Dono1183's Hill Country Lawn Journal
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I drew a picture for you. (The 2 year old and the four year old really wanted me to say "be nice" and they wanted to draw a couple hearts. So, that's what that's about.)
In the picture, the black would be a zone with with three heads set up in a series. The red is the added loop with additional sprinklers on the other side to demonstrate doubling coverage, but those aren't required. I also drew in red the original sprinklers newly gained throw coverage.
To just tell you the time, and not how the clock is made: Just put another splitter in between your first head and the faucet. Then run another hose from the end of the original line back to the splitter. At some point you're gonna have to connect the ends. I'd just keep it simple and cut the female off and put a male hose mender on it.
There's much more math and such involved, but this is a basic way of understanding how the clock is made: Notice how the heads closer to the source throw the water further? Water and air take the path of least resistance in a ducted/piped system. And at each head in a series is another opportunity for the water to take one of these paths. This leaves that much less water/pressure for the next head.
When you loop it back to the source, you're putting much more volume into the system. And creating an additional path back to the source essentially. After a period of time the loop will pressurize. Then every head on the system gets a somewhat equal amount of water pressure similar to what they'd have gotten connected to the faucet by themselves.
The picture on the right is just something showing a a little more what I meant by doubling your coverage from a top down view.
In the picture, the black would be a zone with with three heads set up in a series. The red is the added loop with additional sprinklers on the other side to demonstrate doubling coverage, but those aren't required. I also drew in red the original sprinklers newly gained throw coverage.
To just tell you the time, and not how the clock is made: Just put another splitter in between your first head and the faucet. Then run another hose from the end of the original line back to the splitter. At some point you're gonna have to connect the ends. I'd just keep it simple and cut the female off and put a male hose mender on it.
There's much more math and such involved, but this is a basic way of understanding how the clock is made: Notice how the heads closer to the source throw the water further? Water and air take the path of least resistance in a ducted/piped system. And at each head in a series is another opportunity for the water to take one of these paths. This leaves that much less water/pressure for the next head.
When you loop it back to the source, you're putting much more volume into the system. And creating an additional path back to the source essentially. After a period of time the loop will pressurize. Then every head on the system gets a somewhat equal amount of water pressure similar to what they'd have gotten connected to the faucet by themselves.
The picture on the right is just something showing a a little more what I meant by doubling your coverage from a top down view.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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@GoNads, thanks so much man! I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I'll definitely start working on this. Also, thanks to the kiddos for their input! :thumbup:GoNads said:I drew a picture for you. (The 2 year old and the four year old really wanted me to say "be nice" and they wanted to draw a couple hearts. So, that's what that's about.)
In the picture, the black would be a zone with with three heads set up in a series. The red is the added loop with additional sprinklers on the other side to demonstrate doubling coverage, but those aren't required. I also drew in red the original sprinklers newly gained throw coverage.
To just tell you the time, and not how the clock is made: Just put another splitter in between your first head and the faucet. Then run another hose from the end of the original line back to the splitter. At some point you're gonna have to connect the ends. I'd just keep it simple and cut the female off and put a male hose mender on it.
There's much more math and such involved, but this is a basic way of understanding how the clock is made: Notice how the heads closer to the source throw the water further? Water and air take the path of least resistance in a ducted/piped system. And at each head in a series is another opportunity for the water to take one of these paths. This leaves that much less water/pressure for the next head.
When you loop it back to the source, you're putting much more volume into the system. And creating an additional path back to the source essentially. After a period of time the loop will pressurize. Then every head on the system gets a somewhat equal amount of water pressure similar to what they'd have gotten connected to the faucet by themselves.
The picture on the right is just something showing a a little more what I meant by doubling your coverage from a top down view.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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Watered this morning and mowed this afternoon. I mowed on Thursday, and hadn't mowed since, and the south side of the house (the one with soil 🤣) got away from me. So I took it down a notch and reset the height. I'll need to stay on top of mowing at more regular intervals.
In other news it was 107* today, and it's not ending anytime soon. I also go to see a perfectly good thunderstorm split right around my house. 😒
The backyard is hanging in there despite the temps.
