[bauc54]

I am brand new to TLF and you will find that I am a newb in terms of both my knowledge of lawn care and the decisions that need to be made to have the nicest lawn possible. I am also extremely happy to have found this website and I look forward to adding what I can in the future.

I built a new house last year and had the lawn sodded with Tif 419 because I wanted the tee box kind of look. I did not communicate well with my landscape architect and wound up with a very uneven lawn. He had no idea that I was looking for an absolutely level lawn that I could cut "reel" low. After the final grade, the soil was very level. Then came irrigation. The soil above the irrigation lines was not properly compacted before the sod was laid and now I have a lawn that has high and low spots. My fault because I should have let the landscape architect know what my expectation was. Sod was planted in early March of last year. I had it sanded twice last year but the landscaper used a power brush to work the sand into the yard and never completed a final leveling step with a rake or drag mat. I let the lawn winter at approximately 1.5 inches. In early February it was treated with pre-emergent and a fertilizer. I am not exactly sure what was used as I hire that portion of lawn care out. This week I have had my lawn de-thatched and scalped. I am looking for any and all advice for levelling the lawn and getting my HOC in the .75 inch range. I am willing to put in a large amount of effort so please feel free to hit me with what you think is necessary.

Last year I used a Mclane 10 blade that I purchased off of craigslist and had serviced to bring it up to speed. I spent a lot of time working on the mower and not actually mowing the lawn. So, this year I have also pulled the trigger on a new Swardman Edwin55(22in) 6 blade reel, grooved front roller, rubber drum, speed reducer kit, transport casters, and the brush cartridge (I have an artificial turf putting green, plan on using the brush to keep it in top shape and I might use the brush cartridge in levelling projects) and leather grips. Photos of the mower to come when it arrives. I placed the order with Lee Purcell of Reel Rollers and I highly recommend communicating directly with Lee if you have any questions regarding the Swardman line of mowers and cartridges.

Scalping/dethatching was completed the day before these pictures were taken and the pictures were taken today after I ran the sprinklers.

Backyard overview (picture taken facing north)


Backyard Side View



Current state of Tif 419


Backyard (picture taken facing south)


Backyard major problem area


This is one of my largest problems. This is on the North side of my house where the grass doesn't get full sun. Additionally, the soil is below the level of the concrete surface and water pools in this area when it rains despite my gutters. Having a lot of difficulty getting grass to grow here. Can I bring the level of grass here up to the level of the concrete with one sanding?


East side of front yard
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West side of front yard


Post scalping, down to dirt in some areas


Problem spot on east side of house. Doesn't get full sun. Will this fill in? How can I promote growth?


Currently in West Texas temperatures are on the rise and my lawn is already beginning to green up. The landscape architect is supposed to be coming again soon to complete another sanding of the lawn. His crew always uses a power broom to get the sand down into the turf. My current plan is to complete my own spot levelling after the LA completes his overall sanding. Then I will fertilize. Once the grass is coming through at a height of 0.75 inches I will start to mow every 3-4 days. Initially I plan on using my Mclane as I don't want to scar the blades on my new reel. Here are my questions (I apologize if they have already been answered in other threads):

1.) What fertilizer should be used now or after sanding/leveling is complete?
2.) For the low spots/problem spots that I have already highlighted, can I level them out in one sanding or will it take several to make sure I don't choke the Bermuda out in these areas that don't receive full sun?
3.) Should I complete further scalping if I want to maintain a HOC of .75inches? (see current state of Tif pic above)
4.) Will I be able to maintain a HOC of .75 inches if occasionally I go 5 days between mowing?(I travel a lot for work and sometimes I am gone on trips that make mowing every 3-4 days impossible)
5.) Should I just use the Edwin as soon as the grass is tall enough to cut or am I correct in saving the blades and using my Mclane reel?
6.) Are there any other ideas/suggestions out there?

Thank y'all for any information you give me. I really appreciate the help and I'm excited to be part of this community.

