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GA Fescue Man's 2019 Lawn Journal

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21K views 82 replies 17 participants last post by  Chris LI  
#1 ·
I just wanted to document my process for 2019 and hopefully help some others out along the way. Very thankful for this forum and I appreciate everyone's contributions.

Background:

10/03/2018
- After regrading most of my front yard, I did a full renovation on the front and back with GCI TTTF seed (Escalade, Falcon III, Rendition) at 8 #/M.
- Applied Hybrix Lawn Fertilizer (old formula: 14-4-24) at the full rate of 8 #/M. Applied Hyrbrix Pasture Fertilizer (old formula: 10-9-10) at the half rate of 6 #/M.
- Applied Air8 at 9 oz./M, Humic 12 at 6 oz./M, & RGS at 6 oz./M.
- I had a slight grub issue in August & September of 2018, so I put down Dylox at seeding as well.



11/01/2018
- Because of some of the flash storms after seeding and the amount of rain, the grass seed had some trouble establishing, and was a little thin in the newly graded swale valleys. I reseeded the swale valleys with Ewing Irrigation's King Fescue Blend (AST7003, AST5112, & Falcon III).
- I also put down another half rate (6 #/M) of the Hyrbrix Pasture Fertilizer.

 
#3 ·
02/02/2019
- Took soil samples of my front and back yard before any applications were applied and sent them to Midwest Labs. I just wanted to get a baseline of where things stood from a deficiency standpoint. My soil report is here: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7531

- Applied 100 pounds of Hybrix Lawn Fertilizer (old formula: 14-4-24) at the full bag rate of 8 #/M. This application supplies 1.12 #/M of nitrogen, 0.32 #/M of phosphorous, & 1.92 #/M of potassium. My goal is to be around 2.5 to 3 #/M of annual nitrogen.
- Also applied a mixture of Prodiamine, Air8 at 6 oz./M & RGS at 6 oz./M. Watered everything in with about 1/4 inch of water.

02/09/2019
- Applied Triplet SF & GCI natural adjuvant. I noticed some ryegrass (I think?) and henbit. (These photos were taken around 02/14/2019. About a week after the Triplet application.)





02/14/2019
- First cut of the year. Cut the grass at 3.75 inches. It took off some of the browning tips that had developed over the winter.

 
G
#4 ·
Looks great!
 
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#6 ·
02/26/2019
Cut the grass at 4.25 inches. It has been raining a good bit here in the North Georgia area (right at 4 inches in the past 12 days) and the high temps have been in the high 50's and low to mid 60's most days, so some of the grass blades were up to 6.5 inches tall. The backyard has a couple of spots that didn't fill in all that well due to some puddling in those areas from the large amounts of rain last fall.





The Triplet app took out some of the henbit/dead nettle, but there is still a good bit hanging around. My plan was to only spot spray Triplet during the Round 2 app, but I may need to blanket spray them once again. We'll see. Also saw some poa annua starting to pop in places. :?

 
#7 ·
03/07/2019
Cut the grass at 4.25 inches. I cut off a little more than a 1/3 since my last mow, 9 days ago. I got about 1.25 inches of rain since the last cut. We also had a cold snap where the temps got down in the mid 20's on a couple of days.

03/10/2019
Decided to transfer some daffodils to a different landscape area around one of my evergreen trees.

 
#8 ·
03/14/2019
Cut the grass at 4.25 inches and edged everything out. We had about 0.25 inches of rain since the last cut.

03/20/2019
Cut the grass at 4.25 inches and edged it again. Had about 0.55 inches of rain since the last mow. Haven't really had to use the sprinkler system at all, except to immediately water in the Round 1 application. My plan is to only water when the leaf blades start to curl up. The low temps have been in the high 30's to mid 40's and highs in the 60's for the most part. The grass is really starting to thicken up. I will try to get my Round 2 app down this weekend. We'll see. The photos below were taken on 03/21/2019 and the lighting in some them make the grass look a lighter green color, but for the most part it has nice dark green color to it.















