Sounds like you have a good plan. Having a plan from the outset makes a big difference. Just a few thoughts / questions / tweaks below. (We've become serial renovators, doing some sort of renovations more years than not over the past 7 years...)
Ruxie88 wrote: ↑June 29th, 2020, 8:11 pm
Decided I want to reno part of the front lawn (~1300 sq ft) this summer. This area gets about 40-50% shade, mainly in the morning, during the day due to the house and trees blocking the sun. Because of that, I plan to use Mazama KBG. I would appreciate any feedback/thoughts on the below timeline. Thanks.
Do you have your seed yet? If not, you need to get it ASAP. You really want to have your desired seed in hand before spraying glyphosate. For at least a couple years, the Long Island Cauliflower Association was the go-to place for Mazama KBG.
Depending upon how much shade is in the area being renovated, it can be worthwhile to start a shady renovation a little sooner than otherwise. However, it seems like an August 15 seed-down date for New Jersey is pretty early, so you're probably okay with that. Once September arrives, shady areas sometimes receive markedly less sun than they did in the summer, due to the mid-day sun being lower in the sky, and getting even more shade from nearby trees. Just something of which to be aware.
Ruxie88 wrote: ↑June 29th, 2020, 8:11 pm
Week of June 21 (T-8 weeks)
> Start lowering HOC (Bag mow)
> Spread compost
Week of June 28
> Bag mow at lowest setting without scalping
> Set up fencing and irrigation
What is the reasoning for bringing the HOC down gradually before applying glyphosate? Are you trying to get rid of some of the grass to make compost easier to spread? In general, you want the grass to be growing its best right up until the day the glyphosate is applied. You don't want any old grass (presumably undesirable after the renovation) or weedy grasses grasses (like
poa trivialis or
poa annua) that are present in the current lawn to be getting stressed or semi-dormant or fully dormant before the glyphosate is applied. Personally, I would wait to drop the height of cut until that mowing you have planned for 2-3 days after the glyphosate.
Ruxie88 wrote: ↑June 29th, 2020, 8:11 pm
Week of July 5 (T-6 weeks)
> Apply soil amendments
> Spray glyphosate…Bag mow 2-3 days later
> Continue to water daily (Fallow)
Week of July 12
> Spray glyphosate
> Bag mow at lowest setting
> Level lawn with topsoil
Week of July 19 (T-4 weeks)
> Continue to Fallow
Week of July 26
> Spray glyphosate
Week of August 2 (T-2 weeks)
> Rake/dethatch to ensure soil is not compacted
Week of August 9 (T-1)
> Add micros, P & K (4-5 days prior)
August 13
> Spray glyphosate
I particularly like your glyphosate / fallowing plan. Leveling early is a good idea, as it gives the new soil a chance to fallow, as well as to settle a bit so that you can potentially re-level again shortly before seed-down. I will note, however, that your fallow period is long enough that you may have soil erosion issues in the 5 weeks between leveling the lawn and seed-down. If you have a lawn that is as level as a billiard table, you can get away with that, but you may be susceptible to erosion issues in the first couple weeks of August with summer thundershowers. Just be prepared for that issue. If you have any significant slope, that's going to be a challenge.
I also like that you've planned time to get your watering right. Use those last couple weeks of July to figure out if you have wet spots or dry spots in your irrigation coverage, and get them fixed before seed-down.
Ruxie88 wrote: ↑June 29th, 2020, 8:11 pm
August 14
> Spray Tenacity
August 15
> Seed Down
> Spread peat moss
This may just be a detail you've left out, but I would highly suggest rolling in the seed after seed down, and then spraying the Tenacity after rolling in the seed. I've usually spread the peat moss after rolling in the seed and spraying Tenacity. The Tenacity won't hurt the seed.
Ruxie88 wrote: ↑June 29th, 2020, 8:11 pm
T+3 weeks
> Apply fertilizer (AMS & Oceangro/XGRN)
> Reseed where necessary
T+4 weeks
> Spray Tenacity
> Spray micros & fungicide
T+5 weeks
> Apply fertilizer (AMS & Oceangro/XGRN)
T+60 days
> Spray Prodiamine
As Andy mentioned, these post-seed-down events depend upon germination time, rather than seed-down time. It's good to have a general plan based upon when the seed-down happened, but the dates of all of these items need to be flexible depending upon how quickly the grass germinated, and how it's growing. I vaguely recall that Mazama is comparatively quick to germinate for KBG, but I'd suggest looking for details on other Mazama renovations to get a timing to expect. (I've never planted Mazama, but Bewitched and Prosperity are comparatively quick to germinate for KBG, typically 5-10 days.)
Waiting to reseed until 3 weeks after seed-down is going to be very late for a shady area. You'll see when new germination has ceased / slowed down, and will need to make a re-seeding decision at that time. My one comment is that I've had better success encouraging the new grass that germinated than trying to add more seed after 2-3 weeks. (In other words, I prefer going with what germinated the first time around, rather than re-seeding.) It takes surprisingly little germinated KBG to be able to fill in by the end of the following June. One plant in every few inches will be enough. On the other hand, continuing "germination watering" for 2-3 extra weeks beyond when the first seeding should be transitioning to less frequent watering sets up problems with fungus, shallow roots, etc. For an example of how little grass is needed,
look at the "big bare spots" in our 2018 renovation in the photo below, with the "after" photo the next spring. No additional seeding was performed.
Lamp Post View as of 2018-10-30 (Day 66):
Lamp Post View as of 2019-07-13 (Day 323):
As a separate observation, but related, I'd be wary of prodiamine being sprayed in the fall on the new grass, in case it hinders the root development. If you have a history of
poa annua or
poa trivialis problems, then it may be worth it. However, if you don't have a
poa annua history, I'd favor not making the prodiamine application in October on KBG seeded in late summer. That said, only you can know if the benefits outweigh the risks.
In all, I think you have a great plan. Most important thing is to pray for no rain between seed-down and about day 14 after seed-down. If you have a significant likelihood of severe thunderstorms forecast within 3 days of your planned seed-down date, it may be worthwhile to postpone seed-down.