Here's the south side;
In other news it was 107* today, and it's not ending anytime soon. I also go to see a perfectly good thunderstorm split right around my house. 😒
The backyard is hanging in there despite the temps.
Here's the south side;
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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I'm heading out of town for work tomorrow and won't be home until Tuesday afternoon. Yesterday was my normal mowing day, so I mowed and I put down a .5 # of N. This morning I woke up and watered. And since it would be too long between mows, I went ahead and cut again this afternoon.
Side lawn is coming in pretty well. I got a lot of clippings from it both days despite the hoc reset.
The back lawn is doing well now that I've the watering schedule more dialed in. There's definitely some spots that aren't so great, but I hand water them. That being said, with our temps and drought, I'm not gonna complain.
Side lawn is coming in pretty well. I got a lot of clippings from it both days despite the hoc reset.
The back lawn is doing well now that I've the watering schedule more dialed in. There's definitely some spots that aren't so great, but I hand water them. That being said, with our temps and drought, I'm not gonna complain.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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Got back in town yesterday. There was some solid drought stress in the grass. At this point, it is what it is. But overall it held up pretty well. Watered and mowed.
A couple of struggle spots.
I can confirm though that rain still exists. I saw some in Chicago this past weekend. It was glorious. 🤣🤣
A couple of struggle spots.
I can confirm though that rain still exists. I saw some in Chicago this past weekend. It was glorious. 🤣🤣
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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Got a mow in today. This weekend has been really enjoyable in the yard. Had some friends over yesterday, and family over today. Played some croquet and overall it's so nice to be able to be barefoot and enjoying the out of doors (despite the hot temps). Lots of seed heads. Likely due to stress from not getting rain since whenever ago. But trying to keep it holding on.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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I'm seriously over this summer. I'm tired of 100+ degree days, months with little to no rain, I'm just over it. I've had no measurable rain since June 28. Maybe one day it will rain again. Until then it's a rough lookin' lawn, w enough seed heads to fill a wheel barrow.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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I watered and mowed on Tuesday and the seed heads are going crazy. I'm kinda growing fond of them as they help me keep my lines while mowing 🤣🤣.
I watered today and put down .5lbs of N. Gonna get a mow in tomorrow morning before leaving town for the weekend. We are still in the hundos but hopefully we'll only be in the upper 90's this weekend. I also got my birthday present in, and I plan on installing them today. 😁
The tournament I'm playing in this weekend is in Frisco at the FC Dallas complex, and I love playing there. The fields are always top notch. I'll be posting some images once I get up there. It's always fun to play on a great surface like that.
I watered today and put down .5lbs of N. Gonna get a mow in tomorrow morning before leaving town for the weekend. We are still in the hundos but hopefully we'll only be in the upper 90's this weekend. I also got my birthday present in, and I plan on installing them today. 😁
The tournament I'm playing in this weekend is in Frisco at the FC Dallas complex, and I love playing there. The fields are always top notch. I'll be posting some images once I get up there. It's always fun to play on a great surface like that.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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Got a mow in today. I also installed my new rotary scissors and played w those. Pretty cool tool. I understand how guys get super clean edges now. I started working on mine at lunch, but they'll need some more attention. I'm looking forward to getting better at using them.
I was able to get a morning mow in today, and it's so much more enjoyable than late day mows. The dew helps me keep my lines straight and mowing when it's 75 is way better than 93.
The lawn continues to hang in there. Seed head production tells me it's stressed since we haven't had rain in so long (June 28). But I'm not willing to increase my watering as this drought continues to challenge records with the aquifer. I'm currently putting down around 1.5" per week.
I base it on the Texas a&m evapotranspiration station in my area. It's not perfect but it's a good enough guide.
Pre-mow:
Post-mow:
I was able to get a morning mow in today, and it's so much more enjoyable than late day mows. The dew helps me keep my lines straight and mowing when it's 75 is way better than 93.
The lawn continues to hang in there. Seed head production tells me it's stressed since we haven't had rain in so long (June 28). But I'm not willing to increase my watering as this drought continues to challenge records with the aquifer. I'm currently putting down around 1.5" per week.
I base it on the Texas a&m evapotranspiration station in my area. It's not perfect but it's a good enough guide.
