jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 14th, 2018, 10:29 pm

First round of leveling 50% complete. Still have the side yards to do. It started sprinkling today which didn't help at first, but at least I don't need to worry about watering it in now lol.

Hope to be finished come Friday, then 5 tons of compost is coming Saturday. Spread that Saturday and hope to seed that day or Sunday.


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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 17th, 2018, 10:18 pm

Compost arrived. 5 yards (6,600lbs)

Got 90% of it spread out today over the span of 4 hours or so. I had a nice big dinner and for dessert, I had Advil.

I dunno about you, but man, if I were KBG, I'd grow in that.

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 18th, 2018, 5:57 pm

All done. Rain expected Monday, so going to wait to seed until Tuesday. After Tuesday the chance of rain finishes dramatically until the following week.


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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 20th, 2018, 6:42 pm

Hasn’t stopped raining for 18 hours and showing no signs of letting up. Makes me want to puke. At least I haven’t put seed down.
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northeastlawn
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by northeastlawn » August 20th, 2018, 8:28 pm

That sucks, for last years reno I filled in a lot of low spots and tried to get the grading perfect. Then I got a mini wash out, and then every worm in the yard chowed down on the old lawn and left worm castings everywhere. That perfectly smooth grading didn't stay that way very long.

Perfect grading looks really nice, but over the course of a month of watering, its not going to stay perfectly smooth. You dodged a bullet by waiting to seed, don't sweat the wash outs. Smooth it out a little.

If some of the ruts look like you have slope issues grab some seed blankets for where the worse washouts were. Maybe put seed blankets by the sidewalks.


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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 23rd, 2018, 9:34 am

Yesterday 8/22 I raked the washed out areas and covered with compost. I took the opportunity to fix any grading issues as well as temporarily redirected any downspouts that were dumping into the reno.

Seeded Bewitched/Blueberry/Midnight at 2.5lb/K then covered with a light dusting of peat and watered it in. I need to grab more peat for a few areas and will drop germination mats in areas that may need it, like near the sidewalk, but I want to see where the water is going to redirect first after diverting the downspouts.

Set the Rachio up to water for 4 minutes per zone every 4 hours to start. With the amount of compost and peat, along with the cooler weather, its not drying out so I may extend that to 5 hours, but we will have to wait and see.

40% chance of rain tomorrow and now its forecast for rain all next week. I'm hoping we make it through this!

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andy10917
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by andy10917 » August 23rd, 2018, 9:46 am

Sounds like you're really using the eyeballs and proactively making changes as needed. Nice!

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 28th, 2018, 9:07 pm

I'm a proud new papa! 6 days since seed down.

A little bit of weed pressure. I didn't put Tenacity down, which I wish I would have looking back. Oh well, I can take care of that stuff later.

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ndlutz
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by ndlutz » August 28th, 2018, 11:32 pm

I've got a feeling this is going to turn out really nice for you. Good work so far.

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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by kbgfarmer » August 29th, 2018, 9:53 am

How's the lawn looking? Seems like you've had similar weather as me except you waited to seed after the big rain storm. I'm 15 days out today and can't see a ton of germination. Just trying to compare with someone in similar situation. Thanks!

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 29th, 2018, 10:49 pm

ndlutz wrote:
August 28th, 2018, 11:32 pm
I've got a feeling this is going to turn out really nice for you. Good work so far.
Oh good Lord I hope so! I put a lot of manual labor (moving soil/compost) into this, so I'm really crossing my fingers. Regardless, the 3 cultivars I chose will be leaps and bounds better than the contractor NoMix they put in when we built. Thanks!

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » August 29th, 2018, 10:55 pm

kbgfarmer wrote:
August 29th, 2018, 9:53 am
How's the lawn looking? Seems like you've had similar weather as me except you waited to seed after the big rain storm. I'm 15 days out today and can't see a ton of germination. Just trying to compare with someone in similar situation. Thanks!
I'm SO glad I waited for that storm to pass. I would have had a stupid amount of washout. BUT, we are looking at thunderstorms starting tomorrow and ending NEXT SUNDAY, the 9th. So 10 days in a row of rain and thunderstorms. I'm crossing my fingers and sacrificing a lamb as we speak.

