2019-20 complete yard implantation

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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reverseration
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2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 2nd, 2020, 4:59 pm

This is a long one….buckle up.
I would like to start by pointing out that I did not discover this forum until after most of this work had been completed, which is unfortunate because it may have saved me a few headaches….but alas, here is my saga:
We bought our house in August of 2018. A nice two-family in the city of Albany, NY. The backyard however was….rough. All that remained of a garage was the concrete slab which takes up about 50% of the area. The other half was…..well also concrete (in the form of pavers and poured areas) as well as brick and stone and asphalt. Green areas? Sure…..the weeds growing amidst all this junk.
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tbc...

reverseration
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 2nd, 2020, 7:52 pm

I’m not sure there were any grass plants to be found. I sat and stewed about it all winter. The weed-infested concrete jungle could not be tolerated. So I came up with a plan to do something about it in 2019.
I researched.
I watched videos.
I got estimates to remove the tons of concrete.
I...ended up doing it myself.
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Masbustelo
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by Masbustelo » July 2nd, 2020, 8:51 pm

I'm interested to see what you have going on there.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by ken-n-nancy » July 2nd, 2020, 11:02 pm

reverseration wrote:
July 2nd, 2020, 4:59 pm
... The backyard however was….rough.
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Yeah, that looks like a big challenge! Can't wait to see how this turns out...

reverseration
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 3rd, 2020, 8:32 am

One dumpster, countless hand cart/wheelbarrow trips back and forth, rented jack hammer, and a backache and I finally had my clean slate.
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However, time was not on my side. It was late September and this is where I made my first critical error: not believing I had enough time to grow the nice seed I had bought and not wanting any soil erosion to occur over the winter I decided to plant some annual rye grass. I’m not sure where I saw this idea online but it sounded like the plan for me. I brought in a load of topsoil. I spent two days tilling and raking and grading it. And I planted the annual rye.

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reverseration
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 3rd, 2020, 9:06 am

It grew a bit. Certainly enough to get some cover by November. I was pleased to have something back there anyway. I packed it up and I let the lawn go to sleep for the winter.
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schreibdave
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by schreibdave » July 3rd, 2020, 10:38 am

Good job getting the concrete out of there. Where in Albany are you? I lived there for about 20 years- went to suny albany worked for nys legislature, etc and lived in a bunch of places in the city and in the burbs.

reverseration
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 3rd, 2020, 10:46 am

Right off New Scotland Ave between the two hospitals. It's a pretty great neighborhood.

reverseration
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 3rd, 2020, 10:50 am

I used the off-season to educate myself a bit more so I would be more prepared for 2020. I decided I would reseed everything in the spring since I couldn’t wait all spring/summer for the more optimal fall planting. Besides, it’s only 650sqft so if it needed some babying to get through summer it wouldn’t be too much to handle. Spring came and I was ready, however this is where I made a second critical error: believing most of the annual rye had died over the winter, I only gave it a quick glyphosate spray. What could be the problem? It looked dead….so I planted my seedsuperstore sunny mix on April 26th and started taking care of it.
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reverseration
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 3rd, 2020, 12:03 pm

It wasn’t until after I started to get some germination that I realized the rye wasn’t quite done with me. Like I said….had I discovered this forum earlier I would have known to spray it when it was actively growing. But I had quite literally made my bed so there was nothing I could do now but let it go.

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reverseration
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » July 3rd, 2020, 1:21 pm

We are now 9+ weeks post seed down. The blend is coming along however the rye is still hanging on. I’m hoping the summer heat will kill it….and I believe it is making a dent as some areas definitely look a bit stressed….but it’s a delicate act to take care of the desired grass around it. I find myself pulling up random bunches of it every time I’m out there.

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It definitely sticks out...but I can see it slowly fading as the blend thickens up.
It’s a far cry from what it looked like in 2018 though so I’ll take it.
As far as the other half of the yard with the concrete slab….well that’s a job for another day and a post for a different forum…

reverseration
Posts: 19
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » August 4th, 2020, 2:03 pm

As an update:
The annual rye is not enjoying the summer heat....although I expected it to be a bit worse than it actually is. I hope it fully dies.
Rest of the lawn is looking pretty good.

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schreibdave
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by schreibdave » August 4th, 2020, 8:10 pm

reverseration wrote:
July 3rd, 2020, 10:46 am
Right off New Scotland Ave between the two hospitals. It's a pretty great neighborhood.
I used to know it well. Both of my kids and my wife were born at St. Peter's Hospital. But a lot of that area has changed for the better since we moved away.

Lawn looks about a million times better than what you started with. Hopefully that annual rye will die off over time on its own. And hopefully its just annual rye and not a more nasty perennial weed.

The nice thing is that you now have the experience and the confidence to kill it off and start over again if you ever want to. Did you get a soil test done?

reverseration
Posts: 19
Joined: July 1st, 2020, 9:28 am
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by reverseration » August 5th, 2020, 4:06 pm

Ha I can definitely kill it and start over if I have to. It's such a small area no task is too big (at least now that the cement has all been hauled out). Who knows....I may even get bored and do something crazy back there some day.
I did get a soil test done:

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andy10917
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Re: 2019-20 complete yard implantation

Post by andy10917 » August 5th, 2020, 10:17 pm

Sorry, we don't interpret tests from labs other than Logan Labs, as we can't learn the testing suite of hundreds of labs, as volunteers. See the "Posting a Soil Test for Interpretation" at the top of the Soils/Compost Forum for more details.

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