Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » February 2nd, 2017, 1:46 pm

Hello,
I am new to the forum and starting this thread to document and keep track of my new homes lawn rehab. To be clear, I am no expert and while I enjoy working on the yard I am not an elite yard kind of guy. Mostly I do not have the funds to do the things I would need to for a successful elite lawn. So, please lower your expectations for this thread. Hopefully this will also serve as an example of the average home owners renovation for those who are curious.

We closed on our new house in late September of 2016 and as you can see in the following photos it was not well taken care of landscape wise. The previous owner kind of ran an auto repair shop out of the garage and liked to use heavy equipment to complete projects around the house. We had witnessed the previous owner parking multiple cars in the yard on rainy days before closing. So compaction is a real issue. According to neighbors the previous owner planted grass a couple years back and did some "grading" and tree removal. It does not appear that he attempted to fill in low spots from tree removal and they also said he cut the lawn as low as he could every sunday. I am on well water and cannot irrigate the whole 1 acre lot (27k actual yard). So renovations are not in my plans not even a section at a time.

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That is just the backyard before we took ownership. I know picture quality is not good but the idea of bare spots and layout is the key in these before shots.

Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » February 2nd, 2017, 8:37 pm

Front yard before photos are scarce. This is where I started though. All the white clay areas lead me to believe there was moisture issues so I started by aerating the whole property with a tow behind core aerator. I could only afford a 40lb bag of Scott's landscapers mix tall fescue and spread this over the front lawn. Put down Scott's starter fertilizer and began watering. This was early October around the 6th. I did not remove any of the moss from the problem areas.

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Had some low spots to fill in, so I borrowed some soil from this area to help with that.
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All dark areas were low enough to be tripping hazards from removed trees.

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Decent cores pulled from a tow behind, I was satisfied for my first and admittedly hasty aeration attempt.
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First seedlings emerging from my lame attempt at a rushed seeding.
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Summerlin
Posts: 53
Joined: May 31st, 2016, 7:34 pm
Location: NC Foothills
Grass Type: Fescue
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Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Summerlin » February 2nd, 2017, 10:17 pm

You and I are in the same boat sir. I don't desire an elite lawn either because I can't afford it, but I will take just as much pride in getting it to be one of the most attractive lawns in my immediate area. I'm using basic K31, no irrigation system, simple fertilizer plan and good mowing practices. Subscribed :good:

Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » February 3rd, 2017, 10:05 am

Good to hear this could be the subject for comparison for you, Summerlin. I look forward to any updates you are willing to share about your low maintenance rehab also.

Here are some progress photos Circa Nov.'16
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Everybody loves lawn striping right?!?!
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Obviously these look worse in person or with higher resolution photos. But that's how bad inexperienced folk can screw things up with a drop spreader seeding. I have already upgraded to a rotary spreader which I am more used to for fertilizing anyways.

Now for some overhead shots courtesy of Google Earth:
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Drone footage from my Christmas present that I've already lost:
https://youtu.be/WUKMXunN_XQ

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Obviously I am not satisfied with my results thus far and they are still better than I had expected. Being that I do not have irrigation, my research suggests that my germination and success rate in spring is about as good as it would be in fall. Thus I have already planned a better attack for a dormant seeding.

This is the seed I have chosen for the front yard 50lbs for about 12k sqft:
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For the rear yard there will be more water available due to septic drain field so I chose 50lbs for roughly 13k sqft:
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And for the shadier areas on northern edges of woods 10lbs for ~2k sqft:
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And for the BEST photo of my yard yet!
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mitten
Posts: 266
Joined: October 9th, 2016, 10:53 am
Location: West Michigan - Zone 6
Grass Type: Midnight, Diva, Everglade KBG, plus Fiesta4 PR and Zodiac Fescue
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by mitten » February 3rd, 2017, 10:10 am

Beautiful lot! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.


Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » March 14th, 2017, 9:26 am

So, the dormant or very early spring seeding has begun! I started with aerating and dethatching the yard February 10th. The dethatching was mostly to break up the soil even more, remove some moss and debris, and then swept the yard. February 17th, Seed Down!
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This is a problem area where water runs off through the yard. I'm hoping by growing some grass here it will slow this run off and allow it to soak in better here, reducing puddling further downhill.
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After these images, I again ran around the yard with my dethatcher to rake in the seed and improve seed to soil contact. Later on I will show that I believe this was one of the most important steps I've made so far.

Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » March 14th, 2017, 9:27 am

Test pots were seeded the evening before and began to break through February 21st.
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Febraury 22nd these are the test pots, for three different types of seed and one testing a on site unfinished compost used on areas of the lawn.

Transition mix will be used on the majority of front lawn.
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Shady Mix for northern side of the wooded areas and of course, areas susceptable to more shade.
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Sod Maker (purchased top soil vs on site compost)
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Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » May 10th, 2017, 9:51 am

March 1st: First signs of germination. 12 days ASD
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March 8th: Slow germination due to cool early spring temps. 19 days ASD
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Some of the bleeching from Scotts Starter Fert with Weed preventer (Tenacity). Not sure what kind of grass this is but it did not die, and it is not offensive to me.
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Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » May 11th, 2017, 7:39 am

April 29th: 71 days ASD. Looking pretty good filling in just about all the areas that I was worried about being bare. Color doesn't match yet.
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May 3rd: 75 days ASD. A late April Milorganite treatment is starting to work a little.
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May 7th: 79 days ASD. Striping well! Color is matching up way better.
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The back lawn has not been as successful so that story will come soon. I have to say I am very pleased with the front, anxious to see how it survives the heat... I figure if I overseed again this fall after spot treating weeds all spring/summer it should fill in well. As much as I do not like the idea of a full blown reno, part of my back yard has been dominated by Poa A and may require a kill.

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LeftField11
Posts: 200
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Location: South Central PA - zone 6b
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Lawn Size: 10000-20000
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Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by LeftField11 » May 15th, 2017, 8:26 am

Looks great. I'm always impressed by people getting grass to grow in shady areas.

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
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Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by andy10917 » May 15th, 2017, 8:53 pm

I spoke with a Head of Research at a major grass seed research company. She told me that the "real rule" for shade grass was the two-year mark.

Green
Posts: 6837
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Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Green » May 17th, 2017, 6:17 pm

Nice results! Was this all done without supplemental watering?!

Sicride
Posts: 54
Joined: February 2nd, 2017, 7:43 am
Location: Mechanicsville, VA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Sicride's Lawn Rehab (Long term)

Post by Sicride » May 18th, 2017, 1:36 pm

Thank you all, only watering was done around the tree with the flag. It was the most important area to fill in bare spots so it received watering twice a day for 10min.

Didn't seem to do much better if at all than the areas irrigated by Mother Nature.

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