Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

[BoatDrinksQ5]

I believe it works for Rust - I was using it for a very small spot for a few weeks and it did the trick (or cleared naturally). I get mine on amazon.

Snow mold might be a pipe dream for control Don't know the bacteria strains ability to handle cold temepratures... but figure if yogurt and the herd can take it... maybe Serenade Bact. and SnowMold will have party at the same time over the winter/spring when above freezing?

It doesn't list Pink Mold or Snow Mold specificlly in the controlled dissease list IIRC. But does mention a Gray Mold i think. (maybe or maybe not in reference to Grey Snow Mold...)

[gryd]

The weather this weekend is terrible in Connecticut. I won't be spraying Tenacity or anything else for that matter. I spaded 6 poa plants yesterday. That makes about 20 total. I checked pretty thoroughly and didn't find anymore though I'm sure there's a few poa plants out there. In 2007 (when I last renovated this area) I had hundreds of poa plants by this time of year with no end in sight and the only reason the renovation came out as good as it did was because I popped out hundreds of the baby plants before winter came then resumed plucking them out in the Spring. I think it took me 3 years to dig it all out but I was determined and failure was not an option. Seven years later it appears I have about 1/1000th of what I had then but this time I didn't disturb the soil and used Scott's with Tenacity! Bottom line is that I may have a little poa but nothing much to worry about. Compared to 2007 I'm virtually weed free! I'll let you guys know if I ever decide to blanket spray but for now a little plucking and spot spraying is all that is necessary!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[ligrass]

The weather this weekend is terrible in Connecticut. I won't be spraying Tenacity or anything else for that matter. I spaded 6 poa plants yesterday. That makes about 20 total. I checked pretty thoroughly and didn't find anymore though I'm sure there's a few poa plants out there. In 2007 (when I last renovated this area) I had hundreds of poa plants by this time of year with no end in sight and the only reason the renovation came out as good as it did was because I popped out hundreds of the baby plants before winter came then resumed plucking them out in the Spring. I think it took me 3 years to dig it all out but I was determined and failure was not an option. Seven years later it appears I have about 1/1000th of what I had then but this time I didn't disturb the soil and used Scott's with Tenacity! Bottom line is that I may have a little poa but nothing much to worry about. Compared to 2007 I'm virtually weed free! I'll let you guys know if I ever decide to blanket spray but for now a little plucking and spot spraying is all that is necessary!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Are you noticing any of yours going to seed? Most of mine are seeding and stressed looking. I definitely think it takes at least 2 sprays (maybe more?) to get a good enough kill on the ones already sprouted. I noticed about a 20% kill of identifiable poa from 1 spray, although I imagine that prevented some from sprouting as well.

[gryd]

The weather this weekend is terrible in Connecticut. I won't be spraying Tenacity or anything else for that matter. I spaded 6 poa plants yesterday. That makes about 20 total. I checked pretty thoroughly and didn't find anymore though I'm sure there's a few poa plants out there. In 2007 (when I last renovated this area) I had hundreds of poa plants by this time of year with no end in sight and the only reason the renovation came out as good as it did was because I popped out hundreds of the baby plants before winter came then resumed plucking them out in the Spring. I think it took me 3 years to dig it all out but I was determined and failure was not an option. Seven years later it appears I have about 1/1000th of what I had then but this time I didn't disturb the soil and used Scott's with Tenacity! Bottom line is that I may have a little poa but nothing much to worry about. Compared to 2007 I'm virtually weed free! I'll let you guys know if I ever decide to blanket spray but for now a little plucking and spot spraying is all that is necessary!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Are you noticing any of yours going to seed? Most of mine are seeding and stressed looking. I definitely think it takes at least 2 sprays (maybe more?) to get a good enough kill on the ones already sprouted. I noticed about a 20% kill of identifiable poa from 1 spray, although I imagine that prevented some from sprouting as well.

I only found one going to seed. Come to think of it, it was stressed looking. I figured it was stressed from the granular tenacity I applied a while back. I've been able to identify the plants because they are slightly yellow from the mesotrione.

[sony1998]

Wrong thread. Sorry

[gryd]

I need some advice from the experts. I have had a history of snow mold in my damp backyard. I obviously have stopped winterizing back there many years ago and often use a preventative fungicide like Anderson's Prophecy sold at Lesco or Bayer Advanced sold at Lowes. The one year I skipped using a fungicide my grass back there was decimated so obviously a fungicide helps.

In front, where my renovation is, I have had some snow mold but very little since I converted it to KBG and never to the extent I had in my back yard. Still, I may get an area or two of snow mold damage (both pink and gray). I used Vigoro Super Green (Morph's favorite) the past 2 years as a winterizer on my front KBG. It worked well and gave me some nice Spring green up and color. Now my front is young grass seedlings as it was renovated in August and it is probably more susceptible to disease. That being said how important is it to winterize a newly renovated lawn? I worry about snow mold and I don't want to add any contributing factors such as applying late season N or K. Of course I don't want my renovation to suffer, though it is quite dense already I still have shallow roots that need to grow. So back to my previous question: How important is it for me to winterize my renovation? If I do winterize my front KBG renovation should I be using something other than Vigoro Super Green?

[andy10917]

I think that the first year is the most important to winterize. You can't look at just this moment - despite your best efforts, you will have weed challenges and repair effort the first Spring after a renovation. It's the nature of the beast. Applying fertilizers that first Spring is going to complicate the effort. Maximize the grass that makes it through to Spring, and fight Spring wars only then. Don't fall behind and have to play catch-up.

The Vigoro stuff is fine - it's a few dollars more than generic Urea, but so be it...

[gryd]

I think that the first year is the most important to winterize. You can't look at just this moment - despite your best efforts, you will have weed challenges and repair effort the first Spring after a renovation. It's the nature of the beast. Applying fertilizers that first Spring is going to complicate the effort. Maximize the grass that makes it through to Spring, and fight Spring wars only then. Don't fall behind and have to play catch-up.

The Vigoro stuff is fine - it's a few dollars more than generic Urea, but so be it...

Thanks Andy! I'll go grab some Super Green before HD puts it away. It was there yesterday. I hope they leave it out for a few more days.

[gryd]

Front Yard Renovation
I may as well do a day 90 post. It's actually day 89 but I won't be around the next couple days to take a picture. I'm still mowing once a week but that may change as old man winter is expected to arrive this weekend! I was too lazy to take my usual shot from the street. It was a lot easier to take this shot with my iPad standing on the front porch!

Greg's Front Reno Take 2 Day 90

My previous lawn was nice but I have absolutely no regrets for having killed it to plant all dark cultivars. Will it actually get darker next year?

Mini Backyard Renovation
My front project was big and took a lot effort. So much so that I keep forgetting that a did a mini renovation in back that struggled until a few weeks ago. The soil was compact and required multiple applications of Bestlawn Soil Treatment as the grass struggled to take root and establish. I also used a drop spreader when I seeded and the latch to keep it in the open position got stuck a couple times and dropped way too much seed. The lawn came in too dense in a couple spots and struggled. Ultimately I lightly raked the overcrowded areas a couple times with my thatch rake. Two months after seeding I was able to rake out a good amount of seedlings as though they were only 3 weeks old! It helped a lot. With less dense turf and softer soil I finally started to see my mini renovation begin to establish in late October, almost 3 months since I seeded the area on August 1st.

Greg's Mini Backyard Renovation seeded August 1st

Bewitched, Skye, and Midnight Kentucky Bluegrass

I plan to renovate a larger section in back next year as I move from TTTF/KBG to 100% Kentucky Bluegrass. This year I only renovated between 600 and 800 square feet.

[jglongisland]

Awesome.

[turf_toes]

Looks great!


Sent from my iOS device using the Yard Help App

[gryd]

JG and TT - thanks! You 2 guys are partly responsible for my decision to do this renovation. JG inspired me by killing of his Bedazzled and going with the Blueberry (and suggesting I do a reno) and TT for saying that if he still had his Mag 3 lawn he'd Round it Up and change the cultivars. So will my lawn even get darker than it currently is?

[turf_toes]

Yes


Sent from my iOS device using the Yard Help App

[gryd]

Yes

Sent from my iOS device using the Yard Help App

Thanks TT for all your advice and for maintaining this website. I'd wager that 95% of us wouldn't have exceptional lawns without it

[gryd]

Hi Guys,
I'll get some pics up soon. Lawn survived the winter fine. It still seems crowded in the areas overlapped with the spreader. Too fine bladed in those areas as well. Will it balance out over time? I hope so.

While the lawn survived the winter fine I didn't fare so well. I noticed a lot of pain in my joints working on the lawn last fall. Darn joint pains never went away so I visited my doctor and it turns out I have severe rheumatoid arthritis. That's the auto immune disease that strikes people of any age as the immune system attacks the joints. I'm on the Biologic drug Enbrel and when I'm rested enough I can do 3-4 hours of light lawn work. Though I was bound to get RA at some point I wonder if the hard work of a lawn renovation led to my disease becoming active. I'm still planning a small back Reno this summer. Maybe I'll be the first among us to attempt a renovation with RA? Anyone else here stricken with this insidious disease?

