# 717driver's first time Journal and first CS lawn (2020)



## driver_7 (Jun 28, 2018)

Hello,

I'm starting my first lawn journal and it also comes in tandem with my first year rehabbing a cool-season lawn in SE Michigan. We bought this house in November of 2019 after 4 years in Arkansas. I had a reel-low Tifway-419 Bermuda hybrid lawn with major drainage problems.

This house and lawn were neglected by the previous owners. We bought it at such a discount that I figured we could give renovations a shot both inside and outside.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with cool-season grass, it's some sort of Tall Fescue and crabgrass salad currently. I plan to nuke and full renovate this fall. I'm just trying to make it suitable for a dog and a 3-year-old to play in this summer.

I can't use my JD 220A on this yard currently, it's like the surface of the moon. Therefore I'm left to run a early 00's Craftsman 42" riding mower. I bought this sucker for $1. I added the tow behind spreader today after buying it at Menards with a rebate certificate.





It's about 41,000ft2[/sup] of grass, with overall about 1.5 acres. I don't have any good pictures of the lot yet, frankly because I've been embarrassed of the condition and how decrepit it feels compared to our previous home in NW Arkansas.

I'll try to get some tomorrow if the weather holds up.

Today I did the first mow and applied barricade in granule form, because I can't even begin to think about backpack spraying 41,000ft[sup]2. I'll have to figure out a towable spray rig or maybe the 80lbs Lesco with spreadermate might work.



I'm probably going to get furloughed in October, so these plans all might change significantly by then, but I hope to get this yard into a condition that I'm proud of and is TLF worthy.

Speaking of TLF, I need to get a sticker on that mower. My JD is sitting with a sad face in the shed as it knows it won't get used anytime soon.

That's all for now. This was very sporadic and freeform... please excuse my noob-ish Lawn Journal!


----------



## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Lawn looks pretty decent in your pics. Even with just regular mowing it should start looking nice as the weeks go by in Spring. Welcome to Michigan


----------



## driver_7 (Jun 28, 2018)

Vtx531 said:


> Lawn looks pretty decent in your pics. Even with just regular mowing it should start looking nice as the weeks go by in Spring. Welcome to Michigan


Thank you, @Vtx531. We're happy to be back! Your lawn looks outstanding. I miss my sub 1" HOC, but I'll come around to this stuff I'm sure. Running the reel mower was a lot of fun and picking up after the dog was so easy at that height. :lol:

Thanks again for the warm welcome!


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Very cool! I see that inheriting a salad bar in the spring is an opportunity to go nowhere but up. Since you're experienced with warm season grasses, you just have to get used to a different animal. I wouldn't rule out your 220 yet. Maybe you could raise it to the max HOC and try it on a smaller test area. I recall seeing info posted by @Pete1313 with info on fairway HOC parts (bedknife, I think) that would get you near 1.5". I smell a reno with Bewitched/Mazama coming your way (you could add a third cultivar for some insurance against fungus). This looks very interesting. I will be following.


----------



## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Congrats on the new property! Digging that mower, its a classic!

You are in a similar situation to what I was in in 2016. I went from reel mowing 4k sq ft to 1.25 acres with 38k of that being grass. Even more you are going from warm to cool season grass.. Learning curve for sure and equipment upgrades are a must. I took a full year just to learn the yard and get equipment in order before I renovated. I look forward to watching your progress!



Chris LI said:


> I wouldn't rule out your 220 yet. Maybe you could raise it to the max HOC and try it on a smaller test area. I recall seeing info posted by @Pete1313 with info on fairway HOC parts (bedknife, I think) that would get you near 1.5".


A 220 on 41k would be ridiculous but maybe a smaller dedicated low cut area would be cool. No fairway HOC parts available, you might have heard me mention hi-cut fairway bedknife before which would fit a 220A. It is a more suitable knife for higher HOC's but it does not raise the HOC. You could go with a 3" front roller to get the HOC up some if wanted.


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

@Pete1313
Thanks for clearing that up. I was hoping you would chime in with the correct info/options in case I gave misinformation.


----------



## driver_7 (Jun 28, 2018)

New sprayer arrived today! Going to swap the nozzles for TeeJets and the associated hardware. I bought the agitator kit, but I don't think I'm going to install it right away. Will try without it.



Meanwhile, we got an inch of snow yesterday.



Good day for having a stick.


----------



## Kallgren (Nov 10, 2018)

$1 Mower is a steal!


----------



## driver_7 (Jun 28, 2018)

Fresh mow yesterday. Decent look at the yard space and condition of the "lawn".


----------



## driver_7 (Jun 28, 2018)

Mowed for the first time in 14 days yesterday. Yikes.

We had our second child on 5/5 and things just got crazy. In and out of hospital, etc. Everyone is happy and healthy now!

I managed to find a couple hours to give it a mow and spray the (new gravel) driveway down with some herbicide. I was surprised with how quickly the weedS and grass started to find their way through 2" of gravel.







FIL offered up his machine for the day because we were so overgrown. It would've taken me considerably longer on the 42" rider vs. his new ZT1. 


It cut really well and was fun to drive. I'm not totally sold on a ZTR to replace my rider when the time comes, but it sure was fun to operate for the day!

A couple of weeks ago I had 14 yards of gravel brought to the house and I spread it into a driveway by hand with a rake and the might gorilla cart. We were starting to get severe rutting and puddles we could lose a kid into forming all along the neglected driveway. I did not do any prep work, because a we had a baby coming very soon, but it should get us by for a year or so. My plan was always to do concrete, but that's expensive.


----------

