## DiabeticKripple

Wow your lawn looks so much better than mine! Mine is just coming out of dormancy.


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## cfinden

@DiabeticKripple thanks! It's nice to see more Canadians on here. I just checked out your weather you guys are getting fairly high temps now too (22 C). Did you put down fall nitrogen last year? It made a big difference on my spring green up. I didn't do it on my backyard and it's still not fully greened up.


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## Baretta

Looking good. Can't believe this mini heatwave we've been getting. Two straight days in the 80s. Set a 141 year record for highest temp not far from here. Grass is getting brown on the edges already. Wet stuff on the way next week.


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## DiabeticKripple

cfinden said:


> @DiabeticKripple thanks! It's nice to see more Canadians on here. I just checked out your weather you guys are getting fairly high temps now too (22 C). Did you put down fall nitrogen last year? It made a big difference on my spring green up. I didn't do it on my backyard and it's still not fully greened up.


I didn't do fall nitrogen because I didn't know about it! This year I will for sure.


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## cfinden

I was thinking my P is already high on my soil test so maybe Milo isn't the best choice, but turns out the Brett Young Milo is different. It's a 5-1-2 instead of a 6-4-0 like original Milo. In it's application rates it shows 0 P, that doesn't really make sense does it?


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## g-man

It doesn't make sense. It says it is 1% P. It is a low ratio, so it should be ok for you.


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## cfinden

@g-man thanks for confirming. I didn't think it made sense.

I understand that the N in a Biosolids takes a while (2-3 weeks?) to take effect and requires a certain temperature range. This is because the microbes have to convert it to N the grass roots can absorb right?

How does the Iron Oxysulfate absorb? Should it be a lot faster?

Another question, so far I've put down 0.5lbs/M of N via the Brett Young 5-1-2 biosolids. Would it be ok to put down 0.25-0.5lb/M of N of Urea? Or should I wait it out.

I'm seeing a lot of light green in my lawn and I really don't think it's Poa, so I'm hoping some N and Iron will fix it.


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## g-man

0.25 lb of N via urea sounds good to me. I dont have experience with oxysulfate.


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## cfinden

Thanks @g-man.

The Brett Young Milo is making my grass explode! I mowed 3 days ago at 2.5" HOC and it's to to 5" today. Mowed again today at 2.5" HOC.

I'm not seeing the dark green I was expecting from the iron in the Brett Young Milo though. I'm going to spray FAS tomorrow and see what happens.


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## cfinden

Put down 6lbs/M of Brett Young Biosolids.

Wasn't able to find Ferrous Sulphate locally, I bought some Wilson's MossOut (AI is Ferrous Sulphate) that I may put in my sprayer and blanket.

https://wilsoncontrol.com/en/products/weed-control/wilson-mossout-with-lawn-food-5-0-0?gclid=Cj0KCQjww47nBRDlARIsAEJ34bkRfWoRc58aZaOSVAVLARZEHB2ewpv-Yteyrf7iJ-3nBRqp5c-IyJgaAj1REALw_wcB

One neighbor on my street is starting to dominate me, mostly because I have dead patches right on the front edge of lawn due to dead crabgrass.

I put down 0.17oz/M of Prodiamine WDG on April 23, 2019. I'm wondering if I can seed these small areas. Will it just die because of the Pre-M?


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## cfinden

Decided not to re-seed, I'm gonna go Pre-M all year and get rid of the Poa A I have. I have way more KBG then I thought I did, so I'm going to make it spread.

Today I mowed @ 2.5" HOC and applied my first app of T-Nex PGR @ 0.33oz/M with some MossOut and Marking Blue.

Edit: I added 560g of MossOut to the T-Nex app above which equals 3.5oz/M of Ferrous Sulphate. As @g-man mentioned this is a high rate for cool season grass and was a mistake. Next time I'll go with 1oz/M of Ferrous Sulphate.

4 hours later the lawn is looking dark!


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## g-man

How many lb of Fe/ksqft did you use?


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## cfinden

g-man said:


> How many lb of Fe/ksqft did you use?


So I bought this Wilson MossOut product, label below.

It's a ready to spray hose end that covers 2000sqft. My yard is 1000sqft, so i thought I could safely apply half the bottle... Then I got scared thinking that if I apply it foliarly it will be too much and burn the grass.

I ended up just dumping a bit in the tank without measuring... After application I got even more scared thinking I for sure burned all the grass, so i got home and tried to figure out how much I used.

The strange thing is that the bottle volume is listed as 2.5KG which is weight not volume. Anyways I measured the remaining product + bottle and then measured the bottle emtpy, subtracted the 2 and found I applied *560g* of the product. How do you translate that to volume?

The other annoying thing about the label is that it lists 5% nitrogen, but with no sources listed.

How can I compare this product to the water soluble powder recommended in MQ's FAS thread? Any help would be greatly appreciated!


----------



## g-man

@cfinden 560g x .186 = 100g of Ferrous sulfate or 3.5oz of FS. FS is 20% iron, therefore 0.7oz of Fe. That you sprayed into 1000sqft, so 0.7oz of Fe/M.

This is on the high side for a cool season lawn. If you can, run irrigation to clean the leaves.


----------



## cfinden

@g-man thanks for the breakdown. Makes sense. I did end up running my irrigation about 4 hours after application just to be safe. We also got 0.5" of rain last night.

I'm thinking about volume vs. weight units now. When you apply T-nex PGR do you use a scale to measure out the amount in OZ, or do you use a measuring spoon for volume?


----------



## g-man

If it is liquid, I use a syringe or a volume measurement device. I normally default to mL (10mL = 0.34oz).

If it is dry, then weight.


----------



## cfinden

Great, I didn't mess the PGR up then. 0.33oz/M (2 US TSP = 0.33oz) might be a bit high for a first dose, but we'll see how it responds.

The MossOut is liquid, but it doesn't have an application rate because it's not meant to be used in this way. For my next app does it make sense to weigh out enough MossOut to give me 2oz/M of FS (56g/0.185=302g of MossOut)


----------



## g-man

Yes


----------



## cfinden

Thanks g-man.

I'm realizing that the biosolids fertilizer I put down didn't really do much and the grass looks like it needs N.

I put down 0.75lb/M of N via Scotts Summerguard, and 1lb/M of K via SOP.


----------



## cfinden

Got a brand new mower as an early Father's Day present! A a Toro Recycler 22" with Briggs and Stratton engine, AWD Personal Pace with Powereverse


----------



## cfinden

Couple shots of the front yard cut at 3" HOC with my new Recycler. Starting to see some heat stress where it gets the most sun.







Update on the backyard path I built. Constant traffic from the dog and kids didn't allow most of my seed to germinate.


----------



## g-man

Awesome news on the mower. I like the stowaway option.


----------



## Baretta

Nice mower you got there. Retire the Honda? I've been planning on buying the Honda HRR216 promo $500 cdn push mower in the coming weeks unless I was able to find something on CL. Currently someone in selling a Toro Super 21" I think Honda engine asking $500. Brand new they are $800+ I believe.


----------



## cfinden

@g-man pretty happy with it. The stowaway is great for taking the blade off/on for sharpening too.

@Baretta Thanks! Ya I'm gonna throw the Honda on CL. The Honda was great it actually had more suction than the Toro and the self-propel was more powerful, but you couldn't mulch with it. It was too old for a mulching kit, so no way to block the bag exit on the deck.

