CaffeinatedLawnCare Lawn Renovation (Midnight, Mazama, Bewitched)

50494 Views 355 Replies 47 Participants Last post by CaffeinatedLawnCare, 4 d ago

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · Apr 3, 2021

Hi everyone, looking at doing a renovation on my lawn. Just recently had a large tree removed from the front yard which killed about 30% of my ~2000SQFT lawn and left the other 70% bumpy and gouged from tree limbs falling.

Plan to kill it off in the coming weeks with 3-4 apps of glyphosate, level it out/fill in the hole left from the tree, and plant a blend of 40% Midnight, 30% Mazama, 30% Bewitched, which I recently purchased a 10lb bag of from Seed Super Store.

Once the yard is leveled I plan to go over it with an aerator then make a couple passes with my scarifier before laying down the seed, applying a blanket app of mesotrione and covering with peat moss. I also plan to rent a lawn roller when I seed to press it in a bit/help flatten everything out after the initial leveling. I'll also be following up with blanket apps of mesotrione after 4 weeks, then weekly, for a total of 4 apps since I'll be seeding in the Spring.

My only concern at the moment is, being in Wisconsin, it usually starts getting too hot around July which doesn't leave me much time (plan for seed down around May 1st-15th). Might have about 1.5 months of decent growing time before summer.

I have irrigation so I'm planning on just watering the new seedlings throughout the summer to keep them alive until fall when I'll do part 2 and scarify/re-seed.

Do you guys think it will be worth it/I'll be able to keep the kbg alive through the summer with such short growing time in spring? Or should I just throw some seed down in the spot where the hole is (to keep it from being a mud pit all summer) and wait for the full renovation until fall?

Let me know your opinions and I'll post some pictures of the renovation as I progress.

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CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #301 · 9 mo ago

6

Put down the first application of PGR yesterday, went with the 0.3oz/M rate. Had some issues with mixing it with ammonium sulfate, didn't seem to want to stay in suspension very well, would have needed constant agitation to spray it evenly so I ended up just spraying it by itself in plain water which it seemed to mix in much better.

Put down FAS this morning but used 0.1 lbs N/M of AMS instead of the 1.7oz AMS/M the recipe calls for (since I needed my nitrogen app anyway). Went with a half rate of N due to having just put down that 16-0-8 recently. Will go back to the regular 0.2-0.25lb N/M rate next week.

Overall it seems pretty happy with life at the moment, here's a few pics from last night (plus one of the salt damage, which is still filling in slowly) and a few from today:

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Green

· #302 · 9 mo ago

I'm guessing it has worked well, but how have the higher-N FAS apps gone? Does it still produce the results you'd expect from a 1:1 ratio of N to Iron?

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #303 · 9 mo ago

I'll you know how it works out in a day or two since it usually takes a couple days for the iron to really kick in from what I've seen.

I'm assuming it will work the same as far as the iron effects go, at least I wouldn't expect anything to change, I'm simply giving it more N with the same amount of iron.

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #304 · 9 mo ago

@Green Had some surprise rain today so I didn't get to mow and clean it up nice but it seems like it darkened up today from the rain and FAS, the neighbors little 3' strip between my yard and their driveway seems a lot lighter in comparison today.

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Ben4Birdies

· #305 · 9 mo ago

Beautiful color you got going on! I'm hoping my reno area of bluebank, mazama, and bewitched can get just as dark!

What height of cut is your favorite so far?

Green

· #306 · 9 mo ago

That's good that it worked. Looks nice, too.

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #307 · 9 mo ago

6

The FAS is definitely working well, laid down some pretty sweet stripes over the weekend. Gotta calculate out my GDD still for the last few days. Will be putting down my next dose of N tomorrow.

And then some from a few days later/today (last pic):

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CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #308 · 9 mo ago

It's been about a week since my last spoon feeding, decided to spray down some HCU from The Andersons @ 0.25lbs N/M. Also, for those keeping track, I'm currently sitting at 119 GDD since I applied the Tnex (aiming for 280 as my reapplication target).

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CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #309 · 9 mo ago

After two straight days of rain I'm seeing some leaf spot/melting out disease, put down an application of azoxy/propi at the curative rate. Will be postponing my nitrogen app this week and only applying the PGR as I'm at my target GDD today. Overall the lawn is looking nice, though a bit shaggy because I didn't mow for 5 days as I was out of town for the weekend.

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ReelWILawn

· #310 · 9 mo ago

absolutely outstanding!!! Enjoy the next 4-6 weeks, should only get better.

speaking of rain, how much did you end up getting (not sure what part of WI you are in)? We got a total of 7.74"! It never stopped raining for close to 36 hours.

Wile

· #311 · 9 mo ago

It does look amazing. Even cooler that it's a manual reel. What was your iron rate?

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #312 · 9 mo ago

@ReelWILawn I'm in Green Bay, we got about 2-2.5" I believe over the course of the 2 days it rained. 7+ inches is crazy lol.

@Wile Thanks it does make pretty nice stripes with the rollers on it. For the iron I went with 0.2oz/M (1oz FS/M). Last time I went with the full 0.4oz/M rate (2oz FS/M) it started turning black. It seems to respond to the lower rate though, so I'm good with it.

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #313 · 8 mo ago

Applied 0.22lbs N/M on Sunday via HCU.

ReelWILawn

· #314 · 8 mo ago

that 44-0-0 HCU is pretty good stuff. I used that the last two years and saw pretty good results with it.

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #315 · 8 mo ago

5

I used it last year for my nitrogen blitz, this year I've mostly been using AMS but wanted to get some humic acid down. Did a cleanup cut with the rotary to even everything out and suck up some leaves.

Caught these guys on my cameras checking out the lawn as well the other day :lol: ... I'd touch it too :thumbup::

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Ben4Birdies

· #316 · 8 mo ago

CaffeinatedLawnCare said:
Caught these guys on my cameras checking out the lawn as well the other day :lol: ... I'd touch it too :thumbup::

Your stripes are looking stunning!

Is that a landscaping crew's truck that they were riding in? I can't tell in your photo. Regardless, it's so cool to see people taking notice of your hard work! 😄👍

michigreender

· #317 · 8 mo ago

This journal is awesome. Well done. A few posts ago you mentioned seeing the SunJoe dethatcher on sale for $50?? Where did you see that (and is it still available for that?)

garlicrainbow

· #318 · 8 mo ago

Caught these guys on my cameras checking out the lawn as well the other day :lol: ... I'd touch it too 👍:

That's got to be a great feeling! Vindication of all your hard work

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #319 · 8 mo ago

@michigreender I appreciate it thanks! The sun joe was on Walmarts website around prime day but not anymore, unfortunately. I should have gotten one as a spare at those prices lol.

@garlicrainbow definitely!

CaffeinatedLawnCare

Discussion Starter · #320 · 8 mo ago

Put down an application of FAS a few days ago around the 26th, lawn is looking nice and dark now. It is starting to get dark out earlier and earlier unfortunately, so mowing after work it’s almost dark out by the time I finish unless I do it on my lunch break.

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