[Suaverc118]

Thanks to @concretestorm for helping with verticutting my whole lawn. Pictures here are before and after the cut. So I had a lot of dead and live stolons that made up for most of my lawn. When we cut the lawn, it exposed a lot of the ground. And So you know, this is a sod lawn. Now that it's been nearly stripped, I need some experienced suggestions on what to do next. Oh, and I put out Lescos 15-15-15 fertilizer on my lawn which is about 5,200 sqft and it covers 7,500 sq ft. So, any opinions from people who have had this done would be great.
Thanks

 

[J_nick]

Fert + Water + Time

You already got the fert down. I'd give it 1/2" of water every 3-4 days. Might take a little longer to recover with the days getting shorter but being in south Texas you have a long growing season.

Out of curiosity what was the HOC and what did you take it down to?

 

[Suaverc118]

Fert + Water + Time

You already got the fert down. I'd give it 1/2" of water every 3-4 days. Might take a little longer to recover with the days getting shorter but being in south Texas you have a long growing season.

Out of curiosity what was the HOC and what did you take it down to?

Thanks. I wasn't sure exactly how much water to provide, every day, every other day, my normal cycle etc.

My mower for the longest time was at 2", but in that picture before I verticut it, it was at 1.5". As for taking it down, are you talking about the height of verticutting?? Or the height when I scalped it? Scalped I went to .5"

 

[J_nick]

I assumed verticutting was at or near ground level. I was just curious what you finished your scalp at.

Watering all depends on your soil type and how long it can hold water. You don't want the grass to be stressing looking for water. The roots and rhizomes are still there so I wouldn't go too overboard with the water.

 

[Suaverc118]

I assumed verticutting was at or near ground level. I was just curious what you finished your scalp at.

Watering all depends on your soil type and how long it can hold water. You don't want the grass to be stressing looking for water. The roots and rhizomes are still there so I wouldn't go too overboard with the water.

I typically water twice per week at around .5" each watering. So in your opinion stick with my current watering schedule which is Wednesday and Saturday?

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Glad to see that someone from the forums was able to give you a hand, and you got some face time. It's always nice to talk shop with someone who has the same interest as you; it's even better when they have the tools you need to get the job done.

I'll echo what J_nick said, fert + water + time. You just beat the hell out of the yard, so it's going to take a bit of time for the plants to get their leaves growing again, just be sure that your yard is getting adequate irrigation. This would be a good time to do an audit on your system, making sure that you're getting adequate coverage, and that you're putting enough water down. I'm assuming you have an irrigation gauge/tuna can?

 

[Suaverc118]

I agree Colonel K0rn, it's great to meet someone on these forums.

I've done the tuna test and know how much water to run with my irrigation system. Only problem is zone 6 doesn't come out when I was flagging the heads, so those need to be addressed and need someone to come out and fix them.

I was scared during the process because I didn't know how good or bad it was supposed to look when done. Yes my yard was green, but I had a bunch of thatch and old stolens underneath all that grass and it wasn't growing tall or really filling in. I'm hoping I have enough time to get it going again.

 

[Iriasj2009]

If I'm not mistaken, it Seems like the fertilizer you applied might be mostly fast release fertilizer. If that's the case I would apply another .5lbs of nitrogen, preferably the same stuff you just applied in 2 weeks. When using fast release, it's best to use split application. I try to use .25lbs of nitrogen weekly when I'm trying to recover after verticutting/aerating.

 

[Suaverc118]

Should I use the whole bag again or no more than half the bag?

 

[Suaverc118]

I also have a bag of merlargonite sitting around... Should I wait longer for that as well?

 

[Iriasj2009]

Should I use the whole bag again or no more than half the bag?

The bag you used will put out 1.44lbs of nitrogen per 1k sqft. Which is more than you need per application. Lay out 1/3 of the bag in two weeks. Should yield 2 more applications after that with 2 week intervals.

 

[Suaverc118]

I also have an old problem that's come back. Armadillos are digging up my yard again. They've been gone for a few weeks now probably from the combination from the hurricane rain we got in Austin and spreading out bug and grub killer... But they are back again and it sucks ***. Any ideas would be great.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

I also have an old problem that's come back. Armadillos are digging up my yard again. They've been gone for a few weeks now probably from the combination from the hurricane rain we got in Austin and spreading out bug and grub killer... But they are back again and it sucks @ss. Any ideas would be great.

Man, your luck is running like mine with this renovation. :x
I had an issue with armadillos in my yard, and there's a couple of solutions. Solution 1 would be to remove the food source, and that is kind of the nuclear option. If you spray insecticide, it's going to kill off most/all of the insects in your yard, and the ground. The option I went with was pretty quick, and that was to use Bifenthrin, and I used it in a liquid form. After I sprayed it, my yard was pretty much a desolate wasteland. No bugs at all. Still working great.

Option 2 would be to set some traps, or camp out with a .22 LR.

 

[Suaverc118]

I also have an old problem that's come back. Armadillos are digging up my yard again. They've been gone for a few weeks now probably from the combination from the hurricane rain we got in Austin and spreading out bug and grub killer... But they are back again and it sucks @ss. Any ideas would be great.

Man, your luck is running like mine with this renovation. :x
I had an issue with armadillos in my yard, and there's a couple of solutions. Solution 1 would be to remove the food source, and that is kind of the nuclear option. If you spray insecticide, it's going to kill off most/all of the insects in your yard, and the ground. The option I went with was pretty quick, and that was to use Bifenthrin, and I used it in a liquid form. After I sprayed it, my yard was pretty much a desolate wasteland. No bugs at all. Still working great.

Option 2 would be to set some traps, or camp out with a .22 LR.

So, that spray will kill the grass too???

 

[J_nick]

No, Bif won't harm your turf just the insects

 

[Suaverc118]

Got it, thanks

 

[Suaverc118]

As far as watering, should I stick to my wed and Saturday watering of about .5" per day or add another day since I stressed the heck out of it?

 

[Colonel K0rn]

As far as watering, should I stick to my wed and Saturday watering of about .5" per day or add another day since I stressed the heck out of it?

I would shorten the cycle, and increase the frequency until you see the grass rebound, then change back to your current schedule, adjusting for rainfall.

 

[Suaverc118]

Is this it?I read rhatbits for ants, but are there some for what we are talking about as well?? Man it destroyed my yard again lastnight. Really bad.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Is this it?I read rhatbits for ants, but are there some for what we are talking about as well?? Man it destroyed my yard again lastnight. Really bad.

Something similar, but this is the product that I used. The cool thing about this stuff is that you can spray all around the house, to kill roaches, crickets, spiders, ants. You name it, it probably kills them. And it's inexpensive too.