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Pannellde Lawn Journal

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17K views 87 replies 12 participants last post by  Pannellde  
P
#1 · (Edited)
I bought this house 15 yrs ago when I worked full time, was an avid golfer, and boater. Needless to say all three of those activities kept me away from lawn care so I adopted the 'if it's green it's lawn' approach. The yard was full of clover, dandelions, goose grass, poa, nutsedge, kalinga, dalisgrass, crabgrass, barngrass, etc. Among the weeds there was a little bit of Bermuda that was able to fend for itself. I mowed at 2.5-3", rarely edged or blew off the sidewalk or driveway, and only ran the string trimmer out of shame.

Fast forward to today's very different situation: my wife suffered a stroke so I took early retirement, sold the boat, and golf is a memory. I've decided that I need a hobby that keeps me close to home but out of the easy chair or the bottle so I started DIY lawn care this yr on 1.89 acres on the W side of Berry Mnt in NE Madison Co AL. I have decided to dedicate this season to refurbishing the landscape focusing primarily on the 10k sq ft front yard and 120 sq ft of flower beds, and secondarily on the remaining 72+k sq ft.

Apr '22 I started by scalping/sweeping, aerating/sweeping, watering, feeding, and mowing/sweeping the 10k front. I weeded and applied mulch in all the beds. I've made some mistakes - some of them expensive - that I'll just have to learn from which is what brought me here. I am a member of a few other forums which brought my knowledge up and flattened my learning curve in those areas so I look to this membership body for advice and knowledge.

So far:

I sprayed two applications of Image to kill off the Poa, Kalinga, Goosegrass, Crabgrass, and Nutsedge. This has resulted in some bare patches where the weeds were very well established and where I have compacted the ground with my R4 tractor tires. I mow at 1.25" now in an effort to train the Bermuda to spread laterally to fill in these bare spots. I have plans to replace the R4(s) with R3 turf tires. (A reel mower for the front 10k is just a distant dream right now.)

I applied Thick R Lawn around Easter which I found out was a mistake because it contains grass seed. I have no idea what kind of Bermuda I have but I am sure it's not the Highlander found in that bag. So, I am going to have a mixed lawn. The good news is I didn't burn the lawn and it seemed to help. It's yet to be seen how different what I seeded is to what was growing.

Then, I decided Scott's was too expensive long term and so I applied generic 10-10-10 fast release fertilizer and 4-3-0 all natural slow release fertilizer for a combination of .5 lb N/ 1k sq ft (.3 fast + .2 slow) around Memorial Day. That didn't go as well as planned. My grass yellowed so I watered, watered, watered in an effort to dilute the effect thinking the solution to pollution is dilution. It seems to be recovering slowly.

Here's my plan going forward: (All recommendations are welcome.)

Feeding:

Independence Day I will apply the fertilizer based on my soil sample recently submitted to Auburn University. I anticipate the results next week. I am leaning heavily towards .5 lb/1k Milorganite or a suitable substitute because it won't burn the grass. It's very difficult to get 1" of water on my lawn but if I concentrate on the front and let nature water the rest I might have a chance with a Milo-type application. I don't want a repeat of my Memorial Day application.

Labor Day I will repeat Independence Day if the results go well.

Insecticide:

My next application will be grub killer very soon due to sample patches revealing live grubs and years of June bug infestation. I may apply this to the entire 80k because my fruit trees and flowers get ravaged each year. I plan to use Bio Advance (DYLOX).

Herbicide:

Dallisgrass is my next Target.

The future weed plan is Prodiamine pre-emergent.

Fungicide:

I don't have a fungus plan yet. I want to use the wait and see approach. Again, recommendations welcome.

Baseline Apr ‘22 (ugly!):







Today's HOC reset:









 
P
#4 ·
Thx @DFWdude and @WillyT

I received my soil test report: low N and pH, everything else is high. They recommended 1 lb/1k sq ft N every 2 months and 1 ton per acre Lime to raise pH from 5.7. I believe I'll wait until fall to apply lime (if at all based on Simplifying Soil Test Interpretations for Turf Professionals).



I plugged my soil test and the 1 lb/1k recommendation into the Pace Growth Potential spreadsheet to get fertilizer application rate by month. The Minimum Levels for Sustainable Nutrition describes the approach. Basically, the approach states that applying nutrients to turfgrass growing on soil already well supplied with the nutrients is a waste of time and money. In many cases, the amount of nutrients needed is likely to be lower than would be recommended using the conventional (SLAN) guidelines (as described by Carrow et al. in their 2004 GCM article).



My pre emergent targets based on five yr avg historic soil temps.



