[bf7]

Couple comments:

Great choice of Backpack sprayer - I love mine and the thing is a beast...especially the battery. Thing stayed charged all winter sitting in my garage.

That last picture looks sexy man!

I share the same misery/pain with the peat most "piles" - will just need to rake the heck out of the them to thin them out come cooler temps. Can't do much to them now without stressing out nearby turf.

Enjoy your vacation - and I'll do the rain dance for you while you are away!

Haha thanks man! Feel free to send some of that NJ city water over here as well.

I love the backpack so far. Didn't realize you had it. What nozzle do you use for broadcast?

I will be investing in some type of dethatcher to use in the fall. I really thought the peat would be gone after almost a year. Crazy. I know it is contributing to the bumpy mow too.

TeeJet TT11004-VP

The peat is gone for the most part - the seedlings hanging onto dear life next to each other are a different story...just fighting each other for water/nutrients.

If the areas aren't too large you can get this and go to town once temps die down:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ames-19-Tine-Adjustable-Thatch-Rake-2915100/204476215

Interesting - thanks. That would explain the alternating shades of green where the peat was. It's over the majority of my backyard so I'll need to think about whether I can tackle it with a manual rake.

The washouts are still tearing us a new one!

 

[JerseyGreens]

Yes, yes they are. Can't wait to thin it out to be honest. Debating on doing that prior to sandcapping. Just stress it all out at once.

 

[bf7]

Yes, yes they are. Can't wait to thin it out to be honest. Debating on doing that prior to sandcapping. Just stress it all out at once.

My tentative plan for fall is dethatch, aerate (collect cores), sand, pound the N. I'm debating when to time pre-em since I'll be disturbing the soil a good bit. I think it would have follow everything else, but that seems late. Still a couple months to mull it over.

 

[JerseyGreens]

Yes, yes they are. Can't wait to thin it out to be honest. Debating on doing that prior to sandcapping. Just stress it all out at once.

My tentative plan for fall is dethatch, aerate (collect cores), sand, pound the N. I'm debating when to time pre-em since I'll be disturbing the soil a good bit. I think it would have follow everything else, but that seems late. Still a couple months to mull it over.

Pretty solid plan. I'm right there with you except with the aerating. I'm skipping that step as I don't need to take out any of that sweet topsoil I put down at Reno time.

Let me ask you - why aerate? Genuinely curious.

 

[bf7]

Yes, yes they are. Can't wait to thin it out to be honest. Debating on doing that prior to sandcapping. Just stress it all out at once.

My tentative plan for fall is dethatch, aerate (collect cores), sand, pound the N. I'm debating when to time pre-em since I'll be disturbing the soil a good bit. I think it would have follow everything else, but that seems late. Still a couple months to mull it over.

Pretty solid plan. I'm right there with you except with the aerating. I'm skipping that step as I don't need to take out any of that sweet topsoil I put down at Reno time.

Let me ask you - why aerate? Genuinely curious.

I heard that aerating prior to sand helps the sand mix in with the existing soil since it should fill in the holes left behind. Rather than create a straight sand layer. Also I thought it could help to give the lawn a breather.

I can certainly be talked out of doing that though. I hate hauling that aerator from Home Depot. It's probably not a huge difference either way since I think one aeration pass over the entire yard removes only 2-3% surface area of existing soil.

 

[shadowlawnjutsu]

Last night:
0.1 oz / 1k of prodiamine (1.5 month rate)*
0.7 oz / 1k of Azoxy**
0.4 oz / 1k of T-Nex PGR***
1 lb / 1k of K (total for 2021 - 2.5 lbs / 1k) - SOP
0.5 lb / 1k of Hyr Brix 22-7-7 slow release

*Low rate is just to get me through crab germ season and to avoid going too much over the max annual dose. Since I did 3 month apps last Oct and Mar, if I do another 3 month app this Aug-Sep, I'll be a little over the max. But it's close enough where I'm not going to sweat it.

**Curative rate probably overkill, but there is some fungusy looking stuff mixed in with the good turf. Given the long stretch of muggy conditions, could have been much worse. The preventative PPZ and Cleary app likely gave dollar spot a nice kick in the nuts, but I don't think they did as well against leaf spot / melting out.

***Upped rate as I'm going on vacation for a week starting on Saturday. The lawn will not be mowed during that time so I really want to slow things down.

Next week will be a real test as there will be no man-made irrigation either. Praying for rain here but not at the beach! 🙏

The battery on my Chapin croaked so I got a new sprayer - the My4Sons. I watched a video on Brett's Grasscapades where he showed the My4Sons lasted for 6 hours of continuous spraying while all others tested lasted 2 hours.



Last mow was Tuesday at 13/16". I need to get another mow in prior to leaving for the week. As I'm mowing, the ground is much bumpier than I would like. Many of my topsoil leveled areas from last summer settled. I don't think it's anything that some sand won't fix over time. At this point, the absolute worst divot (that got destroyed by washout) is under 2 inches. Obviously reel mowing and growing grass in these spots is difficult.



When I lowered the cut, I realized the peat moss piles created from washout are still here! See the below ripple effect. No, it is not mower washboarding. I wonder how long it will take for the peat to decompose.



Other shots from yesterday -

I like the last pic too! +1 on the Prodiamine. I can now see some Poa/crab germination here in one of the bare spots where I had sprayed prodiamine last May. I certainly did not miss those bare spots because I remember targeting it. But due to the past heat waves the Prodiamine could have worn down.

