'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
Masbustelo
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'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » January 1st, 2021, 6:10 pm

This is a summary of what I accomplished last year, and what my plan is for this new year 2021. Image
This was my last photo of the year taken December 11th. Image

cjac9chris
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by cjac9chris » January 3rd, 2021, 10:32 pm

Sounds like quite a journey! Interesting read. I'm going to try and do a better job journaling this year so I don't look back and go "well, it still doesn't look great" and instead can say, "wow, I'm making progress!"

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » January 4th, 2021, 9:56 am

Keeping a journal is interesting. How we think things will go and the reality are very different. Also I found out our memory of dates and applications etc., often aren't very factual either. I have a different understanding of fall and winter also. These things don't really go by the calendar. December 22, I was out working in a green lawn, in a sweater. 50 degrees. Now, a few weeks later the trees are covered in ice and there are 8 inches of snow. Winter is here, fall now well behind, and no spring on the horizon. It has nothing to do with a calendar.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » January 4th, 2021, 11:08 am

Yeah, I do the same thing. My overall journal is now...geez, 82 pages long of very compressed notes and some charts spanning back very comprehensively to 2007 (and backed up weekly with the rest of the computer). It's now gone through a couple upgrades.

(Just for fun, first snowfall was on the evening of November 17, 2007, on the grass only; it melted the next day by noon).

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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by edslawn » January 8th, 2021, 8:24 am

Masbustelo wrote:
January 4th, 2021, 9:56 am
Keeping a journal is interesting. How we think things will go and the reality are very different. Also I found out our memory of dates and applications etc., often aren't very factual either. I have a different understanding of fall and winter also. These things don't really go by the calendar. December 22, I was out working in a green lawn, in a sweater. 50 degrees. Now, a few weeks later the trees are covered in ice and there are 8 inches of snow. Winter is here, fall now well behind, and no spring on the horizon. It has nothing to do with a calendar.
Definitely agree... Keeping a journal is one of the most important lessons that I learned from this forum. Mine is on my phone using Google Keep. It is a nice little note taking app on the phone, but I can also access it from my other computers as well.


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MorpheusPA
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » January 8th, 2021, 5:31 pm

...phones can take notes now? How do you do that with the rotary dial?

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » January 8th, 2021, 6:03 pm

For taking notes,I recommend the 25 foot cord for the rotary dial. Most will find this cord blends in well with the snow. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Gear-Telep ... 295&sr=8-3

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MorpheusPA
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » January 9th, 2021, 1:10 am

That ain't right. You'll put an eye out with that thing.

bpgreen
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by bpgreen » January 9th, 2021, 2:25 am

I had 7 siblings. I'm pretty sure at least one of our phones had a cord like that so we could take the phone into the garage for privacy.

Although that never actually worked because there were so many excuses to suddenly need to be in the garage.

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » January 9th, 2021, 6:11 pm

We had a cord like that many years ago and my wife's cousins came to visit from England. They had seen long phone lines on old Roseann Barr shows. They thought it was a joke and were surprised to see that over here we really used them.

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » March 17th, 2021, 8:32 pm

I had this enomous Black Locust dropped by a crew recently, now I have to cut it up and get it off the lawn. My house had been owned by a single woman in her 90's and no exterior maintenance had been done for years.
Image I just paid the cfrew to drop it , now I get to do the clean up. It was an enormous tree, both in height and diameter.

Image I also did my soil sample and boxed it up for Logan Labs.

Image

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » March 17th, 2021, 8:38 pm

Amazingly I found these flowers out in the snow today. My significant other called them 'Snow Drops".
Image

Image

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MorpheusPA
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » March 17th, 2021, 8:49 pm

Yep. Galanthus nivalis. One of the first flowers to bloom in the garden, beating aconite by a bit and crocus by a bit more (other species blossom at other times, including fall). Entirely tolerant of incredibly cold weather, and will happily blossom right through drifts of snow, ice, or bitter wind.

When the clumps get really dense, you can (carefully) split them and put them in new locations. For a very sturdy flower and leaf, the bulbs are actually pretty delicate and don't reward harsh handling.

