Richmond VA Fall KBG Reno: Day 84

[vnephologist]

Hi guys, I stumbled across the forum a few months ago while doing some research for my renovation. After lurking for a while, I figured I'd post for folks to follow along and to ask questions as they arise. I've lived at my current residence for a few years and piddled a bit with TTTF overseeding each Fall, but decided I wouldn't get serious until I had an opportunity to install irrigation. This past Fall, I took a few days off from work, rented a trencher, and installed an awesome irrigation system in my ~2500sq/ft front yard using Hunter MP Rotators and a Rachio controller connected to my Davis Instruments weather station. It was a bit late in the season for a solid renovation, so I overseeded a big box store blend of TTTF and a shade mix of creeping red to mainly cover my bare trenches. This Spring was unusually wet and the grass came roaring to life. I started a regime of crabgrass pre-emergent, and then some big box weed & feed. The yard really looked great and my wife was actually impressed. As the heat rolled in around late May, I was confident. I finally had my irrigation and should be able to keep everything wet and happy. Little did I know, the humid weather conditions and the ~1/2 day of shade made my yard a perfect habitat for growing fungus. By mid-June brown patch or something similar had ravaged almost the entire yard. At one point, I actually had 6" tall white fungi formations in several spots. Interestingly, the thin bladed creeping fescues seemed to be more susceptible.

Fast forward a few months of reading here and elsewhere on the web and I've been convinced to renovate, but this time do it with KBG. I studied the NTEP quite a bit and leaned a bit more on the Raleigh NC results than Blacksburg, VA because I feel like the conditions more closely resemble mine. Given the heat and humidity, I also wanted to try a bit of HBG. Here's how the mix worked out:

3lbs Barenbrug Turf Blue HGT (35% Barvette HGT*, 25% Barduke, 20% Barrari, 20% Everglade) *Barvette HGT has done very well lately in NC NTEP
3lbs Seed Superstore Custom (40% Midnight, 20% Award, 20% NuGlade, 20% Keeneland) *All top performers in NC/VA NTEP
2lbs SPF-30 HBG
My weed prevention program had actually worked extremely well, other than some clover that had grown in the dead areas after the fungus attack. Rather than Glyph it all, I elected to kill off the clover with a couple of Triclopyr treatments back in July, and scalped what was left of the fescue with a dethatching blade. During the three wonderful days of ~80F weather we had in late August, I aerated, seeded ~8lbs of seed, applied Scott's starter fertilizer with Mesotrione, and covered with 30cu/yd of peat moss (official seed down, Aug 24th).



Luckily, with my Rachio, I can water at virtually unlimited intervals, so depending on heat and sunlight for the day its getting watered for a few minutes every 1-4hrs. So far, I've been blessed with very limited heavy rainfall so I'm already starting to see very uniform germination. Given the abundance of varieties I've planted, I'm not sure whether its only one of the quick germinators or a mix. Some of the other green you see, particularly on the right side is some of the fescue coming back. Also note the difference in shade between the first and second pic. I have lots of shade in the AM hours until around 1PM with almost full sun all evening.



I swung by a local landscaping wholesaler and picked up some Tenacity for an additional treatment in a few weeks, and a bag of Urea to follow andy10917's Fall regimen. I'm planning to use Serenade fungus prevention with Heritage as a backup come Spring (let me know if you think I'll need some Fall prevention given my history). I'll try to post back with additional pics as things get moving more. Feel free to reply with any tips and thanks to everyone for the tips and inspiration I've already read!

[talon146]

Looking good so far! It's going to look amazing in 30-45 days.

[seiyafan]

Did you say you spread 300 yards of peat moss over 2500 sq ft?

[vnephologist]

Did you say you spread 300 yards of peat moss over 2500 sq ft?

Whoops, that was a typo. Should've been 30. I think the bags are actually like 3.8cu/yd so more exactly 38.

[andy10917]

Something is still fershit in your math. Big time.

[LeftField11]

Whoops, that was a typo. Should've been 30. I think the bags are actually like 3.8cu/yd so more exactly 38.

Cu FT? 27 cu ft = 1 cu yd

[vnephologist]

Something is still fershit in your math. Big time.

Of course, you're right. It was 38cu/ft compressed. To be exact, ten of these...

[vnephologist]

With the peat moss math debacle behind us, what do you guys think about fungus prevention in the coming weeks? Should I try to be proactive given my early summer history?