That's a great deal on the HRR216, at my Honda dealer the cheapest model was $689 and it had zero options. Also great deal on a Toro Super Recycler if it's not too old and in good shape still.


----------



## Baretta

Interesting...would think pricing was for all of BC. I think you mention the one with Smart Drive for that price. As for the Toro...also posted in Sinclair's journal... dropped the price today. Looks like a year or two old. RWD.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rds/grd/d/langley-toro-super-recycler-lawn-mower/6907314016.html

Never owned a self propelled. Not sure how the reverse would work.


----------



## cfinden

Put down 2.5lb/M of Urea.


----------



## cfinden

Got a Toro Striping kit for my Recycler, quite happy with it.

All my Poa-A is starting to checkout from the heat. So far my Fall plan is to kill all the Poa-A and overseed with an elite TTTF maybe 4th Millennium.

Couple pics:


----------



## cfinden

Cut at 3.5" HOC with Toro Striping kit. Poa-A in the front is getting toasted by sun.


----------



## cfinden

Put down 12oz/M of Blackstrap Molasses and 100ml/M of Effective Microorganisms from Organic Pantry. https://www.gardenerspantry.ca/activated-em.html


----------



## cfinden

Laid down some sick stripes today also check out that sick Poa Annua, nauseating, HOC 3.5"


----------



## cfinden

Put down 2lbs/M SOP.

Irrigated 0.5".


----------



## Harts

Density looks great. Aside from the Poa, you have nice colour.


----------



## cfinden

Thanks @Harts. Your reel low lawn is looking great this season! :thumbup: I was "this" close to pulling the trigger on a $200 McLane, but didn't hear the best things about those.


----------



## cfinden

Sprayed Poa patches with Glypho + NIS on Aug 5, 2019.

I did some major tree trimming this season and the amount of sun coming in is really toasting the previously shady grass. I'm going to let it get toasted and overseed with the SSS SS100 TTTF blend (https://www.seedsuperstore.com/catalog/p-100003/ss1000-tall-fescue-blend) this fall.

Summer weather is finally here:


----------



## Harts

Summer just beginning in BC....haha. Gotta love it.


----------



## cfinden

@Harts Haha yep, I don't think it's normal, lots of rain. We have a fraction of the wildfires we had the last 2 summers which is great. Not sure when to drop my seed (overseed) though, I see a lot of people targeting Aug 10th for seed down on their renos, but I might have to push to the end of August with this weather. Any advice?


----------



## Harts

Just looked at your 14 day forecast. You should be good after Friday. Temps drop to the 70's.


----------



## cfinden

Started test pot of SS100 TTTF mix indoors in potting soil.


----------



## cfinden

Germination in 2 days on test pot!


----------



## cfinden

Cut lower at 1.75" looked real ugly and exposed all the bumps and holes I need to fill soon before my overseed.

Put down blanket tenacity+nis at 2oz/Acre tank mixed with 5oz/M of humic/fulvic/kelp from Simple Lawn Solutions
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07QPB5H63/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can see the spots that I've glypho'd and some dead/dormant patches from 38 degrees C (100F). Next step is to detatch and level with 50/50% sand/general purpose soil.


----------



## cfinden

Cut at 1.5", Dethatched, Bagged the mess, and did some leveling. More leveling to do and one more gly app, then seed down.


----------



## cfinden

Update of test pot SS1000 TTTF mix, this is 5 seeds in a pot, all of them germinated. Cut ~0.5" off top.

12 days test pot:



Still haven't put seed down on my front overseed turned into a reno.

Current state: Aerated, sprayed glyphosate everywhere, dethatched, mowed at lowest setting


So far this is my plan from it's current state. 
-Apply granular humic at 20lbs/M so that some falls into the aeration holes

-Spray MYKE® PRO TURF • WP (http://www.mykepro.com/mykepro-product-mycorrhizae/myke-pro-turf-wp-landscaping.aspx)

-Level entire yard with topsoil sand mix

-Seed down

-Roll seed

-Starter Fert or Milo or nothing, not sure yet

-Peat moss in some areas or entire yard depending on how much leveling was required

-Spray Tenacity + Ethofumesate + Humic/Fulvic/Sea Kelp from Simple Lawn Solutions + Effective Microorganisms (https://www.gardenerspantry.ca/microorganisms/effective-microorganisms.html)

-Water

Am I missing anything?


----------



## Chris LI

Enough cold adult beverages on hand, as a reward or if things go sideways.

Seriously, it looks like a good plan. Do you have time for a second glyphosate app, say a week later?

Also, alfalfa pellets or alfalfa meal might be a good addition. Alfalfa has triacontanol, which is a strong growth stimulant. If using pellets, 20 lbs. per 1000 sq ft. I would have to look up the conversation to kg/sq m. Although I haven't spread alfalfa meal, you should be able to spread it at a lower rate and get good, possibly better coverage.


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI you were right about the beers, things went sideways right when I tested irrigation. I nicked a pipe when I was digging a new border in. Fixing it today and then hopefully seed goes down.

I dont think I have time for another gly, I feel like I'm pushing my seed date already too late.

Good call on the alfalfa I actually have some from last year still.

Here's the yard with 1.5 yards of soil/sand


----------



## Harts

You could spray and put seed down same day....as long as it's straight gly.

Guess your striper is away for the season!!!!!!


----------



## Chris LI

Sorry to hear about the nick in the pipe, but glad you had some beers on hand! :nod:

@Harts 
I'm not sure which striper he has, but if it's a smooth roller, he could use it to roll his seed in. I tied my Toro 21" striper to my spreader when I dropped seed a couple of times. It's not nearly as heavy as a lawn roller, but I think it helped some with seed to soil contact.

I agree with the timeline of a second shot of glyphosate. I nuked mine and seeded the next day, because I was out of time, and it worked. However, it was my first shot, and I would have preferred to get a second one in before seeding.


----------



## Alias-Doe

Harts said:


> You could spray and put seed down same day....as long as it's straight gly.


Does this apply to Roundup super concentrate 50% glyphosate ? I'm thinking about spraying it the morning of my seeding. Will be seeding in the afternoon-evening time.


----------



## Harts

@Alias-Doe as long as gly is the only active ingredient, and it doesn't contain diquat, you'll be fine.


----------



## cfinden

August 24, 2019:

-Spread 20lbs/M Blackearth Humates
-Seed down
-Roll
-Spray 4oz/acre Tenacity, 0.75oz/M Ethofumesate, Humic/Kelp/Fulvic, Effective Microorganisms

Today:
-Spread Scott's Starter Fert


----------



## SNOWBOB11

Good stuff. Keep that seed watered. You'll have grass again in no time.


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 hope so! I didn't rake the seed into the soil or cover it with peat moss but it does have great seed to soil contact and I rolled it. Think I'll be ok?


----------



## SNOWBOB11

cfinden said:


> @SNOWBOB11 hope so! I didn't rake the seed into the soil or cover it with peat moss but it does have great seed to soil contact and I rolled it. Think I'll be ok?


Yeah, you'll be fine. I don't usually rake the seed myself but I do like peat moss when seeding. I've also not used it and it's turned out just as good. As long as the seed is in contact with the soil you will get good germination.


----------



## cfinden

Got a tiny bit of germination today... Hopefully that means things are gonna kick off with the rest of the seed.


