This stuff simply won't go to sleep this year. I ended up mowing again on Tues as it was fuzzy even at 2 inch HOC it took probably almost a 1/2 inch off. Growth has slowed way down but not close to dormant. We are not forecasted to have lows in 30s for at least 10 days so it is what is. Last year my last mow was right after Thanksgiving.

I also got a new toy. Found this on Black Friday for $99 shipped. Should be fun to use in Spring.

I've also decided that my leveling will be a true chore. My goal will be to get all the lawn within 1 inch or so of level in the first round. That will mean I will have several areas that will be buried under 3 or more (a couple spots around 6) inches of sand. Given that, I am going to use a 60% sand 40% biochar available locally for a reasonable amount. I think I will need 10 yards for my 7.5kish yard.

I understand this means somewhat of a rebuilding year with just lots of repair and growing. I also realize there will be settling and I will need to go again. I'm hoping in September it will be in good enough shape to do one more round then in Spring 2026 do a true level with 100% sand that will get me to my 1 inch HOC goal without scalping parts.

I plan to save some plus from aerating and put them in a tray and water and fertilize so I can plant them once I do the first level in those really deep areas. I figure between that a spriging I have a legit shot at being recovered in 1 season.

Thoughts?

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. I am assuming weather will get cold at some point but for now we have only had 1 night in the upper 30s with very light frost and lots of 60s and 70s. Grass is still pretty green and growing. So much so I'll have to mow next week. Probably hard to see but there are actually quite a few Bermuda seed heads in yard.

 

Definitely dormant now Really unusual cold weather here. I think 5 nights in a row below freezing (we've only had 20 days below freezing in last 5 years) Should allow me to ignore for ~6 weeks then comes pre emergent then scalp.

 

So this is crazy. I went to Vegas for Superbowl shenanigans with the yard 99% brown 6 days ago and came back today to this. It's like 3" long in spots. Fortunately very little weed pressure but I have to get preemrge down ASAP! It is supposed to get a bit cooler this weekend but I need to try to get a mow in if it will stop raining. This is my current preemerge/early season plan.

 

Also should have mentioned Feb 2nd gave all 6 live oaks on my property a real serious trim up. You can see how brown the grass was then.

 

 

Gotta love a trip to the co-op. $250 fertilizer for all year including 7 bags (350lbs) of sulphur for pH. 300lbs of ammonium sulfate, 50 lbs of MAP, 50 lbs of DAP, 50 lbs of potash.

 

Ok finally yard is waking up. Probably about 70% green at this point. Scalped as low as the honda would go 2 weeks ago. Then mowed at 1.25" last Saturday. I will need to mow again later this week. I finally put out my Prodiamine/Isoxaben combo Feb 26th probably a couple weeks late honestly but very little weed pressure at moment. A few broadleaf's but nothing concerning. I went out yesterday with my first fertilization a year with the 18-24-12 Lesco. I plan to put first bag of Sulphur out this weekend as well on my pH reduction journey.

New debate is how to level the backyard. Quick backstory I had a pool put in 3 years ago and they a decent grading job with the fill but it of course settled over time and is pretty much disastrous in places now (see pics). I have several spots that need 6+ inches. I'd love anyone's opinion on my opinions here:

1) Bring in screened topsoil and go over, sod over that then in a couple months get totally flat. Obviously this is $$$$ option (plus I'll deal with matching sod, etc)

2) Plug/Sprig existing before bring in sand/topsoil then put those plugs and sprigs back on top after level. Probably cheapest option but will take longest to fill in and have to baby the most

3) Rent a sod cutter, cut up what I can, bring in pure masonry sand and level the relay the sod on top. Will still likely need to to level slightly after couple months but this is middle road $ and effort.

So what would you do and should I do 100% sand or topsoil or mix?? My biggest concern with pure sand is the layering possibility (the yard is pretty heavy clay) and also its fairly sloped in backyard so I am concerned the sand will suffer from washout.

