Ken-n-Nancy's 2016 Mini-Renos

[ken-n-nancy]

We had not planned to do a renovation this year, after doing renovations each of the past three years: Front Lawn in 2013, Back Lawn in 2014, and Side Lawn in 2015.

However, two issues have caused us to do a pair of mini-renovations this year.

The first of these is renovation of about 300 square feet total, some in our lawn and some in our neighbor's lawn, due to having had a tree fall on the power line a couple weeks ago which caused an oil spill from an electrical transformer which killed the grass in the area of the spill.

The second is renovation of the lawn area near our septic tank due to replacement of the septic tank at the back edge of our side lawn. This had been planned for just before our 2015 side lawn renovation, but it ended up not happening then, and has been postponed to this year.

This thread is to capture the details on this pair of mini-renovations. Seed-down on the "oil spill area" just took place tonight (10 August 2016). The septic tank replacement is planned for August 15-17, so hopefully we'll have seed-down on that area by August 19th.

More details (and pics) will follow in the next few days, but right now we're tired from the work we did to get seed sown tonight!

[greenbum]

PICS OR IT DIDNT HAPPEN!

[LoneRanger]

Time to bust out the time lapse, K-n-N.

[mikeyD]

What did you do about the oil? Did the utility co. Help at all?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[ken-n-nancy]

PICS OR IT DIDNT HAPPEN!

OK. I deserved that.

This posting will provide the promised pictures, as well as provide more details about what we did in the quick "oil spill reno."

Timeline:

July 23: Tree fell on power line, causing transformer oil to spill out on the lawn.

July 30: Grass was all dead from transformer oil spill.

August 5: Eversource (our local electric utility, formerly PSNH) dug out the dead turf and top 6" of soil, replacing it with new loam. (See pic below.)

August 5-6: Dug trench to install new sprinkler head in area to be renovated. Have been wanting to do this anyway, as the area under the electrical pole was always light on watering, but needing to get seed germinating in mid-August provided the needed motivation! (See pics below.) This was by far the most difficult part of this little mini-renovation -- digging the trench into our gravelly, rock-filled soil all while trying not to destroy the existing turf too badly took more than a couple hours. Everything else was completed in no more time than that!

August 10: Seed down. More details in subsequent post further below.

Oil Spill Area as Marked Out by Eversource:
(as of August 4, the night before they replaced the soil)
(enlarge)

Digging the Trench for New Sprinkler Head:
(can also see the area where Eversource replaced the soil on August 5)
(enlarge)

Trench Dug!
(ran out of daylight digging the trench the night before; finished on the morning of August 6)
(enlarge)

Head Installed!
(ended up switching the head out again after this, as the (used) head leaked from the riser seal)
(enlarge)

[ken-n-nancy]

10 August 2016 - Seed Down on Oil Spill Area

Managed to (nearly) complete all the "seed down" tasks between getting home from work and sunset:

* Sprayed glyphosate on any living grass left in the areas being seeded.

* Raked with garden rake to loosen soil in compacted spots of un-replaced soil along roadside

* Roll

* Level further by use of landscaping rake on entire area

* Spread Bay State Fertilizer at 1#N/M:
(300sqft = .3#N needed = 7.5# of Bay State spread over the area)

* Spread seed:
(used 5oz of "generic" bluegrass seed in area trimmed by cobblestones)
(used approx 1# total of Scotts "Sun & Shade Mix" on more distant area (neighbor's lawn))

* Final rolling

* Tape off newly-seeded area

* Start "germination watering" (5 times per day; 12 minutes each)

* Spray Tenacity at 4oz/acre rate (did the next morning)

The "generic" bluegrass blend is a bag we purchased at Menards a couple years ago and had only 5 ounces left over. We would have used this on this entire area if we had enough of it, but we didn't! Brand name is "Schultz." Cultivars are as follows:
* 63% Barduke Kentucky Bluegrass
* 23% Baron Kentucky Bluegrass
* 10% Blue Bonnet Kentucky Bluegrass
* 4% Inert Matter

We've used this "generic" bluegrass before and had good success with it. Not quite as dark as one of the "elite" bluegrasses, but it still looks good and seems to be relatively disease-resistant.

The Scott's Sun & Shade Mix is the kind with a "watersmart" coating to aid germination. I've never been impressed with the coatings before and see it more as a marketing ploy to sell you half as much seed for the same price. We'll see... Label Details are as follows:
* 10% Wendy Jean Creeping Red Fescue
* 10% Kent Creeping Red Fescue
* 9% Citation Fore Perennial Ryegrass
* 8% Silver Dollar Perennial Ryegrass
* 6% Gaelic Kentucky Bluegrass
* 3% Abbey Kentucky Bluegrass
* 3% Right Kentucky Bluegrass
* 50% Water Smart Plus Fertilizer Coating
* 1% Inert from seed
* 0.25% other crop seed
0.01% Weed seed

About what one would expect from a typical label - we'll see how much poa trivialis we get in this area with the non-sod quality seed!

Seed Down!
(now the waiting begins...)
(enlarge)

[ken-n-nancy]

What did you do about the oil? Did the utility co. Help at all?

They did, actually! Very pleased with the service from Eversource (PSNH). They dug out the top 6" of dead turf and soil, and replaced it with new loam. They even agreed to not reseed so that I could do that. They did seem wary about this, though, as it sounds like they can get in trouble if the area is left unseeded for too long. In any case, I'm happy with what they did; it was honestly much more than I had expected!

