Starting phase II of 5 acre reno.

[flyin-lowe]

Been away for a while but a couple years ago I renovated 1 acre of my 5 acre yard. Long story short that property used to be a field and the acre immediately around the house was done right but the rest was just allowed to grow up. It is/was so rough I can only mow one direction because of what used to be the crop rows. Obviously watering is an issue with a lot/reno this size so I have to depend on mother nature. I lucked out last time as we had some measureable rain every day for the first 12-14 days after I seeded the lawn. It came in good and is now well established. This year I decided to do another acre. I was wanting to kill it off in July but did not get around to it until last week so I am a little behind. My plan is to till it first and then possibly use a Harley rake or something else to level it off.

The biggest issue I had last time was dealing with all the thatch/dead grass after I tilled it. As I was dragging it to level it just kept piling up and I had to spend a couple extra days hauling it off. I was thinking about burning it this time once it is completely dead. I am curios if this would be worth it and if there are any ill affects that I would encounter by burning the dead grass before I till it under?

My plan is to get the ground ready in the next week or so and then I am going to watch the weather. Hopefully there is a rainy stretch forecasted sometime between now and October. First time the weather man says there are several days of rain in the forecast I will seed it.

[flyin-lowe]

Forgot to mention I'm doing exactly 1 acre again and it is 500 feet from the house so watering won't be an option, depending on Mother Nature again, she worked perfectly last time. Had I known this spring would have been as wet as it was I might have gotten away with seeding it early this year. It was over average rain fall until August which has been drier.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

flyin-lowe!!!!

Welcome back!!!!

I have 1.4 acres now, so your renovation is one I always refer people to when renovating using natural rainfall. I think you are smart to go later in central IN given that factor - our weather always seems much cooler and wetter in September.

The biggest issue I had last time was dealing with all the thatch/dead grass

This was my biggest problem on my renovation last fall (1.4 acres). I didn't get all the thatch / dead grass up. I rake it all up by hand, but some areas I didn't get it all - and I redid them with a harley rake and power rake in seperate areas. Both were great at tearing the dead junk off the top, but they didn't remove it. Once the junk was up on the surface, I had to rake it up.

Are you tilling it to loosen the soil up so you can level it off? The ruts in a field don't look that bad until you try to walk through it after a rain or ride over it in a lawn tractor, no doubt!

Can you till it enough to work the dead grass into the soil so you don't have to do a controlled burn?

Have you thought about using different equipment? Would a box blade or grader on a bobcat get it level enough? Reynolds equipment in Indy (Fishers) rents heavy turf equipment - if you have the budget for it.

[flyin-lowe]

My neighbor has a tractor and tiller I plan to use to get started. A friend of mine has been in the landscape business his whole life so once I get it tilled we are going to look at the best option to smooth it, box blade, Harley rake, or what ever else he thinks best. Obviously cheaper is better but last time I spent a couple hours every evening after work for a week or two dealing with the thatch while I was trying to drag it. That's the only reason I thought about a burn. I know there will still be roots and stuff but thought it might help.
Like you said earlier the roughness is the reason I plan to start with the tiller. I could be wrong but feel what ever I use after that will work better on fresh tilled then just the solid ground I have before I till. Plus I am assuming that will help the roots of the new seeds with the soil broken up that deep.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

I think you're right - gotta loosen up the top!

I'd totally hit up my buddy for some landscaping rental usage!

Pray for rain!

I've done controlled burns before on my woods, and it's great at killing what's there - but nothing grows back immediately. Sure, after a while it comes roaring back.

Maybe rent a hay bailer?

[flyin-lowe]

Back again after a long winter off. Long story short August and Sept. were very dry last year and October had decent rains but I was out of state traveling some, life happened and I never got to put the seed down. I tried to talk myself into waiting until next fall to do this but after looking at the weather we were supposed to get rain today and tomorrow, then again Sunday and a slight chance of rain next Tuesday. So against my better judgement I put it down. I rented a soil pulverizer/perpetrator and spent about 6 hours Sunday driving around in all different directions smoothing things out. I then put the seed down and after that I adjusted the pulverizer so the leading edge (similar to a box blade) was in the air but the two "wheels" with the small spikes were still on the ground. This helped work the seeds down into the soil. Time will tell, but it is a gamble trying to seed an acre of lawn that is 600 foot or so away from your house with no practical way to get water to it. Worst case scenario I will be doing a major overseed, basically a reseed this fall. Hoping we get some rain the next couple weeks.
I can't recall the seed blend I got but Ill check the label when I get home....

[HoosierLawnGnome]

I love watching your renovations! You seem to have a knack for timing with mother nature, so here's to it working out again - best of luck!

