LadyAnglesey 2018 Renovation Help

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
LadyAnglesey
Posts: 20
Joined: April 29th, 2018, 8:13 pm
Location: Plano, Texas
Grass Type: TTTF
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Experienced

Re: LadyAnglesey 2018 Renovation Help

Post by LadyAnglesey » November 13th, 2018, 1:48 pm

Just went back and re-read earlier posts. So to answer your questions:

1. I bought the humate off Amazon and used most of it, but soon switched to Green County Fert N-EXT products of RGS, Dethatch, Air-8, GreenEffect. It's easier to apply with a hose-end sprayer and the seeds (and later grass) got watered at the same time.

2. I didn't feel confident enough this time in my DIY abilities to try the "Best Soil Conditioner". But luckily, the N-EXT products are the same thing with Kelp, Humic/Fulvic Acids, Sulfur, molasses, yeast, and so on. The clay responded quite well to it and I always saw some sort of response within a few days.

3. I rototilled this entire lawn with peat moss, but I wish I had also used some manure in places. That's where I had to go back in and patch.

4. I had to remove two of the trees after I got a structural engineering report saying they (the silver maple with its surface roots and the pecan tree) were encroaching on the foundation and draining it of moisture now that they'd matured. It was that or expensive roots barriers.) So I have maybe 18% shade now, instead of 30%. I did replace the silver maple with a berm featuring a 6' Japanese Bloodgood Maple, and also have planted a Black Diamond Purely Purple Crape Myrtle. I have 3 Eastern Redbuds coming to plant in a row to help shade the sunniest part of the lawn that otherwise never gets shade.

5. I'll be using the irrigation technique of "syringing" now that I've replaced my antiquated irrigation controller with a RainMachine smart controller. Along with IFFF (If This Then That), I've set up programs for next Summer telling the controller to "spritz" the sun-drenched zones for 5 minutes if temps approach X. I've tested that during the hottest part of this renovation and as researched, lowers the soil surface by about 12 degrees. I figure that's a negligible amount even if we come under water restrictions next year.

And you needn't be jealous of our water access lately. I lost, (as well as my neighbors), about 40% of my trees when we were under drought restrictions a few years ago. Even the Bermuda gave up in spots due to the clay compaction.

6. I spread the new-ish Scotts DiseaseEX to ward off fungus during these monsoons we've been having from hurricane fallout. DiseaseEX has the same and same amount of Azoxystrobin as the more expensive commercial products. I stocked up because I'm afraid Scotts will decide they set the price too cheap for its availability. Lol. Lowes and HD have it, as well as Amazon for about $15-$18 for 5k sqft.

7. For winterizing, I looked at a ton of stuff for months before deciding on a combination of Scotts Winterguard 32-0-10 (without the weed killer because I don't want to chance of damaging the new grass), N-EXT's RGS (humic/fulvic acids, sea kelp), Hyr BRIX Lawn Fertilizer (although, for the cost prohibitive shipping price, I will use N-EXT MicroGreene from now on, but I already had it on hand). The lawn has a full belly and enough to snack on through Winter.

8. About future Bermuda encroachment: I know it will rear it's head again, but as I've resolved to do my own lawn care including all mowing, fertilizing, weed killing, etc., I'll see it first. I'm committed to controlling it, although I know I can't ever completely destroy it, (I tilled out roots down to 8 inches even), so if needs must, I will grudgingly invest in some Pylex in the Spring.

9. I have a feeling we're in for a harsh Winter. As I type, we've already had to hard freezes, (woke up to "real feel" of 16 this morning). But some upper 60s sunny days coming. Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see snow or ice by Christmas. I expect I'll be doing some light patching come late March, but must time it with also putting down the pre-emergent.

So, I don't think the lawn will be active much this Winter, but I plan to just leave it be, at any rate until early Spring when I start the pre-emergent and green up cycle.

10. I bulked at spending the money for Tenacity, but OMG, there's not one single weed that came up in my lawn and it killed off all the sedge as the grass came up. It's as if the Tenacity inoculated the topmost soil layer. I know that's temporary, but it sure beats having to watch the grass compete with weeds for water, sun, and nutrients. Scared me at first though, because I didn't know about the side effect of the grass coming up white, pink, and purple. It looked like cotton candy! Ha!

11. I treated for grubs with BioAdvanced (formerly, BayerAdvanced) Grub Killer Plus in Sept before seeding. I still saw a few tiny grubs when I was tilling, but only like 20 grubs in the whole lawn. I don't know why it surprised me to see any at all. I'll treat again in Spring when it's time.

