smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » July 27th, 2017, 8:05 pm

Well, in the reno area, shade starts creeping in around 5. I face south, and I have 1 mature tree on the west end of the property and one on the east end. Everything south (closer to the road) I get very little shade. Half of the current rock bed (about where I stopped working in the previous picture is shaded starting around 2.

In the main yard where I'm not renoing this year, very similar, but shade starts around 3, and half the yard is shade by 5. I need some more shade, which is why I planted another tree 2 years ago in the main yard.

These past few weeks when it was really hot, I ended up having to water the fescue every 2-3 days, but I probably could have stepped that back to a solid 3. Still learning, which is why I'm limiting kbg to this front corner, which is easier to control (and fix if I blow it).

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 5th, 2017, 8:43 pm

Time for an update.

Continued work on reno area. Removed another 50cu ft of gravel. At the end, I was getting serious tree roots, and I was under the drip line of the tree. I think this is where ill stop, since its going to be a beast to get any grass here, due to the tree sucking the water out faster than I can blink.
Image

I've been leveling the area out but wetting the soil, raming with a heavy spike rake, and rinse and repeat. Still a little more work to do leveling, but its really coming along. The word must have gotten out that I'm really doing something here, as people who don't even live in the neighborhood have stopped to tell me I'm doing a great job turning this property around( remember it was last liven in by a hoarder), and I havent even dropped seed yet!

Speaking of which, seed down date is tentatively set for august 19. With temps consistently in the mid 80's (really below average here) and being pretty much done leveling, I'm done waiting (so is the wife!)

Kbg pots have sprouted. Will be out of town this coming weekend visiting in-laws. I came up with this setup to water the pots while I'm away.
Image

All in all I'm happy and ready. Its been back breaking work, but I'm so happy to finally be rid of this eye sore.

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 5th, 2017, 8:51 pm

I forgot to mention, that I will conitune to remove the rock and will pine straw that area. Side note, all the rock I removed is going to make a great fire pit in the back!

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 5th, 2017, 9:06 pm

Here's a comparison pic for context on the transformation
Image

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 14th, 2017, 8:26 pm

Well, I seeded. I didn't see any further point in waiting. Raked and raked and raked again. It rained last night so the ground was really pliable. Its not flat, but no more uneveness. Glyphosate early this morning. Then starter feet, Tenacity, seed, and then top dressing. Top dressing is 50 / 50 black kow and peat. Hand watered for initial watering, and then set up irrigation and made sure its set right. Running 2 pgp heads on sprinkler spike bases connected with hose @ 3 gpm 4 times a day for 20 minutes. Will check tomorrow to and adjust as necessary.

Now I drink.


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probasesteal
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by probasesteal » August 14th, 2017, 9:54 pm

Awesome. Can't wait to see pics

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 15th, 2017, 10:46 pm

Saw that I had rain last night, but only a 1/4 inch and when I checked the reno area I didn't see any real washout. I did watch the 4:30 cycle and I'm seeing some puddling by the end of the cycle. I backed down to 15 minutes per cycle.

Gosh the waiting sucks. I want to post my obligstory flashlight shot!

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 16th, 2017, 7:45 pm

Still wasnt happy with watering. Still seeing a little puddeling in a small area in thw middle and grounds getting drier than I want at the edges. Adjusted watering to now go every 4 hours for 7 minutes. Dodged some rain today. Whew.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by ken-n-nancy » August 16th, 2017, 8:27 pm

smast16 wrote:
August 15th, 2017, 10:46 pm
Gosh the waiting sucks. I want to post my obligstory flashlight shot!
Yup. This is the really difficult part of the renovation!

However, it sounds like you're staying top of things by making the little tweaks to watering that can deliver really excellent uniform germination. Keep up the good work!

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 21st, 2017, 7:50 pm

:yahoo:


Image

I have no idea how much coverage I have, but its sooo early yet I'm not even bothering, just happy to have some bambinos

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probasesteal
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by probasesteal » August 22nd, 2017, 7:44 am

Congrats, soon you can worry about thick and thin spots..

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 22nd, 2017, 8:37 am

probasesteal wrote:
August 22nd, 2017, 7:44 am
Congrats, soon you can worry about thick and thin spots..
Yea, i need to let more germinate first.

How's yours coming along? I know you had that big storm that week. It only grazed me as i only had about a 1/4".

Maizan24
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by Maizan24 » August 22nd, 2017, 10:27 am

Congrats on the babies!

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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by Marinegrunt » August 23rd, 2017, 3:07 pm

Looking great so far! Glad to hear the rain only grazed you. I hope we don't get any rain at all in my area.