Pre-mow:
Post-mow:
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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The fc Dallas complex seems to be managing the conditions pretty well. There's definitely some dry spots, but overall the pitch is in good condition. It's been super nice to play on. We won our group and semis are tomorrow am.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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Got to define the edge of the driveway really well today at lunch. I really like these rotary scissors! I'll keep working on getting the edging cleaned up as I start incorporating that into my lawn care.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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Watered yesterday and mowed today. No rain at my house. #Rainwatch continues. At least we've had more humidity and lower temps, so that's a positive. Plus the area around us has gotten some rain. I'll take what we can get.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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#Rainwatch has finally ended. We received .06" of rain. Which while not much, is measurable, and got the ground wet. So hooray for that!
On a separate note, our local armadillos have decided the lawn is open for business. I'll have to trim this up. Not super thrilled about it .
On a separate note, our local armadillos have decided the lawn is open for business. I'll have to trim this up. Not super thrilled about it .
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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I got my watering in and mowed today at lunch. It doesn't translate super well, but the grass is growing significantly better now that we have had a string of days where it's below 104*. Yesterday the high was only 91 at our house and today it was 97*.
Places that were hardly growing before had decent growth, and the areas that were growing before were growing a lot. I'll need to reevaluate how often I mow as we se to have a decent run of normal high temps instead the previous run of surface of the sun.
I also cleaned up the dillo damage with the rotary scissors before I mowed. It was passable.
Places that were hardly growing before had decent growth, and the areas that were growing before were growing a lot. I'll need to reevaluate how often I mow as we se to have a decent run of normal high temps instead the previous run of surface of the sun.
I also cleaned up the dillo damage with the rotary scissors before I mowed. It was passable.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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Got a mow in today. It was a rough one. I went perpendicular to the house the whole way which meant a lot of up hill with the mower. And as well as the Cal trimmer does goin up hills, let's just say that I had to put some back into it. All things being equal it will help me get into shape for the start of my soccer season lol. The grass is getting out of control, so with the lower temps and rain in the forecast I think I'm gonna scalp the lawn and reset it. We shall see…
On to the sore subject. We were slated to get nearly three quarters of an inch today. We ended up getting .01 inches. My in laws got 1.25 inches and they're 4 miles down the road. The rain literally worked it's way around us.
Needless to say, after the last two months of no rain, I'm pretty butt hurt to not get any rain. I would love anything more that we could get but it's really tough to see the rain just dance around you. Rant over.
On to the sore subject. We were slated to get nearly three quarters of an inch today. We ended up getting .01 inches. My in laws got 1.25 inches and they're 4 miles down the road. The rain literally worked it's way around us.
Needless to say, after the last two months of no rain, I'm pretty butt hurt to not get any rain. I would love anything more that we could get but it's really tough to see the rain just dance around you. Rant over.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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The lower temps this past week along with the rain had led to the lawn getting unruly. I hadn't given it a reset since Memorial Day. Today I scalped to .75" from "1 inch". I say it like that because there's no way I was mowing at 1". The mower was definitely floating and not getting down to the true hoc. I made several passes to get it as close to .75 as I could. I'm pretty happy with the results. The lawn feels much closer to a true hoc.
As our summer has changed, from 100*+ every day to 90's and rain occasionally, the lawn experience has changed a lot. The grass is growing much faster. I'll need to mow one more time per week to keep it looking good. I'm looking forward to having some more normal weather that helps the lawn look it's best.
As our summer has changed, from 100*+ every day to 90's and rain occasionally, the lawn experience has changed a lot. The grass is growing much faster. I'll need to mow one more time per week to keep it looking good. I'm looking forward to having some more normal weather that helps the lawn look it's best.
Celebration and Common Bermuda 10k Sq. Ft. Cal Trimmer, Ryobi Electric, Rotary Scissors
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I put down .5# of N on Monday and it was a balanced 13-13-13 to help with the scalp. The timing worked out well, as it rained less than an hour later. We've also received over 1.3 inches of rain. It's not the crazy 3-4 inches they were calling for, but it's made a huge difference in our area. The temps have also been significantly lower. It barely hit 90* here yesterday, and that's pretty wild for August in central Texas. I'm planning on mowing this evening after work, to make sure the grass fills in well.
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