 

[bf7]

@shadowlawnjutsu thanks man! I'm thinking about making that last one my avatar haha. It was taken in the evening shade so it was easy for the grass to look pretty.

I also wonder if my pre-em is effective in some of those bare spots. With no ground cover I feel like the barrier could easily be washed away even with normal watering.

I noticed some light green blades popping out of one small section (not a bare spot), growing much faster than the kbg. I was thinking it could be baby crab.

 

[shadowlawnjutsu]

I noticed some light green blades popping out of one small section (not a bare spot), growing much faster than the kbg. I was thinking it could be baby crab.

Yes I have light green grass popping out too. I'll try to take a photo later. It's coming from a bare spot that usually gets water pooled during rain. Initially I thought it's KBG spreading but it looks like Poa and some baby crabs.

 

[bf7]

I noticed some light green blades popping out of one small section (not a bare spot), growing much faster than the kbg. I was thinking it could be baby crab.

Yes I have light green grass popping out too. I'll try to take a photo later. It's coming from a bare spot that usually gets water pooled during rain. Initially I thought it's KBG spreading but it looks like Poa and some baby crabs.

Here's what I see. I think it has to be some kind of summer annual. Poa seems so unlikely this time of year. Most of my poa has been fried at this point.

 

[bf7]

Final mow (3/4") before week long trip to SC. Going to see some sweet golf courses at Kiawah Island. That means I'll still be talking about grass on vacation, and my wife is gonna kill me.

I noticed some torn blades so did another reel to bedknife adjustment. She's cutting paper again.

 

[jskierko]

I noticed some light green blades popping out of one small section (not a bare spot), growing much faster than the kbg. I was thinking it could be baby crab.

Yes I have light green grass popping out too. I'll try to take a photo later. It's coming from a bare spot that usually gets water pooled during rain. Initially I thought it's KBG spreading but it looks like Poa and some baby crabs.

Here's what I see. I think it has to be some kind of summer annual. Poa seems so unlikely this time of year. Most of my poa has been fried at this point.

Looks like, given the fast growth rate and light green color, it could be sedge. Have you pulled a plant out? If not, pull one and roll the stem in your fingertips. If it feels like a triangular shape, that's probably what you are dealing with. I hit mine with Dismiss 4 days ago and it got set back in a big way.

 

[bf7]

@jskierko thanks for the ID! I'll pull one out when I get home.

 

[JerseyGreens]

Gotta ask how is handicap treating ya and did you get any rain??

 

[bf7]

Gotta ask how is handicap treating ya and did you get any rain??

Haha sorry for the delayed response. No golfing but I got to walk on a few of the courses. The greens were so firm. I'll tell you what - bermuda is a much prettier grass than I thought. I didn't think warm season grasses could look as good as KBG.

I was told the Ocean Course (used for the 2021 PGA championship) has a salt tolerant cousin of bermuda called paspalum so it can sit right next to the beach.

Tropical storm Claudette dropped about 1.5 days of rain on us but overall the weather wasn't bad.

Ocean Course










Cougar Point




Osprey Point

 

[JerseyGreens]

Pictures look great. Did you get to nerd it out with any lawn supers while exploring? That would be a dream come true for me!

 

[Green]

Here's what I see. I think it has to be some kind of summer annual. Poa seems so unlikely this time of year. Most of my poa has been fried at this point.

It could also be the start of Summer induced chlorosis on your KBG:

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Summer-induced-iron-chlorosis-on-Kentucky-bluegrass-DeVetter/7ce814352804535fa917d5baffd9b503d92d0280

One theory I've heard is that the turf lightens to protect it from too much sunlight. I've had whole areas with interspersed yellow blades in July before.

 

[bf7]

@JerseyGreens I only talked to one groundskeeper briefly. At one of the places, I was getting a "get off my course" vibe from the workers. I think they plant the alligators there to get the non-members.

@Green good observation - the summer is causing all kinds of funky changes to my yard so this would not surprise me. If it's not a weed, I'll see if iron will help.

 

[bf7]

I was pleasantly surprised at how everything looked after a week of neglect. The heavy PGR app worked very well. Most of the grass was only around 1-1.25" after 8 days no mowing. My area got one rainfall event of 0.8" of water during that time. Temperatures were mild for the most part. No drought stress or anything weird. Actually looked more green than when I left. That could mean either weather conditions were perfect or I need to lay off the lawn more often.

Mowed at 7/8" and watered most of yesterday. It's hot now.

Pre-mow




Post-mow




Also just realized I can track GDD on Syngenta Greencast.

 

[Green]

@JerseyGreens I only talked to one groundskeeper briefly. At one of the places, I was getting a "get off my course" vibe from the workers. I think they plant the alligators there to get the non-members.

@Green good observation - the summer is causing all kinds of funky changes to my yard so this would not surprise me. If it's not a weed, I'll see if iron will help.

It looks like the KBG to me. There was a study showing that iron didn't help prevent the problem when used before the yellow became widespread. It did help recovery toward the end, though.

 

[bf7]

@JerseyGreens I only talked to one groundskeeper briefly. At one of the places, I was getting a "get off my course" vibe from the workers. I think they plant the alligators there to get the non-members.

@Green good observation - the summer is causing all kinds of funky changes to my yard so this would not surprise me. If it's not a weed, I'll see if iron will help.

It looks like the KBG to me. There was a study showing that iron didn't help prevent the problem when used before the yellow became widespread. It did help recovery toward the end, though.

That is really interesting. Never would've guessed that is KBG. Thanks for the tip!