[flyin-lowe]

Hopefully Ill be posting some good pics here in a couple weeks. Today is one of those days, I am standing outside and I can literally see it raining 1/2 mile north of my house and there are just a few random water drops hitting my house......

[flyin-lowe]

So far so good. I put the seed down and then we got rain Thursday and Friday. Nothing Saturday but there was a very heavy dew in the morning so I assume that can't hurt. Then today (Sunday) we got some pretty heavy rain. One little spot had some water pooling. That was an issue I knew I would have, that part of my yard floods easily in the spring. That is one reason I didn't do a dormant seed earlier. Of the acre I renovated probably a 1/4 of it or more will be under wander if we get a snow melt and then some rain. With the amount of rain we got today I assume the pooling will be gone in the morning. Weather man is calling for rain a couple more times in the next 7 days. I am doing a rain dance every morning, LOL

[flyin-lowe]

So this one is going OK but no where near as good as my last reno. Doing such large areas and having to depend on mother nature is brutal. The week I put my seed down we got three good days of rain. The following week the weather showed pretty good chance of rain every day. Of course I got none of it. Last night we got rain and it was the first time it has had any rain since the previous Wednesday (9 days ago). I have learned there is a happy medium between the two camps of people who talk about seed and water. I have had a lot of people say, just put the seed down and eventually it will get enough water to grow. Other people say once you get it down and start watering if it dries out it will die. So far a lot of the seed has come up despite the fact it has had very little rain. Ill post some pics soon. I am actually happy with the progress given the fact the it has been so dry. It is crazy how many times the weather showed a 70-80% chance of rain and it would go by me. Last Sunday night I drove home in the pouring rain and got to the road near my house and it quit. I was outside and could see it pouring rain 200 yards south of my house and I was getting hit with a few big drops but that was it. The little rain we got last night and the little rain we are getting right now might save me. A lot of the grass is up and maybe inch and half to two inches tall. It needed the drink for sure.

According to the weather man this morning we have gotten 0.48 inches of rain since May 1st. (I seeded on April 30th). I am glad I drove the pulverizor over the seed after I spread it. All the "trenches" made by the pulverizor have grass coming up in them, the worked great of soil contact.

[flyin-lowe]

I also forgot to mention I have a lot more weeds that came up this time then last time. Nothing I can't deal with later.

[flyin-lowe]

Well, my initial seed this spring ended up not going well at all. After the initial germination we ended up with the driest spring/summer in a long time for us. I knew that was a threat with seeding in the spring. So I just kept it mowed and now the crab grass has browned out. Last week overseeded at 4lbs per 1000. It has remained damp the entire time between rains and the heavy fall dew. They are calling for more rain the next several days. I went out this morning (day 7) and picked around the yard and found some sprouts an inch or so tall. I'm hoping in the next week or so I see some progress.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

It does seem that central Indiana stays pretty damp this time of year. This week should be interesting - 80s, but a little wet still. Hopefully it will stay damp enough to keep things going!

[flyin-lowe]

Today marks the 21 day mark since my overseed. I haven't mowed yet because literally the entire area was crab grass before the overseed, so it had died off and not growing at all. After three weeks a lot of the seed I spread is about 4 inches or so tall and a lot of it is just starting peak above the layer of crab grass etc. I know ideally I would have cleaned and raked out all the thatch etc. but given the size of the area and my busy schedule I didn't have time to. Should I go ahead a mow the area now? I plan to mow it high the first time and then drop it a little bit to get it lower before snow. Normally during an overseed I would be mowing as I go but since the area was not growing this time of year it hasn't been mowed since I put the seed down.

[andy10917]

The KBG is prolly just coming up at 21 days. Aren't the leaves a challenge also?

[HoosierLawnGnome]

4" seedlings @ 3 weeks sounds like PR - I can't remember what your cultivar is and don't see it here - did I miss it?

If it's dry enough and you have 4" seedlings I'd start mowing, taking care on those turns not to tear seedlings up.

Most of this week is the last chance to drop N in centrai IN before "the pause". If those seedlings are mature enough you might consider getting some N down.

And at this point I'd just wait for spring to get a good pre-emergent down and prevent as much of the next crop of crabgrass as possible.

[flyin-lowe]

I already put down some N. The seed is TTTF ( I don't have the tag in front of me with the name brand etc.). I do plan to apply a pre m this spring. I picked up a new tank sprayer and a new tow behind spreader this month so I am ready......I can mow that section with my mower and not have to turn on it so that is not an issue, I can go to the road one direction to turn and the rest of my yard is on the other side, no worries there. When I seeded the first acre of my yard a few years ago it was a perfect storm of conditions, it came up perfect and is really nice now. This section has been more challenging, depending on mother nature for such a large area is a pain. Good news is the ground is now smooth (which is the reason for the reno) so even if it takes a season or two to thicken up I can work on that.