[monty]

Hi everyone! I've just begun the renovation to my front yard a few days ago, and I wanted to start a thread to talk about it, track my progress, and get advice.

It was a tough decision because I do have a nice lawn. Not perfect, but certainly the nicest on the block. I decided to renovate mostly due to a terrible bentgrass infestation, but also because of some in consistent grass types. I'm also going to take this opportunity to do some leveling, slight grading, and potentially an irrigation system if it is in the budget.

I'm going with a KBG blend of 40% Bewitched, 30% Blueberry, and 30% Prosperity.

Here is the schedule I'm working with:

July 23 Glyphosate
July 28 Scalp Mow
July 30 Level and Grade
August 8 Glyphosate anything green
August 9-24 Away on Vacation
August 17 or 18 Have my buddy stop over and glyphosate anything green that pops up while I'm away.
August 25 Seed down

I'm going to use Soil Moist seed coating, and top dress with peat moss. I'll continue watering the lawn between glyphosate applications.

I plan to water twice a day after seed is down. How much water, and how do I know when to get back to watering once a week?

Here are pictures before and after I attempted to kill off the bentgrass with Tenacity.

Before


Bentgrass treated w/ Tenacity


I appreciate any and all comments, advice, and conversation. Thanks!

 

[chrismar]

How much sun do you get? Do you have an irrigation system?

I ask because I was watering up to 5 times a day for my reno in 2015. I didn't use soil moist, though, so that'll definitely reduce the water required, but not sure if 2 will be enough.

 

[j4c11]

My experience has been that unless you're experiencing temps in the 90s, 3 rounds of watering are sufficient. The evening one is the most important, as the seed stays moist through the night so you get 12-14 hours of moist seed on one watering. Morning dew then helps to extend the moisture into the late morning, so your next watering would be around 10-11 and the third one around 2.

 

[g-man]

Welcome to the forum. I think you have a solid plan. The only thing I would add is one more level/grading the day before seed down. A torrential downpour could screw up the leveling you did.

If you plan to do the irrigation, now is the time to do it so you could test it and be able to use it for germination. Otherwise do have a plan on how to irrigate the area using a spigot controller.

The key for germination is to keep the soil moist and not wet. I do 5 times a day for 5 min each and adjust based on rain/heat. The times I used without soil moist are: 5/6am, 10am, 1pm, 3pm, 6pm. With a spigot timer, i use it apply the 10am, 1pm, 3pm and I then manually trigger the 5/6am and 6pm when I am at home. I think j4c11 is a good approach too since you will be using the soil moist (I dont have experience with it). Just keep an eye on it and adjust as needed.

 

[wardconnor]

Did the tenacity not work on the bent? I have some small patches of bent. Wondering how well tenacity worked for you.

 

[monty]

Welcome to the forum. I think you have a solid plan. The only thing I would add is one more level/grading the day before seed down. A torrential downpour could screw up the leveling you did.

If you plan to do the irrigation, now is the time to do it so you could test it and be able to use it for germination. Otherwise do have a plan on how to irrigate the area using a spigot controller.

The key for germination is to keep the soil moist and not wet. I do 5 times a day for 5 min each and adjust based on rain/heat. The times I used without soil moist are: 5/6am, 10am, 1pm, 3pm, 6pm. With a spigot timer, i use it apply the 10am, 1pm, 3pm and I then manually trigger the 5/6am and 6pm when I am at home. I think j4c11 is a good approach too since you will be using the soil moist (I dont have experience with it). Just keep an eye on it and adjust as needed.

I would really like to get the irrigation system installed. As long as it is <$2,000 for my front yard (1,500 sf) and they can have the tear up the yard part done by my seed down date I will do it. I would even be willing to push my seed down date back a week. If I can't get it done, I will definitely get a spigot controller.

So I've got it narrowed down to 3-5 times per day.

 

[monty]

Did the tenacity not work on the bent? I have some small patches of bent. Wondering how well tenacity worked for you.