 

Ok finally yard is waking up. Probably about 70% green at this point. Scalped as low as the honda would go 2 weeks ago. Then mowed at 1.25" last Saturday. I will need to mow again later this week. I finally put out my Prodiamine/Isoxaben combo Feb 26th probably a couple weeks late honestly but very little weed pressure at moment. A few broadleaf's but nothing concerning. I went out yesterday with my first fertilization a year with the 18-24-12 Lesco. I plan to put first bag of Sulphur out this weekend as well on my pH reduction journey.

New debate is how to level the backyard. Quick backstory I had a pool put in 3 years ago and they a decent grading job with the fill but it of course settled over time and is pretty much disastrous in places now (see pics). I have several spots that need 6+ inches. I'd love anyone's opinion on my opinions here:

1) Bring in screened topsoil and go over, sod over that then in a couple months get totally flat. Obviously this is $$$$ option (plus I'll deal with matching sod, etc)

2) Plug/Sprig existing before bring in sand/topsoil then put those plugs and sprigs back on top after level. Probably cheapest option but will take longest to fill in and have to baby the most

3) Rent a sod cutter, cut up what I can, bring in pure masonry sand and level the relay the sod on top. Will still likely need to to level slightly after couple months but this is middle road $ and effort.

So what would you do and should I do 100% sand or topsoil or mix?? My biggest concern with pure sand is the layering possibility (the yard is pretty heavy clay) and also its fairly sloped in backyard so I am concerned the sand will suffer from washout.

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Man that needs some major leveling. Maybe option three, but will you do the whole back yard or only pull up the worst spots?
I think it's the best option because you will have an instant lawn without needing to purchase sod

 

Ive generally used 100% sand it seems to work ok. But that deep maybe a little at time. Ive read you can also mix in some topsoil to give it some nutrients. Bermuda can grow on concrete so I dont think sand will stop it!

 

Yard is greening up very nicely. At least 80% there. Color still a little splotchy but just need to give it some time. I went ahead and put out a starter fertilizer this week as soil temps are in the 70s and have been for a couple weeks now. Preemergent while not perfect has been pretty good with only a couple weeds here and there (see pics). I'll hit it with some post in April but fine with for now as want to concentrate on getting to get full and green.

Got my soil test back from from end of Feb and what a disaster on the Ph. The rest is fine and all within reason but Ph and calcium are off the chart. A big reason why is the irrigation water. It has a pH of 8.4 and calcium hardness out off the charts. I'm likely going to have to adress it eventually if I ever want to get a reasonable pH. I don't care about anything super low but a low 7 eventually would be nice vs a low 8!

Height of Cut is now ~1.25 which is the second lowest notch on my mower. I can't go lower until I level or will just be blotchy with scalping every mow.

Happy with where I'm at for now. My favorite time of year!

 

Looks amazing! I’m still waiting for the full green up here in Austin

 

Gave a mow today and then put down first PGR ever. I just couldn't stand it I mowed Sunday afternoon and it was already shaggy today. I took at least a half inch off so PGR it is. I used 0.2 oz/k which is like half rate (full is 0.38 for 419) just to give it some ramp up. I also added Feature at 2oz/k to hopefully minimize the bronzing and green up the lawn a bit anyway. Yard is looking good but I can't wait to level it in May. It is so uneven that at 1.25 inches I still get scalping and color unevenness across several spots in the yard. I know it will take the rest of the season to recover but will be so worth it to have a level yard next year! For now I'll deal with what I have. I think I can time the leveling with the "rebound" from this PGR app which should help it fill in even faster though I figure for a couple months I'll likely just mow every 3 days as I push growth and fill in rather than regulate it.

On a different subject I did order a Dosatron and got it hooked up to my irrigation system. I have not used it yet as I am still putting final touches like securing to the brick etc but I can't wait to start bringing my 8.3 pH water down to 6.5ish when I irrigate. I think that alone will help the most in my long term journey to get my pH to something reasonable. I'll throw up some pictures later this week.