String trimmers may be hard so I may pick your brains about growth regulators? I thought about hiring someone to mow weekly seeing my lawn needs 2 mows in the Spring. That still leaves one mow for me to do on my tractor. On the other hand I may be retiring early and opening up a part time computer business from home so I'll be on a budget. I hate to pay someone 40 clams a week to bring in their weed and disease invested equipment

Don't want any pity but I'm open to suggestions on how to manage an elite lawn with mild to moderate physical strength and effort.
Thanks!
Greg

[jglongisland]

PGR can make a huge difference, but you'll probably need a well calibrated sprayer for your tractor as you have a pretty big lawn. Color will darken a few notches, growth will slow down, although you have to be committed to it for the entire season.

[ken-n-nancy]

I'll get some pics up soon. Lawn survived the winter fine.

I'm looking forward to seeing some pics. Our lawn took so much snow mold damage, I was thinking of your renovation and hoping it survived well.

Sorry to hear that your health isn't doing as well. However, having a diagnosis will help a lot, as it will enable proper treatment in addition to you managing your expectations. I've found that everybody I know with a long term illness ends up successfully coping with things that they wouldn't have imagined they could handle beforehand. From the persistence and drive you've shown in your lawn renovations, you clearly have what it takes to press through challenges. I'll be praying for you. I'm expecting to one day have RA, as both of my grandmothers developed RA, so one day I'll probably be on the same path you are, although I can't imagine my lawn will ever look as nice!

How's your Pro Plugger working out? Have the plugs you transplanted with it in the fall survived the winter? Any sign of them starting to spread yet?

[BoatDr]

Omg, dude. Bombshell.

Like K-N-N said, knowing is half the battle. I have a friend that came to know also, and was way better afterwards. -God Bless




- Sent From My Sandlot.

[gryd]

Boat Doc and Ken n Nancy,
I'm fine with it. It's just another challenge in life. I don't like the weekly flares but that's being addressed. What I don't like is that I'm so much better when I'm home on only one medication but if I do want to apply for early retirement some day I'll need to prove I tried a lot of treatment measures. That means taking all these medications with lots of side effects.

Ken, that plugger worked great. All that I plugged and transplanted with it last fall survived fine. I used it already this year. I have a small patch of Elite KBG on the other side of my walkway. It's 25% Midnight, 25 % Moonlight, 25% Moonbeam and 25% Bedazzled. The Bedazzled seems to have dominated over time so I took that plugger and removed about 100 Bedazzled plugs and replaced them with plugs from the main front. I'm curious to see how many of these plugs it will take to darken this area. If it meets my expectations then I'll keep this area for now. I'm planning a small renovation out back this summer and would rather just focus on that. Then next year I need to redo some areas of my side front because somehow a lot of perennial rye got in there and it looks like weeds until the bluegrass gets going. I've tried digging them out but there is too much. As for this year's back renovation, I feel capable of doing everything with the exception of rolling it. Hopefully my son will help. If not I'm gonna give it a try, swollen joints and all!

Edit: Below is the patch of grass that is Moonlight, Midnight, Bedazzled and Moonbeam. It was always darker than my original lawn which had no Moonbeam in it. It's a pain to seed this area with the dog. The color is usually pretty good except for a few areas where the Bedazzled dominated. For now, rather than kill it, I've removed about 100 plugs of the lighter Bedazzled and replaced it with the new darker blend I have in front. I have a bit more to do still but I need to prioritize more these days so if I can live with the area I'll keep it. I could also be wasting my time

[ken-n-nancy]

Ken, that plugger worked great. All that I plugged and transplanted with it last fall survived fine.

Thanks for the feedback on the plugger. If we succeed with this fall's planned side renovation to Bewitched, I'll be hoping to make good use of the plugger to help fill in weak areas in back.

Glad to hear that you feel well enough to tackle the renovation of the back yard this fall.

Below is the patch of grass that is Moonlight, Midnight, Bedazzled and Moonbeam. ... The color is usually pretty good except for a few areas where the Bedazzled dominated.

Wow, I think that worst part of your yard looks better than the best part of mine!

Keep up the good work - it's an encouragement to us that maybe someday our grass will look half as good!