The tenacity worked pretty well with the bentgrass. I had way more of it than I thought. PSU extension office did a study and determined the best approach is 4 applications at 4oz/acre spaced out by two weeks is the best way to eliminate bentgrass. It did decent job of selectively killing it off, but not completely and I got through 3 applications. The 4th application would make me reach the yearly limit.

I decided that with the risk that I don't get it all this year, plus the fact that my lawn is less than perfect (some ugly fescues mixed in with my KBG) I would go forward and renovate the whole lawn. Since I still have one application of Tenacity left I can use that during seeding to suppress weeds.

Give the PSU Study a read through. I'm thinking it may take two years of applications to get total suppression if you have as bad of a problem as I had.

 

[monty]

Update! Glyphosate went down on 7/23, and scalp mowed today (7/28). Pictures mid scalping are below! Hopefully my tears water the weed seeds to help them germinate before my next glyphosate.

I have also had 3 irrigation contractors out for pricing and it sounds like I'll be able to do it within my budget! I'm leaning toward the rachio control based on the review I read here and other reviews I've read. One question I have is how does an irrigation contractor control the rachio? Do they need to have the app or is it possible to manually operate it?

 

[g-man]

You can start stop a zone from the controller. The app makes it easier. The app is free and you could setup a dummy password to give him access and change it later.

I think there is a portal to allow them access, but I haven't tried it.

If you have to buy a controller, I would strongly suggest the rachio.

 

[monty]

You can start stop a zone from the controller. The app makes it easier. The app is free and you could setup a dummy password to give him access and change it later.

I think there is a portal to allow them access, but I haven't tried it.

If you have to buy a controller, I would strongly suggest the rachio.

Cool as long as the tech can start it up from the controller that's all I need! Rachio it is!

 

[monty]

Did most of the leveling and grading today. having scalped it yesterday it was really easy to see the high and low spots. Low spots showed more dirt, and high spots had more grass.

 

[monty]

Rachio arrived today, and irrigation system is getting installed Monday and Tuesday! I got a bid that was close enough to my budget I was able to convince my wife!

 

[monty]

Irrigation system installation completed! Rachio up and running! Any tips for optimizing the rachio? I've got the back set to flexible daily. The front where I'm renovating I've got it set to run 3 times a day for just a few minutes to help keep the weeds germinating. Will up that to 5 once seed goes down.

 

[pennstater2005]

Irrigation system installation completed! Rachio up and running! Any tips for optimizing the rachio? I've got the back set to flexible daily. The front where I'm renovating I've got it set to run 3 times a day for just a few minutes to help keep the weeds germinating. Will up that to 5 once seed goes down.

I'm jealous! I'd love irrigation. Not happening anytime soon though

 

[kolbasz]

Irrigation system installation completed! Rachio up and running! Any tips for optimizing the rachio?

No real tips, I am still trying to dial mine in. The issue I am currently having is with flexible, is that it totally changes on the fly.

I looked at it one day and it says it will run Thursday. But then wake up the next day(Tuesday) and it is running. I need ot figure out if there is a way to set an alert for the night before, then I can delay if I think the moisture level is still OK.

 

[monty]

Update back from 2 week vacation...

Been fallowing away with glyphosate app on 8/19, and last glyphosate app today. Finished leveling and grading today, and I'm very happy with it. Pictures coming tomorrow.

Tomorrow is seed down day!! I'll be spreading the seed, rolling it, spreading starter fertilizer, covering with peat moss, and finally tenacity at 4oz per acre rate.

How many lbs of phosphorus should I be looking to get down with the starter fert?

 

[Fronta1]

Just as a reference, Scott's starter calls for 0.75#/k

 

[monty]

Seed down at 3lbs/k w/ soil moist seed coating
Rolled
Starter fertilizer (8-18-12) applied at 5lbs/k which is .9lbs P/k
Peat moss spread
Tenacity sprayed at 4oz/acre rate

Let the watering begin! My schedule is set for 10am, 2pm, and 7pm. I'll see how much the peat moss dries out between to decide if I need to add in a 4th watering.

Mid peat moss spread:


Done!

 

[jimmy]

You and I ended up with the same seed down day! Good luck!

 

[Pete1313]

Congrats on the seed down!