Plaza Renovation
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- Posts: 17
- Joined: May 12th, 2014, 7:43 am
- Location: Concord, NH
- Grass Type: getting better
- Lawn Size: Not Specified
- Level: Not Specified
Plaza Renovation
Im thinking its time to get this area cleaned up. Ive been fertilizing as part of the rest of the yard per my plan. This includes lime, 10-10-10, epsom salt, etc. The soil is extremely hard and has not had grass before. This area was logged and used as a log landing about 5 years ago. Overall size is ~15k sq ft. located 15 miles north of Concord NH.
The overlal picture shows that i dont have perfect grass and im not trying to achieve anything more than what i have. To help with the soil, i was going to kill what is there, run my box blade with rippers over the area to break up the soil and then spread some loam over the area. Due to the size, i would only be getting 1-2 inches of actual top soil, mixed in with a set of wheel harrows and then raked out.
When it comes time to plant, i probably wont have water available. ill need ~200 feet of hose just to run one sprinkler. I havent tried yet so im not sure how much coverage ill have.
any pointers, comments are appreciated.
Re: Plaza Renovation
If you can't water, I would forget about trying to renovate and just keep the weeds mowed.
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- Posts: 17
- Joined: May 12th, 2014, 7:43 am
- Location: Concord, NH
- Grass Type: getting better
- Lawn Size: Not Specified
- Level: Not Specified
Re: Plaza Renovation
not acceptable, there has to be a way. The lawn adjacent to this area was never watered. I may be able to link hoses together, but ill only get one sprinkler going at a time.
- andy10917
- Posts: 29750
- Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
- Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
- Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
- Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
- Level: Advanced
Re: Plaza Renovation
Did you try asking the adjacent lawn's owner how he did that? He obviously knows something none of us do...
I'd follow his instructions.
I'd follow his instructions.
- Jackpine
- Posts: 1081
- Joined: October 28th, 2011, 6:02 pm
- Location: Antrim County, Michigan
- Grass Type: N.W. Mi. KBG blend
- Lawn Size: 3000-5000
- Level: Experienced
Re: Plaza Renovation
IMO dormant seeding would be your best option. Nuke the first of September, hope for rain during fallowing and nuke again in October. Then seed down before the first snow. You could get lucky with fall rains to help bring in a reno but Mom Nature don't always co-operate.
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- Posts: 17
- Joined: May 12th, 2014, 7:43 am
- Location: Concord, NH
- Grass Type: getting better
- Lawn Size: Not Specified
- Level: Not Specified
Re: Plaza Renovation
the adjacent lawn is mine, never watered when i seeded just relied on luck from the sky. Also, i never really fertilized according to a soil test until last year. That made a huge difference!
Im expanding, further away from my house which is why i think water may be an issue. Maybe ill look at running hoses and see what that gets me before moving forward.
Im expanding, further away from my house which is why i think water may be an issue. Maybe ill look at running hoses and see what that gets me before moving forward.
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- Posts: 17
- Joined: May 12th, 2014, 7:43 am
- Location: Concord, NH
- Grass Type: getting better
- Lawn Size: Not Specified
- Level: Not Specified
Re: Plaza Renovation
Ok, so i finally broke down and got to work on this. Naturally my timing lined up with severe drought conditions here in NH but i wasnt waiting another year. To start off, i had 120 yards of loam brought in. I did this in early summer so i could let the kids build jumps out of the piles. By the time it came to spread them, they were onto other sports.
I got a late start and nuked the weeds mid august. I figured everything about this is going to be unconventional so why not just start off at the beginning. As all the green started to die, i was surprised i didnt miss any spots. Having to do that area with a 2gal spray was not very fun. Yeah your supposed to water during this time to figure out your plan. Football season is in full swing so we dont have time for that. lets just put that off until we have to.
First week of sept, time to seed. But first i have to spread the loam. Good thing the tractor has lights. Its spet 2nd time to seed. Took the day off and did a final smoothing pass with the tractor and york rake. Did i mention the drought, i felt like i was teleported to the dust bowl. At this point, I'm thinking there is no way im going to get anything to grow here, what a complete waste of money. Well, its too late now, lets spray and pray. Due to conditions, i didnt buy any special seed but it still ran close to $300 for seed and fertilizer.
Seeds down, now i have to water. I ended up running 150ft of hose right from my spigot on my incoming water line from the basement, through the sill plate in the house, through the garage and to the edge of "lawndom". This let me run 3 sprinklers at a time, but i would have to move them 4 times to cover the area.
I set up a time so that i could at least get one area watered during the day and then Id go into hoser mode and move sprinklers until early evening. Much to my surprise, as i pulled into the driveway on Sept 8th, i could see a slight green hue. Thats grass growing. I was running around the area shouting "I have grown grass" in my Tom Hanks impersonation of the fire scene in Cast Away! Probably a good thing my neighbors cant see me.
Overall, im surprised at how well its turned out. Best part is the area is smooth and I can mow with out getting bucked all over the place. I was willing to accept what ever happened and its turned out better than expected. Ill try to post pics later. The one thing i should have done better was put down more seed. I went with the recommended bag settings but i have a few spots that are completely bare. Other spots are just perfect. Now, for next year i have to renovate the good area next to it because the grass doesnt match (i dont even remember seeding that area) and I can smooth it.
I got a late start and nuked the weeds mid august. I figured everything about this is going to be unconventional so why not just start off at the beginning. As all the green started to die, i was surprised i didnt miss any spots. Having to do that area with a 2gal spray was not very fun. Yeah your supposed to water during this time to figure out your plan. Football season is in full swing so we dont have time for that. lets just put that off until we have to.
First week of sept, time to seed. But first i have to spread the loam. Good thing the tractor has lights. Its spet 2nd time to seed. Took the day off and did a final smoothing pass with the tractor and york rake. Did i mention the drought, i felt like i was teleported to the dust bowl. At this point, I'm thinking there is no way im going to get anything to grow here, what a complete waste of money. Well, its too late now, lets spray and pray. Due to conditions, i didnt buy any special seed but it still ran close to $300 for seed and fertilizer.
Seeds down, now i have to water. I ended up running 150ft of hose right from my spigot on my incoming water line from the basement, through the sill plate in the house, through the garage and to the edge of "lawndom". This let me run 3 sprinklers at a time, but i would have to move them 4 times to cover the area.
I set up a time so that i could at least get one area watered during the day and then Id go into hoser mode and move sprinklers until early evening. Much to my surprise, as i pulled into the driveway on Sept 8th, i could see a slight green hue. Thats grass growing. I was running around the area shouting "I have grown grass" in my Tom Hanks impersonation of the fire scene in Cast Away! Probably a good thing my neighbors cant see me.
Overall, im surprised at how well its turned out. Best part is the area is smooth and I can mow with out getting bucked all over the place. I was willing to accept what ever happened and its turned out better than expected. Ill try to post pics later. The one thing i should have done better was put down more seed. I went with the recommended bag settings but i have a few spots that are completely bare. Other spots are just perfect. Now, for next year i have to renovate the good area next to it because the grass doesnt match (i dont even remember seeding that area) and I can smooth it.
- HoosierLawnGnome
- Posts: 9591
- Joined: May 22nd, 2013, 5:59 pm
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Grass Type: Blueberry KBG
- Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
- Level: Advanced
Re: Plaza Renovation
Nice work! I had a similar project on some remote timberland - the late seeding helped termendously. I used fescue - what did you go with? I found that seeding late in the year and early spring got germination - but the grass I seeded late in the fall (when it's moist and cool) looked small and puny until May.
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- Posts: 17
- Joined: May 12th, 2014, 7:43 am
- Location: Concord, NH
- Grass Type: getting better
- Lawn Size: Not Specified
- Level: Not Specified
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