GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
northeastlawn
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by northeastlawn » June 6th, 2021, 6:59 pm

As distasteful as it might be; concentrate on getting the KBG through the summer this year. Next year you can count on it spreading and filling in holes. You will also be able to get some pre-m down. personally I rotate pre-m's now just incase, I hate poa-a that much and it always finds a way to get through.

Aug-prodiamine (1st)
Sept-prodiamine (2nd)
Nov-Dimesion (just in case)

Next year....
March-prodiamine (3rd)
May-Dimension (just to catch any late germinating poa-a)

I plan amounts of AI Im allowed based on that schedule of apps.

Nuss
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by Nuss » June 8th, 2021, 4:55 pm

I'm planning to do a renovation similar to yours and given I don't have a lot of experience I was hoping you might be able to answer a question I have which is, what are the pro's and cons of planting KBG seed vs buying the KBG sod and putting it in? I see Home Depot sells pallets of KBG sod but I just don't know if that's the best option or if I should just go the same route you did. Thanks in advance!

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MorpheusPA
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by MorpheusPA » June 8th, 2021, 6:19 pm

Sod will generally not be an elite KBG, which is a problem for some. The elites we have are deep in color, resistant to disease, and have a lot of other advantages.

Nuss
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by Nuss » June 9th, 2021, 2:21 pm

That makes sense.. I went ahead and ordered 10 lbs of Midnight Kentucky Bluegrass from Outsidepride Seed Source. Hopefully this will be a decision I'm happy I made as this is my first time doing a full renovation. My plan is to cut out the current sod, apply some top soil and level it to get rid of the few low spots. Should I spray for weeds at this point and then plant the seed? Any tips on this process are appreciated. thank you

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MorpheusPA
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by MorpheusPA » June 9th, 2021, 4:07 pm

If you've removed the sod and added soil, you don't need to spray. You can apply Starter with Mesotrione (a pre-emergent that's safe for bluegrass seeds), but that's about it, or spray with Tenacity (which is Mesotrione).

Some bother. Some don't. Spread seed. Some spread up to a quarter inch of compost or peat moss over the seed to help keep it damp (that really does work very well).

Water 3 times daily; morning, afternoon, evening. Wait. Bluegrasses take a while to sprout; 10-21 days. The variance is mostly by temperature and moisture. Too hot or too cold and it'll take longer. Temps in the seventies are perfect.

For you, the date of planting isn't so important. You can probably bring in a summer reno where you are, west of the Cascades, but even so, the sun's still pretty strong. The grass will require summer watering if it doesn't rain.


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gryd
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by gryd » June 12th, 2021, 11:25 am

Nuss wrote:
June 9th, 2021, 2:21 pm
That makes sense.. I went ahead and ordered 10 lbs of Midnight Kentucky Bluegrass from Outsidepride Seed Source. Hopefully this will be a decision I'm happy I made as this is my first time doing a full renovation. My plan is to cut out the current sod, apply some top soil and level it to get rid of the few low spots. Should I spray for weeds at this point and then plant the seed? Any tips on this process are appreciated. thank you
Everything Morpheus said is true. What he didn’t say is that you probably shouldn’t plant a mono stand. Diversity will help if you get hit with a disease. Also, not sure Outside Pride is a good source for seed. Try Pawnee Buttes Seed in Colorado or Williams Lawn Seed in Missouri. I think one of them still has Prosperity and Moonlight SLT. Ask for sod quality seed. Go with equal parts.
That blend (Midnight, Prosperity and Moonlight SLT) will give you a Midnight Type, an America Type and a Compact Type.

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gryd
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by gryd » June 18th, 2021, 3:13 pm

I’ve been using a plugger with good results to patch up the larger areas where I killed Poa Annua. Below is an image from earlier today.
Image

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MorpheusPA
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by MorpheusPA » June 18th, 2021, 7:59 pm

gryd wrote:
June 12th, 2021, 11:25 am
Everything Morpheus said is true. What he didn’t say is that you probably shouldn’t plant a mono stand. Diversity will help if you get hit with a disease.
That, too. My bandwidth time is limited. :-) More cultivars and/or multiple species will certainly help with disease resistance.

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gryd
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by gryd » May 28th, 2022, 7:09 pm

This is year 2 of my background KBG renovation. To be honest, in March I thought it was a failed renovation. Lots of bare spots, Poa Annua and moss. I had no idea what went wrong and was thinking my renovation days were behind me. I did dormant seed the entire area in January but I thought that failed as well.

Late last month I sprayed Bayer Moss Control RTU. I also fertilized the area with cheap Vigoro fertilizer. I also spent some time spading out the Poa. The steps I had taken were extremely successful. Moss is gone, Poa down to a minimum and KBG spreading like wild fire. I have a couple of areas to touch up but the dormant seeding was also successful for the most part.

Image

Image

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MorpheusPA
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by MorpheusPA » May 28th, 2022, 7:56 pm

It looks absolutely amazing. I'm not a dog and even I want to roll around in it.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by ken-n-nancy » May 29th, 2022, 8:00 am

gryd wrote:
May 28th, 2022, 7:09 pm
Image

Image
Wow! Looks awesome! Great work!!!

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gryd
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by gryd » May 29th, 2022, 11:17 am

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 28th, 2022, 7:56 pm
It looks absolutely amazing. I'm not a dog and even I want to roll around in it.
Thanks Motph!

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gryd
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Re: GRYD’s 2020 KBG Backyard Renovation

Post by gryd » May 29th, 2022, 11:20 am

ken-n-nancy wrote:
May 29th, 2022, 8:00 am
gryd wrote:
May 28th, 2022, 7:09 pm
Image

Image
Wow! Looks awesome! Great work!!!
Thanks Ken-n- Nancy?

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