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HungrySoutherner TifGrand Lawn Journal 2021

52K views 230 replies 32 participants last post by  HungrySoutherner 
#1 ·
I figure after being here for a while I should start a journal. After mistiming my pgr and leveling with sand my Bermuda final rebounded out this last week. I was keeping it at an inch with a rotary and decided to scalp it back to about .4" today. I got out the swardman and didn't check to see if the HOC was tightened or that the battery was charged so this is where it ended. A little nitrogen and some time will get it back. I actually am think of taking it down to as close to 1/4 of inch as possible looks like the 419 is fine and it will stress out the common Bermuda . I'm sure the neighbors were confused when I didn't finish mowing and it looks like it's been murdered
 
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#2 ·
Managed to get the swardman going again but looks like I've got a charger problem may be without a mower till I get something figured out. I hadn't intended on scalping to .25" but that's where it landed. Thinking of keeping it here for a while and slamming some PGR and stress out the common that was sodded into the 419 . You can really see the common scalping but the 419 handling the cut just fine. I followed up the scalp with 1lb / 1000sqft of GreenTRX . I've been spoon feeding synthetic since I did some leveling so due for some organic . After this greens back up I'll it hit with TNex




 
#3 ·
Still mowing every other day at .25" , have been under PGR for almost 2 weeks getting the density back after a scalp. Stripes are starting to appear but lots of rain in the forecast so will be mowing around the weather. Going to be burying the back yard in sand next week to get it sand capped. Still need to figure out how to raise the water meter box to turf height after 3 summers of sand leveling its now very low.
 
#5 ·
I'm working on removing seeded common or some sort of mutated common sod that was laid in my yard. Saturday I sprayed tenacity + simazine . Woke up this morning and I'm starting to see clear stress on the common in my tifway 419 . Im amazed to be able to clearly see how it's spread and how it was laid in the yard in 2016. Probably will lose 40% of my front yard but hoping there is enough season left to push the 419 into those areas and or plug 419 in. So far this looks like a viable strategy




 
#7 ·
Another day and another common kill off update. The common is taking a beating and the runners weaved into the 419 are root pruning and coming up on their own. The common is really starting to bleach and become weak while the 419 is holding strong. This is pretty amazing to see to be able to selectively remove common Bermuda


 
#9 ·
Sbcgenii said:
So it is the tenacity and simazine that is selectively taking out the common? At what rate are you spraying it? Are you still at .250 HOC? Still using PGR?
I used 5 oz / A of Tenacity + 15 oz/ A of Simazine + NIS . I raised the HOC to .3" just to let a little more leaf tissue come out from the 419 and will probably move up to .35" - .4" in August to give the 419 a little more breathing room, but the low HOC is an additional stress on the common right now to help out the cocktail. I let my yard come out of regulation on the 14th of July and plan to just keep mowing everyday if its not raining to not stress out the 419 and help it spread. Thats my current plan now.
 
#10 ·
Another update the bleaching is continuing. I think I'm going to run the dethatcher in the major areas to help drag up the bleached common stolons amongst the good 419 to add a new layer of stress. Getting close to the first week post application and the progress is good. Still haven't noticed any significant stress in the 419
 
#11 ·
Ran the dethatcher yesterday to make room for the 419. The common is starting to get very crispy in some areas. I'm finding some areas that should be killed in the second spray next week and will dethatch again to remove more material. I've noticed a few areas where the common grew on top of the 419 and is very ugly so will thin those areas out as well


 
#16 ·
Daily update the common Bermuda continues to get very crispy . I'm seeing 419 mixed in some areas so I'll be pushing hard in August to grow it in before fall. I plan to reapply next Saturday simazine + tenacity to knock out what remains. Then 10 days later I'll verticut to get as much dead grass out and start pushing nitrogen and micros . Probably will raise the cutting height to .4" to give the 419 a little more breathing room. Cutting dead stolons with the reel is a little unnerving the crunchy sound they make


 
#19 ·
Another update . I think I'm reaching about the peak of what is going to be killed from the first application of tenacity + simazine. The 419 is looking good. Glad to see 419 in the middle of those patches of common Bermuda. I haven't seen any of the common that was killed showing any signs of trying to grow back foliage.


 
#21 ·
Daily Update. Still seeing more thinning of common bermuda and some die off. I can easily see the common that is not growing but not dead and areas that were missed. At day 11 I'm finally seeing a small patch of nimblewill that came in from my neighbors lawn bleached and killed off. Seeing more 419 coming up inside the common areas and coming to life.


 
#23 ·
cglarsen said:
Common is tough but you should be giving the hybrid an advantage to increase coverage with each application. As far as spring green up does your Tif come to life sooner than the common sections? That should also help it out compete.
This common was sodded in from some cheap farm in my area that started sod from seed like black jack or gold glove. The common greened up later than the 419 but the amount and structure never let the 419 take it over . This method will have it dead and gone without harming the 419 in another week or so . I expect it to be mostly filled in before dormancy
 
#25 ·
Do you have up close pictures of the Common vs Tif419 before you sprayed? I'm curious if mine is mixed up. I've got areas that are darker and thicker than others, and it's slowly spread throughout the season to encompass more of my lawn. Curious if me cutting low has helped thicken it up in more areas, or do I have a common Bermuda fight on my hands.

I'll kill mine off in a heartbeat lol

Mine supposedly came from a sod farm in Cullman with Tifway II.. but they're not certified. So who knows
 
#26 ·
sanders4617 said:
Do you have up close pictures of the Common vs Tif419 before you sprayed? I'm curious if mine is mixed up. I've got areas that are darker and thicker than others, and it's slowly spread throughout the season to encompass more of my lawn. Curious if me cutting low has helped thicken it up in more areas, or do I have a common Bermuda fight on my hands.

I'll kill mine off in a heartbeat lol

Mine supposedly came from a sod farm in Cullman with Tifway II.. but they're not certified. So who knows
I'll see if I can find an area that I didn't get killed and you can see the leaf and color difference. I'm pretty sure in my case its not a blend of tiffway II and 419, I don't think tiffway II would have been hurt by this combo. In my case the 419 is finer texture and darker color. This common is much thicker leaf and lime colored. There is a farm towards the Shoals that is growing uncertified 419 and you can see in the field they have lots of common contamination in the 419 , the lime green stands out just like in my lawn so I'm starting to connect the dots. Right now even if I get this under control, my plan is to kill off the entire front and back yard next year and sprig Tiffgrand. I blame @Movingshrub for being a bad influence.
 
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