 

[Ware]

Welcome to TLF! Have you read this thread on leveling?

 

[bauc54]

@Ware Thanks! I have read a little bit of it and I will continue with it now.

 

[Mightyquinn]

1) What have you used in the past? Where do you typically buy your fertilizer? You will want something that is high in Nitrogen like 29-0-4.
2) It could be done, but if the area isn't getting at least 6-8 hours of sun the bermuda will slowly decline in those areas. Anything on the North side right next to the house or fence will most likely never get thick like the rest of the lawn will, you may have to consider doing something else with that area(flower/planting beds)
3) If you are wanting to maintain or start at .75" you will need to scalp BELOW that to achieve that HOC, try and shoot for about .50" HOC when scalping.
4) You may be able to maintain that HOC if you use a PGR(Plant Growth Regulator like Primo Maxx or T-Nex) regularly.
5) If it was me, I would wait until the lawn is about 75-100% greened up before taking her on the maiden voyage, just use the McClane until then so you will know of any obstacles that may cause harm to the new mower.
6) What do you plan on hiring out in regards to the lawn care side of things this year? Remember this is a marathon and not a sprint, just be patient and don't try to rush things and you will have the lawn you want before you know it.

Welcome to TLF!

 

[Bunnysarefat]

I have a hard time believing those spots on the side of your house up near the house and fence is ever going to get enough sun to give he same results as the rest of your yard. Unless it's getting 5-6 solid hours of sun it will never fill in fully. That's bare minimum. 4.5 hours won't work, it will be thin.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Looks like you're in better shape than some of us when we joined TLF. One of the things I would recommend is to try PGR on the whole yard, to echo what MQ said. I'm pretty sure that with some sanding, and the PGR, you'd more than likely promote enough root growth to support lateral spread and increased vigor in problem areas like where the water is pooling on your yard.

My $0.02, the area by my pool was the only area that I treated with PGR last year, just to see how it would work, and since I did a renovation on the front, I wanted to try it out in the back to see how it would work. That area that I treated withstood our winter, where we got snow, for the first time in 8 years of living here, and a unseasonably cold winter and my dogs. I've had to mow that area twice already, and it is thriving... meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my front yard to wake up.

 

[bauc54]

@Mightyquinn Thank you for the information. In the past I have hired out most of my fertilizing and weed control. The fertilizers I purchased in the past were whatever looked the best at one of the big box stores. I now realize how little I actually know about lawn care but I will take your advice and find some 29-0-4 and then follow your suggestions from the new testament and your leveling thread as I move further along.

I haven't exactly decided what I will hire out this year. I would like to get to a point where I can do everything on my own but it seems like I need a spray rig to make that happen. However, buying the spray rig and all of the chemicals sounds pretty expensive and I have already dropped a large chunk on the mower.

Is it feasible to do the spraying with a hand sprayer or does it have to be one of the rolling sprayers?

 

[bauc54]

@Bunnysarefat I agree with you. I have a tough if not impossible road ahead to get the tif to fill in in these areas. I think I might have a better shot at it if I can keep the water from pooling in those areas.

Additionally, the landscaper accidentally put strips of celebration in that area because he ran out of tif and then ordered a few rolls of the wrong variant. The celebration did much better than the tif but it didn't look right so I had him come back and replace it with tif. In June, July and August, the turf in that area actually does get 5.5-6 hours of sun so I'm hoping with the help of ideas on this thread I can get it to spread enough to get a reasonable result.

 

[bauc54]

@Colonel K0rn Should I find a way to get some PGR down before sanding? Your experience and comments make me think it will be possible to get the problem areas to fill in.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Should I find a way to get some PGR down before sanding? Your experience and comments make me think it will be possible to get the problem areas to fill in.

