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Joe C's Lawn Journal - New Construction Fall 21 Reno - Front Lawn (Complete)

15K views 138 replies 15 participants last post by  joec-ct 
#1 ·
Greetings - My first post. I stumbled across TLF while I was searching for reno ideas. Been lurking here for a few weeks, additionally watching lots of the mainstream YouTube lawn care content. My situation seems unique to me, but to those experienced folks here, probably not. Perhaps your wisdom can help steer me in the right direction. Regardless, this is better than keeping a Google Keep log, so here goes:

Front Lawn Reno, Back Lawn Overseed (not a subject of attention at the moment)
Front Lawn Total sqft 4500

Built a new home during the pandemic, moved in Feb 2021. Middlesex County of CT. New development, 10 homes, 2 homes completed in 2019 (Their lawns look OK, perhaps Tier 1). Was farmland. We were house 8 of 10, they have poured the foundation for the final (10th) home. No one has a driveway paved yet, and the final road + sidewalks wont be completed until late 2022 (earliest).

Contractor seeded with Pennington Contractors Mix in late May 2021. Mix consisted of:
32% Applaud II Perennial Ryegrass
14% PPE_C2[Illegible] Annual Ryegrass
2.75% Other Crop Seed
50% Coating Material
1% Inert Metter
0.25% Weed Seed

As I've learned about PRG, it makes sense that contractors would use this mix - Get the grass up quick. My father told me to put down starter fertilizer, he at the time was all I knew about lawn care. My newer neighbors were surprised at how nice my lawn was looking (it looked like crap IMO). Only the first 2 homes have decent lawns (Tier 1?), the others are 80% weeds including myself. The Annual Ryegrass obviously died. Our specific lot had LOTS of ledge, soil is very rocky. Contractor did not put any screened topsoil, so I have tons of rocks, many within 4 inches of the soil, a few of them being as large as a catchers mitt. I began to notice areas where the grass was not growing, and after taking a pickaxe to the soil...ledge. After examining the soil and performing a ribbon test, it appears I have clay loam or silty clay loam.

I needed to do something about this. I want a nice lawn. Front yard is slope-y, about 1.75:1 slope ratio
Goal: Tier 2

Here's what I have done so far:
July 2021 - Got blessing from significant other
July 2021 - Installed an underground DIY Irrigation system, 2 zones, Orbit Blue lock with Saturn III heads (6) for front, and
RainBird 32ETI with 32sa heads (4) on the side. BHyve Wifi Hub/Values for both. Water pressure is 55psi, 6GPM.
July 2021 - Performed a soil test. Surprisingly, PH is 6.2. Very low P and K Clay loam or silty clay loam.
July 2021 - Ordered SS5000 Sunny Mixture from SuperseedStore.
8/1/2021 - Applied Glysophate using a pump sprayer with surfactant and blue dye.
8/6/2021 - The lawn looks primarily dead now, I see the areas I have missed. See photos. I'm continuing to water to bring out weeds.
8/6/2021 - Realized I could should have used liquid soil loosener from SLS, but bottle says I need to wait a month, too late...
8/6/2021 - Areas of the lawn where grass or weeds did not grow, I'm using a pickaxe like a madman and will continue to find that the builder put some of the ledge there. Continuing to remove large rocks.

Here's my plan now:
8/8/21 - 2nd Round of Gly. Continuing to rake rocks and clean up debris.
8/14/21 - Apply SLS Soil Hume. Continue to water.
8/15/21 - 3rd Round of Gly
8/27/21 - Scalp lawn with mower. (Ego Power+ Rotary 56V, brand new.) Bag Debris and dead clippings. Hope I don't ruin my blades with the rocks.
8/28/21 - Core Aeration
- Removal / Raking of cores
- Spread peat moss as topdressing over holes (to add organic matter, not for seed cover)
- Take delivery of topsoil or topsoil mixed with compost, hopefully 2" ($$), spread and level using a lawn leveler.
- Roll using a rented roller from Home Depot
8/29/21 - Seed Down. SS5000. 60% KBG, 20% Radar Chewings Fescue, 20% Grand Slam PRG
- Roll using rented roller from Home Depot
- Friend coming over (lawn care nut) to spray Tenacity with backpack sprayer.
- Install Curlex I Erosion Control Blankets, staking with biodegradable stakes, tight. I cant risk losing my seed. Gutters pose a problem and cause erosion.