----------



## cfinden

Got a ton of germination but its very patchy overall. I've made sure the soil has never dried up but I'm wondering if I'm watering too much and it's lowering the soil temps.

We've also had pretty cold night temps since seed down 13C (56F).

Not sure what to do other than cut back watering a bit and wait. I can still see a ton of seed just sitting on the soil not sprouting...

Day 11:


----------



## Harts

Is it just me or do parts of your soil look dry? The ring around the tree and the outer edge look wet. The rest looks dry.


----------



## Baretta

How much sun does your front lawn generally get and when is your last watering? If it's getting that cool maybe get your last watering early like I just learned. :roll: My overnights are 14-15.


----------



## Chris LI

I really like peat moss as a covering. Maybe you can add some more, in uncovered areas. PM is a great indicator of moisture and when you need to water. As long as the seed on top didn't germinate, you should be ok. Fingers crossed.


----------



## cfinden

@Harts the parts that look dry are dead grass I didn't remove. If you look from above you can see the soil and it is wet. If anything I've been watering too much it definitely hasn't dried out.

More peat moss and raking the seed in would've helped a lot I think.

@Baretta what happened with your overseed?

@Chris LI thanks. I even had 2 bales of PM I just ran out of time and patience. Was also building a retaining wall. Lesson learned. How do you know if the seed has started germinating and if it's dead? There's a ton of seed just sitting on top of the soil that looks normal.


----------



## Bug pumper

@cfinden 
When my TTTF germinated was Aug.2 I believe. At that time of summer and daytime heat I was watering for 5 minutes at 10am 2pm and a manual watering whenever I got home from work usually around 430. Then I'd let it dry out for the night. I also covered my whole yard with a thin layer of topsoil and raked in the seed with the back of a fan rake so YMMV. 
I was very concerned about some poor areas of germination so at 14 days I mowed it down gently and overseeded again. Just over one month out and all has filled in nicely.

I'm a big boy and couldn't see any noticeable damage from getting on the lawn to mow at 14 days germination. I'd say throw down again while you have time.


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper thanks, sounds like that's what I'm gonna have to do. Did you mow it with your rotary? You have any pics of your grow in?


----------



## Baretta

I'm sure your seed is still okay. I would spread more to be safe and sprinkle a thin layer of peat by hand over it since you have it. Maybe once soil temps go down a bit more you will see more activity.

I'm cutting most likely tonight with my manual reel. Shade area is coming in nicely. I'll have to do some spot reseeding as well. Penticton for a week so I don't want to take any chances. Cool wetter temps coming so hopefully no dry outs. Heard about the big school fire.


----------



## Bug pumper

@cfinden 
I didn't take to many photos, I wish I had taken more... 

Aug. 3 one week after seed down


Aug. 10 two weeks after seed down
Keep in mind I had much warmer overnight temps so my germination is accelerated. 
I mowed it down on the 14th to re seed as you can see the strips of bare soil which was my own doing from dragging the leaf rake around upside down to turn the seed in.

Edit, yes the initial mowing and all after we're done with my rotary. Used my driveway and neighbors lawn to turn around. In spots I couldn't turn, I would back out the way I can in.

Last 3 photos are from today. Getting there slowly starting to fill in now that it's really tillering. It took almost 4 weeks before the grass really started to tiller out. Cutting at 2" to promote spreading and light N apps of AMS.


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper damn that looks great!


----------



## cfinden

@Baretta good luck when you're gone! Ya my kids don't go to that school, but it's going to affect the whole city shuffling 500 kids around the other schools.


----------



## Baretta

@Bug pumper Would have thought July was early to put down seed but it worked out really well for you. Wasn't a scorcher this year. Aside from browning along the concrete curbs my TTTF held up pretty good. I have a 300 sqft section that grew in nice and thick. Hoping my overseed will follow.


----------



## Bug pumper

@cfinden 
Thanks I am looking forward to watching yours come in, as I am keen on a couple of the cultivars in your blend. 
@Baretta 
Glad to hear yours is holding strong, I'm glad I've got some company out here with a few of us giving the Tall Fescue a go on the West Coast. By the way, where did you pick up your cheap Urea from? A few places I called around pricing was no where near what you
Got it for!


----------



## Baretta

@Bug pumper Some guy had a pallet of them he was getting rid of on the cheap out in Abbotsford. It was posted in CL but never got back to me...pulled off next day. Only place I've seen it is Art Knapp's 5lbs for $12.99.

@cfinden Thanks! Not being able to see progress is going to bug me. Need the break though...too much going on. How's the back yard looking? Haven't seen pics in a while.


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper @Baretta I got a 25kg (55lb) bag of Urea for $22 at Purity Feed in Kamloops. Farm supply store


----------



## Baretta

@cfinden Congrats on 5000 views. :thumbup: Thanks Cody, totally forgot to call Okanagan Fertilizer during the week, there's one in Langley. Did you try them @Bug pumper?


----------



## Bug pumper

@Baretta 
I emailed them this morning and they got back to me. They do counter sales price for Urea is $18.40 / 25kg. 
Not sure if I'm going to get some this year as I bought enough AMS from Lowe's Bellingham to get me through the year (I think.)


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> @Chris LI thanks. I even had 2 bales of PM I just ran out of time and patience. Was also building a retaining wall. Lesson learned. How do you know if the seed has started germinating and if it's dead? There's a ton of seed just sitting on top of the soil that looks normal.


As long as you didn't see any (or many leaf blades pop), you should be fine. Even a light dusting of PM could help. You should be fine as long as you keep the area moist. The problem is when they germinate and then completely dry out.


----------



## Bug pumper

@cfinden 
How's the grow in going? Any pictures?


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper Haven't reseeded yet because we're having a ton of rain, hopefully tonight or tomorrow. 
@Chris LI thanks hopefully that's the case for at least some of the leftover seed.

here's Day 16 of original failed seeding:


----------



## cfinden

Reseeded on Sept 9th with 2LBS SS1000 TTTF mix and 8LBS Replicator 4N PRG and covered with peat moss. Here's what it looks like today. No signs of sprouts yet.


----------



## Bug pumper

Were you able to source the PRG from Canada? How come you decided to mix grass types, because of the weather window or other reasons? 
@DTTG13 talks highly of tetraploid PRG and is a southern B.C. member here.


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper Ya I got the PRG from local Purity Feed, but they came from http://www.premierpacificseeds.com/index.html in Surrey. $16 for a 5lb bag with 0% weed and 0% other crop, not bad. Here's the spec shet of the PRG:
http://www.premierpacificseeds.com/assets/replicator---prg.pdf

I felt like I had no choice because of weather, and I've used the seed in my backyard and it performs well.


----------



## cfinden

@Baretta Backyard is doing well besides the dog urine spots everywhere and the fact I haven't cut it for 2 weeks... It's kind of a wild Northern Mix back there but it grows really well. I'll take some pics after I mow it (hopefully soon).


----------



## Baretta

I have No mix in my other side yard as well. I was fortunate...my dog spots grew quick and super green. Ha! Should see babies any time now. Excellent temps for the next few weeks as well. So jealous.


----------



## cfinden

Day 9 from PRG re-seed, germination is everywhere you just can't see it on my terrible quality security camera.


----------



## cfinden

Here's a better pic? Still looks way better in person the germination coverage is actually pretty great, I'm excited to have a lawn again.