 
#10 ·
@Chris LI Thanks Chris. Yeah man, the little one's making sure things are under control 😁. I had to regrade a big chunk of the front yard last year. All the rain we got exposed my drainage issues in some areas. When we did that, I put in a 4' paver sidewalk and those are the leftover pavers. I've got to move those to the shed 😁. Here in the next couple of months, I am going to put some stone around the foundation beds and some hardwood bark mulch in the Japanese maple and dogwood landscape bed. After that, hopefully start to paint the house. I'm a one man show and some days it would be nice to have a clone of myself 😄. Thanks again man. I appreciate the support. Have a good one.
 
#13 ·
Chris LI said:
GA_Fescue_Man said:
@Chris LI By the way, that is a Japanese maple.
Click to expand...
I grew up with them and fell in love with them as my Dad did. They provide a nice accent to the front yard, and I think they contrast nicely with the green turf. I think the placement is perfect for your corner property.
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We have lived in the house since 2012 and have finished remodeling most of the inside. Now I am working on the outside to get things looking a little better. The guy that owned the house two owners ago was a landscape architect. He had some really nice landscape beds with Chinese peonies, lilies, daffodils, azaleas, forsythia, dogwoods, Japanese maples, roses, crepe myrtles, etc. The previous owners let things go, so I am trying to nurture some of the stuff back. I really love the Japanese maple as well. Really cool trees. Hope things start to warm up soon for you guys up north. Have a good one man.
 
#14 ·
03/23/2019
- I picked up a 50 pound bag of Lesco fertilizer (5-10-31) at Site One and applied it at 4 #/M. This application supplies 0.2 #/M of nitrogen, 0.4 #/M of phosphorous, & 1.24 #/M of potassium. The fertilizer also contained 10% iron. My plan was to put down some 0-46-0 and later on apply some 0-0-50, but for whatever reason, Ewing Irrigation & Site One did not stock any of them, so this was the best quick option to get down some more P & K.



- I also applied dolomitic lime at 25 #/M to raise the PH of the soil. The lime contained 24% calcium and 6% magnesium.





03/24/2019
- Applied a mixture of Prodiamine, Air8 at 6 oz./M, RGS at 6 oz./M, & MicroGreene at 6 oz./M. Watered everything in with a 1/4 inch of water. The following day (Monday, 03/25/2019), we received about 0.2 inches of rain to help water things in a bit more.
 
#15 ·
03/26/2019
Cut the grass at 4.25 inches.

04/02/2019
Cut the grass at 4.25 inches. It has been pretty dry lately in north GA. It's been about 10 days or so since the last rain (0.2 inches), so hopefully the roots are driving deeper into the ground to find some water. The grass blades have not curled up at all, so the only time I have used the sprinkler system is to water in an application. I have some Poa Annua in a couple of spots, mostly in the back, with some along my driveway in the front as well. Hopefully the heat will take care of that soon, but I'm thinking about some options in the fall or maybe a post emergent application next year to hopefully lessen the amount that pops back up. The pollen has been crazy in GA, by the way!

The last time I used the sprinkler system I noticed a slight pressure drop over the entire system. I have hopefully figured out the problem and I'm working on the repair. Check out the irrigation thread here - https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8207.















 
C
#20 ·
GA_Fescue_Man said:
Thanks @Chris LI . Those are 2 dogwoods in the front. The bigger one has starting blooming pretty good. The little one always blooms a little later and seems to struggle more than the other. With everything starting to bloom, the pollen is starting to ramp up here in GA.
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Wow! They contrast nicely with the Japanese maple. It reminds me of home. My parents had the Japanese Maple on one side of the driveway and a Dogwood on the other side. It would be really ironic if you had a flowering Cherry. We had a couple of them (one weeping, one regular). Good luck with the pollen. We're throwing the kitchen sink at them right now with the maple/juniper pollen (2 antihistamines, 2 corticosteroid sprays, homeopathic allergy relief, and homeopathic sinus relief).
 
#21 ·
@Budstl @social port @Chris LI Thanks guys. The Japanese maples and dogwoods are in full sun. They help shade the grass some in the front, but the grass towards the main street is in the sun most of the day. The backyard gets a lot shade. The sunny spots are where I have the most problem with brown patch in the summer. I think it's because the grass is thicker in those areas and maybe it's easier to spread(?). I'm not sure. The shadier spots are greener and tend to shelter the grass from the heat better.