8/29 and beyond: Water 4 times a day depending on weather. Continue to follow g-man reno guide. Not sure about starter fertilizer. Sort of want to wait until germination, then spread SLS 3-18-18 due to low P and K, but I'm spreading new topsoil, so unsure where to go from here.

Anyways, most of these photos as of 8/6. Dirt photos are from earlier to show erosion concerns.

Cheers folks!













 
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#103 ·
DAS:25 | DAG:20
Applications:
8/29 - DOS 12-12-12 (.36/N 1k)
9/16 - 16-4-8(Simple Lawn Solutions)


FRONT LAWN - Timeline

Thought I'd put together a photo of the first 20 days or so. I am not exactly sure about the DAG for the KBG.
Considering this is 60% KBG, I think this is filling in OK, after seeing other journals at this timeframe.
Here is DAY 5 to DAY 20 (with 8" rain in 10 days) of the front lawn from Nest Cam.


DAY 0

DAY 5

DAY 10

DAY 15

DAY 20 (Today)
 
#108 ·
Thanks guys. Grass looks even better at dusk.

@bernstem Need to practice more with sprayer, but looking at spraying urea (foliar app) in the coming days. Considering mixing with Propi and at 1oz rate with NIS. We've had very wet nights here lately. Any advice on that?
 
#109 ·
joec-ct said:
Thanks guys. Grass looks even better at dusk.

@bernstem Need to practice more with sprayer, but looking at spraying urea (foliar app) in the coming days. Considering mixing with Propi and at 1oz rate with NIS. We've had very wet nights here lately. Any advice on that?
For a new reno, foliar can be tough on the grass. One option is to wash it off. If you do want a foliar applications, then stay on the low end (<0.2 lb/1k). For Propi, you don't need NIS. It is rapidly absorbed by itself.
- If you want to do a single application, then I would do Propi at 1-2 Oz/k and Urea at 0.15 lb/k.
- If you want to step it up (this is what I would do), then Urea at 0.25 lbs/k and irrigate it off into the soil immediately after application. Follow with a second foliar application of Propi at 1-2 Oz/k.
 
#110 ·
Thanks @bernstem. I need to step it up given the late Aug seed down and the washouts. I didnt have time to practice and mix this weekend, so I put down SLS 16-4-8 hose end sprayer which got me .1/N per 1k. Next week I'll hit it with .25 and wash off, along with the propi.
 
#111 ·
Backyard (Single Post)

Highlighting a few things here with this post. A flat yard is much easier to deal with than a hilly yard. Hitting that perfect window where there are no washouts takes some luck.

Not making a journal for backyard but just thought I'd place this here since I've had a successful overseed in the backyard. Was full of weeds and crabgrass this summer.

All that was done in this area:
Sprayed Tenacity + Speedzone during the first week of September.
9/11 - Mowed to 1" with rotary and bagged.
9/12 - Rented power rake from HD, made grooves in soil. No topsoil or peat moss. Mowed with rotary and bagged debris.
9/12 - Overseeded (if you can call it an overseed, contractor's ryegrass was very thin here) with a TTTF blend from SSS.
9/12 - Applied Yard Mastery 12-12-12, and some Milo. Didn't rake in seed, didn't roll. Walked all over it yes.
9/12-9/26 Watered with above ground irrigation (Melnor) + Hoses.

9/26 - Result. This is a photo after the 2nd mow with manual reel. Very pleased. TTTF + Flat yard was very easy.

Lesson: KBG on a hill is a bi&$ to establish!

 
#115 ·
DAS:30 | DAG:25
Applications:
8/29 - DOS 12-12-12 (.36/N 1k)
9/16 - SLS 16-4-8(.1/N 1k
9/26 - SLS 16-4-8 (.1/N 1k)


FRONT LAWN - Patches. Fungus, burn, or other?

Got some rain today and light is low. It appears that there are patchy areas of very green thick lawn, and other areas that are thinner.

It's hard to tell what is going on. At a glace from far away, I thought the brownish areas were portions of the blankets. See Closeup C. I think the fibers are what's brown underneath.




CLOSEUP A

CLOSEUP B

CLOSEUP C

CLOSEUP D


Any thoughts?
 
#117 ·
I can't tell what is going on for sure. Inspect the lawn for brown lesions on the grass in the lighter areas. Look for grass blades that are dying. FWIW, I'm not seeing much in the pictures above. Most of the brown stuff looks like the seeding mat that is loosing its green color. It is most likely just some grass more mature than others. If you see lesions, then treatment may be in order. Post up some pictures if you find anything and hopefully someone can help with disease ID, but I'm terrible at it with just pictures.

That definitely needs a mow. Back off the watering and get the soil dry enough to cut the grass. The reduced water will help reduce disease pressure. I would cut at 2-2.5 inches since you have a rotary mower.
 
#119 ·
I have a similar if not the same issue going on. Seed came up wonderful and filled out great in most places. Seed barenbrug RPR and have mowed it 5 times. Been moving every other day at 3". But in a few the grass thinned out and started to yellow and even went white and died. Now I did grow my lawn with straw and part of me thinks the soil just isn't drying out in those spots so I have lightly raked out any straw that was matted on top of the soil but under the canopy. Would a consistently damp soil cause a new lawn to thin and go yellow/green and even die in some spots? Or should I be looking into fungus? By the way I haven't watered in two weeks, just 1" or so of rain over that time and temps ranging from 50-85 with no to high humidity (gotta love this CT weather)
 
#120 ·
By the way, love the lawn Reno and journal Joe. Looks greats and seems like working your way thru the issues seems to be paying off. Can't wait to see more updates. I apologize if I jacked the thread. It's just your lawn issue with the thinned off color grass os just an issue I can find a consistent answer to and I got excited someone else may be struggling with the same thing
 
#121 ·
@uts @kay7711226 @bernstem Thanks guys! I'm going to look in other areas of the front lawn and check for a systemic issue. If you look closely at a couple blades in closeup B and C, there are brown tips. I'm going to pull some of these throughout and see if I can find anything of concern.

In regards to mowing, I have been mowing with a manual reel every 2-3 days, but this is not an even ground. I've mowed 4 times so far, and I now feel safe enough to switch to the rotary. That will get a better blanket mow. I honestly haven't been watering much!

@Perillomarc Not a problem my friend, this is a learning experience for me as well. From what I can tell you is constantly damp soil/blades, especially overnight + humidity is not favorable. Feel free to PM, would love to see what you're doing. Thanks for following along, I'm glad there's a good community here willing to help and observe/learn.
 
#123 ·
joec-ct said:
Going to be spraying urea at .25lbN/1k on Sunday, and I'm also due for Tenacity. Can I mix them in the same tank or is it too much for new grass? If I have to separate the applications, do I need to wait a few days between the two? If so which to spray first?
The second app of tenacity is both a foliar and ground app. Its wierd because you can target current weeds with foliar and pre-em for the part that goes in the soil. If you will immediately rinse off the urea after spraying (this is what I have seen from other users on new grass) then I would do it separately. I would apply the tenacity first if you have hit the 30d germination mark.
 
#126 ·
Actually, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to apply Tenacity right now. I have thrown down more seed on my side / front yard multiple times and I have some new germination there now.

I think I'm going to focus on pushing N and getting my grass to spread until my 60 day prodiamine application.
 
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