----------



## crazymas0n

looking good @cfinden Can't believe how cool and rainy it's been around these parts lately. Looking forward to the progress on your lawn.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

Looks nice. You'll have a full lawn with PRG in no time.


----------



## cfinden

@crazymas0n Thanks, ya I'm concerned about how much growing season we have left it was 6 C this morning... Also with the sun angle changing I'm only getting 2-3 hours of sun on a sunny day (which we're not getting).

@SNOWBOB11 Thanks, this time I think I'm good haha. Sorry to hear about your Triv. It didn't seem noticeable in your front yard pics?


----------



## SNOWBOB11

Thanks @cfinden. Yeah it's disappointing that I got some triv issues. Hopefully I can deal with them next spring without having to blanket round up the affected sections.


----------



## cfinden

Had a sunny day today. Some of the lawn still gets 4 hours of sun... Half the yard near the house only gets 2 hours.


----------



## crazymas0n

Fall has certainly come quick around here. Way colder than normal and no warm up in sight.


----------



## cfinden

Day 13 from PRG Seed Down:



Bare spot near the house has lots of germination, but gets the most shade so is growing slow.


----------



## crazymas0n

Looking good!


----------



## Bug pumper

Nice that's coming along now!


----------



## cfinden

Update Day 22:

Cutting at 1" HOC with manual reel.


----------



## crazymas0n

Coming along nicely!


----------



## Bug pumper

@cfinden ok I have to ask what's with the wheel barrow on the street? Parking enforcement?


----------



## Chris LI

Glad to see it's filling in for you. :thumbup:


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper haha yep. We have a house across the street full of college kids and they were parking up on the grass (bad driving). Wanted to protect it for a while. The city bylaw came a couple days ago and made me move it all.

@Chris LI Thanks, unfortunately the cultivars of PRG and TTTF I used don't spread via anything so I think I'm gonna have seed in the spring or attempt dormant seeding,


----------



## cfinden

Day 31 Update -Cut at 1" HOC with manual reel freshly backlapped


----------



## cfinden

Update on SS1000 TTTF Mix test pot (1 seed/plant left):

Day 12:


Day 75 I left 1 seed. (42 leaves total on plant! I asked my daughter to count them haha!):


----------



## SNOWBOB11

That's filling in well. Even if you have to touch in a few areas next spring you should be in good shape going forward.


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 The sun angle changed in the fall and half the yard is pure shade. That's where it's thin. Also I've heard that tetraploid PRG is not as dense as diploid. I think I need something more shade tolerant in that half of the yard though.

I saw a recent pic on your journal talking about shade, how much sun do you get on your front yard? Bewitched is somewhat shade tolerant right?

Thanks.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

cfinden said:


> @SNOWBOB11 The sun angle changed in the fall and half the yard is pure shade. That's where it's thin. Also I've heard that tetraploid PRG is not as dense as diploid. I think I need something more shade tolerant in that half of the yard though.
> 
> I saw a recent pic on your journal talking about shade, how much sun do you get on your front yard? Bewitched is somewhat shade tolerant right?
> 
> Thanks.


The leaves on the big tree that gives all the shade come out very late. Not until the first week of June do they open. Up until that point the yard gets mostly full sun. When the leaves are fully open the lawn gets only 2 or 3 hours of direct sun a day. The area right under the tree gets even less. Bewitched is very shade tolerant but no question it does prefer full sun. My lawn is still decently thick even in the most shady area. Bewitched and Mazama are the two shade tolerant KBG that come to mind. I think you could give one of those a try and see how it goes. Either that or fine fescue but you'd have to decide if you wanted to add that grass type back in to your mix.


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 Ah that makes sense. Ya one of the reasons I killed my NoMix was to get rid of CRF, now I'm thinking of adding it back haha. As long as I have no Poa I'll be happy.

Update on reno HOC 1" with manual reel:


----------



## cfinden

Another cut mostly for leaves. HOC 1". TTTF seems to be handling 1" just fine.


----------



## cfinden

Sucked up the leaves today with the Rotary.


----------



## cfinden

Still above freezing air temps and no snow. Lawns color is holding up well.


----------



## Chris LI

:thumbup: It's holding up a lot better than your neighbor's. That's a really good sign! I love to see when you folks up north are doing well, this late in the season. It gives me hope for a little longer season for me. Nice work!


----------



## cfinden

Thanks @Chris LI! Have you seen any snow in Jersey yet?


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> Thanks @Chris LI! Have you seen any snow in Jersey yet?


No snow, yet. Whoopie!


----------



## cfinden

Chris LI said:


> cfinden said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks @Chris LI! Have you seen any snow in Jersey yet?
> 
> 
> 
> No snow, yet. Whoopie!
Click to expand...

Nice! Also sorry I was on my phone, forgot you're in LI, New York! Not Jersey. Hope that wasn't an insult. 😝


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> Chris LI said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cfinden said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks @Chris LI! Have you seen any snow in Jersey yet?
> 
> 
> 
> No snow, yet. Whoopie!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Nice! Also sorry I was on my phone, forgot you're in LI, New York! Not Jersey. Hope that wasn't an insult. 😝
Click to expand...

No worries. We're all lawn nuts. They grow some good turf in Jersey. Rutgers has a great turf program and they have Ocean Gro, which I wish I could get on LI.


----------



## cfinden

Snows starting to melt and the grass is still quite green. Had a couple weeks of very low temperatures -6 F, grass seems to have survived.


----------



## Green

cfinden said:


> Snows starting to melt and the grass is still quite green. Had a couple weeks of very low temperatures -6 F, grass seems to have survived.


Good news! The snow did it's job, then.


----------



## cfinden

Did a dormant seeding on March 11, 2020 with Brett Young T2 Premium Turf Blend Ultracoat. Pic below. Notice the spreader wheel tracks in the snow...


----------



## cfinden

It got really cold again since the last photo. The lawn has no green left, not sure what happened, I hope it's not dead.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

I'd give it more time. It's still early. You might have to do some seeding. Don't be discouraged. You'll get there.


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 thanks for the encouragement! I guess worst case I'll just spring seed the whole thing. This weather makes me feel like it's never going to warm up. How's your lawn looking? I'll check your journal.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

cfinden said:


> @SNOWBOB11 thanks for the encouragement! I guess worst case I'll just spring seed the whole thing. This weather makes me feel like it's never going to warm up. How's your lawn looking? I'll check your journal.


Yeah you might have to do a spring seeding. Might have to bring in some top soil too. You can correct me if I'm wrong but your soil tends to look a little crusty in the pictures. It's almost like the seed has a difficult time taking hold?

I haven't started a journal yet for this season so no pictures. It's looking decent for the most part but there are a few areas I dug out triv last season and they are very sparse so I'm too ashamed to post pics lol. I moved some plugs the other day and haven't decided if I'm going to leave it and see if it fills in or if I'm going to seed the areas this spring. I'll decide in the next few weeks as I see how thing progress.


----------



## cfinden

Looks a bit better with some water on it.


----------



## Chris LI

Hang in there! Maybe now is a good time to drop some more seed with a peat moss covering. It looks like it's not completely out of dormancy, yet.


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI thanks, that's a good idea. I think spring seeding is better here anyways because of temps and sun angle, last fall was terrible for me.


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 it is quite crusty especially around that larger tree, the soil that's crusty is topsoil I brought in last fall for the reno lol. So maybe I should find some better topsoil.


