# BilldozerVT's 2022 PRG Lawn Journal (MN)



## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

I can't tell you how excited I am for this lawn care season! I did a (almost) full reno on the front yard last year with a high quality PRG mix and things turned out GREAT. Here is how I ended the fall season:










I planned my 2022 program and convinced Santa I needed a backpack sprayer for Christmas. As the temperatures dropped and lawns went dormant, mine stayed a nice dark green so I knew for sure I was in for a treat this spring. Check out this comparison with my neighbors lawn:










Well things finally did freeze up here in MN and a blanket of snow hid my lawn from me. This time of year I shift my lawn care energy to maintaining my backyard ice rink. This year I added lights and my house was host to weekly neighborhood hockey games:



















So! Now here we are, spring time in MN (it only took until basically May to actually get here). So how are things looking?










I ended up having some bad winter kill and snow mold.










But hey, it's just grass. This can be fixed.

This year was the coldest April in MN history (at least it was on track for it a week ago, haven't confirmed where we are now). The forecast finally looks like I can get my seed down but I know soon things will get hot so I need to get this new grass established. I started off by setting my dethatcher to the highest setting and doing a single pass to loosen up the top layer while hopefully not damaging the surviving grass. I bagged it, then put down new seed. I rented a roller from home depot and pressed it in.










I then laid down some peat moss and fired up the sprinklers for the first time this spring.










So let's see how this turns out. Right now I am starting to think PRG isn't going to be the best fit this far north. I am thinking I will do a heavy fall overseed with a KBG and have a mixed lawn. Or go full scorched earth and do another fall reno. I have a few months to decide so until then, let's all have a great 2022 season!


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## MNLawnGuy1980 (May 10, 2019)

Great looking rink!

I finally got around to putting a little bit of seed out this morning. Looks to be a better stretch of weather here for us for the foreseeable future.

The first year that I took my lawn lower, it was absolutely thriving in the Fall, what I didn't think of at the time was that every lawn thrives in the Fall. What I did was kept pushing my luck and pushing my luck, and by the time it came time for winter, it was at ~.20" (looked great, but it probably wasn't real good for the lawn). It came out of the winter an absolute mess. I basically came to the conclusion that I pushed it too hard going into the winter and I probably should have dialed it back some since it was a totally new height for the grass to be at. I don't know if that is what you hit against, something similar to that, just throwing it out there.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Nice to see your journal. It should be easier to overseed with KBG before your lawn is mature, so it should work well this year. I highly recommend it.

It's hard to overseed KBG into a mature lawn. Results haven't been too good, so sooner rather than later is ideal from that standpoint, too.

That's crazy how bad the winter kill was. Thankfully it gets better as the grass matures, too. Did the worst area near the tree have more or less snow than the surrounding area?


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

@Green The area by the tree had the least snow since the other side of the yard is where the snow blower threw the snow. It's also where the sun shines between the houses in the evening so it might have suffered from thawing and freezing towards the end of winter.

Appreciate the tips on the KBG seeding. Just going to do what I can to make it presentable for now then hit it hard in August.


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

@MNLawnGuy1980 Yeah in hindsight I don't think I should have been surprised by things coming out of winter looking rough. Aside from the large area that died off the rest has actually recovered quite well, I'll post some updated pictures shortly.


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

The weather was a bit rocky at the end of April with some nights getting close to freezing but I kept watering and finally got some germination.










I had waited a few days after seeding before putting down my starter fert to help prevent the established grass from going crazy but everything seemed to creep along slowly due to the cold weather.

The rest of the grass began to recover and fill in:










I bought a manual push mower and started trimming the lawn once the established grass started to take off. Once the new grass gets going and starts to tiller things should start looking good again.










So here we are today. I did my first applications of bio stims and went around and did some spot seeding. Things have really filled in but you can tell the color isn't uniform due to such a large amount of baby grass. I have a feeling in two weeks things are going to be right back on track, can't wait!


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

So I feel like I am just staring at my lawn waiting for things to fill in so I can start striping which is boring. So until then I will entertain whoever is reading this with fish I am catching from my dock!

Here is a nice pike I pulled in a couple days ago. Caught on a black and blue bandito bug:










I picked up a rod and reel for my little man at Fleet Farm. I actually found one that isn't complete trash with nice components and a cork handle and he loves it!


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## MNLawnGuy1980 (May 10, 2019)

@BilldozerVT, happy to hear the duckhouse made it through the storms!

Great looking fish, did you guys stock that or do you know how they got in there? I really want to get some pan fish in mine but the hatchery up north mentioned that for them to deliver fish out, the DNR would have to come out and do an assessment on the pond. I kind of would just prefer not to have them out here messing around.

Other option is to have some neighborhood kids catch some from a neighboring pond and bring them into ours!


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

@MNLawnGuy1980 My neighborhood and the surrounding ones are built around a series of connected man made lakes and ponds. They were all stocked by the DNR back around 99-00 and I was able to find records that they restocked in 2014. I've caught largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegills, perch, and crappie. Some carp have invaded some of the shallower ponds and I saw a catfish one time.

That would actually be a fun experiment though, catching some from another pond and relocating them. I've seen youtube videos where people have done that successfully. Let me know if you decide to give that a shot.


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

Time for an update!

First, the duck house is now a nightly residence of a family of wood ducks. They come back _every_ night and my daughter loves it.










We spent memorial day at the family cabin and had some solid luck. I caught a few walleye and the kids caught some nice blue gills and crappie and we have a nice little fish fry for dinner.










We hurried home on Monday before some crazy storms hit and I was able to do a quick final cut with the reel mower. The color was really popping and things are filling in nicely and I felt ready to get out the rotary + striping it.










The next day I did a double cut but I the rotary was taking off more than I anticipated so some spots were scalpeds.










I did some edging but the close shave stressed the grass and I lost my beautiful dark color.










I did some single doubles today and applied some RGS, Humic12, and Microgreene. My blades are quite dull and not helping my situation. I have sharpened them one too many times and I think they are just at the end of their life so I am going to get a new set and see if I can get some cleaner cuts on the lawn.










I am still happy with the lawn, especially considering how terrible it was looking coming out of winter. The plan is to enjoy it's current state for this summer and do a heavy blue grass overseed this fall. Or if I am feeling up to it, a complete reno.


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## MNLawnGuy1980 (May 10, 2019)

@BilldozerVT, I was thinking this morning about your duck house, glad to see it is being used!

Hoping the lawn is holding up in this heat.


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

@MNLawnGuy1980 I was just about to post an update! I have some stressed areas so I've been dialing in my sprinkler coverage but there is only so much that can be done with this heat. The duck house though...oh boy...


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## MNLawnGuy1980 (May 10, 2019)

I hear on the lawn, it has been a tough go of it.

Quite the cliffhanger on the duck house, looking forward to seeing an update!


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

The lawn has been coming along nicely. I've been double cutting a diamond pattern but the rotary is starting to leave some ruts but really only noticeable by me. I can tell some of the previous grass survived the fall reno as the color isn't perfectly uniform but I am happy with the look for now.










The side yard look perfect though. Nice and thick.










The summer heat is really starting to take its toll. My neighbors yard is starting to go brown and I am getting some stressed spots highlighting poor sprinkler coverage. I've done some adjusting but overall things still look great considering.










I did an iron application this weekend along with some more milorganite. Trying to get things to pop for 4th of July weekend where I will be hosting family.

Now for the most exciting update. My daughter notice a female mallard hanging out around our duck house a couple days ago and actually went inside. She then left and we didn't see her for a couple days but upon seeing her return we got our hopes up that we might actually have a nest.










I put on my waders the when she was gone and saw that the hay inside had been built up into a nice circular nest. Peeling back the hay on top revealed seven duck eggs!










She returned again and laid another making eight in total for now and then took off. I used that time to install a trail cam to capture the action. She spent all day today on the nest so I think she might be done laying. We were a bit shocked given the time of year, we figured the ducks were done mating but very excited to see some ducklings in the duck house!


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

@MNLawnGuy1980 haha, sorry for the cliffhanger!

One last update. I purchased some KBG in preparation for the fall. My plan was to scalp, dethatch, and overseed to get the KBG in there to fill in thin areas now and just to have peace of mind in the years to come that my lawn will fill in by itself when necessary. The lawn is really looking great with 
the PRG from last year but seeing how the color is not very uniform right now I am trying to grease the wheels with the wife to do a complete reno.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

BilldozerVT said:


> I am trying to grease the wheels with the wife to do a complete reno.


I will come glyphosate your lawn for the right price, that way your wife can't blame or be mad at you. Glypher for Hire!


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

jskierko said:


> BilldozerVT said:
> 
> 
> > I am trying to grease the wheels with the wife to do a complete reno.
> ...


Now that is a service I could get behind!


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

If you don't get the permission (or don't want to live with the consequences of going rogue), I have a suggestion for your Plan B overseeding. Since overseeding kbg is very difficult, I would buy some PGR and spray it 2 days before scalping. Also, after scalping, dethatch and then scalp again, to get better seed to soil contact.

BTW-I absolutely love that seed mix! You're tempting me to do a reno or overseed. I still have a little Mazama/Beyond blend and Bewitched, and just started using Anuew.


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

Chris LI said:


> If you don't get the permission (or don't want to live with the consequences of going rogue), I have a suggestion for your Plan B overseeding. Since overseeding kbg is very difficult, I would buy some PGR and spray it 2 days before scalping. Also, after scalping, dethatch and then scalp again, to get better seed to soil contact.
> 
> BTW-I absolutely love that seed mix! You're tempting me to do a reno or overseed. I still have a little Mazama/Beyond blend and Bewitched, and just started using Anuew.


I really like that idea! I was thinking the KBG would struggle to get established since the PRG would probably recover and take off while it was doing its sprout and pout thing. If I go that route then PGR would be a good option. That and not mowing for a while to let the PRG (and what is left of my nomix) get nice and tall before shocking it with a scalp.

A full reno is my hearts desire. My brother is flying into town for the 4th and he is a lawn care nut as well so maybe we will put together a power point presentation to explain why it needs to be done.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Your basic plan sounds great!

Don't forget to include in the power point that glyphosate is cheaper than PGR. . If you can only do the overseed, make sure you state that the PGR is a must, so you'll have it for future use when you wear her down and get the OK to do the reno (or go for it anyway). Maybe throw some flow charts in there and make it a 99 slide presentation. By the time you get to slide 51, she might roll her eyes and say "whatever you want to do". :roll:

We lawn nuts need to stick together.

If you do the reno, proper fallowing time is really important.

Good luck!


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

Well it's time for a long overdue update. I had things looking pretty on point at the beginning of July:










Got a lot of compliments on it 4th of July weekend:










But after going out of town for a week I noticed a lot of browning, mostly around the tree and in the side yard. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures but the grass was really thin where you could see the soil, especially where the lawn mower tracks were, and a lot of brown dead grass. I bought a soil probe and found the ground there was really compacted and the new grass I planted in the spring didn't have the deepest of roots. After further investigation the compaction was due to poor sprinkler coverage, lots of tree roots, and in need of aeration. With my planned fall KBG project I decided to let it go and address it all at once. Which is now.

I aerated all the trouble areas, scalped, dethatched twice, bagged, then added more soil to the root heavy areas










So here is where things stand today, I have the KBG down, racked in, and put down some starter fert with tenacity. I am going to do a brick border with mulch around the tree and try to clean up the landscaping in general.










I pulled the trigger on the Sun Joe battery reel mower and am going to test the waters with a .6 inch HOC. This will be my first real toe dip into the world of reel mowing. I heard it's like a gateway drug so wish me luck!

Now onto more pressing matters. We did in fact have a duck nest in our duck house but when we returned from being out of town in July we found the momma duck had abandoned the nest. We gave it a couple days to be sure but she never returned. My daughter was in tears about this turn of events and me being the softy I am decided to try to incubate them on our own. There wasn't much hope as we didn't own an actual incubator and the eggs had sat for so long. I wrapped the eggs in a towel, placed them in a plastic fish tank, and set it on top of a heating pad with a temperature probe to monitor.










I mean what are the odds this actually works right?










Well now we have ducks! We did candle the eggs and found out early on not all of them were alive but wow I can't believe it worked!










They are almost 3 weeks old today and doing great! I've done quite a bit of research and have them well fed and watered in a large enclosure with a heat bulb. The plan is to release them into the pond once they are able to fly. In order to due so they have had minimal human contact other then when we feed them, add water, or pull them out for a bath tub swim while we change their bedding. I plan to look into ankle tags or some safe way to identify them if they ever return once we release them. My daughter named them Splish, Splosh, and Sploosh.

So to sum up: 
Grass was good but not great
Addressed problem areas and introduced KBG
Got ducks

Stay tuned!


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Cool story!

For the thinning grass underneath the tree, foliar apps really helped me, so the turf roots don't have to compete with the tree roots for nutrients. Also, pruning to elevate the tree, to get more sun under the canopy should help, too.


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

I am long overdue for a follow up but stay tuned, it will include a duck update, a remote cabin lawn reno, and of course my KBG overseed into my PRG front yard. Real quick though, a teaser on the front:










It's coming along great!


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## BilldozerVT (Sep 17, 2021)

So where to begin.

I bought the sun joe reel mower and am loving it so far. It's been a great introduction to reel mowing:










The KBG started germinating about 8-9 days after seed down. I set the reel mower down to its lowest setting, .6 inches, and did one final scalp before germination to really shock the ryegrass.










This next picture is 10 days later and you can see the new grass coming in up against the new mulch border I put in:










It's been a little over 6 weeks since germination and the KBG still has a lime green color. Looking forward to it darkening up and thickening next year. From the road though you can't really tell and the ryegrass is striping quite well with the sun joe.










A truck turned around in the road and ran over the front of my yard. The ground was still pretty soft at this point so it really put a dent in. I'll probably try to address it in the spring:










Right now all I have been doing is spoon feeling at .2 lbs of N per week and keeping the HOC at 1 inch. Planning on putting down prodiamine this weekend and I'll continue with the N for the next couple weeks and then it will likely be about the end of the lawn care season for me.

Now for my side project. To fill my time while waiting for the KBG to grow I took on another small renovation at my in-laws cabin. They have several patches that are bordered by boulders that used to have grass but over the years were neglected and were mostly weeds. I ended up going with a shady mix from fleet farm, nothing special. I scalped everything, went over it twice with the detatcher, bagged it, seed down, fert down, raked in, tenacity, you know the drill. Here is the progress on one of the sections:




























I am very pleased with the progress! I threw down a bag of milorganite last weekend as a final winterizer.

Now finally for the ducks. They were finally released at 7 weeks old and fit right in with the ducks on the pond. We still see them from time to time thanks to ankle tags we put on prior to release. Here is a picture of the three of them following behind an older duck:


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