You'll have a carpet of green in no time.

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probasesteal
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by probasesteal » August 23rd, 2017, 3:58 pm

smast16 wrote:
August 22nd, 2017, 8:37 am
probasesteal wrote:
August 22nd, 2017, 7:44 am
Congrats, soon you can worry about thick and thin spots..
Yea, i need to let more germinate first.

How's yours coming along? I know you had that big storm that week. It only grazed me as i only had about a 1/4".
It's coming along pretty well. I do have a few thin spots and I couldn't resist the urge of throwing down a little more seed. I'm on day 10. It's the thicker spots that concern me the most.

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » August 27th, 2017, 7:48 pm

Well, time for an update on my progress.

Overall, getting good germination and coverage at day 13. I have. 4 thin spots. 1 up by the mail boxes, and I believe that's from the quick storm I had the night after seed down. 2 is in the lower corner as in calling it, and I believe that's from poor coverage the first 5 - 6 days. 3 is in the middle, but I see germination coming in. Its so fresh I almost can't see it, but I can feel it... Kinda cool. 4 is along the property line. I believe that's from my neighbor. He mowed the next day after seed down, and has a side ejection mower. I noticed his clippings in the reno area and didnt think too much about it. Now,its clear he blew all the peat and seed away.

I tossed down a sprinkle of seed in thin areas 1, 2, and 4 and covered with a dusting of peat ( more so to hide it from the [banned word] birds.)

For the areas that have sprouted, I'm definitely in sprout and pout. They popped up [ ahhhhhhh I just chased away the same 2 birds again for the second time since writing this post] and no more growth since then. Coming from tttf this is the 2nd worst part.

Its been windy the last 2 days and my sprinkler coverage was basically shot, so I shut them off this weekend and have just been hand watering 3 times a day. I let it get a touch dry on purpose today so that I could walk into it to pull weeds. I laid an 8 foot long 2x6 into the reno area and stood on that to pull weeds, mostly goose grass and some crab grass. They were starting to get big, and I was worried about them shading out the seedlings. My thoughts on the 2x6 process was to distribute my weight over the whole board as to not squash the little bambinos as much. I also took the lead blower on low and blew out all the leaves that have started accumulating from the strong breeze.

All in all, I'm happy with it so far. I feel like its gonna start looking good by october and shine by early November. The real test will come next summer.

Image

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » September 1st, 2017, 4:29 pm

Well, me and my babies made it through our first storm. 1/2" of rain in 25 minutes. I stood there in the carport watching like a concerned dad! The little guys stood there and took it. Some are laying down and there are a lot of leaves that blew in, so I'm going to use the leaf blower again to dry them off. Some of the areas I reserved last weekend were washed away however. I can see where the peat moss ended up after being washed away. It washed into an area I was going to cover with straw that's under the tree. That'll be interesting to see if I get any germination there. Here's a pick from today at day 27 before the storm.
Image

Some of the babies are starting to grow and thicken. I noticed it yesterday, while doing my evening walk through, that they look taller and thicker. This area looks the furthest along.

Image

Still some new shoots, and several other areas are still pouting, so I'm gonna hold off at least another week.

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » September 7th, 2017, 11:09 pm

Quick pic of the area. Coming in good now. I'm down to 2 watering a day for 20 minutes each. Some areas are like a carpet, and some are still thin, but I'm still getting germination in the areas I reseeded.

Goose grass and crab grass are getting fairly big. I was originally going to hold off on tenacity, but i'm going to go ahead with my 30 day tenacity app. I don't want them getting so big that it takes multiple apps to kill them.


Image

smast16
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by smast16 » September 17th, 2017, 7:53 pm

Well I decided to reseed several areas that are still too thin. Dropped more peat and I've been hand watering this weekend. I think I'm going to continue to hand water the area until these newly re seeded areas can root and better hold the soil. The sprinklers just put down too much water that these area tend to run,off very quickly.

The thicker more developed areas are really thickening and darkening. They look really good if I dont say so myself.
Image

Image

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probasesteal
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Re: smasts 2017 front corner renovation

Post by probasesteal » September 27th, 2017, 1:54 pm

Looks good. Any updated pics?

I've got some serious tenacity bleaching going on right now. I also pre-germinated some seed (peat and TTTF in a wheel barrow) and threw it in the bare areas earlier this week and those areas are really growing like crazy.

We just have to weather today and tomorrow and the temps will drop. I finally applied some Serenade and am crossing my fingers dollar spot and pythium blight stay away.

Also had a $180 water bill for the past 2 months.

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