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Servana's Four-Oh Reno

Posted: June 11th, 2021, 4:17 pm
by Serevana
What started as two small projects, one to kill weeds and another to smooth the yard out, has urgently become a complete Reno of 40K ft of lawn. The lawn is currently mostly weeds, but does have patches of grass. Unfortunately, much of what little grass exists is KBG, which I found out my dog is allergic to. He is also allergic to ryegrass and several weeds, which comprise a large portion of the lawn. The lawn has only been mowed and (poorly) herbicided for the past year, no other maintenance. For the two years prior, the lawn was unkempt as the house was vacant/under construction. I am not certain if grass has ever been planted in most of the yard. I believe it has mostly been mowed weeds.

I have submitted a soil sample to Logan's and will add a link to the post when I receive the results; however, I am not expecting anything to be drastically wrong, as weeds, and, in places, grasses, seem to grow well with little attention. KBG in the partly shaded areas has spread significantly since I moved in and began mowing the area regularly.

The lot is about 20K of sun, 10k of partial shade and 10k of dense shade. Of the sunny section, half is going to be the dogs main play area and will have more wear than the other areas, but the dog will walk and explore everywhere. The dense shade area receives the lightest use, and I would like to plant a fine fescue that will need little mowing. Outside of the dense shade I am planning to use a TTTF, but am uncertain which cultivar or blend would be appropriate.

I need to repair some grading and improperly removed landscaping prior to seeding. A prior owner had an above ground pool and deck. The pool and deck are gone, but the area was not regraded or leveled. There seems to have been a decorative stone border around the pool/deck area. There are red stones on top of landscaping fabric; unfortunately, the stones have been slowly buried by dirt, weeds, and grass, so I have to scrape and dig to find them, and dig more to find the fabric. I am removing as much of the stone and fabric material as I can find.

I have been lurking for a week or two and reading relevant posts. I have learned a lot, mostly that I didn't know anything.

My current priorities are applying roundup, and determining which seed or seeds I should use and ordering them. I am also accumulating the knowledge and equipment I will need.

Does anyone have any suggestions for TTTF seeds for the sunny and sun/shade areas or FF seeds for the shady areas? Should I use a single TTTF or a mix? Would a type or blend of fine fescue be particularly advantageous in the shady areas (ie. chewings or creeping red or a mix)? Would this question be better in the cool season grasses forum?

If it seems like I misunderstood anything please let me know. I am definitely in over my head, but my dog can't even play in the yard, so I am diving in fully to get this done. I may add pictures if I can get any good ones. Thank you to those who have posted on all the threads I have read so far, and thanks to anyone who is able to help me.

Re: Servana's Four-Oh Reno

Posted: June 11th, 2021, 6:15 pm
by Serevana
Some good news, I will have irrigation for the yard. I just turned on the well for the first time and it works. The well has been depowered for a few years, but cranked enough pressure to break a pvc pipe and make some mess, might need to see if their is a way to tone it down, but I will have to test the pressure and flow properly before making adjustments. The well had been used for a non-code washroom in the workshop, but will solely be for irrigation and garden tasks moving forward.

Re: Servana's Four-Oh Reno

Posted: June 23rd, 2021, 4:09 pm
by Serevana
A decision has been made to reduce this years reno to a 10k chunk of the yard that is closest to the house, the reduced size will allow for projects other than grass to be worked on simultaneously. The 10K is going to be seeded with 4th Millenium and Traverse 2.