[erdons]

A little background, I purchased my home in LA, CA a year and a half ago, the backyard is fairly large and has a 30x16 swimming pool, near the pool is a 22x14 curved freeform Area of lawn which had been kind of dead or dormant until recently I could begin to see Bermuda runners spreading onto a patch of bear dirt, there's also a decent amount of weeds.

After weeks of research I decided I didn't want to go with Marathon or St Agustine as it's just too typical around here and is nothing special, part of me wanted to just let this lawn revive and see how it looks, but it's very uneven and needs to be re-graded. So my ultimate decision is to install a Tifgreen putting green as I'm a huge golf fan and would love to be able to putt at home. This small
Area of lawn is in direct sunlight for at least 6-8 hours per day.

Irrigation - Need to install sprinklers, I will take care of this during the week.

Grading - before I remove dirt and fill some of the low spots with top soil, would it be reccomended to remove the current Bermuda lawn? I have access to a tiller so I could go that route if necessary. Should I spray the weeds?

Soil treatment - I will be adding some starter fertilizer into the soil.

Sod - found a place that sells Tifgreen at .57/sq ft plus a $60 delivery fee so I'll come in under $250.

Mower - Bought a very good condition McLane reel mower for $100. Hoping to be able to get below 1/2 inch HOC.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[SGrabs33]

Welcome to the forum! This project sounds very cool and I'm looking forward to it! I'm sure some members will post soon to give some help!

 

[Mightyquinn]

Welcome to TLF!!!

Sounds like you have a solid plan so far but if you are wanting a putting green you will need to mow under .250" or lower as most putting greens are maintained at or below .125"(1/8").

I would go ahead a spray all the weeds and unwanted bermuda now with Round Up or generic version(cheaper). If you are going to use a tiller you will have to compact the soil back down afterwards to get a smooth surface for your putting green otherwise the soil will settle over the years and you will have a very lumpy area.

Do you have any pictures of the area?

 

[Tellycoleman]

I would not use a tiller If you want a butter smooth lawn surface. Like @Mightyquinn said it will lead to a bumpy yard over time. Can you rent a power rake from your home improvement store? This would be a better option then using a tiller. A power rake can be used to even out uneven areas without going to deep as a tiller would.
But kill everything first with ghlyphosate as mentioned above.
Does this area get alot of sunlight? Any trees around?
If your going to use a topsoil dont use any compost. Compost is good for your soil, if your having a garden, but bad for leveling a putting green. Overtime the compost will break down even more and lead again to a bumpy putting surface. All USGA greens are sand. So if your a huge golf fan that is going to be what your use to.
Welcome to TLF.

POST PICTURES!!!!

 

[erdons]

Welcome to TLF!!!

Sounds like you have a solid plan so far but if you are wanting a putting green you will need to mow under .250" or lower as most putting greens are maintained at or below .125"(1/8").

I believe this mower can go close to that height, I will find out if not I'll get something that will

I would go ahead a spray all the weeds and unwanted bermuda now with Round Up or generic version(cheaper). If you are going to use a tiller you will have to compact the soil back down afterwards to get a smooth surface for your putting green otherwise the soil will settle over the years and you will have a very lumpy area.

I will be spraying everything with glyphosate. I likely won't use the tiller, I'll head to Home Depot and see what power rake options they have.

Do you have any pictures of the area?
I'll post pics after work

 

[erdons]

I would not use a tiller If you want a butter smooth lawn surface. Like @Mightyquinn said it will lead to a bumpy yard over time. Can you rent a power rake from your home improvement store? This would be a better option then using a tiller. A power rake can be used to even out uneven areas without going to deep as a tiller would.
But kill everything first with ghlyphosate as mentioned above.
Does this area get alot of sunlight? Any trees around?

I will go with the power take option. Yes this area gets sunlight most of the day, not much trees around

If your going to use a topsoil dont use any compost. Compost is good for your soil, if your having a garden, but bad for leveling a putting green. Overtime the compost will break down even more and lead again to a bumpy putting surface. All USGA greens are sand. So if your a huge golf fan that is going to be what your use to.
Welcome to TLF.

would sand be an option for top dressing my soil before sodding? I see a lot of people use masonry sand to level their lawns, maybe that's an option?