[LoneRanger]

They did seem wary about this, though, as it sounds like they can get in trouble if the area is left unseeded for too long.

Yep. Soil erosion laws.

[maynardGkeynes]

What did you do about the oil? Did the utility co. Help at all?

They did, actually! Very pleased with the service from Eversource (PSNH). They dug out the top 6" of dead turf and soil, and replaced it with new loam. They even agreed to not reseed so that I could do that. They did seem wary about this, though, as it sounds like they can get in trouble if the area is left unseeded for too long. In any case, I'm happy with what they did; it was honestly much more than I had expected!

Not to undermine your faith in the innate goodness your utility company, but you might enquire about PCBs. Probably not, unless it's a 30+ year old installation, but I'd ask if you have not done so already.

[ken-n-nancy]

Not to undermine your faith in the innate goodness your utility company, but you might enquire about PCBs. Probably not, unless it's a 30+ year old installation, but I'd ask if you have not done so already.

Thanks for the note on the PCBs. In the oil spill thread, a couple others warned me about that possibility, too. I did ask the electric company rep, just to be sure. On top of the electric company's insistence that this transformer contained only mineral oil, I'm pretty sure from what I've been able to figure out, that there's no way the transformer that spilled the oil was old enough to be laden with PCBs, unless an old transformer was installed on top of a new pole. The pole would have been installed in the early 80s, which should have been recent enough to not have a PCB-carrying oil.

[ken-n-nancy]

Tonight's a stressful one for the lawn renovator here in Southern NH -- thunder for the last hour and a half, but no heavy downpours yet. Looks from the radar maps that a pair of thunderstorms just missed us by about 5 miles to the north, with potentially many others on their way, but they're all scattered thundershowers, rather than a unified front -- maybe we'll get lucky? Or not?

[maynardGkeynes]

Not to undermine your faith in the innate goodness your utility company, but you might enquire about PCBs. Probably not, unless it's a 30+ year old installation, but I'd ask if you have not done so already.

Thanks for the note on the PCBs. In the oil spill thread, a couple others warned me about that possibility, too. I did ask the electric company rep, just to be sure. On top of the electric company's insistence that this transformer contained only mineral oil, I'm pretty sure from what I've been able to figure out, that there's no way the transformer that spilled the oil was old enough to be laden with PCBs, unless an old transformer was installed on top of a new pole. The pole would have been installed in the early 80s, which should have been recent enough to not have a PCB-carrying oil.

I was not aware of the earlier thread. I agree with you, and I personally would not be concerned at this point.

[ken-n-nancy]

Currently the rain is "coming down in buckets" from a thunderstorm that passed nearly overhead. Guess we'll have to wait until the sun comes up in the morning to assess the washout damage. However, past reno experience indicates that we should wait it out until germination to see the outcome...

The Deluge!
(enlarge)

[ken-n-nancy]

Well, when taking a look at the mini-renovation area the next morning, I was pretty discouraged. No signs of any grass seed at all right on the surface. I hoped that maybe enough was sufficiently buried in the soil to have not all washed away. The jury is still out on whether or not enough will be left or if we'll need to add more seed.

Below is a picture from today (6 days after seed-down). Still no sign of any germination of the kentucky bluegrass. There are some signs of germination in the area that was seeded with the northern mix -- presumably it is the perennial ryegrass that is starting to sprout and reach for the sky! We'll have to wait a bit more to get a feel for coverage. At least it didn't all wash out!

Day 6 - Furrows from Washout Visible
(enlarge)

[greenbum]

I know the right thing to do would be to see what germinates and then decide to reseed, but I lost 95% of my overseed a few years back and Im paranoid about rain. I would just reseed now, but thats me. If you think there is some some seed in there, then wait so you dont get over density probs.

[maynardGkeynes]

I once waited 14 days before concluding (correctly) that my KBG seeding had failed. Critical time wasted. Now I mix in a very small amount of PRG with the KBG as the canary in the cage.

[LoneRanger]

^ A TTAR like Barenbrug Panterra V, will work as well. It dies off within a year. Lower the stand in early summer, before seed-heads appear.

[GnomeDome]

Ken - In the photo that shows your trench digging, what kind of grass is growing there?

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[ken-n-nancy]

Ken - In the photo that shows your trench digging, what kind of grass is growing there?

That portion of our lawn (part of the "front") is a "northern mix" which includes Kentucky Bluegrass (KBG), Fine Fescues (FF), and Perennial Ryegrass (PRG).

However, what is most visibly thriving in that area right now is the Kentucky Bluegrass. I think much of the perennial ryegrass that used to be in our front lawn (particularly in that area) has died off due to winterkill, and our fertilization practices have encouraged the KBG to spread into any places where the PRG or FF die off. I continually have (good) problems in that area with the rhizomes of the KBG making their way through the gaps between cobblestones bordering the lilac bed and leading to KBG patches coming up through the bark mulch in the lilac bed each spring and fall. I'm just glad that I don't think of the KBG as a weed in the lawn!

I don't recall the exact KBG cultivars that was seeded in that area as part of the mix. I know I have Prosperity KBG mixed in with the back lawn, but I don't recall if that's what was in the front.

[GnomeDome]

Thanks for the info, Ken. It's very lush and beautiful - what I hope to see in our lawn some day!

[ Post made via iPhone ]