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JBC-1's Lawn Journal - 2022

3.1K views 26 replies 7 participants last post by  JBC-1  
#1 ·
Hello Everyone,

Finally getting around to making a journal for this year! Let's get caught up...

Season started off a bit late for me. Wanted to do a lot more but due to a surgery I had to have right in the middle of the lawn waking up I was unable to do anything. Fast forward to now, lawn is still looking okay, but not where I want it to be.

I have a lot of POA (I think)...it just makes the lawn look light green, and not clean. I did apply Prodimane but I may have applied it too early. I pretty much had a two day window to apply it before surgery so I took the chance and applied it.

For the season I have done the following;

Prodimane App (3 month)
1lb N via 9-2-2 Organic Fertilizer with 2% Iron
Spot Sprayed some weeds
0.5lbs N via AMS 21-0-0

Would like to apply Propiconazole and Imidacloprid this weekend, and apply another round of the organic fert. I do have some Humic-DG, and K-Mag from last season as well, but have not applied any of those yet.

Things that are bugging me that I can use some help on...

Deep Green - I seem to be unable to get my lawn that deep green everyone is after. I sprayed iron a few times last year and got zero results out of it. Maybe I need to up the dosage?

Knotweed (or something of the sort) is popping up like crazy. Killex wont do anything to it. What should I use?

Rust or Brown Patch - Last season during the heat I had a few sections turn this reddish color. I did not apply anything, and it eventually did grow out, but this week we had two really hot days, and now this is back. I do have Propiconazole, but have never used it. Should I apply the preventative app, or curative app? I also want to apply some Imidacloprid...can this be applied at the same time as the Propiconazole?

Here are some images of how the lawn is looking right now. And last years journal for those interested...https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=22610

May 2022



June 2022




Weed & Fungus Problems


 
#6 ·
Its been a few weeks since I last updated.

Still dealing with this yellowing/red issues. I did not apply any propiconazole (mainly as I have never applied it before so am a bit apprehensive to mess anything up). I did apply a light does of N, but that did not seems to help at all.

I guess I either need to bite the bullet and apply the prop and hope for the best, or another light does of N.

On another note, I rarely post images of my back yard, but that will change soon. I've decided to do a reno back there. The grass looks okay, but I am not thrilled about it. Not to mention it is severely uneven and has some drainage issues. I am in the planning stages right now, still deciding what seed to get and making sure I have all the product I need.







 
#7 ·
Backyard Reno has started. Sprayed gly today. Hoping that I got a even coverage.

Plan is the following;

7/23/22 - Spray first gly (DONE)
7/29/22 - Scalp down then dethatch, then clean up
7/30/22 - another gly app - depending on how even my first app was I will spray before or after the scalp
7/30/22 - bring in new soil/sand mix for leveling - my entire back is severely uneven
fallow for the next two weeks
8/13/22 - seed down/tenacity/cover with peat
water, water, water

I will be going with a 80/20 mix of KBG and PRG. I am waiting for the supplier to get me the exact specifications on what seeds are part of the mix.

Ultimate goal is to have a level lawn, a weed free lush lawn, learn from my mistakes and to maybe get a reel mower. I am looking for one now and lost out on a great deal for a GM 1000 a few weeks back.

If this all goes well, I will do a reno on the front next season.



 
#8 ·
Hey everyone,

Need some opinions on grass seed choices for my reno. Rep finally got back to me with the blends. Some of the names I have not heard of before, so looking for some opinions. I have two options which are below.

Backyard gets some shade in the morning, but then is full sun for the remainder of the day.

Elite 20 Rye 80 Blue
20% Fielder KBG
20% Impact KBG
15% Rugby II KBG
25% Diva KBG
20% Champion PRG - Coated Seed

Super's Choice 20 Rye/80 Blue - all coated seed
30% Rock-it KBG
25% Zip KBG
25% Balboa KBG
20% 3 way Perennial Ryegrass

Thoughts?
 
#11 ·
Update:

Second round of gly was applied on 7/30/22. I definitely missed some spots from the first application.

Did a cut at 1.25" yesterday. Will drop it down more by the end of the week, then dethatch. As you can see from the images, there are a LOT of tunnels that the mice/moles have been creating. This is causing the whole side next to the fence to be very uneven. Plan is to use 60% compost, and 40% USGA Sand Mix. I am hoping that this will help level everything out, then through the next few seasons add small amounts of sand to get it a lot more level.





 
#12 ·
Update...

Final scalp and dethatch was done. Bringing in 60% compost, and 40% USGA Sand Mix tomorrow. Will level, then hopefully seed down on this weekend. Oh and new lawn level came in today. Still need to put it together, but excited to use it!

For the front lawn, I am dealing with red thread I think. It doesn't seem to be getting any better. I got some Disease Ex. Should I apply some of this now?













 
#13 ·
Seed down day!!!...happy and very annoyed at the same time...

So today was seed down day! Brought in the compost/sand mix, leveled everything out, dropped the seed, rolled the lawn, sprayed tenacity, then top dressed with peat moss. I will say that the peat moss spreader is amazing...the amount of junk it took out was crazy. This is the happy part!

Now to the annoyed part. After I got all that done, time for water right. Well put the sprinklers on only to find water pooling in one area. Looked some more, and the water is coming up through the ground. Super annoyed at myself for not catching this before. Did not notice when they did their tests, as the lawn was so dead. And didn't notice when I ran the full system as that is normally at 4am.

I had a sprinkler company run some new lines for a new zone, and re-tweaked the backyard zone. Did not notice when they did their tests, as the lawn was so dead. And didn't notice when I ran the full system as that is normally at 4am. Well now I need to figure out how to fix this leak, without doing too much damage. I am happy everything is down, but really annoyed with this leak...circled area is where the leak is.











 
#14 ·
Update...got the sprinkler leak fixed. The sprinkler company sent out a tech the next morning, and he repaired the slit in the line with very minimal damage...he also adjusted some of the heads for some better coverage. Been keeping up with the watering, but no green sprouts yet.

Had to put up some barricades around the trees on my boulevard...looked out my window the next morning, and some neighbors dog decided they wanted to play and dig up all the seed...how fun!

My front is getting worse...I don't know what really to do next. These spots seem to be getting more brownish/red by the day and increasing in size...is it too much water, or maybe a thatch problem? I have not applied any N since June. Should I apply a small dose of N to see if it may grow out? Disease Ex was applied about a week ago.

Here are some images. I honestly cannot tell if I have a thatch problem or not, so asking the experts.











 
#17 ·
Update...I am not at 19 days since the seed went down. Things I think are looking pretty good.

I unfortunately did have two washouts in one part. After the first washout, I added some more seed, and covered as best as I could, then went away for a week. Came back and it was looking decent, then got another massive washout. I don't know if I should just leave it to hopefully fill in, or try to add more seed again.

For the experts...how is this looking? Should I be adding anymore seed, or will this fill in?

















 
#19 ·
I was definitely having my doubts when I saw the pics with the standing water, but once things dried out it looks to me like it's in fine shape. I would say you have germination in enough areas that it will fill in just fine. I wouldn't add more seed. In your first pic it looks like there is a stream of water coming off the roof or overhang and going right into that area that was flooded. Maybe it's just really heavy rain, but do you have any way to redirect that? Probably not a huge deal at this point since you probably have reached your germination potential, but in the chance that you put more seed down, I'd make sure you have a plan to redirect water away from the area.
 
#21 ·
jskierko said:
I was definitely having my doubts when I saw the pics with the standing water, but once things dried out it looks to me like it's in fine shape. I would say you have germination in enough areas that it will fill in just fine. I wouldn't add more seed. In your first pic it looks like there is a stream of water coming off the roof or overhang and going right into that area that was flooded. Maybe it's just really heavy rain, but do you have any way to redirect that? Probably not a huge deal at this point since you probably have reached your germination potential, but in the chance that you put more seed down, I'd make sure you have a plan to redirect water away from the area.
So I've always had a problem with drainage in that area. Since I am a corner lot, everything drains towards me, and I always have excess water in that part. That first picture was a very heavy downpour however. In normal rainfalls I do not get that much standing water. I need to figure something out though, as I don't want to have this area like this all the time. Currently I do not have a way to re-direct the water.
 
#22 ·
Update...this is how things are looking as of today.

26 days since seed down & 20 days since first germination. There are still a few bare spots. I am hoping that they will fill in on their own. I am still watering about 5 times a day, for 3-5 minutes depending on the temps. Should I be cutting back, and watering longer now?

Question for the experienced...

- When should I cut? I just picked up a manual reel mower so not worried about using the rotary
- When should I start to drop some N?
- Should I do a blanket spray of tenacity? There are a few weeds popping up









 
#23 ·
JBC-1 said:
Update...this is how things are looking as of today.

26 days since seed down & 20 days since first germination. There are still a few bare spots. I am hoping that they will fill in on their own. I am still watering about 5 times a day, for 3-5 minutes depending on the temps. Should I be cutting back, and watering longer now?

Question for the experienced...

- When should I cut? I just picked up a manual reel mower so not worried about using the rotary
- When should I start to drop some N?
- Should I do a blanket spray of tenacity? There are a few weeds popping up
Cut watering to 1-2 times a day for slightly longer duration.
Mow yesterday.
Start dropping nitrogen now.
Spray tenacity 30 days post germination.
 
#24 ·
SNOWBOB11 said:
JBC-1 said:
Update...this is how things are looking as of today.

26 days since seed down & 20 days since first germination. There are still a few bare spots. I am hoping that they will fill in on their own. I am still watering about 5 times a day, for 3-5 minutes depending on the temps. Should I be cutting back, and watering longer now?

Question for the experienced...

- When should I cut? I just picked up a manual reel mower so not worried about using the rotary
- When should I start to drop some N?
- Should I do a blanket spray of tenacity? There are a few weeds popping up
Cut watering to 1-2 times a day for slightly longer duration.
Mow yesterday.
Start dropping nitrogen now.
Spray tenacity 30 days post germination.
Thank you sir! When you say longer duration, how long are you talking about?
 
#26 ·
Update.

41 days since seed down, and 35 since first germination.

I've cut three times already, and dropped 0.25N twice already. It is definitely getting thicker, and starting to fill in. There are still a few bare spots, but I am hopefully they will fill in eventually. I have not sprayed tenacity yet, but so far have found only a handful of weeds...should I still spray?