The grass grew, I kid you not, at least a half inch since I posted that last photo. I could BARELY see them when I first spotted them, now I have a very light green haze over 80% lawn. Some areas are better than others, and the funny thing is, there is actually quite a difference between the areas I saw those damn ants, and the rest! The places that had ants is not nearly as thick as the rest.

I have 36 small peat pots going that I am going to use as plugs. They should start sprouting any day now.

Good luck and stick with it!

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » September 2nd, 2018, 11:27 am

Captains Log, day 11.

Rain, rain, rain. It has been 4 days since I've seen dry ground. My only hope is that Mother Nature will hold me in her good graces and knock it the h*ll off. Unfortunately we are expecting 7-8 inches more throughout this week. My Rachio hasn't ran in 4 days.

Rerouting the downspouts worked, for the most part, and showed me the areas that are consistently washing out. Germination is looking good across the majority of the lawn.

Reseeding the washed out areas today and laying down germination blankets now that I know where the excess water is being redirected.


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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » September 18th, 2018, 2:53 pm

Question- I'm just finishing up drop date + 4 weeks. Growth is good in some areas, not good in other (washed out areas) form 2 weeks of rain. There are some spots that weeds are kicking my [banned word]. Is it too soon for a Tenacity application? Hopefully will reel mow for the first time in the next week.

4 week update coming soon, stay tuned..

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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by Iowa Jim » September 18th, 2018, 4:18 pm

To apply tenacity to a reno you must weight 30 days after germination or after 2 mows.

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » October 17th, 2018, 2:09 pm

Whew! So it’s been a while since my last update. Haven’t had much to update on because it’s been pretty slow.

I’ve mowed the front short (2.5”) 3x with a reel mower and it is starting to thicken up. There are very apparent thin spots from the torrential rain we got the week after seeding, but I will take care of those in the spring if necessary. I also sprayed tenacity to get the weeds under control.

My main focus is getting it ready for winter and on the side yards the washout areas will need to be back filled with some topsoil. After the last threat of rain I will regrade those so that the soil can settle and pack in with the freeze/thaw cycle. Then I will seed those in spring and treat like mini renos.


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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » October 17th, 2018, 2:11 pm

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » March 31st, 2019, 7:09 pm

Happy Spring!! I was out looking at the yard this afternoon, putting down some seed in a few bare areas as a stop-gap in the hopes some germinate, but if they don’t its not a huge deal. Mostly around the edges where it washed out a bit.

My question is when would it be appropriate to spray Tenacity? I’ve noticed some weeds/weedy grasses springing up already.

Thanks!

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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by Green » April 2nd, 2019, 9:24 pm

No need to rush the Tenacity if you think it's too early. Are you using it to double as a temporary pre-M?

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jfd.lew
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Re: jfd.lew forced Reno :-(

Post by jfd.lew » May 31st, 2019, 1:09 pm

First 'official' update.

Dropped Milo two weeks ago at half bag rate and when I went to get some more everywhere was sold out. I had some 18-24-20 on hand that I dropped at half bag rate yesterday.

I will be following Philes on this, so based off that I'm off to a good start anyway.

The KBG is filling in really nicely. It's thickening up and growing at a nice even rate. Because I have high pH (8+ on last soil test) I'm probably going to have to do a foliar iron spray in addition to regular milo drops to get a nice dark color. I'm putting in an EZ-Flo this year, so that will make things easier with their 6-0-0 (5% iron) iron-maxx liquid.

There are a few spots that need some TLC because of washout, and a few spots that I need to add some soil to even it out (the lot lines specifically). The compost rings around the trees have sprouted a wonderful sod that I'm going to take out and use for plugs elsewhere.




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