----------



## Bug pumper

@cfinden 
Low temps are looking better now. Are you up hill or down in the valley? I would imagine overnight lows are a big difference between the 2. That's very strange that quick colour change at the end there.


----------



## cfinden

Bug pumper said:


> @cfinden
> Low temps are looking better now. Are you up hill or down in the valley? I would imagine overnight lows are a big difference between the 2. That's very strange that quick colour change at the end there.


I'm way up on the hill, it's freezing up here still. Down in the valley they have green grass everywhere.


----------



## cfinden

Grass is still coming up from the seemingly dead spots, maybe it'll be ok...


----------



## Baretta

Just a thought for fall seeding by moving seed down from early to mid August. My next Reno area gets 5 hours of direct sun so I'm planning around August 15.


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> @Chris LI thanks, that's a good idea. I think spring seeding is better here anyways because of temps and sun angle, last fall was terrible for me.


It's a noticeable improvement from last week. Did you have a chance to drop any seed to supplement any regrowth? After a warmer winter for folks in my area, we've been hit with cold spring weather, which has hindered our growth. Are you still experiencing low temperatures? AS and urea will release in cool weather. Maybe you can start some gentle spoonfeeding with spraying some light doses of N on turf that has come out of dormancy.


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI seeded on May 2nd, 2020 with Brett Young KBG, PRG, CRF premium mix with peat moss, granular humic acid, and alfalfa pellets.


----------



## Bug pumper

@cfinden 
Where are you getting your granular humic? Sorry if I missed it.


----------



## Chris LI

:thumbup: 
Good luck!


----------



## SNOWBOB11

Hope things work out for you with the spring seeding. :thumbup:


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI @SNOWBOB11 thanks guys! I've got my irrigation dialed in and I have lots of shade i think I'll be ok, also the area that gets the most sun is mostly full already.

@Bug pumper np, this granular humic seems like good stuff, really great price too, $16 for 50lb bag from Purity Feed in Kamloops. https://www.blackearth.com/products-california#ACTIV80GG


----------



## Bug pumper

Thanks I'll have to make a pit stop in there next time I'm through. That's a fantastic price.


----------



## cfinden

My lawn today from the flattering angle.


----------



## Baretta

I'm adoring mine from a distance as well. It's getting there. Good luck!


----------



## cfinden

@Baretta thanks man! How's your reno going? Saw some pics a week or so back it looked like good coverage.


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> My lawn today from the flattering angle.


It looks like it's starting to fill in. Color looks good, too. I need to use that camera angle strategy when looking at my head in the mirror, when I shave. Lol


----------



## Baretta

We've had wet/cooler temps of late but its slowly filling in. Sure looks nice in the morning though. High 20's in the coming days. Will post soon.

What's the back yard looking like these days?

@Chris LI No camera could make mine look good. Too late for that. :lol:


----------



## Baretta

cfinden said:


> @Chris LI @SNOWBOB11 thanks guys! I've got my irrigation dialed in and I have lots of shade i think I'll be ok, also the area that gets the most sun is mostly full already.
> 
> @Bug pumper np, this granular humic seems like good stuff, really great price too, $16 for 50lb bag from Purity Feed in Kamloops. https://www.blackearth.com/products-california#ACTIV80GG


@Bug pumper Terralink carries it I'm told.


----------



## cfinden

Sorry about your hair guys... mines kinda receding too... at least we have grass that grows!


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> Sorry about your hair guys... mines kinda receding too... at least we have grass that grows!


 :lol:


----------



## cfinden

Day 25 after seed down, the seedlings are not even visible from a distance they're so small. The lawn looks better from the existing turf getting thicker, HOC 1" with Gardena Electric Reel mower.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

That's looking much better. Should thicken up and look good as it continues to mature.


----------



## DiabeticKripple

Looking good!

Should spread and fill in nicely in the next month.


----------



## Chris LI

^+1 on it looking good and thickening up! Are you spoonfeeding N?

What do you think of the Gardena so far?


----------



## cfinden

Thanks guys, forgot to post my fert apps.

Put down 0.5lb of N per M of Replenish 10-2-5 3 weeks ago

And another 0.5lb of N per M of Replenish 3 days ago.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.earthworksturf.com/replenish-10-2-5/&ved=2ahUKEwj1qPbQh9jpAhWJqZ4KHRwlCxUQFjACegQIDhAL&usg=AOvVaw0q3-C--BLVQ3a65qNA-8Z0


----------



## Chris LI

That's a nice hybrid product. I buy pallets of a similar product at work called Espoma Lawn Food 15-0-5. I started using it at home several years ago and liked it a lot, so I bought it for my ballfields at work. It has the AS, MU and Pasturized poultry manure just like Replenish. It gives a quick pop and builds OM with plenty of slow release N. Do you have any experience with it? If you haven't used it yet, I think you will like it.


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI I've only used it this spring, I thought the AS would be good for lower temps. It greens up nice and doesn't seem to push excessive growth. I like it.

It stinks pretty bad when I apply it, but I find the scent goes away in a day, compared to Milo which seems to last a week for me.


----------



## cfinden

Security cam photo for later comparison:


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI the gardena cuts really nice, but it's so light that it doesn't stripe. I'm gonna try to replace the plastic roller with a heavy metal one and maybe add some extra weight. It also doesn't self propel whatsoever. @Gilley11 how's your Gardena?


----------



## Chris LI

Thanks for the review.


----------



## Gilley11

I love the Gardena, for what I use it for it's perfect. It's not self propelled but since it's electric you don't have to spin the reel because the motor does it for you. Even on a decent hill it's easy.


----------



## cfinden

Sprayed down:
-1.5oz FS / M
-3oz Soil Hume Simple Lawn Solutions/ M
-2oz Effective Microorganisms/ M


----------



## Matix99def

Is the EM from gardeners pantry? If so is it the activated stuff?


----------



## cfinden

@Matix99def yes, from gardeners pantry, I got the activated stuff. I've seen results using it on my garden beds, can't say on the lawn yet.


----------



## Baretta

I should try my plant beds as well. Increase EM and kelp rates a little. I think I only got around to doing maybe 2 apps last year so pretty much have all the product left. Not sure we'll be able to tell visually by looking at the lawn but looking at the soil via plugs could. Maybe a years worth of apps though. It ain't no super juice. Ha!


----------



## cfinden

@Baretta do it! I think the stuff does something.

Put down 0.5lb N/M of Brett Young Milo Clone 2 days ago.

Mulch mowed with rotary at 2" HOC today, grass is much darker at higher HOC.


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> Mulch mowed with rotary at 2" HOC today, grass is much darker at higher HOC.


It looks great, and really filled in! I'm going up to 2", as well, on the next mow, for darker color and other reasons.


----------



## cfinden

Ripped out garbage asphalt and prepped our driveway for concrete today.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

Nice. Lawns looking good in the background there too.


----------



## Baretta

Nice! It will make the property look that much better...kids will enjoy playing on it and right when the lawn is starting pop. :thumbsup:


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 @Baretta thanks guys, concrete turned out really well I'll post a pic shortly. Lawns looking nice and dark, I have some broadleaf weeds I'll need to treat soon.


----------



## gatorguy

Looks great compared to a few months ago! Any plans to remove those two smaller trees in the future? I predict them being a pain. You do have a nice big one by the road.