I do have a good bit of Poa Annua this year, so in the fall, I am going to try the Tenacity/Poa Constrictor regimen to hopefully control things a little better for next year. Is Poa Constrictor discontinued? All of the sites say that it is sold out.

I'm going to start my preventative fungicide apps around Cinco de Mayo. It's like getting ready for battle with Rhizoctonia Solani :). Last year I was able to hold it off until the end of June, but there was so much rain, and even with preventative fungicide apps, it starting creeping in at the beginning of July. That's the biggest battle I have with the humidity in my area. I'm hoping the Azoxystrobin, Propicanizole, & O2YS adjuvant will help me get to the end of September. If I can get through July & August with no Brown Patch, I'll take it. Appreciate you guys. Thanks.
 
#22 ·
Budstl said:
Lawn is looking great @GA_Fescue_Man. Your japanese maple and dogwoods in full sun? I'm curious to how well they hold up in the summer months.
Click to expand...
The maple and dogwoods hold up pretty well. I don't really do anything with them. They've been there for about 20 years or so (based on a Google Earth image from 02/1999). Probably even earlier than that. The house was built in 1988. I need to probably start feeding them some with a good liquid fertilizer every now and then. The little dogwood always looks to be struggling, but it holds up alright. I did put some hardwood bark mulch out last year in that landscape bed. I need to do it again this year and hopefully create some better soil over time. I'm eventually going to create a raised bed in that area, when I get some time or additional child labor :).
 
#23 ·
04/09/2019
- Cut the grass at 4.25 inches.

04/15/2019
- Cut the grass at 4.25 inches. We got about 1 inch of rain on 04/14 in my area.

04/23/2019
- Cut the grass at 4.25 inches. Got close to 3 inches of rain on 04/19 during some heavy thunderstorms that came through. There is still a good bit of poa annua in the shady areas of my yard. The heat should get rid of that pretty soon and I will prepare for that next year with some pre-emergents this fall.

I planted 2 tomato plants (Cherokee Purple & Celebrity) and 2 sweet pepper plants (Orange Blossom & Gypsy) in 5 gallon buckets on 04/21. This is my first time in the buckets, so hopefully things go well. If anyone is looking for food grade 5 gallon buckets, you can get them at Firehouse Subs for $2 and the money goes to local firefighters. They sell their old pickle buckets.



04/27/2019
- Cut the grass at 4.25 inches.
 
#25 ·
@jackallis Yeah man. I regraded the front yard last year and created two swale valleys to get the proper grade. I put down GCI Turf seed (Escalade, Falcon III, & Rendition) at 8 #/M when I renovated. After 4 weeks, with all of the rain, etc., the swale valleys were not coming in well, so I seeded those areas again with Ewing Irrigation's King Fescue Blend (AST7003, AST5112, & Falcon III). I have been pleased with GCI & Ewing's blends so far. They're about to get tested here in GA in a month or two! Hopefully it well hold up well.
 
#26 ·
04/29/2019

- I jumped the gun a little early with my fungicide application, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Later in the week, the temps and humidity were looking to break the 150 rule, so I decided to go ahead and put it down. We'll see. Applied a combination of Strobe 50WG (0.2 oz./M), Propicanizole 14.3 (0.5 oz./M), & O2YS adjuvant.

04/30/2019

- I ended up finding a deal on some Milorganite from Home Depot and decided to put some down to get me through the summer. They had 5 bags with small puncture holes in them and sold them to me for half price ($7 a bag). These were the new 32 pound bags of 6-4-0. I applied it at the full rate (12.8 #/M). I figured this will help my P levels a little and also help get a little more organic material in the soil. This application supplies 0.77 #/M of nitrogen & 0.51 #/M of phosphorous.



- I also put down Acelpryn G at 2 #/M for grub control. It was a little less than the max rate of 2.3 #/M, but I did not want to cough of the money for an extra bag. This product will hopefully provide season long control. Grubs took out part my yard last year and just wanted to do something preventatively.



- In addition, I put down RGS & Air8 at 6 oz./M. I watered everything in early Wednesday (04/31/2019) morning with about 0.5 inches of water from irrigation.



 
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