Rod's 2019 Reno

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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RodOkc
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Location: Oklahoma City, OK
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Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » April 19th, 2019, 12:22 am

So, it's been since about 2011 since my last post. Back then my family and I were renters. I did a spring TTTF that year in full sun. I know, I know. It was mostly a learning experience. Initially, it turned out well, but quickly suffered in our record heat wave that year. The only irrigation it received was me dragging around a single hose with an oscillating sprinkler. The 15+ days above 100 degrees didn't help the situation. We've driven by there on occasion to visit family and surprisingly the fescue is still alive, so I guess it survived that summer after all.

Anyway, we finally bought a newly renovated 1974 home. The owners did a nice job with the interior, but the yard was in need of quite a bit of repair. I've cleared brush, rocks, hedges, vines, cut down trees, and removed a huge dead tree stump from the front yard. The previous owners decided to lay mulch just about everywhere, including places you'd expect there to be grass growing. I've removed all kinds of strange things from the soil (I guess it's par for the course when buying an older home). The yard is starting to come together, and I'm just about ready to nuke the common bermuda. What's left of it anyway; it's mostly weeds.
It's likely the grass is as old as the house. :rotfl:

Now, down to the details. The yard is a roughly flat 6,000 sq ft with a healthy dose of red clay. There are a few larger trees that are along the edge of the property and a couple of smaller ones in the yard, but 90% gets more than 6-8 hours of sun. The property faces West. The East side is the backyard. I've added nothing to the soil except mulch mowing since we moved in three years ago, so I knew I needed a soil test. No sense in wasting money on nutrients I don't need.

My plan is to round up everything multiple times in the coming weeks and seed with a Yukon, Monaco, Maya blend. I looked everywhere for some Riviera, but it seems to have been discontinued. Monaco is said to be an equivalent replacement. Being on the Northern edge of the transition zone, I chose Yukon for it's winter hardiness. Monaco and Maya are supposed to have excellent spring and fall color, fill in quickly, and low winter kill according to the NTEP data for Stillwater, OK. Yukon seems to be more of a sleeper the first year, so I was thinking it would be better to not do a monostand. I know I will have some weed issues the first year, so hopefully quick fill in will limit their ability to crowd out the new grass.

As you can tell, I've spend the last several months reading and prepping for a successful overhaul. I have nearly everything I need to make this go as smoothly as possible. No below ground irrigation, but I have plenty of hoses, impact sprinklers and two 4-zone timers. I'm debating on not using peat moss since bermuda seed is so small. I don't want to smother the seedlings. I'll probably just power rake the yard with multiple passes and use the hydroseeding gel I have. I figure with timers that can water every hour, 3-10 minutes a zone each hour should keep them moist enough. With a TEC of 17, the soil holds onto water well. It takes 3-5 days for it to dry out after a heavy storm. I've already mapped out where I need the sprinkler heads and plan on setting up the irrigation zones tomorrow to make sure I have proper coverage.

I still have roughly a month before pulling the trigger. The common is just starting to show signs of life, so I'm patiently waiting for the right time. I've been mowing as low as possible to encourage green up and to see where I need to level out a few places. Currently, I'm filling in uneven areas with topsoil. I plan on fine-tuning the rest with topdressing several times a year. It's mostly leveled so that's a plus. I greatly appreciate all the help and information found on this forum. It may be the best source of information on the internet for renovations and soil recommendations. I'll try to get some pictures up in a week or so.
Feel free to add any thoughts on my plan of attack! :duel:

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » April 19th, 2019, 8:55 am

Check out the warm season renovations. Most of the time they reccomend growing from plugs instead of seed.

Definitely test the soil too. That's a tight soil that doesnt drain well at all.

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » April 19th, 2019, 10:12 am

Thanks, I've read through a lot of renos there. Especially on Yukon and Riviera projects. Any ideas on how to loosen up the soil? I don't know if gypsum will help. I've thought about the baby shampoo route. Here's a link to my soil test from this year.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=24843

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » June 29th, 2019, 12:36 pm

It's been about 2 months since my last update. We had record rains in May and the finishing touches on the yard took longer than expected. Since April I continued to mulch mow and level low areas out with top soil. I got my soil test results back on April 18th and made a homemade batch of BLSC plus kelp help. I gathered up some gypsum, sulfur, starter fertilizer 18-24-6, and some regular fertilizer 29-0-5 with 2% iron. I already had some borax and copper sulfate from the previous reno and it was still in good shape.

I've applied the BLSC plus kelp help 3 times since April at roughly 12 oz/K (a little heavier than recommended at 4 oz/K). On May 6th, I dropped borax at 3 tbsp/K and copper sulfate at 1 tbsp/K along with 2 lb/K of regular fertilizer, which works out to a little above half a pound of nitrogen per thousand. I also mixed this up with some coarse grained pool sand to give the app a little more bulk and help apply the micros more evenly. Plus, I wanted to see how well the sand would go through my broadcast spreader so I could use it at seeding. It went well.

I waited until May to drop the fertilizer when the common Bermuda really started to get going. With all the rain and frequent low mowing, the common was loving it and starting to spread. I probably could have had a decent looking yard eventually, but it would have taken years since the coverage is rough 25% of my yard. I just let it do its thing until June.

On June 8th, I blanket applied the first round of 41% glyphosate at 10oz/K along with non-ionic surfactant and tracker dye. It was humid and warm, but still took about 5 days to see some results. I hit it again with the same dose, same method on June 17th. By the 24th, the yard was toast. Maybe I should have hit it once more just to be safe, but even the common's stolons were brown. I realize it's possible for it to come back, but if I got 99% of it, I'll be satisfied. Worse case, I severely limited its ability to compete with the new seed.

I dropped Pennington Fast Acting Gypsum and Encap Fast Acting Sulfur at bag rate in between glyphosate apps. I know you're supposed to incorporate the sulfur into the soil, but I wasn't about to till a heavy clay soil. My pH is sitting at 7.1 (just slightly above the sweet spot. If it takes the whole season to take effect so be it.

On June 25th and 26th, I used a Sun Joe scarifier across the entire yard to loosen up the top half of soil and cut into the seed bed. I did multiple passes (probably 5 or 6 times) so it took a day and a half. I went back and forth about renting a power rake or just buying something similar I could use again. This little machine has some power, so I'm happy with my purchase. Plus, I can use it as a dethatcher later since it has a separate attachment.

Since Bermuda seed is so small, I decided not to top dress. Instead, I left the dead grass clippings as a mulch to hold the seed in place. If the clippings were really thick, I probably would have removed them. Given the condition of the yard (most of it was dirt by the time I used the scarifier), I decided I'd keep the organic matter. I know the preferred method is to top dress and roll for soil contact, but I had great success with this before. Also, I dropped a second app of gypsum and sulfur afterwards.

On June 26th, I seeded with equal parts Yukon, Monaco, Maya, and Jubilee (which is 70% Riviera and 30% Transcontinental) at roughly 3 lb/K. I made a 25% blend of each type and stirred them together. I added hydrogel at 0.5 lb/K, coarse pool sand at 15 lb/K, boron at 3 tbsp/K, copper sulfate at 1 tbsp/K, and brown sugar at 0.5 cups/K. By the way, Transcontiental is the highest rated shade tolerant seed variety equivalent to TifGrand and just under top performer Celebration. So, it will be interesting to see if that works out in the more shaded areas around the edge of the backyard.

I made this mixture in batches for uniformity. Adding the sand for extra bulk made getting the seed down evenly so much easier. I apply 1/4th of the batch to the back and 1/4th of the batch to the front to see how far it would go. It went a long ways. I was able to go over every area in both directions and even diagonally multiple times with my broadcast spreader. I dropped the second half of the batch using the same method.

You're probably wondering why I added the sugar. Well, I didn't use molasses in my BLSC and kelp help apps. So, I wanted to kick start the micro heard. Will it work? I don't know, but it couldn't hurt.

After seeding, I set my irrigation timers to water 10 minutes per zone every hour for 24 hours. It works out to about 1.2 inches for the first day and just enough to soak the ground and not have runoff. After the first day, I dialed back the time to 4 minutes per zone each hour and will probably keep it there until full germination.

I rigged an above ground irrigation system with 2 separate 4 zone timers each connected to 4 hoses attached to 4 Rainbird P5R+ impact sprinklers for a total of 8 zones. I run 2 zones in pairs every 15 minutes at 4 minute intervals on the hour every hour (yes even at night). It might seem like over kill, but with the heat setting in I want to make sure the seed bed doesn't dry out. It's moist but not saturated. Our temps this week have been low 70's at night and low-mid 90's during the day.

Today is day 3 post seeding. I already see a few tiny sprouts. They look like Bermuda sprouts, but I'll know for sure soon. Unfortunately, I'm leaving town for the week and will be away until July 5th, which is day 9 post seeding. Here's to hoping I return to a yard full to tiny seedlings. By the way, I WILL post some pictures when I return.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » June 30th, 2019, 4:33 pm

Yay! Looking forward to pics!


RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
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Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 5th, 2019, 6:51 pm

As promised, here is the front day 9 after seeding.

Image
Front (You can see some green in there if you look close)

Image
Front (Same as above from a different angle)

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 5th, 2019, 6:54 pm

More pics of the front.

Image
Front Side (Not much happening here yet but the neighbor has quite the domination line)

Image
Front Side (Up against the gate and neighbor's house you can see some clumps of germination)

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 5th, 2019, 7:19 pm

And here is the back day 9 after seeding.

Image
Back (We have a decent amount of sprouts here)

Image
Back (Same as above from a different angle)

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 5th, 2019, 7:34 pm

More pics of the back.

Image
Back (Lower angle here and you can definitely see some germination)

Image
Back Side (Not much happening here except up against the neighbor's house)

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andy10917
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Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by andy10917 » July 8th, 2019, 8:45 pm

Looks like it's coming along nicely!

JHazzardB
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Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by JHazzardB » July 10th, 2019, 2:22 pm

Looking good Rod! Everything looks nice and level, I see the greenness coming in, and we've received a little bit of rain. You got this.

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 11th, 2019, 9:59 pm

15 DAS

Image
Front (This area is doing well and I have some tillering. I hand pulled a few weeds, but you can still see some.)

Image
Front (Same as above from a different angle.)

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 11th, 2019, 10:05 pm

More pics of the front.

Image
Front Side (Added some more seed and had to move the sprinkler in this area cause it wasn't getting enough water.)

Image
Front Side (This area also got more seed cause it was getting too much water and washing the seed into clumps.)

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 11th, 2019, 10:09 pm

Back 15 DAS

Image
Back (This area is doing well and is already tillering. It also has a few weeds like the front.)

Image
Back (Same as above from a different angle.)

RodOkc
Posts: 18
Joined: April 18th, 2019, 11:53 am
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Rod's 2019 Reno

Post by RodOkc » July 11th, 2019, 10:14 pm

More pics of the back.

Image
Back (Starting to fill in nicely!)

Image
Back Side (A spot was getting dry and had to adjust the sprinkler, but more sprouts than appear. Also, some sedge popping up.)

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