2017 S.E. Mass. Small all KBG Reno...

[northeastlawn]

So Ill post a few of these in parts. First thing I did was rake everything up with the old steel rake, what a mess.



The soil was nice and sof from watering last night, but I didn't realize how much old dead grass would be coming up. Plus all the worm castings made a type off top dressing, it probably made for really good seed to soil contact, but the POA seeds in the lawn are going to have a field day.



I guess its the price I paid for getting that natural top dressing, not sure I would have wanted to leave all that dead grass still in the yard.

[northeastlawn]

Next I mixed up three (3) bags of top soil; one (1) bag of sand, and one (1) bucket of compost from my compost bin...



Then the old surveyor in me grabbed some paint and marked all the divots and ruts I thought I should level out, but realistically the worm castings will make more anyway....



This is how the spots looked post leveling, should be good seed/soil contact....

[northeastlawn]

Next I spread the seed and mixed the Tenacity. The night before I weighed out the seed put them in soup containers. I decided to use my little Scots Whizz Spreader at the #2.75 setting.



I spread the first 5oz of seed around the border. Then dumped in the next one (1) pound and ran out just as I made one (1) pass. I dumped the last one (1) pound of seed and went perpendicular to the first pass. For some reason I had some left and just randomly went through the yard. I probably missed spots on the last pass and over did the borders a bit. But the seed is so tiny, I think I spread it well enough.

Then I rolled the lawn and mixed the tenacity. I usually grab a used water bottle, squirt the Tenacity in it and mix it up with some water. the I pour it in the sprayer. I used my usual 1.5 gallons for about 950sf. I used 1/2 teaspoon.

[northeastlawn]

Finally I top dressed it with peat moss. My new favorite toy; the compost spreader was acting up a little. The door kept opening up and dumping large amounts of top dressing. I have to work on that, but still easier than doing it by hand.

I also underestimated how much peat moss I needed. I got the same size bag as my spring overseed, but because all the grass is dead and short, I needed about twice as much. Here are some final pics....







I watered everything in well; and lost a bunch of peat moss, and needed to reapply in some spots. But I am think I am good now, and going to just buy a small bag to keep things covered the next few weeks.

The Hose timer is set for 3 times a day 9am, 12pm, and 3pm, each zone goes for about 10 minutes. About 35min/day all together.

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, looking forward to see what pops up....

[northeastlawn]

Sorry; meant to say, total watering time is 35min/3xDay.

[ken-n-nancy]

Looks good! Now the really difficult part begins!

In most of our renovations, we've addressed this really challenging time by going out of state on vacation!

[northeastlawn]

So we have some rain coming today, maybe 0.5" throughout Friday and Saturday. The impact sprinkles really mess up dry peat-moss before it gets locked down. I realize it may not make much of a difference, but I had some any way so I reapplied today as needed. My yard is level, the natural rain should do a better job at locking down the peat-moss than the sprinklers.

I'm done; this is the last time I touch it until the grass starts popping out....

[smast16]

I hand water the peat moss the first time. I did 2 passes this time with hand watering. First pass I used the misting setting on the hand nozzle to get it semi damp, then the 2nd pass was on the flat fan setting and I held it up high so it created a nice misting drizzle until I feel it's wet enough to handle impact sprinkler. Then again, this year I switched to 2 rain bird rotors that I attached to spike bases. Much much softer of a spray pattern.

[andy10917]

+1. Peat Moss can be a bit hydrophobic in the first few minutes of trying to water it. A light watering, a short rest, and then the real watering is the best tack here. I've seen members go apoplectic over the supposed "problem" of hydrophobic peat moss, but it's comical and a tempest in a teapot. It isn't a problem and there are better things to worry about - especially during a renovation.

[northeastlawn]

It isn't a problem and there are better things to worry about - especially during a renovation.

Yea, we just got an 1" of rain in a half hour. I am afraid to look tomorrow morning, but the yard is relatively flat and sucked up all the rain w/o any puddles, the only puddling was around the borders from the walks, but there really was no where for anything to run-off.

What happens to the seeds if they get submerged in a puddle around the edges of the yard?

The peat moss doesn't look like it ran off.

[andy10917]

What happens to the seeds if they get submerged in a puddle around the edges of the yard?

Mostly, it gets wet. Seriously. Unless it moves to a different spot or it stays in water long enough to rot, it's not an issue.

[northeastlawn]

I just woke and we got an 1" of rain and I have big wash out areas, spots that are down to the sand that was in the leveling mix I made up. I have to go to work, so I guess tomorrow I have to risk over-seeding and put down more seed where I can see dirt.

Its not the whole yard, just spots, but I have read threads on here where people hoped for the best after wash outs and got nothing coming up a month later. I take a chance and get nothing in those spots or have the grass come in too thick.

I'm only on day 3, so throwing some seed down seems like an option.

[northeastlawn]

Here are some pics of the yard after the 1"++ of rain from last night. Its hard to tell where seed washed away and what is just compacted peat-moss....

[northeastlawn]

So cleaned up after the washout. Being that it was Day 2 of the reno, I used some of my extra seed to re-seed those areas lightly and reapplied peat moss. I have no way of knowing if I have piles of seeds some where sitting in the lawn or if all the Tenacity I put down also washed away, after all the soil did. But I didn't take any chances and did not put more Tenacity on the spots w/o peat moss, just more KBG seed. Then I recovered everything.

I also had an area that didn't seem like it was getting hit with the sprinklers, so go a short section of hose and fixed that problem. We have another chance for a large storm event Wednesday, right now they are say it will miss. My fingers are crossed....

[andy10917]

Everyone that has done more than a couple of renovations knows the frustration, anger, confusion, etc of a washout. We feel the pain. Take it as lucky that you probably can just rearrange the peat moss/seed material. It's even tougher in days 7-10 where you don't know if you're doing more harm than good if you reorganize.

I think the odds are in your favor with what you did.

[ken-n-nancy]

I think you did the right thing by re-seeding and re-arranging where you could. Hang in there!

[northeastlawn]

So today while watering my front reno I saw the seed has started to germinate. I checked the back and saw these little guys. Germination has started. Whether its weeds, POA, or KBG who knows, but I do see small green fingers just about breaking the surface on Day 5. This shot of a double leaf "something" might be a weed though.....

[andy10917]

This shot of a double leaf "something" might be a weed though.....

They happen in every renovation. They are the famous "unknown dicot" (dicotus unknownus) and they never seem to turn into anything.

[SNOWBOB11]

That's a relief. I have the same things sprouting in a few spots in my reno as well. At first I thought it might be some on-germinated creeping red fescue seeds from a couple spots I seeded in the spring but they don't quite look the same as the fescue normally does when it first germinates. Must be "unknown dicots" like you say.

[northeastlawn]

So its been about 8 days. To be honest I started seeing germination at day 5, no idea if all these shoots survive. I am going to reserve panic on areas that look too think and those that look sparse for two more weeks. I put down 4 different cultivars and they probably all come up a different times.

My new hobby is night patrol; go out and night and look at the grass, neighbors must think I am an idiot....