New lawn from scratch

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » May 2nd, 2019, 2:40 pm

Green wrote:
May 1st, 2019, 8:37 pm
MyHolidayLawn is a KBG, according to their pdf sheet that advertises it, so it has to have some or all KBG DNA, otherwise it would be false advertising. I have seed for it. I'm ok with it if it ends up being a hybrid.
Are you planning to seed Holiday Lawn soon? if so then let me know your experience as I am seriously considering to seed Holiday Lawn this August. Did you buy online or local, do you mind sharing vendor, price? Thanks!

Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by Green » May 3rd, 2019, 8:47 pm

I hope to, but am not sure if I'll actually get to it before August at this rate. Obviously most of June and July are out. It's a shaded area, so Spring seeding would work. Actually the moisture would help too.

I think it was in the range of $7 per lb. From United Seeds.

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » June 29th, 2019, 10:50 am

Hello,
I took expert advice and letting yard fallow over the summer. Only since the last 2 weeks, it feels like summer in my area before that it was heavy rain every other day. The water was running all over the yard and with no vegetation to hold the soil it seems like my top layer seems to be fine sand now. Is that a major concern for growing grass? I will post a picture a little later.
I haven't done a soil test, if strongly recommended then I will submit a sample from 6" depth to logan lab as I see recommended on other posts.
As we are getting in July, I would like to start preparations for recommended August seeding. I was planning to make a time-lapse of my yard to get a better idea about how much sun each area gets. I am surrounded by over 50 feet trees from three sides, so my guesstimate and crude observation are that it's mostly shaded except when the sun is right above.
I see that seed stores (online) have zip-code based seed recommendation, which seems to be a mix of few varieties. I want to spend time and effort in July to get everything ready, I would appreciate all your recommendations as I try to learn by going over other posts on the forum.
Thanks.

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by andy10917 » June 29th, 2019, 11:01 am

A soil test is a good idea, so that we know what needs to be amended. Read the thread at the top of the Soils Forum - test depth is NOT 6" for grass. It is the inch between 3"-4" (the middle of the grass root zone).

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » July 16th, 2019, 3:45 pm

andy10917 wrote:
June 29th, 2019, 11:01 am
A soil test is a good idea, so that we know what needs to be amended. Read the thread at the top of the Soils Forum - test depth is NOT 6" for grass. It is the inch between 3"-4" (the middle of the grass root zone).
Thanks for your advice. I do plan to send soil sample for test.


lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » September 6th, 2019, 9:24 pm

So I took your advices and let my yard fallow over summer. Last month or so we were away on vacations, therefore, couldn't start earlier, hope it's not too late for this year (?). Anyway 2 weeks ago I did first Glyphosate application and another round a week ago, now raking all dead weeds hopefully this weekend I'll clear up all.

As Andy suggested, I have mailed three bags of soil sample to logan labs for the standard test yesterday, I'll soon post results for your expert analysis.

I would like to purchase grass seeds asap, based on zip code 08043 for shady yards I get 'SS6000 Shady Mixture' as a recommendation on seedsuperstore website. Of course, I want to have a really nice lawn so I would appreciate any recommendations for best lawn seeds out there, I will be happy to spend more $ for the best stuff, so please suggest seeds for obtaining best turf.

Rest I plan to follow recommendations as outlined by 'HoosierLawnGnome' in his post-- viewtopic.php?f=13&t=25034

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by andy10917 » September 7th, 2019, 12:10 pm

Pick what YOU like - you're the one that will have to live with the strong features and the weaker ones. We'll be here to help when you have questions or issues. Get going though - time is running short.

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » September 9th, 2019, 9:21 am

andy10917 wrote:
September 7th, 2019, 12:10 pm
Pick what YOU like - you're the one that will have to live with the strong features and the weaker ones. We'll be here to help when you have questions or issues. Get going though - time is running short.
Thanks, I really appreciate the support.

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » September 19th, 2019, 9:07 am

I am seeding my lawn this weekend so I was looking for Scotts starter fertilizer + weed preventer and came across good price ($50 for 10k sq.ft. coverage bag) for this and some other fertilizers on Amazon compared to prices today on Lowes/HD. It seems some of Scott's products and misc. are on the limited time one day deal today. Not sure if these are good value compared to alternatives but I am stocking up everything considering all these heavy bags will be delivered directly to the home.

Let me know if you think they are bad deal and there are better alternatives out there at this price, I'll cancel my order before it ships ;-)

Here is the link to limited one day deal if anyone is interested-

https://www.amazon.com/deal/63d1058d/

Also attached are the screenshots.




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lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 1st, 2019, 11:02 am

First Spotty germination observed on day 6 after seeding.
Image

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 1st, 2019, 12:22 pm

So day 3 after seeding there were thunderstorms with heavy rain for not even 10 mins that led to seed wash off in the channels formed by water flowing down in sloppy areas. I reseeded affected areas the next morning but now the rain is expected again this Thursday. I started to have spotty germination which is good news but I am really concerned if the next round of rain will erode all my un/germinated seeds. Originally I did walk lawn roller over the seeds and topped with peat moss, is there any other way that I can protect seed erosion by rain at this stage when germination has already begun?

