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Daniel3507's Mediocre Lawn...Journal

15K views 64 replies 13 participants last post by  daniel3507 
#1 ·
March of 2017 we purchased our first home with lawn that was neglected for who knows how long. It was in pretty rough shape. Mostly dirt and weeds with some common bermuda.





I've always wanted a nice lawn and this is the first time I've had the chance to make it happen. I decided to hire a local company to come out and spray the weeds but not fertilize since I wanted to take care of that myself. Next season I am going to be doing the weed control on my own which I'm looking forward to. The bermuda started to fill in all on its own after I started to fertilize and the weeds start to die out. The edging was also over grown on each side of the sidewalk by at least a couple inches. This had to be manually cut and removed.





This spring I aerated the lawn and sprayed it down with a product called "Microbe Brew". It made a huge difference in the lawn and gave it a nice deep green.





As you can probably see, its not anywhere close to level so I can't get that nice super low cut like most guys here. Don't judge me too harsh, but currently I'm at 3.5"...... The lawn is just too bumpy to go much lower without scalping. I'm currently working on slowly filling in the deeper spots and plan to put sand down early next season to help reduce the bumps.
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to TLF.

As most of us here, we are all on a journey.

If you look at @Ware @Redtenchu @wardconnor lawns, to name a few of the great ones on this site. They didn't wake up one day and have a perfect lawn, it took many many years and learning from websites just like this one.

Looks like your off to a good start, and it has already dramatically improved. Feel free to ask any questions or concerns you have and everyone here will be glad to help.

Once again welcome to TLF and keep up the good work.
 
#4 ·
Went out last night to try and calibrate my cheap 2 gallon sprayer and had some struggles with it. I couldn't keep a straight line to save my life and tip was so fine and narrow it made it very difficult to get even coverage. Might end up going with a dfw_wand before I make the jump into a PGR.
 
#5 ·
daniel3507 said:
Went out last night to try and calibrate my cheap 2 gallon sprayer and had some struggles with it. I couldn't keep a straight line to save my life and tip was so fine and narrow it made it very difficult to get even coverage. Might end up going with a dfw_wand before I make the jump into a PGR.
Many of us here use the chapin 4 gal battery backpack sprayer. And it accepts teejet nozzles so you can swap depending on foliar or soil apps.
 
#6 ·
Thor865 said:
daniel3507 said:
Went out last night to try and calibrate my cheap 2 gallon sprayer and had some struggles with it. I couldn't keep a straight line to save my life and tip was so fine and narrow it made it very difficult to get even coverage. Might end up going with a dfw_wand before I make the jump into a PGR.
Many of us here use the chapin 4 gal battery backpack sprayer. And it accepts teejet nozzles so you can swap depending on foliar or soil apps.
Does the non battery power one accept teejet nozzles? Not sure if I'm willing to splurge for the battery option.
 
#9 ·
After my poor experience with the small sprayer I decided to pull the trigger on a Chapin 61800 and a xr1104 teejet nozzle. I wasn't willing to spend the money on the battery one for my small lawn plus it looks like some people have been having issues. The 61800 showed up today and I went out to test it out and calibrate it. Wow. What a difference a quality sprayer and nozzle makes. The spray pattern was perfect and it made quick work. It was actually pretty fun to do. Now I just have to wait for a dry day to hit it PGR! Does the grass need to be completely dry for the PGR?
 
#10 ·
daniel3507 said:
After my poor experience with the small sprayer I decided to pull the trigger on a Chapin 61800 and a xr1104 teejet nozzle. I wasn't willing to spend the money on the battery one for my small lawn plus it looks like some people have been having issues. The 61800 showed up today and I went out to test it out and calibrate it. Wow. What a difference a quality sprayer and nozzle makes. The spray pattern was perfect and it made quick work. It was actually pretty fun to do. Now I just have to wait for a dry day to hit it PGR! Does the grass need to be completely dry for the PGR?
Best time to spray PGR is the early morning when there's dew on the ground. It's like spraying with marker dye except you don't need the dye. Helps with even coverage and to eliminate missed areas or overlap issues.
 
#12 ·
Colonel K0rn said:
That microbe brew results looks like it was good stuff! Tell me more, inquiring minds want to know.
The Microbe Brew is designed more for plants I think. It is a liquid "microbial inoculant" that is supposed to help the roots colonize with beneficial bacteria and fungus. It seems to be similar to compost tea. I used it on my from flower bed after planting some native plants and had good results so I decided to try it on my lawn. I'm pretty happy with the results and have friends that have done the same with the excellent results as well. Its pretty concentrated and smells like crap but a quart bottle has lasted me awhile and gave me a nice dark green color. I think next time I might try RGS or Holganix Lawn though.
 