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » March 18th, 2021, 4:11 am

I've made an executive decision. After snow melted yesterday and I could take a good look at my backyard, as we call it in the midwest. I am not going to use a pre-emergent. I know I will have weed pressure, but much less than last year, but I'll deal with it by spot spraying the weeds. I still have a fair lot of bare areas, and they are too spread out to use a pre-em. I spot dormant seeded last December and have a fair amount of seed out there. I think I might put some more down as well. I also read that the pre-emergents affect the spread of bluegrass roots somewhat. All in all the rear yard overseed (Mazama KBG) from last fall was very successful and I'm looking forward to warmer weather to see what it will look like after it gets to mowing height, It is all at about an inch right now. The color is great, but I know there are poa trivialis and annua that I plan on hitting with Tenacity so I'll have a fair amount of bleach spots. But I'm on my way to something that will look pretty sharp.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » March 18th, 2021, 1:55 pm

"I also read that the pre-emergents affect the spread of bluegrass roots somewhat."

It can. However, I use an incredibly hefty layer every year and can report that my bluegrass spreads like a...(cut that word and replace with) lot with no problems. So I don't think it's really significant.

The key factors seem to be appropriate feeding, watering, and sunlight.

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » March 18th, 2021, 2:36 pm

I don't know if I'm making the right decision. Should I let the bare areas fill in, and if they don't throw some seed down in August? And use Pre-M now? I don't have enough experience to know which way to go. Maybe I could try to avoid the biggest patches with the pre-m. This yard was mostly weeds at this time last year. I know they will sprout again soon. Last night I thought I wouldn't pre-m, today leaning towards it. Anybody have suggestions?

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MorpheusPA
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » March 18th, 2021, 7:27 pm

Do you want my plan, the one I used to close trashcan lid-sized holes in my new lawn?

I thought so. Use the pre-emergent across the lawn. Save yourself some headaches. The rest of you--don't listen to this, I'm going to break some rules here.

At the edges of the bare areas, feed early and often, at spoon-feeding rates (about a quarter pound of nitrogen per week) starting in late April. This is going to cost you summer performance and you are going to have to watch this grass like a friggin' hawk, because it's going to be delicate. Don't do it to the entire lawn, just the edge you want to spread, about 2'.

Keep it damp. Not sodden, not wet, not squishy, just lightly damp. If it rains, great. If not, don't let it go completely dry at any point this summer. And keep it fed (but go lighter after Memorial Day; light feeding only in summer as spreading will slow). And keep that pre-emergent layer up because this is the definition of "perfect for weeds."

Take grass that incurses into your gardens and whatnot and let it do so. When it grows into nice clumps at least four inches wide or more, transplant it--taking the entire root mass--into your blank area. Try to put it out enough that it's an island all by itself. Keep that damp. Spoon feed it. Watch it spread.

Keep this up right through the end of September (but if you have to seed in late August, sure, go ahead).

Take reference photos, because you are not going to believe how much ground you covered (pardon the pun). If you can get all the edging grass you remove to survive as islands and atolls, it's enormous.

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » March 19th, 2021, 3:40 am

Morpheus your like a mind reader. I spent all day yesterday pondering the purchase of one of these, pro plugger. httrs://www.amazon.com/ProPlugger-Garden-Plante ... 178&sr=8-2 In addition to what you suggested, are these worth the money? Or anyone else that would like to opine?

Masbustelo
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by Masbustelo » March 19th, 2021, 9:29 am

I thought I would mention that In my front 8k yard, I prepared it for seeding last fall, and then overseeded it December 1st. I want to see whether dormant seeding does or doesn't work. It is tempting to apply more seed presently (just in case) but that would invalidate my experiment. If it fails I'll do things more kosher come August. Soil temps presently around 40F, so obviously nothing happening yet.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: 'New' House, New Lawn Renovation Continued 2021

Post by MorpheusPA » March 19th, 2021, 1:08 pm

I'm neutral on the plugger as I've never used one. It might be worth a shot, if you can pull plugs from areas where it's either not obvious or where grass has incursed. Just keep the plugs damp until they root in thoroughly and they should be fine. Keep fed and they should begin to spread once they adjust in.

In the areas where dormant seeding has happened, sure, you can validate the experiment, but if it's still failing when air temps are reaching 55 or so, I think I might cheat a little. :-) Just remember to summer-coddle the grass and it'll be fine, and next year won't have a problem.

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