----------



## cfinden

@gatorguy thanks, for sure looks a lot better. I've been trying to convince my wife to remove those for the past 3 years... they're terrible to mow around.


----------



## cfinden

Quick security cam update, you can see some of the concrete driveway.


----------



## Baretta

Wow! Looks nice and dark. Sneak peek of the driveway too! :thumbsup:

My neighbours a few houses down put in a concrete driveway is 3 stages. It's been a month since they finished and they still haven't driven on it. Must of got the 30 day cure cement. :no:


----------



## cfinden

Here's the concrete driveway.


----------



## cfinden

Edged the front today. Put down 0.5lb N/M of Brett Young Milo Clone (5-1-2)
https://imgur.com/a/trv1cdB


----------



## cfinden

Mowed at 3" HOC


----------



## SNOWBOB11

That is looking fantastic. Well done. Good recovery from how it was looking earlier this year.


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 Thanks man, I'm pretty happy with it considering how it looked in May. I need to work on my mowing lines and break out my lawn striper, I have trouble mowing around trees and keeping the lines straight.


----------



## cfinden

Took out my tree curbing, edged and replaced with rubber mulch, still have to do the other tree


----------



## Baretta

Wow! Amazing what they can come up with. Lawn looks awesome! :thumbsup:


----------



## cfinden

Sprayed this tank mix over 1ksqft:
4oz killex 
0.5oz etho prograss
Some surfactant


----------



## cfinden

@Baretta thanks!


----------



## cfinden

Security cam update on 7-15-2020:


----------



## cfinden

From the street
Edit: I'm so bad at striping, with the small lawn and 2 trees I really don't find the mow very rewarding especially with the striper on.


----------



## cfinden

Cut at 3.5", color still holding well in 30 degrees celcius


----------



## cfinden

My son learning how to stripe.


----------



## cfinden

Put down 0.5lb N of Brett Young Milo clone and 20lb of granular humic acid.


----------



## Bug pumper

Your lawn is looking awesome! Hard to believe it's the same lawn from the start of this year. Amazing that stuff from the fall must have been lurking around in there still. 
Have you been able to identify what grass types are really taking well?

Not sure if you know this but Growers Supply has a steady stock of Black Earth humic acid. I think the closest one to you would be Vernon.


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper thanks man! I find it hard to believe myself, I feel like one day it was a full lawn all of a sudden.

The lawn is approximately 75% prg, 15% tttf, 10% kbg, and 5% CRF, we'll see how that changes in the next couple years.

The prg I used is a tetraploid so it's supposed to be stronger, deeper roots, more disease resistant, and winter active. It's called "Replicator 4N"

Thanks for the tip on the black earth, did you end up getting some yourself?


----------



## Bug pumper

You bet 5 bags and a couple for another member on the coast. My parents live on West side across from Vernon so should be easy to keep a stockpile.


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper nice!

Mowed at 3.5" HOC today.


----------



## Chris LI

Wow, that is beautiful! It makes me rethink my 2" HOC that I've been struggling with in this extended heat wave. Keep the photos coming!


----------



## cfinden

Thanks @Chris LI, that's funny, I'm missing the lower HOC, it's holding up well despite 40 degree celcius (105 F), I have a lot of shade though thankfully, some sections that have full sun are starting to struggle, I'll post some pics shortly.


----------



## cfinden

Spot sprayed Poa A, other undesirable looking grass, and broadleaf weeds with this tank mix:
1 gallon water 
0.5 teaspoon tenacity
0.5oz etho Prograss
1.5 teaspoon surfactant

3.5" HOC

Mid mow:

Post mow:


----------



## cfinden

Put down 0.75 lb N / M of Replenish fert


----------



## Bug pumper

Do you have grass in the back? I never see any photos of the backyard!
(Sorry for being nosey) :nod:


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper I do, and I tried to take care of it for a couple years then we got a 100lb boxer mastiff... it's full of holes and pee spots. I'll take a couple photos of it today.


----------



## cfinden

Checkout my tenacity bleaching, the etho Pro grass / Poa constrictor didn't seem to help to reduce bleaching.

If the good grass is white, does that mean it's going to die? Do the plants actually die because of the bleaching?

Here's the original photo


Color modified to see tenacity spots:


----------



## Bug pumper

cfinden said:


> @Bug pumper I do, and I tried to take care of it for a couple years then we got a 100lb boxer mastiff... it's full of holes and pee spots. I'll take a couple photos of it today.


I'm struggling with the fact that there's a 2 week old chocolate lab with our name on it right now. Trying to enjoy the back lawn in all it's glory while I can LOL. 
I'm hoping to do a full KBG reno on it next spring. Seed is being shipped as we speak. Wife is not convinced about it seeing as there has been some sort of a reno at our house every year for 4 years...
Shed be happy with weeds I think. 
I'm not familiar with that mix of dog but we had a boxer when I was a kid. Loyal as could be. He was a fantastic family dog as I'm sure yours is as well.


----------



## cfinden

@Bug pumper Haha good luck! With some good training I think you'll be fine. I'll be interested to see how KBG does in Langley.

Here's some photos of my back yard, pre cut and cleanup:


----------



## cfinden

Mowed at 3" HOC, some heat stress, 2 weeks of 30+C and no cloud or rain. Tenacity bleaching still present.


----------



## cfinden

Bubble mowed at ?"


----------



## Matix99def

Dude, you have to teach them very young to keep the lines straight!


----------



## cfinden

@Matix99def hahaha ikr, she just goes for it, she's very determined.


----------



## cfinden

Top view


----------



## cfinden

Put down 0.25oz / M Prodiamine and 0.75oz / M of etho Prograss, watered in


----------



## cfinden

Mow at 3" HOC


----------



## cfinden

HOC 3", put down 30-0-3 2% Fe Scotts Fert at bag rate.

Added a mulch ring to my other tree.


----------



## Baretta

Looks mulch better. :thumbsup:


----------



## cfinden

@Baretta ha thanks!

Cut at 3" HOC


----------



## cfinden

Security cam update:


----------



## Baretta

What a difference between what it looked like in the spring and now. That is some dark right there.


----------



## gatorguy

Come a long ways, looks great!


----------



## cfinden

Raked the front today, it's very crispy and dormant, but looks better then last year's spring.


----------



## cfinden

Almost 1 month later not much green coming up in the lawn... Not sure what's going on with our winters, we're getting crazy low temps right after it starts warming up.

I'm worried that it's not coming back again.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

I'd still give it some time but it is a bit worrying that the lawn across the street has greened up.


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 yes very worrying for me, I really don't want to be spring seeding my lawn every year. What kills a lawn that grew thick and healthy from Spring to Fall all 2020? Is it just the cold? KBG is the most cold tolerant grass right? I basically have no KBG in my lawn.


----------



## SNOWBOB11

cfinden said:


> @SNOWBOB11 yes very worrying for me, I really don't want to be spring seeding my lawn every year. What kills a lawn that grew thick and healthy from Spring to Fall all 2020? Is it just the cold? KBG is the most cold tolerant grass right? I basically have no KBG in my lawn.


Honestly I'm a bit stumped why it would not have greened up yet. I was trying to think of a reason and I couldn't. I don't know if your shade is a issue? I'm hoping in a few weeks you'll see some difference. If not you might have to seed again


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 it seems to be coming alive very slowly, I think it has to grow completely from the crowns and like you said I'm not getting very much sun, maybe 3 hours.. I also measured soil temps, I'm barely at 55 F in the sunniest areas.


