Finally creating my own lawn journal, more so to hold myself accountable and actually get this renovation done this year. :lol:
A little backstory. We built the house and moved in 2017, way before I found this forum, so if I could rewind and get our builder to do different things with the soil/sod/leveling etc I would have.. but here we are.
We live on 1 acre. The builder originally sodded St Augustine on the entire front and then about 10 feet out on sides and back. I really focused on the front the first year or two. I have a pretty solid plan going there after finding this forum and am happy with results so far on the St Aug. Then we had a pool built summer of 2019. That created a huge mess in the back. Compaction issues as well as drainage issues where they dug down with a skid steer to pick up piles of trash to move to dumpster.
I brought a little fill dirt in and got most of the drainage issues fixed, still holds pockets of water in certain areas.
This past summer was terrible in the back. Probably turned to 80% weeds throughout. Huge grub problem so moles are plentiful. My two dogs now have dug holes EVERYWHERE! The back half of the yard that is unfenced is 100% weeds. Has been super uneven since day 1. Mowing it on the zero turn is jarring to put it lightly.
After reading hours on top of hours of posts on this forum, here is my plan (also need some ideas and suggestions):
Step 1) Get a soil sample. Hope to have that sent off this weekend.
Step 2) Gly everything. Fenced and unfenced in the back. Multiple rounds.
Step 3) Till.... I know, I know... dont till is the concept here. I am not 100% set on this, but its where I am leaning. I really wanted to rent a harley rake but the nearest one that I can find is in San Antonio. Not going to work. Even if local it looks to be around $1200 to rent for two days. I found a guy locally that will do the work for $800, but its a little bit bigger machine, not the dingo version. I am not sure he can get to every nook and cranny around the footprint of the house, or even get through the 4' gate leading into the very back.. So I am leaning towards a hydro rear tine tiller from home depot.
My other option is a buddy has an old tractor and a box blade. Ill admit I have never ran a box blade before. I want to create a slight swale on the north end of the property which I will post a pic of below to show, where the water runs to and either dry creek bed or a few catch basins to be piped out to the pond in the back.
Step 4) Irrigation. I have a buddy in the business and he is going to work with me on that. The builder only installed irrigation in the front lawn. I am only irrigating the fenced in 12k. The back 7k I wont have irrigation.
Step 5) Bring in enriched top soil. I got the quote for 12 yards delivered. Spread that and drag mat it to level after irrigation is installed. Maybe 1-2 more rounds of Gly if things pop up.
Step 6) Bring in 18 pallets of Tiff tuff for the fenced in 12k. I know I may come up a little short, but may not lay sod on the north end near the house. Plan is to pour a driveway extension there eventually for my travel trailer etc.
Step 7) Have someone come out and hydro seed the back 7k. This is sort of a new idea I just came up with. I bought some cheap seed at Home Depot, was going to spread and hope for the best, but I think hydro seed would be a better option here.
Someone talk me out of tilling everything first and foremost.. I really think it will fix the dog holes, loosen up the soil to cut the swale on the north side, break up some compaction etc. I know it may cause issues with leveling after sod, but its in super bad shape now. Most of the soil is heavy heavy sand, but there are sections that are hard clay, especially in the very back.
Looking forward to the journey.. I think
A little backstory. We built the house and moved in 2017, way before I found this forum, so if I could rewind and get our builder to do different things with the soil/sod/leveling etc I would have.. but here we are.
We live on 1 acre. The builder originally sodded St Augustine on the entire front and then about 10 feet out on sides and back. I really focused on the front the first year or two. I have a pretty solid plan going there after finding this forum and am happy with results so far on the St Aug. Then we had a pool built summer of 2019. That created a huge mess in the back. Compaction issues as well as drainage issues where they dug down with a skid steer to pick up piles of trash to move to dumpster.
I brought a little fill dirt in and got most of the drainage issues fixed, still holds pockets of water in certain areas.
This past summer was terrible in the back. Probably turned to 80% weeds throughout. Huge grub problem so moles are plentiful. My two dogs now have dug holes EVERYWHERE! The back half of the yard that is unfenced is 100% weeds. Has been super uneven since day 1. Mowing it on the zero turn is jarring to put it lightly.
After reading hours on top of hours of posts on this forum, here is my plan (also need some ideas and suggestions):
Step 1) Get a soil sample. Hope to have that sent off this weekend.
Step 2) Gly everything. Fenced and unfenced in the back. Multiple rounds.
Step 3) Till.... I know, I know... dont till is the concept here. I am not 100% set on this, but its where I am leaning. I really wanted to rent a harley rake but the nearest one that I can find is in San Antonio. Not going to work. Even if local it looks to be around $1200 to rent for two days. I found a guy locally that will do the work for $800, but its a little bit bigger machine, not the dingo version. I am not sure he can get to every nook and cranny around the footprint of the house, or even get through the 4' gate leading into the very back.. So I am leaning towards a hydro rear tine tiller from home depot.
My other option is a buddy has an old tractor and a box blade. Ill admit I have never ran a box blade before. I want to create a slight swale on the north end of the property which I will post a pic of below to show, where the water runs to and either dry creek bed or a few catch basins to be piped out to the pond in the back.
Step 4) Irrigation. I have a buddy in the business and he is going to work with me on that. The builder only installed irrigation in the front lawn. I am only irrigating the fenced in 12k. The back 7k I wont have irrigation.
Step 5) Bring in enriched top soil. I got the quote for 12 yards delivered. Spread that and drag mat it to level after irrigation is installed. Maybe 1-2 more rounds of Gly if things pop up.
Step 6) Bring in 18 pallets of Tiff tuff for the fenced in 12k. I know I may come up a little short, but may not lay sod on the north end near the house. Plan is to pour a driveway extension there eventually for my travel trailer etc.
Step 7) Have someone come out and hydro seed the back 7k. This is sort of a new idea I just came up with. I bought some cheap seed at Home Depot, was going to spread and hope for the best, but I think hydro seed would be a better option here.
Someone talk me out of tilling everything first and foremost.. I really think it will fix the dog holes, loosen up the soil to cut the swale on the north side, break up some compaction etc. I know it may cause issues with leveling after sod, but its in super bad shape now. Most of the soil is heavy heavy sand, but there are sections that are hard clay, especially in the very back.
Looking forward to the journey.. I think