12. For Summer, I'm researching to see what to lay down in Spring to give the lawn its best advantage for a Texas Summer: HyR BRIX has a fert called "Pasture Fertilizer" that folk swear by. The cost is good, but the shipping per bag doubles the price! Eeek. Then there's the just-announced CarbonX by Matt Martin & Green County fert, that will include the humates, etc.

I'll have to think about it all and guage cost vs benefits.

13. I found a cheap ($9) nitrogen only fert by Howard Johnson's of all things! It's 21-0-0 and I think Lowes was selling off its stock, so I got several bags. It's granular, but also can be dissolved into a sprayer. I used 1/4 to 1/2 amounts of it to spoon feed the baby grass when it was struggling with the funky fluctuating weather. That worked.

14. I used Scotts Starter fert for New Grass, but I unlike usual, I didn't spread it with seeding, but about 10 days after. I think that was a mistake, best the heavy rains that came washed out spots of baby grass that would have been denser and better rooted had I used the Scotts at seeding like I usually do.

15. It took almost exactly 8 weeks (2 months), and 4 rounds to kill off all the Bermuda. Much longer than I had scheduled, so I first seeded on Sept 29th. First mow was exactly one month later on Oct 29th. I was getting worried about the Bermuda until someone told me to add a bit of Fusilade II to the Glypho. That turned the trick!

I hope I answered all your questions. If I forgot something, let me know. Thanks for everyone's good help. You made my renovation work!

PW405
Posts: 327
Joined: June 25th, 2016, 12:37 pm
Location: OKC (Central OK)
Grass Type: Primary: TTTF (blend), KBG. Bermuda (hellstrip)
Lawn Size: 1000-3000
Level: Experienced

Re: LadyAnglesey 2018 Renovation Help

Post by PW405 » November 15th, 2018, 10:23 pm

Looking good! How much seed/K did you use?

LadyAnglesey
Posts: 20
Joined: April 29th, 2018, 8:13 pm
Location: Plano, Texas
Grass Type: TTTF
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Experienced

Re: LadyAnglesey 2018 Renovation Help

Post by LadyAnglesey » December 4th, 2018, 12:19 am

Nearly 100 lbs. Should have been 50, but the crazy storms washed out multiple patches, MULTIPLE times. So once the third monsoon hit, I ordered another 50 lb sack.

Plus, I decided to seed an area I'd previously decided against. It's about 500 sqft. But I still have about 12 lbs to use for patching come Spring.

Had it been a normal year, one 50 lb sack would have sufficed.

LadyAnglesey
Posts: 20
Joined: April 29th, 2018, 8:13 pm
Location: Plano, Texas
Grass Type: TTTF
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Experienced

Re: LadyAnglesey 2018 Renovation Help

Post by LadyAnglesey » December 4th, 2018, 12:41 am

TO be clear, the suggested rate for reno (not overseeding) was 10 lbs / 1000k. I followed that.

User avatar
Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3339
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Advanced

Re: LadyAnglesey 2018 Renovation Help

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » January 8th, 2019, 2:25 pm

I was really enjoying reading this topic until you mentioned rototilling. Now that it's too late here is what happens with rototilling. 1) Rototilling destroys the entire habitat for the soil microbes. Microbes that live on the surface get buried and die while those that live in the depths come to the surface and die. You'll see the turf growing, but it will grow much better once the microbes have rebuilt their homes and repopulated. After a year the soil will readjust, and all will be good again. 2) The problem you will see is the surface will (or has) become bumpy and will get bumpier and bumpier for the next three years as the soil settles. This is caused by rototilling to different depths as the machine leaps up out of the soil when it hits a dry spot, root, or rock and the digging in deep when it hits a wet spot or sand. The resulting wavy profile under the fluffy soil on top was covered and leveled leaving a differing depth of fluffy soil over the hard untilled soil. As it settles it settles to the wavy profile underneath.

Soil pH. You mentioned keeping it at 6.5 to 7. How do you do that in Texas where the native pH is 8 or higher?

Clay soil. You mentioned that you had clay soil, and you mentioned that you did a soil test. Was it a Logan Labs soil test, did you post the results here at BL/ATY, and did they confirm you had clay soil? ...because 95 times out of 100, people claiming to have clay soil find out later they have a salt imbalance and no clay at all. The treatment for clay is much different than the treatment for salt imbalance.

Syringing for 5 minutes seems too long. I would do 1 minute and maybe do it twice if I had a smart enough timer.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests