And I'll snap some pictures this evening of what I'm working with.
GIJoe4500's Failed Reno 2018 Attempt at Recovery
Short story long...
I had a decent looking common bermuda backyard that I was mowing around 0.5"-0.75". Front yard was trash looking with a mix of bermuda, St. Augustine, and weeds. Decided I wanted to nuke everything and put down some Emerald Zoysia sod. Six pallets of sod (in Texas in June), and a couple back breaking days later, I had it all down. Everything was looking good, had a decent watering scheduled planned, etc. Piss poor planning on my part though. About 1 week after I got it all down, I had a vacation planned. Was going to be out of town for 2 weeks. Neighbor lady agreed to water for me. She had just put down sod herself about 6 weeks before I did, and knew the importance of watering.
During my vacation, we hit some record high temps in my area. I wasn't too worried though, because it was getting watered (or so I thought). It turns out that she didn't have the time to water as much as we had discussed, and the backyard was completely ignored. The front was only getting watered once every other day. Most of the sod dried out and died. This bugged me, because I had basically thrown away $1500 at this point. I ignored my lawns, barely watered, and let the weeds take over.
So that leaves me where I am today. A patchy emerald zoysia front lawn, and I have no clue what I'll be dealing with in the back just yet. I can still lift the old sod squares up in the back, so nothing ever even started to root.
The "plan".
1. Put down some fertilizer. I'm thinking some fast acting nitrogen, just to see what will pop up. Then, in a couple weeks, some slow release.
2. Start meticulously maintaining the zoysia I do have, to encourage strong growth for future pro-plugger use to spread it throughout the front. I know zoysia spreads slow, but I do have time. I don't want to just throw money at it again.
3. Once I see what I have going on in the backyard, use any zoysia I do have back there, to plug the more bare spots in the front.
4. Reseed with common bermuda in the back, or possibly get a single pallet of some hybrid bermuda, and create plugs with that, to try to get that 1 pallet to eventually fill in the 1200ish sq ft.
tl;dr: Killed off decent looking common bermuda, failed a zoysia sod install, yard looks like trash, developed an attack plan going forward.
If anyone actually read all this, advise is definitely appreciated!
I had a decent looking common bermuda backyard that I was mowing around 0.5"-0.75". Front yard was trash looking with a mix of bermuda, St. Augustine, and weeds. Decided I wanted to nuke everything and put down some Emerald Zoysia sod. Six pallets of sod (in Texas in June), and a couple back breaking days later, I had it all down. Everything was looking good, had a decent watering scheduled planned, etc. Piss poor planning on my part though. About 1 week after I got it all down, I had a vacation planned. Was going to be out of town for 2 weeks. Neighbor lady agreed to water for me. She had just put down sod herself about 6 weeks before I did, and knew the importance of watering.
During my vacation, we hit some record high temps in my area. I wasn't too worried though, because it was getting watered (or so I thought). It turns out that she didn't have the time to water as much as we had discussed, and the backyard was completely ignored. The front was only getting watered once every other day. Most of the sod dried out and died. This bugged me, because I had basically thrown away $1500 at this point. I ignored my lawns, barely watered, and let the weeds take over.
So that leaves me where I am today. A patchy emerald zoysia front lawn, and I have no clue what I'll be dealing with in the back just yet. I can still lift the old sod squares up in the back, so nothing ever even started to root.
The "plan".
1. Put down some fertilizer. I'm thinking some fast acting nitrogen, just to see what will pop up. Then, in a couple weeks, some slow release.
2. Start meticulously maintaining the zoysia I do have, to encourage strong growth for future pro-plugger use to spread it throughout the front. I know zoysia spreads slow, but I do have time. I don't want to just throw money at it again.
3. Once I see what I have going on in the backyard, use any zoysia I do have back there, to plug the more bare spots in the front.
4. Reseed with common bermuda in the back, or possibly get a single pallet of some hybrid bermuda, and create plugs with that, to try to get that 1 pallet to eventually fill in the 1200ish sq ft.
tl;dr: Killed off decent looking common bermuda, failed a zoysia sod install, yard looks like trash, developed an attack plan going forward.
If anyone actually read all this, advise is definitely appreciated!
1 - 20 of 102 Posts
Upside, if you need to bury your neighbor in you backyard, no one would be surprised to see new sod in the back yard.
What's the sqft of the 'good' zoysia and what's the sqft for the area that's toast?
I think you're looking at sprigs, plugs, or resodding.
What's the sqft of the 'good' zoysia and what's the sqft for the area that's toast?
I think you're looking at sprigs, plugs, or resodding.
Its hard to say right now. I'd probably guess around 60-70% coverage of "good" zoysia. And plugs are definitely going to be in play. Just pulling those plugs from the better part of the lawn..Movingshrub said:Upside, if you need to bury your neighbor in you backyard, no one would be surprised to see new sod in the back yard.
What's the sqft of the 'good' zoysia and what's the sqft for the area that's toast?
I think you're looking at sprigs, plugs, or resodding.
Ordered a pro-plugger from Amazon. It'll be here Saturday. I am going to skip out on any pre-m this year, because I will be moving soil around a ton anyhow. I'll just attack any weeds as needed around May with some Celcius, as needed.
Here are the sad sad pics. Backyard is total failure. I think I am going to get a single pallet of celebration, and checkerboard or put it in rows or something. Will keep cost down, but give me bermuda to hopefully fill in most of the yard by the end of the season.
The front, I am going to throw some fertilizer down on, to encourage a bit of green up, and see what all is there. Then hit the weeds with Celsius. My pro plugger arrives this weekend, and will be put to use pulling plugs from the better areas to move to the crappy areas. Probably 6" spacing starting at the edge of the "good" working through the bad. I doubt I'll get 100% coverage this year, but I hopefully can make SOME progress.
The front, I am going to throw some fertilizer down on, to encourage a bit of green up, and see what all is there. Then hit the weeds with Celsius. My pro plugger arrives this weekend, and will be put to use pulling plugs from the better areas to move to the crappy areas. Probably 6" spacing starting at the edge of the "good" working through the bad. I doubt I'll get 100% coverage this year, but I hopefully can make SOME progress.
Interested to know how it goes with the proplugger. I've got a reno in mind that would require minimal prep work and cost but would involve planting around 6,000 plugs so plugging performance would be make or break!
I moved a couple plugs yesterday, just to try it out. Sucker works fantastic. Just need to see how the plugs take now. And only time will tell that. I'll keep this post updated on that.TC2 said:Interested to know how it goes with the proplugger. I've got a reno in mind that would require minimal prep work and cost but would involve planting around 6,000 plugs so plugging performance would be make or break!
Picked up some dithiopyr at Home Depot. Between that, and some Celsius, it should get the weeds back under control. I've started calling around for prices on celebration as well for the back. What's the "better" pattern if I am laying out a 450sq ft pallet, to spread into a 1200 sq ft lawn? Check board? Full rows with gaps between?
Is there a better?
Is there a better?
If I were doing a sod install I'd avoid gaps like the plague. So I'd get enough sod to fill the entire space with no gaps. The Bermuda will certainly fill the gaps. But Gaps will lead to a bumpy lawn which will require a lot of leveling to get rid of.gijoe4500 said:Picked up some dithiopyr at Home Depot. Between that, and some Celsius, it should get the weeds back under control. I've started calling around for prices on celebration as well for the back. What's the "better" pattern if I am laying out a 450sq ft pallet, to spread into a 1200 sq ft lawn? Check board? Full rows with gaps between?
Is there a better?
Unfortunately, I don't have the cash to resod the whole thing. But I will do my best with some shovel work to keep it all as level as possible.
Don't feel bad about the condition of your yard. My neighbors have green yards, which is carpet grass, and centipede. But then again, there's a bermuda yard that I keep an eye on that had beautiful color last year and the golf course in town that I've been gauging my yard against. We had snow for the first time in 8 years, and today's high was 65°F. There are some pretty large brown patches in my yard that aren't covered by poa, with more and more of the Royal Bengal bermuda that I planted last late summer that is waking up. The bermuda by my pool has had to been mowed twice already, which I'm pretty sure is Common.
I'm hoping that I gave the newly planted seed enough time to store up enough carbs for the winter, which was unseasonably cold.
Here's the interesting thing though; the back yard where I have had to mow is the only area that I treated with PGR, and it survived the winter and my dogs very well. Other areas that have spots have done well also. I'm certain that those areas that had increased root development spurred on by the PGR aided in the growth, and survivability. The front... well I'm optimistic. I see more green every day. I'm just holding out for a few more weeks, and then I'll have to reassess whether or not I'll give it another go next year, and just let whatever survived go as best as it can. The nice thing about the seed is that it's inexpensive, and a heck of a lot cheaper than sod. You should seriously consider seeding it with a cultivar that you want.
I'm hoping that I gave the newly planted seed enough time to store up enough carbs for the winter, which was unseasonably cold.
Here's the interesting thing though; the back yard where I have had to mow is the only area that I treated with PGR, and it survived the winter and my dogs very well. Other areas that have spots have done well also. I'm certain that those areas that had increased root development spurred on by the PGR aided in the growth, and survivability. The front... well I'm optimistic. I see more green every day. I'm just holding out for a few more weeks, and then I'll have to reassess whether or not I'll give it another go next year, and just let whatever survived go as best as it can. The nice thing about the seed is that it's inexpensive, and a heck of a lot cheaper than sod. You should seriously consider seeding it with a cultivar that you want.
@Colonel K0rn they don't make seed for any cultivar that I would want, unfortunately. It's all hybrids that are sterile.
@gijoe4500 what cultivars are you considering?
Celebration bermuda. And I have more time than money. So its not a big deal for me to dig out spots to drop the sod into, to keep it all fairly level with everything else. I had sodded the whole thing last june, and that sod died from massive amounts of heat, and under watering while I was out of town for 2 weeks. So i "might" be able to easily dig out the old sod where I want to drop in the new stuff, and keep it all level fairly easily. Then, I can work on a combination of the sod spreading, and using a pro plugger, to get the celebration to spread over the next 2 years.Movingshrub said:@gijoe4500 what cultivars are you considering?
You may want to really consider stolonizing/sprigging. It's much more economical. It won't lead to that uneven up/down situation you're going to run into if you lay sod in stripes or a pattern. The catch is - it has to stay wet. However, if you've not in a hurry, it's a significantly better deal than laying sod.
Also, I'm hoping others are going to chime in - Do you still want to put down pre-em if you're about to put down sod? Won't that impair rooting for new turf?
Also, I'm hoping others are going to chime in - Do you still want to put down pre-em if you're about to put down sod? Won't that impair rooting for new turf?
From another Dithiopyr label:Movingshrub said:...Also, I'm hoping others are going to chime in - Do you still want to put down pre-em if you're about to put down sod? Won't that impair rooting for new turf?
Before making the first application of Quali-Pro Dithiopyr 40 WSB, ensure that turfgrasses have developed a good root system and a uniform stand, and have been mowed at least two times following seeding, sodding, or sprigging. Turf injury may result if Quali-Pro Dithiopyr 40 WSB is applied to turf that is not well-established, or has been weakened by weather-, pest-, disease-, chemical-, mechanical or other factors which lead to turf stress.
That's for the heads up. Didn't even consider that. I'll just use the pre-m on the front yard, which has zoysia that I am just trying to get to spread.
And I haven't considered stolonizing/sprigging at all. I'll do some research on that to see if it is a viable option.
And I haven't considered stolonizing/sprigging at all. I'll do some research on that to see if it is a viable option.
Start here - https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W160-D.pdf
Stolonizing is what I'd suggest, over sprigging, but the terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably.
Summary of what's involved.
Kill off everything with several applications of glyphosate. Figure out how to get chopped up version of the cultivar you want to plant. Spread it over the whole yard. Apply fertilizer. Water small amounts (a few minutes) hourly for several weeks ( amount of water goes down each week). Freakout cause it looks like it's dying. Three weeks later, sigh of relief as it turns green and starts to spread. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Cut like crazy. Enjoy.
Stolonizing is what I'd suggest, over sprigging, but the terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably.
Summary of what's involved.
Kill off everything with several applications of glyphosate. Figure out how to get chopped up version of the cultivar you want to plant. Spread it over the whole yard. Apply fertilizer. Water small amounts (a few minutes) hourly for several weeks ( amount of water goes down each week). Freakout cause it looks like it's dying. Three weeks later, sigh of relief as it turns green and starts to spread. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Apply fertilizer. Cut like crazy. Enjoy.
1 - 20 of 102 Posts
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