Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » May 16th, 2015, 8:40 pm

Oh man so sorry about the diagnosis gryd but glad you know what you're dealing with!

pgr has reduced my mowing and given a slightly denser stand for me. I'd invest in some equipment that takes the physical labor out of yard work if it were in the budget. Powered lawn eqipment, sprinkler system, motorized spreaders etc. I can't remember what all you normally work with.




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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » May 16th, 2015, 9:18 pm

ken-n-nancy wrote: Thanks for the feedback on the plugger. If we succeed with this fall's planned side renovation to Bewitched, I'll be hoping to make good use of the plugger to help fill in weak areas in back.
The plugger works great. It hasn't clogged once. I used it to thin a couple areas last year and spread some plugs. This year I'm using it exlcusively for transplanting and I couldn't be happier with it.
If you purchase one then buy it here: http://www.proplugger.com/ A company on Amazon is asking about 75 for it plus shipping. That's absurd when it can be purchased for less than 50.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » May 25th, 2015, 10:37 am

Quick Front Lawn Renovation Update
Below is a picture of my front lawn from the only angle it looks good from. Right now it looks no better than the last lawn did. I wished I used more Moonlight SLT or Midnight because I'm hard pressed to notice any other darker cultivars. One cultivar, and I'm assuming it's Prosperity because I used that the most, has dark horizontal growth but light vertical growth which makes the lawn look pale. I'm hoping it's temporary top growth and that it will darken when the lawn matures. A member who used to post here a while back and who had some knowledge of Prosperity said it tends to not be as dark as the compact midnights until it's mature. http://aroundtheyard.com/northern/class ... tml#p59555
I hope he's right because I'd be quite upset if my efforts last year were in vain!


Image

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by turf_toes » May 25th, 2015, 11:02 am

Looks great!


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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » May 25th, 2015, 1:21 pm

That looks great, fantastic - I doubt that's the only angle it looks great from ;) But I know we have high standards for ourselves too :rotfl:


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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » May 25th, 2015, 3:13 pm

Thanks guys but there's plenty of angles it looks light green from. I'm fighting excess top growth along with the simple immaturity of the grass.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by jp1092 » May 25th, 2015, 4:00 pm

i had very good luck overseeding by hand sowing, just throwing it out there, my yard in Alabama with centipede. I used those straw germination mats and I will use them again. Never had centipede germinate so fast. The mats can be left on the ground and they will deteriorate. Worked wonders for me. Oh, your yard is spectacular.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by jglongisland » May 25th, 2015, 10:15 pm

You are just in the middle of the spring growth flush (and its young grass). It will definitely get darker.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » May 26th, 2015, 6:03 am

Yeah like jg said. My blueberry is a shade darker this spring On its second year. Noticeably darker than the bewitched renovation from last fall.

[ Post made via Android ] Image

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation - Update May 2015

Post by gryd » May 30th, 2015, 9:14 pm

Some areas are finally looking better but not the main front (last picture). The backyard blend of Bewitched, Skye and Midnight is producing decent color for a young lawn. I will be doing the entire back with this blend this summer but using Moonlight instead of Midnight for shade considerations. Here's the back so far:
Image


The Shady area in back of Bewitched, Moonlight SLT and Blue Velvet got a tad darker as well.
Image


The last minute mini Bewitched mono stand area (because that's all the seed I had) is getting darker as well:
Image


That leaves the front which was over fertilized ( I admit it) still not getting any darker. I know it's the first year but I've had first year KBG before and it looked better than this. It looks washed out! The difference with this area and the other is obviously the soil but also the addition of 33% Prosperity. If I can clearly see the Moonlight SLT getting darker and the Bewitched and Midnight getting darker then I guess my Prosperity is the problem and has a ways to go. I read on here that Prosperity being the child of Brilliant doesn't get dark until it's mature but then has amazing color http://aroundtheyard.com/northern/class ... tml#p59555
I sure hope he is right. Having Brilliant in my yard I also know it has poor Spring color but darkens up in summer so maybe Prosperity is behaving like one of it's parents. Below id the front yard with the Prosperity. Does anyone have Prosperity behaving more like a compact America than a Compact Midnight?