----------



## Chris LI

Maybe a gentle raking with a metal leaf rake or Groundskeeper II rake, to get the thatch and junk up, will help. It should help get more sun to the soil and crowns to wake things up.


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI appreciate the reply! I've actually raked it 3 times now with my metal leaf rake, a lot of material came up but everything else seems to be attached to the ground.

Here's a photo from Apr 29, 2021 showing where the sun hits in the afternoon, it seems to match up with the green-up.


----------



## Chris LI

I went back through your journal to this time last year and think you need to drop some seed now. I would get down on your hands and knees and look for any growth from the crowns. Looking at the surrounding lawns, yours should be a bit more along. It has me concerned. I'm curious, what are your high and low temperatures right now? Is that about the same as last year? What is the coldest your area gets in the winter? Maybe you need to add a little more FF to your seed mix. The PRG is good to hold the soil in place while the other seed is trying to germinate. I'm guessing that a lot may die off in your area due to winter kill from low temps. Your lawn looked great going into the fall last year, so maybe a lot of what grew from seed was PRG. Thoughts?


----------



## Harts

I'm concerned with the lack of progress as well, given your the colour of your neighbouring lawns.

I would drop more seed, but I'd also be inclined to try and figure out what happened.


----------



## DiabeticKripple

Looks like you head massive winter kill.

My lawn did the same last year, but mine was caused by my asshole dog.

I left it hoping it would come in, but it never did so I had a big overseed to do.


----------



## Matix99def

Ya I think I would be looking at throwing down seed soon. Would have to look at local temps. is it possible you did a lot of crown damage on the first rake that you did? Maybe it was a bit frosty or frozen down in there?


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI Thanks for taking a look! April was unseasonably cold and dry, current low and high temps in F are 66, lows to 43. It was -4 F for a few weeks with not very much snow cover. Your theory on the PRG dying makes sense, is FF more cold resistant? Even more than KBG?

@Harts @DiabeticKripple @Matix99def Thanks guys, I'll probably have to seed... it does look incrementally better today.

Today


Last week


----------



## DiabeticKripple

That's way better, maybe we were wrong?


----------



## Chris LI

FF is more cold tolerant than PRG. I think it has similar cold tolerance as kbg. My thoughts on adding additional FF to your mix was twofold:

1. It looks like you have a lot of shade, so part of the problem could be not enough sun to support the kbg, so it can "fade away" in densely shaded areas.

2. Spring seeding is tough; especially for kbg. The immature roots tend to get cooked in the summer. I think FF might be a little easier to spring seed, but I'm not positive.

The only drawback (besides less aesthetic turf quality of kbg) is that FF tends to be alleopathic and reduces the ability to overseed (especially with kbg). If shade is a major issue, and you want more kbg, I suggest purchasing some straight Mazama kbg to add into your mix, and keep trying to seed with it and grow some plugs of it.

On a very positive note, your most recent photo shows noticeable improvement over the past week. I would still drop seed ASAP, but you might be in better shape than we thought.


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI Thanks all your points makes sense, I was on the same page last year, thinking I needed more shade tolerant cultivars.

I think with my shade, non shade resistant cultivars/species, and winter kill (not great cold resistant PRG) is what caused the outcome I'm seeing now.

I'd like to throw a bunch of CRF in there, do you know of any decent cultivars? Strong spreading, and decent color would be ideal.


----------



## doverosx

Rake up the yellow stuff, continue with N and hope for the best. I was very worried, like you are, but now I've got over 90% coverage.


----------



## cfinden

@doverosx Thanks! I'm hoping it's still coming back.

Here's some closer pics from yesterday.


----------



## Chris LI

cfinden said:


> @Chris LI Thanks all your points makes sense, I was on the same page last year, thinking I needed more shade tolerant cultivars.
> 
> I think with my shade, non shade resistant cultivars/species, and winter kill (not great cold resistant PRG) is what caused the outcome I'm seeing now.
> 
> I'd like to throw a bunch of CRF in there, do you know of any decent cultivars? Strong spreading, and decent color would be ideal.


I did some homework to look up some CRF ratings. My quick reference is Seed Superstore, because their selections are based on NTEP (and I know the varieties are available). I also looked at the most recent NTEP report for Fineleaf Fescues. This includes Chewings, Hard, Creeping Red, Sheep, etc. Both listed Cardinal II CRF. NTEP also listed SeaMist CRF. NTEP lists Cardinal II as a Strong CRF, and SeaMist as Slender CRF. I guess there are finer differences within the CRF family.

I almost missed Marvel CRF. I was looking around Cardinal II, and should have looked higher on the list. It is #2 for overall turf quality. It might be worth going through the report to look for any specific categories (color, establishment, etc.), but there aren't too many on the market, anyway. I don't know the availability of Marvel and SeaMist, but at least SSS has Cardinal II. They are pricey in small quantities, but it may be worth it, if you just need a little to supplement what you have.

I included the link to the report and info on some of the cultivars below. I find downloading the NTEP reports and opening them up with Adobe the most convenient for me to view. Thanks for asking about suggestions...I got to enjoy nerding out a little and learn a little more about FF. I don't usually look them up on NTEP.

https://ntep.org/reports/ff14/ff14_20-14f/ff14_20-14f.htm

https://www.seedsuperstore.com/catalog/p-100105/cardinal-ii-creeping-red-fescue

https://www.mtviewseeds.com/turf-fine-fescue#:~:text=Revolutionary%20Slender%20Creeping%20Red%20Fescue,in%20the%20recent%20NTEP%20trials.

https://landmarkseed.com/products/fine-fescue-grass-seed


----------



## jskierko

This journal has piqued my interest as much as any out there. Love following along. I think if this thing makes it all the way back you deserve LOTM, or cinderella story of the year (maybe they TLF can make a new comeback award).


----------



## cfinden

@jskierko thanks for the encouragement.

I don't think it's coming back in the large bare spots, I put down CRF and chewings fescue seed and covered with peat moss on May 16th, 2021.


----------



## amartin003

Do you have any enemies - maybe they salted the lawn?! But in all seriousness I'm rooting for you, hope you can get it looking good again. Your pictures last year were goals for my lawn!


----------



## cfinden

@amartin003 haha sure looks like I have enemies. Thanks for the encouragement and compliments on it's previous state.

Day 17 after seed down, grass babies are still tiny but there's excellent germination coverage.


----------



## cfinden

Day 24 from seed down, all the new growth seen is existing grass, the seedlings are still too small to see.


----------



## cfinden

Before and after.

*May 16th, 2021*


*June 8th 2021*


----------



## cfinden

Put down Scott's Starter Fert at bag rate


----------



## Chris LI

:thumbup: It looks like you have quite an improvement! Is it still mostly a resurgence of existing turf, or do you have a lot of germination at this point? I hope you're breathing easier.


----------



## cfinden

@Chris LI thanks! The growth you can see is all resurgence of existing turf, I do have good germination coverage but the baby creeping red fescue is growing insanely slow, I think I'll have complete coverage by the end of July.


----------



## cfinden

View from the front, it almost looks like a lawn.


----------



## cfinden




----------



## SNOWBOB11

Well that only looks 700 times better!! Good recovery.


----------



## synergy0852

Nice turn around!


----------



## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 @synergy0852 thanks!

We have record breaking temps here but my front lawn is still holding up thanks to the shade.