I believe I want to maintain around ~36 or 37% soil moisture content.





For my Ref;

Turf takes up its required nutrients from the soil in a set ratio relative to nitrogen. The amount it takes up is directly correlated to the amount of nitrogen applied. For every 1 pound of N, the grass has a maximum K use of 0.5 lbs, maximum P use of 0.125 pounds, maximum Ca use of .125 pounds, maximum Mg use of 0.05 lbs, maximum Fe use of 0.0025 lbs, etc.

Soil pH desired Range: 5.5 to 8.0

Soil pH influences soil nutrient availability and microbial communities. Turfgrasses are fairly pH insensitive because they excrete chelating molecules from their roots to help extract soil nutrients that would otherwise be rendered unavailable by high or low pH. Application of lime is recommended if soil pH is less than 5.5 to optimize nutrient availability and reduce the risk of aluminum toxicity.

*Healthy levels of P in soil ranges from 25 to 50 ppm. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln gives the following guidelines to consider when analyzing your P levels in soil:
* Healthy levels between 25 and 50 ppm should receive light maintenance application of phosphorus annually (1/8-1/4 lb. of P2O5 per lb. N)
* For soils below 25 ppm, apply a starter fertilizer
* No fertilizer is necessary when levels reach about 50 ppm

**Healthy levels of potassium in soil range from 40 to 80 ppm.
* Soils with K levels lower than 40 ppm should receive an application of slightly more K than N annually
* Apply .75 to 1.0 lb of K2O per lb of N applied if K levels are in the desired range (40-80 ppm)
* No fertilizer is necessary when levels reach greater than 80 ppm
 
P
#5 ·
A friend was given a year's worth of Sunday fertilizer boxes but she has a lawn service so she gave them to me. I applied two of the N rich pouches which contain urea, soybean meal, and molasses to the front 10k today (5k each pouch). I will apply two more in a few days. .
 
P
#7 ·
Weekly update. Not quite there yet but still making progress. I'll apply some more of that free Sunday liquid fert tomorrow AM.

I placed an order for a Pro Plugger recommended by Jason Creel. I have a nice stand of weed free Bermuda in a side yard that will serve as my donor for the bare spots in front.

Have to figure out the mower deck so it doesn't leave those lines. It could simply be tire pressure or I may make a half turn adjustment.





 
P
#17 ·
Decided to start over this year so took it down to brown. I sprayed 24-0-0 with iron on it right after the cut. Forecast is rain tomorrow so we'll see.







Despite no rain, the lawn is recovering nicely from the summer scalp two weeks ago. Still a ways to go but we're getting there.





 
P
#25 ·
Thx @Murf300 and @Twodollarblue. I appreciate it.

I picked up a tow behind sprayer on sale ($140 off), so wired up a QD for the elec power. Sprayed .2 lb 34-0-0 disolved/1k + Bifenthrin @.5 fl oz/1k @40 psi. I did come up slightly short so I'll back off the psi next wk.







 
P
#26 · (Edited)
Cut to 1.75". Watered .5" after the cut







Just thinking out loud here:

My fertilizer program has taken three or four modifications season 1 already. I'm trying to find a balance between affordability, turf wear, and ease of use. Though I like the idea of an even application with the sprayer, I may decide to back off spoon feeding so often for a slow release granular less often. I want to 1) add soil building components which will benefit my hard, compacted soil, 2) apply it once a month during the growing season which should translate to reduced lawn wear, 3) without regard to wx conditions and doesn't require watering in without burning because I can't reach some areas with my sprinklers, and 4) is readily available at a reasonable price per lb N.

Another reason my fertilizer program has changed is due to my misinterpretation of my soil test results when taking Minimum Level of Sustainable Nutrition guidelines into consideration. At first glance my test results show low N and pH but everything else high. This would lead me to think I need an all N fertilizer and lime. However, when I plug my soil test and environmental information into the Pace Turf Growth Potential Appraisal, I see that my current soil P level will not meet MLSN minimums (the M in MLSN = minimum) in the soil. They recommend I add .6 P along with N, and pH > 5.5 which eliminates the need for lime because I am at 5.7.

Since the Pace Turf results recommend .6 P , something like this Milorganite, which I thought would not work for me due to the P content, actually looks pretty good because it checks all four of my boxes.:



Stacked like this which gets me in the neighborhood of my mid May to mid Sep growth potential curve.



I've made a ton of mistakes navigating the learning curve. Given that this was a 'building year' to reduce weed pressure, fill in bare spots, and control pests, after reflection I think it's been an overall success when the starting point is taken into consideration.
 
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