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Tahoma 31 (sprigging) Journal - Chadwicktr - Raleigh

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101K views 422 replies 51 participants last post by  Achessor  
#1 ·
It's been great keeping up with other's journals, so I thought I would start one as I transition my yard from centipede/common bermuda/weeds to Tahoma 31.

We purchased in 2019, and the previous owner did nothing to help the yard. From what neighbors said, he let the lawn grow several inches tall and then would scalp it down to the dirt. So the first year, it was mainly patches of weeds, patches of dirt, and sparse patches of common bermuda in the back yard (20k sq ft) and some centipede runners in the front yard (14k sq ft). The neighborhood was built on a tobacco field, so it's very sandy soil.

The first year I bought a tow behind sprayer and knocked out most of the weeds (sans crabgrass) and started hitting the lawn with some fertilizer and bios. The bermuda in the backyard loved it, and the centipede patches in the front yard started to thicken up and send some runners.

3 years and several projects later (fence, new deck, shrubs, flooring, etc), I'm finally getting around to converting the front lawn. The plan is to sprig the front lawn and let it establish. Then in the fall/spring run several rounds of glyphosate in the backyard with ARG in between. And next year harvest sprigs from the front yard for the sprigging the back. I have 360 feet of ditch (corner lot), which I plan to do last...with plugs and maybe some sod on the steep inclines.

Thus far, I've:
* had some river birch trees removed in the front yard
* sprayed glyphosate
* ordered 5 tripod sprinklers and two four valve smart timers
* ordered a drag mat

Next up:
* scheduled a dingo and harley rake rental
* scheduled an order of mason's sand
* put down lime and starter fert
* scheduled a 300 bushel Tahoma 31 sprigs order
* rent a lawn roller

Move in pictures:




Yard a year later:




River birches removed and glyphosate is doing its thing:


 
#3 ·
Today I worked on my tripod sprinkler setup and the b-hyve app. I have 5 tripods and two Orbit B-Hyve XD Bluetooth 4-Outlet Hose Faucet Timers.

The b-hyve app is supposed to allow a scheduled program to repeat on an hourly interval, but after several tests today, that feature isn't working. The good news is that it does allow 4 programs and within each program 4 start times, so I have at least 16 automatic times I can schedule. I had hoped to use at least 22, and run some on the half hours during the hottest part of the day, but I will have to play around with it now. Other than that, the valves are working great and the app is solid.

I have an irrigation company coming next week for a quote, but if we go that route, it'll probably be next year or thereafter at this point. I'd like to install most of it myself, if I can find someone to install the main line hookup/backflow preventer.



I'm picking up the dingo and Harley rake tomorrow. The mason sand should be delivered as well. 811 came yesterday to mark my power lines. I'm going to use the dingo to hopefully remove any outstanding River birch roots before running the Harley rake and then spreading masons sand. I'm curious how easy it will be to level everything off with the dingo. I used one with an auger attachment to put in 70 post holes last year, and it was a huge time saver.

The drag mat should be arriving this weekend too…figured it might be useful and better to have than not have :)








 
#10 ·
Took less than 45 minutes to move 10 cu yards of masons sand with the dingo bucket 😂. Then made two more passes with the Harley rake to finish it off.

Pretty much finished with the dingo. Will hand rake a few leftovers of thatch and a few tree roots.

Will apply lime and starter fert this week. I'm scheduled to pickup sprigs on Friday morning. No rain in the forecast until next weekend.



 
#12 ·
DocTodd said:
Looks great @Chadwicktr !

I'm interested in your watering setup as I'd like to start collecting sprigs from the yard and expanding our bermuda to cut down on costs.
Click to expand...
I have 5 tripod sprinklers hooked up to two WiFi, four valve controllers. I measured it out then tested it and putting them on the perimeter gave me the best coverage and overlap. I only have 6.5 GPM so I'll run them each separately.
 
#14 ·
Chadwicktr said:
mills4090 said:
Awesome!Lookin at a drag as well, let us know how it works.
Click to expand...
It works fine. The Harley rake was faster. I think I'll use the drag more later if I have to level after the grass is in.
Click to expand...
I take that back. I used the drag tonight and it was helpful for two things. 1) it helped grab any remaining thatch/dead grass quickly. 2) it help me flatten out some areas that were rounded.