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 2nd, 2019, 3:01 pm

lawnlawn wrote:
October 1st, 2019, 12:22 pm
So day 3 after seeding there were thunderstorms with heavy rain for not even 10 mins that led to seed wash off in the channels formed by water flowing down in sloppy areas. I reseeded affected areas the next morning but now the rain is expected again this Thursday. I started to have spotty germination which is good news but I am really concerned if the next round of rain will erode all my un/germinated seeds. Originally I did walk lawn roller over the seeds and topped with peat moss, is there any other way that I can protect seed erosion by rain at this stage when germination has already begun?
Just bumping up my post/question as it will be raining the next few days starting tonight. Should I do something to save freshly germinated seeds from the upcoming rain? At day 7 (from seeding) grass is around 0.5 mm and I have spotty germination all over my yard, I would guesstimate around 40% area has germination. I also notice that seeds are germinating mostly where I had a heavy coat of peat moss. But I am really concerned that all seeds and freshly germinated grass will be washed off by rain overnight. Anything I can do today evening to better protect the newborns and unborns?

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by andy10917 » October 2nd, 2019, 7:11 pm

Not really much you can do at this stage.

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 2nd, 2019, 8:58 pm

andy10917 wrote:
October 2nd, 2019, 7:11 pm
Not really much you can do at this stage.
It was +90F today and I ran sprinklers every hour for 5 min/zone to maintain moisture, I definitely prefer that versus any rain that can potentially cause washout.

schreibdave
Posts: 1123
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Location: Syracuse, NY
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
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Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by schreibdave » October 15th, 2019, 8:01 am

I had some washout under my gutter downspouts in front - the backs are buried and run off the property.

So in front i got some 4" black corrugated pipe and I lay that out when rain is in the forecast and then pick them up afterwards. It diverts the rain from the gutters towards the lot line and protects some of the lawn from washout. But that requires that you have the slope to be able to do this and an area where you can run it to.

Got any current pictures?

What kind of diy irrigation system did you do? Mine is sort of a cross between the Rube Goldberg/Frankenstein variety.

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 15th, 2019, 3:03 pm

schreibdave wrote:
October 15th, 2019, 8:01 am
I had some washout under my gutter downspouts in front - the backs are buried and run off the property.

So in front i got some 4" black corrugated pipe and I lay that out when rain is in the forecast and then pick them up afterwards. It diverts the rain from the gutters towards the lot line and protects some of the lawn from washout. But that requires that you have the slope to be able to do this and an area where you can run it to.

Got any current pictures?

What kind of diy irrigation system did you do? Mine is sort of a cross between the Rube Goldberg/Frankenstein variety.
I have many slopes on my lot. Besides a 10 min thunderstorm with heavy rain that washed out some 4 days old sown seeds, we didn't get much rain for the last 2 weeks. The rain is expected tomorrow between noon and 10 pm with a forecast up to 1.5 inches in total. I did something similar to you but using a garden hose, I left it all around my semi-circle driveway as last time seeds were washed off on the driveway and now the grass is growing even on asphalt :confused:

I do have a 16 zone sprinkler system that I control using Rainmachine HD 16, it includes 1 zone dedicated to filling the pool and 1 zone for an outside shower that I plan to build next year. I built it myself using 1-inch pvc pipe and seeing now how good and how far rotors spray water I should have been able to shrink it to less than 10 zones and much fewer sprinkler heads. It's overkill right now as running any of the zones more than 10 mins can lead to water puddles or runoff in sloppy areas. I used way too much pipe and sprinkler heads but it functions really really well. I have installed all around Wyze cam to monitor newborns live and besides programmed watering, I usually start watering anytime when I see soil drying out.

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 15th, 2019, 4:12 pm

Pics from today - Day 20 from seeding; 14 days since germination


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lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 15th, 2019, 5:43 pm

lawnlawn wrote:
October 15th, 2019, 4:12 pm
Pics from today - Day 20 from seeding; 14 days since germination


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BTW is this sprout and pout or tillering?

schreibdave
Posts: 1123
Joined: April 14th, 2010, 7:01 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by schreibdave » October 15th, 2019, 7:13 pm

I'm not sure i ever really identified when my sprout and pout phase was. Tillering is when it starts having multiple blades out of one plant.

lawnlawn
Posts: 61
Joined: April 24th, 2019, 10:19 pm
Location: South Jersey
Grass Type: Elite KBG blend of Award, Bewitched & Rhapsody seeded in end of September 2019.
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: New lawn from scratch

Post by lawnlawn » October 29th, 2019, 10:09 pm

Hello Experts,
Day 34 from seeding, 28 days since germination, and the lawn is around 3 to 4 inches tall. The grass blades are really thin but do have multiple blades per plant. I have a few questions;

1) Do you think it's about time to do the first cut? if so then cut to what height? The blades look very very thin and fragile but the grass is holding tight to the soil even after multiple heavy downpours last week. We are gently walking on it as we are doing fall leaf cleanup and notice that our shoe easily presses all the grass underneath in one direction but not uprooting anything.

2) Do I need to fertilize the lawn now or wait for spring? if now then which fertilizer mix? I do have a Scotts winter guard that I purchased last month.

3) Some spots where grass didn't grow or germination was sparse I am getting broadleaf weeds. What's the best weed killer to get rid of them without affecting KBG? Attached are some pictures.

Thanks!
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