#13 ·
Put down my first application of PGR last Wednesday. Common Bermuda so I went .75oz/1000sqft. Added some cheap liquid iron I had on hand too. I think I messed up by doing it right after mowing and by taking a little more off than I should have. The lawn looks like it could use some water despite getting a few inches last week. Hopefully it bounces back soon. Also need to sharpen my blade. The small black spots on the grass are a little concerning and I could stand to dethatch too


 
#14 ·
Got the results of my first ever soil test back yesterday. No surprises really. I knew I would need to add lime but kept holding off doing it until I had it tested. Calling for the max of 80 pounds per 1K split of between fall (now) and spring time. The phosphorus seemed pretty high which was surprising. I mostly use Milorganite but would like to switch to Carbon-X if I can find it this year which should help prevent it from going higher. I'm going to add the lime and potash in the next couple of weeks and then hit it with the rest of the lime come April or May.



 
#15 ·
Scalped it this evening now that it's warmed up and there aren't any freezing temperatures in the forecast. Was able to give the fescue a haircut too. I did scalp a little low in a few spots since it's not level. Hopefully it doesn't mess with the pre em. Looking forward to a nice green up though!

No pictures of the lawn but I do have the evidence below
 
#17 ·
Went ahead and mowed this evening for the first time after scalping and using a manual thatch rake. Mowed at 2" and really didn't get much in the bag. Just wanted to to clean up some of the dead stuff. Might have to do it again a little bit lower to really clean it up but it's not looking too bad I guess.





You can tell I didn't dethatch the smaller side. It hasn't greened up as quickly.
Also put down .75lbs of N before the rain tomorrow to see what happens with it. Used the Screamin Green I had on hand. I should have enough to do a full 1lb of N later on if the Carbon X doesn't show up soon.

The dog has done some damage to the lawn around the mailbox but it bounced back last year. I may try Holganix this year on the entire lawn and specifically on this area. Was interested in N-Ext products but this is just easier to get.



All the perennial flowers are starting to come in nice too!



 
#19 ·
Since I'm off work this week I took advantage of the time and the break in rain to put down my first ever foliar iron application and my second ever pgr application. Last year I was heavy handed with pgr and went with .75oz/M. Way too much and the lawn looked dormant the rest of the year. I went with .20 this time. I'm a little nervous about how it will all turn out but I guess we will see what happens!
 
#23 ·
Should be getting more rain tomorrow so I mowed yesterday and put down my first application of carbon x. Anxious to see how the lawn responds. Also put down my first application of cyzmic cs. .16oz in 2 gallons and hit the lawn and front of the house to take care of ants. Such a tiny amount of product I'm not sure what to expect.
 
#24 ·
We've been getting tons of rain and sever storms recently. I've been fairly fortunate compared to a lot of people around. We've only had to take cover a few times and aren't dealing with the flooding. No damage other than a tree branch. Part of me wishes the entire tree would have gone down so I can get rid of the fescue. I really don't like the tree and hate how it leans towards the house.

I haven't really noticed any major changes after the first Carbon-X application but it hasn't been very long. Hope it didn't get washed out. The Screamin Green made a much more noticeable impact on the lawn but I think the Carbon-X has better long term benefits.




I don't ever mess with my backyard so this was a rare occasion. We have 7 chickens that free range and are pretty hard on the lawn. Once the chickens are gone I plan to renovate but until then its just weeds and crap. I don't want to spray or fertilize with them running around. I did score a bunch of free alfalfa pellets though so I decided to spread them out. Figured it was good for the soil and the chickens can eat some if they want. Spreading alfalfa pellets is not easy. Took forever and kept wanting to jam the spreader.



 
#25 ·
My pgr has worn off so it's time for another round. Probably do that next weekend. Today I cut it down one knotch lower than I'm maintaining to try and reset things and take off the seed heads. Once it bounces back I'll hit it with pgr. I also put down another 5lbs of Carbon x. I'm fairly certain I only did a half application last time? The one time I didn't write it down anywhere and I can't remember it. We'll see what happens.

Picked up some Holganix Tree and Shrub the other day too. They were out of the stuff for lawns but he said it all has the same stuff in it just with varying amounts. I used my hose end sprayer to put down about 16oz total. Interested to see what happens. I only applied to one side of the lawn so hopefully it makes a noticable difference.
 
#26 ·
Mowed at 2" yesterday and put down pgr and iron today. Increased it from last time to see what happens. Results weren't bad last application but it just wasn't as drastic as it could be. I also think I need to recalibrate my sprayer. I seem to have leftovers in the tank ever since I added the 29psi valve

.45oz total of PGR (.25oz/K)
7.2oz total ferrous (4oz/K)
6.12oz total ammonium sulfate (3.4oz/K)
 
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