Image

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by jglongisland » May 30th, 2015, 9:35 pm

I gotta say if you have a shady area I would take Bewitched over Moonlight any day of the week. Not nearly as susceptible to powdery mildew and it just doesn't think out as the season shortens.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » May 31st, 2015, 7:58 am

jglongisland wrote:I gotta say if you have a shady area I would take Bewitched over Moonlight any day of the week. Not nearly as susceptible to powdery mildew and it just doesn't think out as the season shortens.
Good Point JG. Moonlight SLT will be a small part of the blend. I'll be using predominantly Bewitched. I need to start a thread soon about my backyard renovation. I bought the seed last fall so I'm totally committed to doing it, arthritis and all! In fact, staying active is the best thing I can be doing for myself at the moment in addition to taking my meds and getting a good night's sleep.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation - Update May 2015

Post by ligrass » May 31st, 2015, 11:28 am

gryd wrote:Some areas are finally looking better but not the main front (last picture). The backyard blend of Bewitched, Skye and Midnight is producing decent color for a young lawn. I will be doing the entire back with this blend this summer but using Moonlight instead of Midnight for shade considerations. Here's the back so far:
Image


The Shady area in back of Bewitched, Moonlight SLT and Blue Velvet got a tad darker as well.
Image


The last minute mini Bewitched mono stand area (because that's all the seed I had) is getting darker as well:
Image


That leaves the front which was over fertilized ( I admit it) still not getting any darker. I know it's the first year but I've had first year KBG before and it looked better than this. It looks washed out! The difference with this area and the other is obviously the soil but also the addition of 33% Prosperity. If I can clearly see the Moonlight SLT getting darker and the Bewitched and Midnight getting darker then I guess my Prosperity is the problem and has a ways to go. I read on here that Prosperity being the child of Brilliant doesn't get dark until it's mature but then has amazing color http://aroundtheyard.com/northern/class ... tml#p59555
I sure hope he is right. Having Brilliant in my yard I also know it has poor Spring color but darkens up in summer so maybe Prosperity is behaving like one of it's parents. Below id the front yard with the Prosperity. Does anyone have Prosperity behaving more like a compact America than a Compact Midnight?

Image
Looks great all around! I'm really impressed with the density in your shade areas. Nice work. :good:

I remember a couple people mentioning the light green top growth Prosperity puts out. I was strongly considering it for my front monostand but that stuck in my mind.
http://aroundtheyard.com/renovations/kb ... 95-20.html

Ultimately its poor disease and shade ratings made me back away from it. It ranks near the top in genetic color though so it should darken up over time like you said. Did you do separate plots or pots of each cultivar from last year?

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » May 31st, 2015, 4:01 pm

Ligrass,
Thanks for sharing. The observation Simpson had in that thread you shared is similar to mine. My lawn is throwing off shoots and those shoots are light green. Im getting lots of shoots because it is new and I hit it hard with fertilizer. I guess I need more patience. From now on I'm going with all organic feedings except in the fall.
Greg

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » June 7th, 2015, 1:27 pm

I'm starting to see the blue tones of many of my cultivars. I can't tell if Prosperity has matured enough to join that club but the Midnight, Moonlight and Blue Velvet are doing their jobs at the moment. Bewitched is still light green and it won't get blue either way. I knew Midnight and Moonlight SLT performed well in my soil. Always dark with blue tones. Why I didn't go 50% Midnight and 50% Moonlight SLT I'll never know. Maybe I was worrying about Moonlight not being as disease resistant though I've never had a problem with it as part of a blend?
Also, I know I'm low on iron but my soil test results have still not come back from UMASS even though I sent them weeks ago. Anyway, I'm sure my low iron levels don't help bring out the best out of theses elite cultivars. I'll get some photos up soon.
Meanwhile I'm very pleased with the small area I did out back last year. It is becoming a nice dark green.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by Jackpine » June 9th, 2015, 6:46 am

Looks great and good luck on the 2015 shade reno!

I'm still waiting for the blue tone to show in my 75% Blue Velvet blend.

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » October 16th, 2021, 4:56 pm

I decided to post a couple pics of my 2014 KBG renovation which was my best yet. The color is exceptionally good this Fall. I wonder if it’s the Vigoro Supergreen and Milorganite dropped in September or the possibility that it takes several years for KBG to show true genetic color.

Lawn typically does well in Summer. A drop of Summer Patch but I have many cultivars and it was easily contained.

Here’s some pics from this week.
Image

Image

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by ken-n-nancy » April 22nd, 2022, 11:08 am

Great to see that this 7-year-old renovation is still looking great! You've clearly done an awesome job maintaining it, gryd!

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by edslawn » April 23rd, 2022, 8:06 am

ken-n-nancy wrote:
April 22nd, 2022, 11:08 am
Great to see that this 7-year-old renovation is still looking great! You've clearly done an awesome job maintaining it, gryd!
Second that... very nice!

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Re: Gryd's 2014 Front Yard Renovation Take 2

Post by gryd » May 28th, 2022, 6:53 pm

ken-n-nancy wrote:
April 22nd, 2022, 11:08 am
Great to see that this 7-year-old renovation is still looking great! You've clearly done an awesome job maintaining it, gryd!
Thanks. That was by far my most successful renovation. I get many compliments but not nearly as many as the Bedazzled lawn that preceded it. We serial renovators love dark bluegrass but the “average Joe” seems to favor bright green bluegrass. Go figure.

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