[GeorgiaDad]

With seedlings.......I wouldn't drop anything....yet. But with your history I would keep something on hand. You need to monitor your watering closely with all of that shade. If you see mold/algae starting, cut back on the water to allow it to dry out some.
I did have a spot during my reno that just didn't get much sun. I had to put down some Moss Out to kill back some moss. The area just wouldn't dry out with the constant watering.

[vnephologist]

We had ~0.5" and then another 0.25" of rainfall along with general cloudiness over the past couple of days, so the irrigation has been off. Looks like some of the peat moss was finally starting to dry this morning so I'll probably crank the irrigation back up around the noon hour today. Leaves were starting to pile up and one of my oaks has started to drop a large number of acorns, so I decided to gently walk the yard today and blow off the debris. It actually worked well to blow off some of the small sticks and chunks form the peat moss too. Hopefully not too much damage to the seedlings. I hadn't really seen much additional germination over the past few days, but it does look like some of the slower cultivars are starting to emerge. I do see some tiny broadleaf sprouts that look like clover coming up as well, but hopefully an additional Tenacity treatment in a couple of weeks will wipe them out. Things seem good so far!

[edenl01]

That's really great for 16 days.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[vnephologist]

I've been out of town for a bit and returned to things starting to fill in. I'm starting to get a considerable number of weeds and some crabgrass sprouting. It looks like its going to be a very wet week and my assumption is that I should wait for it to dry out a bit before a Tenacity application? Please let me know if I'm wrong. Beyond the weeds, I have several spots with less germination than the rest of the yard. Do I still need to be patient, or should I drop some additional seed in these areas?

[Paul]

That grass doesn't look like it's ready for a Tenacity application just yet. I would wait until you at least cut it twice and it fills in more.

Don't worry about broad leaf weeds, those are the least of your worries.

[seiyafan]

Unless the pictures are too small to show the details, are some of the weeds bermuda grass?

[probasesteal]

I'm in the same boat and plan to wait 1-2 weeks on my next tenacity app. It looks like you have pretty good coverage. I'd wait on seed too.

[vnephologist]

Unless the pictures are too small to show the details, are some of the weeds bermuda grass?

You know, good question, I'm not sure. My assumption was that some of the more mature stuff was just the fescue I left behind, but maybe not. I can gladly pull a few and post pics. Maybe they are some things I should be more worried about than the broadleaf pests!?

[vnephologist]

I'm in the same boat and plan to wait 1-2 weeks on my next tenacity app. It looks like you have pretty good coverage. I'd wait on seed too.

Thanks probasesteal, I've been watching you NC boys closely. Particularly, we both have the same cultivars, including the SPF30 HBG. Curious, where did you pick yours up?

[edenl01]

In the first of the four pictures I see you have a decent size bare area. If you don't see anything at least germinating I would give it some attention. The rest of the three pictures look like its on track in my opinion. I used 6" to a foot or bigger size of bare areas as my guide to patch up. I know you have a longer growing season and can afford to be more patient than Midwest people but I wouldn't sit on it too long or else you'll have different phases of grass all over the yard.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[vnephologist]

Thought I'd give a little update and ask a question today. I took edenl01's advice last week and reseeded a couple of areas. As of today, I actually see some sprouts in those areas. It’s only been 5 days, so seems doubtful that this is the new seed. Maybe some of the original seed took longer to germinate. It’s been really overcast and much cooler as of late last week so I was able to significantly cut the watering back. I actually kind of wonder if parts of the yard had been getting too much water during the 4-5x a day watering I had to do to keep everything wet in the intense heat at the beginning of the reno. In hindsight, I should've probably just hand watered some of the drier spots rather than overwater the rest. Either way, the heat really makes it harder. I got lucky and found a lightly used Fiskars reel on Craigslist so I picked it up on Sunday and gave the yard its first cut. After more cool weather and some light rain today it seems like it’s really starting to move. I think I'm at the stage to go ahead and start some Urea applications. If I apply weekly, how many lbs should I be applying on my 2500sq/ft? Also, as things are starting to fill in, the weeds are seeming like less of a problem so I'm starting to think I should just wait on the second Tenacity application (first was at seed down in Scott's Starter). Thoughts?

[probasesteal]

Sorry I missed your earlier question, my SPF came from GVT, a sod farm in Colorado.

Yard looks good. I've also thought I overwateted a few parts.

With new sprouts I'd delay the next tenacity app or risk damage.

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