You're going to want to let the turf recover from the sanding and your initial mows during greenup, and wait until the temps get into the consistent 80°F days and you're having to mow pretty frequently. You should then look at applying the PGR to help slow the vertical growth, and promote lateral spread. We've got a PGR group buy going on in the Equipment Exchange subforum that's pinned at the top, and you can get a bottle that would be appropriate for the size of yard you're trying to maintain. There's a few more days before the group buy is closed, so there's plenty of time for you to calculate how much you are going to need. First, I would recommend that you go to the top of the Warm Season subforum, and read the PGR thread to familiarize yourself with the product. That thread should answer a lot of your questions, and see some of the results that members have had with liquid gold.

 

[Mightyquinn]

@Mightyquinn Thank you for the information. In the past I have hired out most of my fertilizing and weed control. The fertilizers I purchased in the past were whatever looked the best at one of the big box stores. I now realize how little I actually know about lawn care but I will take your advice and find some 29-0-4 and then follow your suggestions from the new testament and your leveling thread as I move further along.

I haven't exactly decided what I will hire out this year. I would like to get to a point where I can do everything on my own but it seems like I need a spray rig to make that happen. However, buying the spray rig and all of the chemicals sounds pretty expensive and I have already dropped a large chunk on the mower.

Is it feasible to do the spraying with a hand sprayer or does it have to be one of the rolling sprayers?

With only 5K of lawn I would look into getting a battery powered backpack sprayer for your needs and that will open up a whole new world of possibilities :thumbup:

A lot of members have this sprayer and really like it. Chapin 20V Backpack Sprayer

 

[Tellycoleman]

Welcome to TLF
I would question your lawn provider who put down fertilizer on your dormant lawn in February. Unless your lawn was/is at least 50% green up I wouldn't put anymore fertilizer on it. Your grass didn't use any of it in February while dormant and it's just feeding the weeds. But you are in Texas. Not sure about your Bermuda condition in feb.
Either way the deeper you get sucked into the life of lawn care. The more you will get the "I'll do it myself attitude"
When do you plan to level the lawn?

 

[bauc54]

Well, I decided to get the Chapin push sprayer after all. My brother in law lives down the street and he was willing to split it. I'm going to take the plunge into handling everything this year.

He and I are also looking in to buying some PGR in the area. Depending on what we can find we might be interested in the group buy.

 

[bauc54]

When do you plan to level the lawn?

The landscaper is supposed to be coming in the next week or so to do his portion of leveling. Then I will reassess and likely level at the end of this month/early next month. My yard is starting to green up now but I am only seeing the beginning signs.

 

[Tellycoleman]

I am not in anyway a professional but I think it is discouraged to top dress or level a pre existing lawn while it is still dormant.
I hope someone else will confirm or deny.
Topdressing during dormancy is only going to give you a sandbox in your lawn until growth returns in the spring. It leaves the area prone to washout if you get a heavy rain which is also likely during the spring. I would wait until full greenup. You already scalped the lawn to the dirt which is good but under the dirt are rhizomes and roots holding everything together. You want to topdressing when the grass is actively growing and when the sand has something to stop erosion. It is to early for fertilizer it's to early fo pgr. As a matter of fact. I question the use of pgr if your doing a heavy topdressing. Pgr slows top growth which is what you want your Bermuda to do if it's covered in sand.
. I hope someone else chimes in and tells me I'm wrong. but I think your making a mistake by topdressing this early. I just would want someone to tell me.
I'm itching to do stuff to. However I would slow down and wait a month. One spring thunderstorm will wash away you hard work and money.

 

[Mightyquinn]

+1 Telly!

 

[Ware]

+2

 

[bauc54]

Alright, it's settled then. I'll have the landscaper wait until green up. My thought in having him do it now was to be able to see all of the high and low spots a little more easily but I can see where that line of thinking is incorrect.

Thanks for the input!

 

[bauc54]

New mower shipped today! Supposed to be here on the 13th. Hoping the customs issues that @Topcat is having are worked out...

 

[J_nick]

:beer: Congratulations :yahoo:

I don't need one but I want one :mrgreen: