# Louisiana Arden 15 Reno



## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Hello everyone! First post here. The last couple years I've wanted good grass in the yard but just didn't know how to go about it. We bought our house in 2018 and the guy who lived there before us NEVER mowed his yard. Needless to say it is a salad bar.

I've spent the last few years tinkering, spreading fert every now and then, learning to identify weeds and spray for them, always mowed at least once a week. I always thought there wasn't good grass because the soil was poor/compacted.

This year I decided to go all out. I bought a tiller and tilled the 3000 sq. ft. front yard, bought some Topsoil mix and mixed it into the top layer. I got a soil test done (Yard Mastery..I know better now) and installed an irrigation system.
I bought 10 lbs of Arden 15 seed and plan seed down to be done by Memorial day.

I now know that my soil is highly acidic. 4.8 pH. I added 90 lbs of dolomitic lime/1000 and incorporated into the soil. I also added 1 lb of MOP to bring up the K level. (Probably should have used SOP but I know better now)

My plan: 
Front will be Arden 15 seed. 
Front side is Common Bermuda test patch
Back needs regraded and will go with sod or plug the Arden from the front maybe next year.

Thank you guys for the wealth of knowledge. I am open to any recommendations.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Did the 2nd pass on the yard with the tiller. Once the remaining grass is dead, I will pass a drag mat and seed.



Side yard common with fresh haircut



Been bit by the bug pretty bad. Already researching reel mowers and automowers.
This can get expensive quick.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Can anyone tell me what this is?


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## acegator (May 31, 2018)

Looks like nutsedge.

With all of the rain we have been getting in LA I wouldn't be surprised it popped up early this year.



kalcormier said:


> Can anyone tell me what this is?


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Thanks ace! I've never seen one that thick, they are usually 2 blades.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

I couldn't wait to seed the yard, but I really need to level it first. So I seeded some pods. We have signs of life at day 8!


Planning to throw down Memorial weekend.


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Looks like you've done some great prep work! Are you planning to roll/compact the soil at all after drag raking, or just going to seed directly after the raking?


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

@littlehuman Thanks! It has definitely been a lot of work. I'm ready for some grass. I don't plan on rolling it. Once it's dragged, I'm going to spread the seed and lightly rake it in. Then, start watering.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

What part of the boot are you in?


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

@Lsuwhodat I'm from Erath, just south of Lafayette, but living in Monroe.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

I lived in Lafayette, Youngsville and the berry for about 10 years. I miss that area.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Baby Ardens at 14 days


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

So I seeded half the yard on 5/27 and the other half on 6/1. I have a little patch that has come up but I'm not sure if its arden or some common coming back. I guess I need to pick one and see if it has roots or is a stolen



I also plugged some pods i started on 5/8 into the yard.



I have 2 more trays going in the garage under 24 hour light I started on 5/31 and I have germination already.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

In other news the vegetable garden is starting to take off


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

I'm seeing a lot of new growth in the yard but unfortunately other than the small patch and plugs most of it looks like weeds. The patch is also ALOT darker than the plugs which is adding further doubt about the yard. Im telling myself to be patient. Its only been about 10 days. I'll give it another 3 weeks to a month and decide what herbicide to hit it with.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Having incredible weed pressure however starting to see the green haze across the 1st seeded section


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

I have also been confused the last few days. I am certain that I have Arden coming up in the yard.



I am also certain stuff I started in a seed tray is Arden



I'm not sure why the color difference. Only thing I can figure is different soil composition. Or once the stuff in the yard gets more sun it will lighten up. Any ideas?


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## LucidLawns (May 24, 2021)

The stuff in the test pods look like Arden from what I've been told. I had the same issue with my renovation. The thicker blade stuff you have looks very similar to mine. Everyone is telling me that this is crab grass:







And the thinner blade stuff is the Arden:





Hope this helps! I'm waiting for the actual Arden to fill in and then I'm going to hit the yard with some Quinclorac 75 DF and Sedgehammer. Hopefully it doesn't harm the Arden growth too much.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

@LucidLawns I think that's all we can do is wait and spray out the stuff that isn't bermuda. How is you lawn coming?

Picture of pods now



I think I had it backwards, it darkens as it grows


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## LucidLawns (May 24, 2021)

@kalcormier I couldn't agree more and those test pods are looking great! How many days has it been since you planted those?

My lawn is still under quite a bit of weed pressure still, but I am starting to feel a lot more positive on my lawn filling in. I have seen a decent bit of new Arden germination popping through and I just threw down some more starter fertilizer yesterday to help with the lack of phosphorous causing the purple blades. I'm getting the herbicides in on Friday, but I am kind of nervous to spray so soon while I'm still seeing new Arden growing in.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

I@LucidLawns I planted the pods on Memorial day, but they have been under 24 hour light.

I want to make sure I don't jump the gun as well. I think it's safe to say we have Emergence (different than germination). I think I am going to spray MSMA around July 1st (2-3 weeks after emergence).

I'm noticing some purple too but my soil test had me high in Phos. I was going to ask you about fert but you answered it. I put out 10 lbs of starter yesterday but we've had 3 inches of rain. I think I am about to start spraying 33-0-0 @ .25 N per week.

I am feeling pretty confident about the lawn now that a couple days has passed. Now it's just to prepare for the weed battle and to push it with fert.


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## LucidLawns (May 24, 2021)

@kalcormier Yeah I'm thinking I'll spray for weeds July 1st as well. If I can get the spoon feeding dialed in just right hopefully the yard will fill in and establish before winter. I was going to renovate my front lawn this year, but I'm thinking it might be best to dedicate the time to the back for now and make sure it's done right. I look forward to seeing your progress!


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Current status:


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## Herring (Sep 19, 2020)

Same here! This was over the weekend, today we've exceeded two inches!


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

@Herring Damn!!! Not helping our weed situation. I guess at least we are saving on the water bill. LOL


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Starting to fill out


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

I'm also amazed how far the side yard has come just from increasing frequency of cut and fert. Lit up some crabgrass. Have a few bare spots to fill in.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Up to my neck in weeds but I will handle that in the next couple weeks. Coming along nicely. Started spoon feeding .25 lb N. Thinking herbicide will go down sooner rather than later. Biggest concerns are crabgrass and spurge.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Spot sprayed Spurge with 2-4-d a few days ago. Blanket MSMA today along with .5 lb N.



Dealing with A few trouble spots. Mostly near driveway/walkway. It seems like this area stays a lot drier. Also, have a drainage pipe running through the yard, that I know is not very deep. I think I will struggle with that too.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

30 day update. Pretty pleased with the result. A few problem areas that I will push to fill in.



Celsius arrived today and going down this week.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

This years soil test. Had a 1 pH jump up. Will focus on N and Fe this year.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

One year update



Dealing with some brown like everyone else. Just took it down to .5 to reset.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Got some much needed rain. May have to raise HOC a hair.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)




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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Got a new toy! No more manual reel for me.


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## Herring (Sep 19, 2020)

Nice! Can't wait to see updates. Congrats!


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

@Herring Thanks man! It took me a while to join the club but I just couldn't do the manual reel anymore.


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## WillyT (Jun 26, 2019)

Nice!


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

@WillyT Thanks!


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)




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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Vegetable garden is going crazy.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Adjusting HOC was very easy. Set to .8" Didn't mess with the groomer. Took her for a spin.

At first I had throttle wide open. But found i would pick up too much speed and try to pull on it to slow down which would pop up the front end. Lowered throttle until I get comfortable.

Learned how to dance. Figured out how to use the momentum of the mower and my weight to swing around at the end of a pass. That was pretty cool.

Also learned I need to level my yard although it wasn't as bad as I expected.

Laid down some pretty epic stripes which looked very weird to me.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

With my GM1000 I can work the lever to stop and turn at the end of each run but with the Flex21 I do a "drifting" maneuver at the turns to keep everything spinning and running smoothly. It sounds like your Baroness is similar to that. That's a sweet machine... I envy the groomer.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Thanks @Redtwin ! Now I just have to get they yard level enough to go low enough for it to matter.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Spayed FEature, Celsius, Certainty, and 1st ever application of T-Nex.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Pretty satisfied with how the lawn is looking. The FEature and TNex really greened it up.


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## WillyT (Jun 26, 2019)

Looking very good! Nice job!


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Discovered these spots this morning. Leaving here for documentation.


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