RyanBum's NC Reno 2016

[ryanbum]

The anticipation is killing me! Everything is ready for seed down, just waiting on a date (or more importantly weather). Here's my forecast for the next 15 days. I'm planning on seed down for August 28th, but is it too risky to try it next weekend?


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[maynardGkeynes]

Not clear to me why you are waiting at all -- why not this weekend? You have a moist forecast for the next two weeks, and temps in the mid-80s much of the time. Sounds just about ideal to me. If you were planting on a lot of slopes, the number of scattered thunderstorms in the forecasts might deter me, but your yard looks pretty flat. Maybe I am missing something, but I'd rather get the lawn established 2 weeks early than wait for the perfect moment, which may or may not come down the road.

[andy10917]

I disagree with Maynard, or at least disagree with his "push" for an early start. The first thing I look for when someone is considering an early start is the irrigation status. Mid-August reno's in NC will need sustained irrigation, and as I read it, RyanBum is renovating 5000 sq ft. Sustained sprinkler movement through all of August and September. It's easy to say "aw, what the hell" when you're not the guy schlepping hoses for 6 weeks. I've been there (10K reno in 2009, before I had irrigation) and it can become an oppressive, never-ending task.

RyanBum, do what makes sense to you, but realize that an early start means you'll be committing to a lot of extra work...

[ryanbum]

I disagree with Maynard, or at least disagree with his "push" for an early start. The first thing I look for when someone is considering an early start is the irrigation status. Mid-August reno's in NC will need sustained irrigation, and as I read it, RyanBum is renovating 5000 sq ft. Sustained sprinkler movement through all of August and September. It's easy to say "aw, what the hell" when you're not the guy schlepping hoses for 6 weeks. I've been there (10K reno in 2009, before I had irrigation) and it can become an oppressive, never-ending task.

RyanBum, do what makes sense to you, but realize that an early start means you'll be committing to a lot of extra work...

Andy, I've got 2 separate 4 Zone Aqua Timers (8 zones total) that are set to irrigate every 4 hours. There's no way I'm dragging around hoses 4-5 times a day for several weeks

With that being said, is it too hot for TTTF germination?

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[andy10917]

I don't believe that heat is a big consideration in seed-down timing, except as it indirectly affects your ability to keep the soil moist. What I think that you need to think about is the heat-stress on the newly-emerged seedlings in 10-14 days (TTTF). That's much more important. There are no second chances with living creatures like grass, any more than a dead dog doesn't feel much better the next day (hold the Monty Python clips, please).

[ryanbum]

I don't believe that heat is a big consideration in seed-down timing, except as it indirectly affects your ability to keep the soil moist. What I think that you need to think about is the heat-stress on the newly-emerged seedlings in 10-14 days (TTTF). That's much more important. There are no second chances with living creatures like grass, any more than a dead dog doesn't feel much better the next day (hold the Monty Python clips, please).

Yea, I guess I'll just continue to wait not-so-patiently. Maybe by next weekend I'll have an outlook into September and hope for a little bit of a break in heat.

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[maynardGkeynes]

There are two firm rules to follow when Andy's advice differs from what I or pretty much anyone else might be telling you:

Rule 1: Do what Andy recommends.

Rule 2: Refer to Rule 1

So the only reason I might say give it a shot early is that if you get wiped out in mid-August**, you have one, maybe two chances to reboot if it fails. The weather is just so unpredictable in the mid-Atlantic/Southeast from Sept 1 through late October, anything can happen. So when I see a stretch of moist, 80 degree weather in the forecast, like you have, I go for it. However, waiting one more week looks equally sensible to me.

** As appears to be the case now for my PRG reno, seeded last Saturday (Aug 6), sprouted like crazy Weds (Aug 10), now being baked in a record breaking, and not-predicted 96F heat wave expected to last through Monday. Obviously, my bet is looking mighty bad about now. As I say, refer to Rule 1

[andy10917]

I'm not trying to talk RyanBum out of what he wants to do -- just saying that it isn't without consequences, and open eyes are critical to success...

[ryanbum]

Success is my only driver, therefore I will give it another week or two for the heat to break. I have no reason to rush it outside of impatience. Thanks for the help guys!

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[maynardGkeynes]

Success is my only driver, therefore I will give it another week or two for the heat to break. I have no reason to rush it outside of impatience. Thanks for the help guys!

What I think is great about this forum, quite apart from the incontrovertible expertise of the long time mainstays like Andy and certainly several other vets, is the exchange of our experiences, which we put out there to share. At the risk of going off topic, I do wish the moderators would consider a way to give "expert" badges for the true experts like Andy, Turftoes, and certainly several others. Personally, I'd feel a lot more comfortable expressing my opinions, which are not "expert," but sincere and, I hope, not totally stupid, if the forum could adopt such monikers. Just a suggestion...And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

[andy10917]

While we understand the "badge" idea, it's kind of contrary to the original ideas about the BL/ATY site. It was deliberate to not badge Moderators and Admins -- the "operational" aspects of the site and policy-setting are different than the opinions about lawn care. Maybe a thumbs-up counter would be a viable (and democratic) way to achieve the goal. Otherwise, who picks who gets badged at what level? I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for that...

[ryanbum]

Picked up a Craigslist special Scotts 20" reel mower today! Was about to pull the trigger on the same model at Home Depot for $140 and ran across this one on Craigslist for $50. Ithas been used once and put into storage. A few adjustments to the reel and cutting bar, and I'll be ready for the self inflicted pain of mowing twice weekly.


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[maynardGkeynes]

Picked up a Craigslist special Scotts 20" reel mower today! Was about to pull the trigger on the same model at Home Depot for $140 and ran across this one on Craigslist for $50. Ithas been used once and put into storage. A few adjustments to the reel and cutting bar, and I'll be ready for the self inflicted pain of mowing twice weekly.


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I have one of those newer ones as well, and it's a good mower, but the ones made in the 50s and 60s, probably in Ohio as opposed to god knows where today, were really precision tools, with ball bearing wheels and blades that would spin forever on a good push. I've been looking for one of the old models whenever I go to garage sales, as much for the nostalgia as anything else, but I suspect almost all of them have by now gone to that great rust belt in the sky.

[probasesteal]

Good luck. I'm in Raleigh, planning to seed bluegrass 8/24.

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[ryanbum]

Dangit!!! I was redoing one of the mulch beds around my front trees and was hard edging with a flat bottomed shovel. I heard a metallic thud and started to dig a little bit. After uncovering 2-3" of soil, dirt started to fall through an opening. Turns out, there's an old storm drain that's attached to the city system that had been buried in my front yard for years. No wonder I couldn't get grass to grow there

Now to figure out how to landscape around it and make it look presentable. Not exactly the dilemma I expected to face during my Reno. Could really use your help




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Ignore the nasty mulch bed, as it's getting redone over the fall but this was the simplest option I had to landscape around the drain. I edged the future mulch bed to halfway down the drain and gradually sloped the grade down to the surface. This eliminated the 4" drop off at the edge. Now it slopes from around 24" out, down to grade. Hopefully TTTF will establish itself on the slope and I can just edge around the drain. Not ideal, but I think this is a better option than extending my mulch bed by 2'-3'.





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[ryanbum]

Also made a trip to Walmart and picked up enough Milo to get me through the rest of the season. At $5 a bag, it was a no brainer to buy enough for the year. Bought 8 bags for $40. My local store has 75 bags left. If they discount it again, I'll stock up for 2017 as well.


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[TimmyG]

Stock up now for 2017. That pile could easily be stacked 5–6 times taller.

[DHorn135]

Yea you need more. I brought home 2200lbs of fertilizer today. Best part is it was around $.14/lb.

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[nclawnguy]

I have done my fair share on lawn renovations in NC in the last 13 years. I would wait until September to start for kbg and mid to late September for tttf. No reason to rush and seed in mid August, we have a long fall and you will most likely still have growth into the new year.

In started my 2014 kbg reno on 8/28, looking back I would have waited a week or 2 longer. The sunny areas really lagged behind with the day time highs in the 90's.

My first lawn reno in 2004, my seed down was first week in October and turned out great. It was tttf and established quickly. Obviously kbg would take longer and would not want to drop that late.

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[maynardGkeynes]

.. I would wait until September to start for kbg and mid to late September for tttf. No reason to rush and seed in mid August, we have a long fall and you will most likely still have growth into the new year. ...In started my 2014 kbg reno on 8/28, looking back I would have waited a week or 2 longer. The sunny areas really lagged behind with the day time highs in the 90's...

Do you also hold off on the round-up app by a corresponding amount?