----------



## cfinden

Cut at 2.5", still filling in nicely, putting down 0.5 N /Ksqft of Replenish.

Color looks off due to large amounts of wildfire smoke making the sunlight orange


----------



## DiabeticKripple

BC is on fire man.

We were on a job north a FSJ and got evacuated out of there. Fire spring up 5km from site and was burning aggressively.


----------



## cfinden

@DiabeticKripple ya, it's not good man. Fort St. James? My dad lives there on Stuart lake. Did you get the heat wave in Red Deer?


----------



## cfinden

Before and after
May 16th


July 10th


----------



## DiabeticKripple

cfinden said:


> @DiabeticKripple ya, it's not good man. Fort St. James? My dad lives there on Stuart lake. Did you get the heat wave in Red Deer?


Fort St John.

Ya we did get it in red deer. Couple spots on the lawn burnt as the GF went away for a week in the middle of it. Not looking nearly as bad as the rest of the town though.


----------



## cfinden

Top view after cut 2.5" HOC


----------



## cfinden

Drunken attempt at half width stripes in the 10 out of 10 ash filled smokey poor air quality


----------



## Baretta

We've had the smoke here off and on and the heat. 10+ AQ rating yesterday but looks ongoing for you up there. Hope you have AC. At least your lawn is green. :thumbsup:


----------



## cfinden

@Baretta the smoke is brutal here, so bad you don't want to be outside. Thankfully we do have AC. Hope you and your family are doing well.

Pic of the backyard, cut at 2.5"


----------



## cfinden

August 29th, 2021 - Cut at 2.5" HOC


----------



## cfinden

I'm noticing the quality of my phone camera is very poor and struggles with the detail of the grass blades. Here's a couple pics with a DSLR.


----------



## cfinden

2.5" HOC


----------



## jskierko

This has come a long way in the last 3 months. Color is looking nice!


----------



## cfinden

@jskierko thanks!

Been cutting the front lawn with my manual reel at 1.5"



Pic of the backyard


----------



## cfinden

Snows melted, colors looking a lot better then last spring!
*March 25 2021*

*March 27 2022*


----------



## cfinden

April 21 2022


----------



## Colinwjholding

Can we please get some heat out here lol.

Where in Bc you located?


----------



## cfinden

@Colinwjholding Right? It's brutal, it's snowed the last 2 weekends here in Kamloops. Kamloops is in the interior of BC, near Kelowna and Merritt, it's a semi desert.


----------



## Colinwjholding

cfinden said:


> @Colinwjholding Right? It's brutal, it's snowed the last 2 weekends here in Kamloops. Kamloops is in the interior of BC, near Kelowna and Merritt, it's a semi desert.


Ya brutal. I for some reason thought you were Coquitlam but got you mixed up with one of the other BC guys


----------



## TheNorse

Looks like I have the same problem you had last spring. Did most of your PRG die off or did it bounce back? Mine looks completely dead at this point. Thinking of going red fescue for an overseed.

Awesome recovery btw! 😎


----------



## cfinden

@TheNorse Hopefully some of that comes back! In my lawn basically all of my PRG died over the past 2 winters, last spring after the PRG die off, I overseeded with KBG & Creeping red fescue.

THIS spring it appears the only thing that is actually green (and alive) is KBG. KBG is supposed to be the most cold tolerant I believe.

Did you have much snow cover on your lawn? How cold are your winters? In my city we can get weeks of -20 C.


----------



## TheNorse

I've done some reading from local turf studies, and it appears your right. PRG is generally considered a emergency repair grass in Norway. It will only survive very mild winters.

The study also confirms what your saying. KBG seems to be the go to grass for winter survival. *** mixed with red fescue seems common.

We usually get around the same temps during winter. I'd guess -15 C is the norm. Snow as well.

Found a mix containing 85%KBG 15% Red fescue. Made for sod production. I'll try to get hold of a bag.

KBG it is i guess. &#128517;


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## cfinden

@TheNorse I looked up Oslo weather, I think you could get away with spring seeding your lawn if you keep it well watered. KBG takes a while to establish itself, but it is self repairing which is nice.


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## cfinden

Filled in significantly, cut at 1.5" HOC with manual reel


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## SNOWBOB11

Looking much better :thumbsup:


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## cfinden

@SNOWBOB11 thanks!

I'm seeing 90% KBG in my lawn this spring, I love it.

Security Cam update - 2022-05-24 - (ignore the date/time on the pic)


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## cfinden

Bought a 20" California trimmer, I've been cutting the lawn every 2 days at 1" HOC. Waiting on a front roller from Reelrollers.



Video of Caltrimmer
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HmUKqxAkn6Jtx9Q67


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## TheNorse

Filling inn nicely!


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## cfinden

@TheNorse Yes, almost no bare spots! The KBG is really spreading, I can see tiny rhizome plants coming up.


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## Colinwjholding

Nice looking great!


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## Baretta

Looks fanastic. Nice purchase. Didn't realize you were in the market for a reel. Someone is selling a Jacobsen GM on CL in you area.


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## cfinden

@Baretta thanks! Oh really? I just took a quick look, I'm not seeing it? If you have a min, I wouldn't mind taking a look if you have the link.


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## Baretta

I'm not currently seeing it either but this is the link as of 2 days ago. It's a Jacobsen Greens King 522A.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4968618649858839/?ref=browse_tab&search_query=Jacobsen%20mower&tracking=%7B%22qid%22%3A%22-6250497241634372683%22%2C%22mf_story_key%22%3A%225342372999114507%22%2C%22commerce_rank_obj%22%3A%22%7B%5C%22target_id%5C%22%3A5342372999114507%2C%5C%22target_type%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22primary_position%5C%22%3A-1%2C%5C%22ranking_signature%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22commerce_channel%5C%22%3A503%2C%5C%22value%5C%22%3A0%7D%22%2C%22ftmd_400706%22%3A%22111112l%22%7D&mds=%2Fnt%2Fmodal%2F%3Fquery%3D%252Fmarketplace%252Fnt%252Fphoto%252F%253Fid%253D4987679411287012%26title%3DJacobson%2520Walk%2520Behind%2520Reel%2520Mower&mdf=1&_rdr


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## cfinden

@Baretta thanks! I'll take a look.

Today's mow 1" HOC


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## Chris LI

Beautiful! I remember you fighting battles with dieoff. Now, you're winning the war! Density looks great, and will love that Caltrimmer!


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## cfinden

@Chris LI thanks! I love this KBG, I can really see it spreading this season.


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## cfinden

Putting down Scotts GrubEx this weekend. First time doing a grub treatment, I noticed a ton of grub damage last fall.


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## cfinden

1" HOC


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## cfinden

Had to raise the HOC to 1.5" due to rain. Going to apply PGR for the first time this weekend.


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## cfinden

Cut again


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## cfinden

Evening cut at 1.5" HOC


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## TheZMan

Cut looks great!


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## cfinden

@TheZMan thanks!


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## cfinden

My cherries are ripe, my front roller does a great job demolishing them into the turf. :lol:


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## cfinden

We're in the hottest part of summer now and parts of my lawn are getting toasted, seems to be mostly due to poor irrigation coverage.


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## cfinden

Evening cut. I really let the little tree in front go wild this season.


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## cfinden




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## cfinden

Here's the best section of my lawn, growing in very thick with weekly N spoon feeding.


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