POST PICTURES!!!!

 

[Iriasj2009]

My 7 reel mcclane only goes down to 7/16" before the bedknife bottoms out. It has a setting to go down to 1/4" but in reality the bedknife does not allow it to.

 

[erdons]

My 7 reel mcclane only goes down to 7/16" before the bedknife bottoms out. It has a setting to go down to 1/4" but in reality the bedknife does not allow it to.

I'm gonna see how low i can go with it, if it can't do what i want maybe I'll look into a different machine, we will see though.

 

[Iriasj2009]

1522770947[/url] user_id=68]
My 7 reel mcclane only goes down to 7/16" before the bedknife bottoms out. It has a setting to go down to 1/4" but in reality the bedknife does not allow it to.

I'm gonna see how low i can go with it, if it can't do what i want maybe I'll look into a different machine, we will see though.

awesome! can't wait to see your results!

 

[erdons]

I started digging for the sprinklers and removed a few high points of dirt... I'll likely rent the power rake this weekend and hit it once the grass is a bit more dead. Heading to get the glyphosate shortly.

 

[Mightyquinn]

Looks like a great area for a putting green!! Can't wait to see how this turns out. You obviously don't want it to be perfectly smooth as you'll want some break in it :thumbup:

 

[erdons]

Now considering sprigging since there is no hurry and i can do a small test run for a potential redo of my 1500 sq ft front lawn which is a salad of fescue, Bermuda and st agustine...Decisions, decisions... Glyphosate seems to be doing a good job, i will respray again in a few days..

 

[Iriasj2009]

Now considering sprigging since there is no hurry and i can do a small test run for a potential redo of my 1500 sq ft front lawn which is a salad of fescue, Bermuda and st agustine...Decisions, decisions... Glyphosate seems to be doing a good job, i will respray again in a few days..

Sprigging works but if you can afford it, just use sod. It will be worth it. Sprigging will cost you more time and possibly headaches. You will also use more water to get it established.

 

[erdons]

Part of me wanting to sprig was more to see if It's a method that would work in my front lawn which is a lot larger than this small area in my backyard. I could afford to sod the 300 sq ft but might either plug of sprig a small area in the corner to see how it goes and maybe do the front lawn next year..

 

[Iriasj2009]

Part of me wanting to sprig was more to see if It's a method that would work in my front lawn which is a lot larger than this small area in my backyard. I could afford to sod the 300 sq ft but might either plug of sprig a small area in the corner to see how it goes and maybe do the front lawn next year..

That makes sense. Sprigging WILL work but you won't have an instant lawn. Since it is a small area, then go for it and sprig it, shouldn't be too hard to take care of it. I still say you go with sod tho lol, then next year you can make your own sprigs/plugs for you front lawn :thumbup:

 

[erdons]

Maybe I'll try to sod 250 sq ft and plug/spring the last 50 sq ft, i'd love to be able to have an instant lawn, but I love to experiment to see how quickly it will fill. Loving the feedback!

 

[Iriasj2009]

Maybe I'll try to sod 250 sq ft and plug/spring the last 50 sq ft, i'd love to be able to have an instant lawn, but I love to experiment to see how quickly it will fill. Loving the feedback!

Perfect! Take lots of pics!

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Looks like a neat small project, one that won't break the bank, or your back. I'd recommend that you plan for 2 rounds of glyphosate (RoundUp) a few weeks apart. This will ensure that you get a thorough kill on weeds that are living, and ones that come up to replace the dying ones, and then for good measure, you can spray the area again when it comes time to put down the sod. Get used to sanding a lot, sand will become your friend.

 

[Movingshrub]

Did someone say sprig?

 

[Movingshrub]

Make sure you get a good solid kill on the existing stuff with multiple glyphosate applications, spaced several weeks apart.

Also, your irrigation trenches are going to settle so try to get that to occur and backfilled prior to sprigging.