Fusebox 2017 Front/Side Reno

[Green]

I have America along with Bewitched and Rugby II (mixed with TTTF). There is definitely a noticeable difference between America and Bewitched after over 3 years. Bewitched is a wider, darker, floppier blade, and seems to make a denser/tighter turf. The America has the lightest color of everything I have, and is the fastest growing vertically. It's noticeably lighter in color than the TTTF, too. Thankfully, there's more Bewitched than America for whatever reason. Rugby II seems almost like a dwarf type in comparison. They blend ok, but I still could've done a lot better selecting similar-looking KBG grasses (was shooting for disease resistance with that blend).

[fusebox7]

Thanks for your input, Green. Rhapsody is a Compact-America tested from 06-10 and is tied for genetic color (6.0) with Award at my test site (which confused me). But, your point is valid about the growth rate/type. I'm sure Rhapsody is more upright and noticeable than Award and Bewitched. However it's also 3rd (to Washington, Juliet) in turf quality in MI. I wonder if I did 5-10% by weight of it if it would help add disease resistance without detracting from uniformity.

[Marinegrunt]

It sounds like we'll be seeding around the same time. I might be a touch later depending on the forecast. I've heard rumors Central IL is suppose to have a hot dry summer so I'll have to see what mid August brings.

I've had our yard grass free since last summer. It got too late to plant last year by the time all of the yard projects were completed. We also have a sloped yard so I was concerned about erosion. What I have noticed is that it actually hasn't been too bad. I can see where water has been running but it's mainly just little 1/4" grooves in a handful of spots. I figure I'll rake dirt around before seeding. Hopefully yours won't get any worse than that but it probably depends a lot on soil.

I think it's a wise decision to spend all summer nuking your lawn to get rid of the triv. You'll have a much higher success rate of knocking it out. I do know how big of a pain it is to have a dirt yard most of the summer. Atleast you'll have some dead grass for awhile. I was surprised I was able to talk my wife into waiting until fall to seed.

It's tough deciding what to plant. I was set on Bewitched, Blueberry, Prosperity, and maybe one other but I showed pictures of lawns to my wife and let her choose. I'm still having second thoughts. I'm sure the Hogan tttf blend will look great though. I'll probably be jealous of your kbg lawn once I see it next spring.

[seiyafan]

I think Bewitched grows slower than either Blueberry and Prosperity right?

[Marinegrunt]

Yeah, I think I remember reading that it grows slower. I was going to used those 3 based on quite a few others who used them and turned out really nice. Many said they couldn't tell a difference between them including growth rate. I personally don't know though. I'm just going from what I've read.

[Green]

Perhaps Rhapsody is darker than America. Steven at the Hogan Company spoke highly of Rhapsody when I talked with him several months ago. I don't see a pdf for Rhapsody online.

[fusebox7]

Yeah it was going to be between Mazama (which I finally found a source for) and Rhapsody (which is in the top of the NTEP in overall quality in MI).

Green here is the tech sheet: http://www.premierpacificseeds.com/asse ... ody-ts.pdf

[STL]

Mazama (which I finally found a source for)

Any chance you can share said source? Been looking myself.

[Green]

Thanks for the link to the Rhapsody data sheet.

Mazama sounds better for your use, and the photo of it in that brochure looks like it'll mix well with PR, should you ever decide to go that route in another part of the yard. Mazama sounds like a good choice for a lawn at a business as well, due to slower growth, better disease resistance, the shade tolerance of an America type, and better heat/drought tolerance. Had it been out back when I did the reno, I probably would have selected it in hindsight. Very interesting. I'll have to remember it for the future.

[ken-n-nancy]

Mazama (which I finally found a source for)

Any chance you can share said source? Been looking myself.

We'd also be interested in hearing where you located the Mazama.

[fusebox7]

With the landscaping that has/is taking place, I've decided that the entire yard is going to need to be redone. 80% of my yard is dirt and given the varying conditions of the front, side and back yards, I did decide to add an equal % of Mazama to the Award and Bewitched blend for added vigor, greenup and disease resistance.

[fusebox7]

LI Cauliflower Assoc. has a small amount of Mazama left. It's 99.12% pure seed, 0% weed/other (blue tag) but still solid #s. I'm not sure how long this cultivar will be in production - VSP said they didn't have a whole lot of seed produced last year.

[STL]

LI Cauliflower Assoc. has a small amount of Mazama left. It's 99.12% pure seed, 0% weed/other (blue tag) but still solid #s. I'm not sure how long this cultivar will be in production - VSP said they didn't have a whole lot of seed produced last year.

Thank you! I ordered some. They told me that they 'have plenty.' I was between Mazama and Skye or Prosperity. Mazama seems to have better disease resistance than Prosperity and better color than Skye. Great shade tolerance too.

Good luck on the renovation! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[fusebox7]

No worries! Glad you were able to find something that suits your needs. It's really interesting to me that the picture of Mazama in the tech sheet looks very fine bladed and similar to PRG like Green mentioned. However, in the NTEP results, it has showed a wider blade than Midnight and others - so it definitely seems like it behaves more like a Midnight-type than an America-type, aesthetically speaking. I'm trying to find the parental line to see how they got here. Good luck to you too!

[fusebox7]

Need some quick advice!

After the major yard landscaping/regrading, we're left with only one corner of our yard that is NOT bare dirt. The rest of the grass was dug up and carried off (goodbye triv?). Anyways - we are really concerned with fallowing bare dirt for the rest of spring and summer without major erosion occurring (some of you may remember we sit on a hill and all sides are big slopes).

Really unsure of what to do with 90% bare dirt given the landscaping company did a fantastic job regrading and smoothing everything out. Would be ideal to seed now given those comments but obviously I'm aware of the "big red flag" of a late spring or summer reno.

What should we do?

[ezael]

Could try planting annual rye to prevent erosion and then bomb it in about 2 months when its time to fallow and hope for the best. I know some people fear that the rye will not fully leave but I don't have a ton of experience with that.

[fusebox7]

I thought about that - but PRG, not annual rye since it's a prolific seeder. I also considered a 5-10% mix of PRG planted with my KBG but would be nervous about the studies that propose that the next year would yield an increase of as much as 25-30% PRG. I often wonder what ATY folks' real-world results have been.

[Green]

^I don't have any experience with that approach, either...but it's maybe worth considering if others have done it successfully.

If you did go that route, you'd have to really be careful to get clean seed. Does that exist?

Maybe there are other options too...? What about putting down Encap starter mulch (that supposedly has tackifier in it)? It could always be raked up later in the season.

[Sicride]

Spring renovations are not a good thing to plan for, but when you are dealt an undesirable hand you still have to play with what you were dealt. What would be more expensive, fixing the damage from erosion, or the seed and water attempting to seed now?

Late spring seeding can be successful as long as they are watered through stress of summer and drought. I can't remember if you have irrigation or not? Worst case scenario, some of the grass grows and dies during summer and you have bare spots like you have now.

It may be best to plan to seed now AND late August. Whatever doesn't make it through summer, fine! If there are weeds that pop up, fine! Kill them in August and if it kills some of the good grass, fine! Can it really hurt to seed now?

[fusebox7]

That's what I am likely to do. I realize it's not best practice but I think it is less steps and going to cost me less even if I.have to seed in August again. I will also grow a lot of pots to help mitigate bare spots.