I ran out of daylight, but will run the drag again tomorrow to finish it off.

I also rescheduled my sprig pickup for tomorrow afternoon. Up next: I need to put out some starter fert, lime, and granular bifen…as well as pickup a lawn roller rental.

Cheers!





 
#17 ·
Awesome day today on the sod farm. They cut the sprigs when I arrived and put them right into my trailer since it was so hot. I got to speak with two of the turf managers (NC State grads) and geek out. lol. They added Tahoma 31 last year, and it seems to be their favorite turf-they've been very impressed so far.

They also have issues with common bermuda-they said they spot treat it with roundup. And when they rotate fields, they do three rounds of round up. It was a fun chat.

Got home and spread the sprigs. Took about 2 hours to do 300-350 GA bushels.

Temps were in the mid 90s today so I did a section and then turned on the sprinkler.

Rented a sod roller and made a quick pass at sundown. Will do it again tomorrow with more daylight.

Oh and in the morning I did a few more passes with the drag and then put some lime down. I will broadcast starter fert and bifen tomorrow (tho the water should keep the ants at bay). I plan to put down some RGS tomorrow or Friday as well.

I also got a quote for irrigation. $9800 for 8 zones…I have 6gpm / 60 PSI on a community well which sucks. I may find someone who can do the backflow for me, and then DIY the rest. We'll see.

Can't wait to watch it take off.







 
#19 ·
Got an early jump on the grass this morning - put down Lesco 18-24-12 starter fert.



I ran the sprinklers through the night…12 min every hour trying to get ahead of this. And then ran them 6 minutes every 30 minutes during the day. They had a hard time keeping up with evaporation during the afternoon but the majority of sprigs remained green.



Ended the day putting down RGS and Bifen-the ants are determined to build even with wet sand. Then ran the sod roller one more time for better soil contact.

No rain in sight, but temps are supposed to drop back into the 80s for the weekend.





For anyone using the B-hyve app with the four valve wifi controlled smart timers, I found a system that is working pretty well for the five tripod sprinklers and two four valve setups. I created 10 saved programs for each timer (each program has 4 start times) that I rotate through the 4 active selected programs. I alphabetized them to make selection easy, but forever reason the app doesn't sort by name. It's working well tho.





 
#22 ·
What a difference 12 hours can make. The majority of sprigs are starting to root.



Returned my sprinklers to Amazon and replaced them with the Home Depot model. HD has brass heads that do better with lower GPM. The painted Amazon version kept getting stuck a few times a day when other faucets were in use.



 
K
#285 ·
Chadwicktr said:
What a difference 12 hours can make. The majority of sprigs are starting to root.



Returned my sprinklers to Amazon and replaced them with the Home Depot model. HD has brass heads that do better with lower GPM. The painted Amazon version kept getting stuck a few times a day when other faucets were in use.




Following this thread from South East Raleigh... Which Home Depot model did you go with? I am on City Water with good pressure and flow rates, so the B-hyve units should work for me, but is the Home Depot model programmable?
Click to expand...
 
#23 ·
Day 4. Seeing noticeable green popping up everywhere throughout the day now and not just in the mornings. Added a 6th sprinkler due to 20-30mpg gusts. May have lost a small corner section (5x5 area), but we'll see how it looks tomorrow. Sprigs dried out and we're mostly brown by 2pm, but the large interior stems had some green.

Applied the second half of the lesco starter fert. I have sandy soil so plan to apply .5 pound of N every 3.5 days per the UT sprigging guide (https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W160-D.pdf). Site one doesn't carry AN this year, so I guess I will be using Urea.

No rain for 9 days but some rain is expected mid week and the end of the week. Fingers crossed. Even if it is a heavy downpour, the vast majority is tacked down, so I think it would be fine.

B-hyve app has been working great. I just update the active programs every 8 hours and it does it's thing.





 
S
#26 ·
Love the journal! I did a small sprig project a few years back with whatever Bermuda I already had. I wish I could get my hands on Tahoma 31 plugs. I've moved and want to start a nice project, but nothing major like I've done in years past. Figure I could plant plugs, let them fill in.. then start plugging/sprigging year after year.

Can't wait to see your progress! In about 3 more weeks you will be amazed (if you aren't already).
 
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