 

Just read your whole journal and I’ll be following along as we are at similar stages with our 2025 reno plans. Curious to see if the dosatron helps your soil pH as mine is testing similar to yours.

I am also starting spraying fertilizer and PGR for the first time this year so lots of learning!

 

Good to have company . My first time applying PGR as well. It's probably the piece I am changing I am most excited about! The other is getting my irrigation water in a much more reasonable spot and I completed all the hardware to do that today. Now I have to play with it to get the citric acid ratio right. Overall I'm pretty happy with my progress this year and where lawn is at. My next big project which is also a major checklist item is leveling the lawn. I'm so tired of having scalp rings and areas even mowing at 1.5. picture of the acid injection system attached.

 

Lawn is looking pretty darn good. I am seeing my nemesis begin to pop up the dreaded sedges so within a couple weeks it's going to get a good dose of Monument and Celero combo for the whole yard. I hate this stuff and am determined to wipe it out this year. Otherwise can't really tell much on the PGR. It may have slowed slightly but we've also had cooler weather. The good news is it didn't bronze anything and seems fine so in another 250ish GDD I'll send it at .35 per 1000 sqft unless I do my leveling then. After leveling I am going to let it grow and just mow every 3 days for a couple months until it gets good and grown in. I am really tired of scalp marks even at 1.25"

 

Yard is looking pretty good. PGR seems to be working. I am close to "peak suppression" at about 125 GDD after I applied. I have not mowed in 5 days and just barely see any growth. I'll mow this weekend just to make sure I don't wait to long. You can see in the last picture the bane of my existence. I absolutely hate sedge and it's pretty much the only weed I have this year except for a few stray POA annua.

So I decided it was time and treated with Monument (trifloxysulfuron) and sulfentrazone combo. I'm hoping that knock it down pretty good. I'll treat again in late May to get whatever remains. Always floors me how little Monument you need. It's 0.35 Grams/1000 sqft. It's crazy how effective that tiny amount is!

I have a date for my next big project! Sand leveling will happen on May 10th. I am going straight masonry sand and I'm going to pull a bunch of plugs the day before from several areas that I know are 2 inches or more. I am going to get a truckload full which is 12 yards I'm told which will be perfect given I have several areas that will be inches deep. I decided against pulling up the sod first or using topsoil or anything else. Just plugging. I know this means it will be 4 to 6 months before it looks really good again but I think it's the right call long term.

I will likely not do anything except give it 0.5 lbs of N via AMS next week then mow, water, and wait until sand level. It should be coming off PGR at a perfect time for the level and I will probably for at least 2 months just deal with mowing every 3rd day while I push it to grow in.

Dosatron seems to be working. I put 2 cups of citric acid in per 5G of water and dose at 2% and the water coming out of irrigation is around 6.5 pH so I'm pretty close to where I want to be. I use about 6 gallons of the acid mix with a full water which is equivalent to around a half inch. No rain in forecast for at least a week so it will get used.

Speaking of weather it has been fantastic in April. Low of 65. High in low 80s everyday. Starts off a bit cloudy and really pleasant to get stuff done in yard. Plunged into the pool last weekend after we boiled crawfish as it finally hit 80 degrees so I think it's officially summer ⛱

Oh another project. I purchased a used Earthwise 7 blade manual reel from a neighbor for cheap and am going to electrify it. That should be fun but will probably wait until post level to start that project as I would be to tempted to use it if I got it done before

As always suggestions and criticisms welcomed.

The dreaded nutsedge!!

 

Well plan changes slightly. I mowed last Friday week and with all the mid and upper 80s weather had to mow again today so the PGR is certainly on the downslope so today I went ahead and applied it. It's right at 250GDD anyway and next week I will be out of town for 6 days so I'll likely give a quick mow Monday then gone until Sunday and hopefully the PGR will keep it where I won't have to raise HOC when I return. The yard looks good. Still not 100% colored up and in full stride but getting there. Likely by Mid May will be in full on dark green mode!

Still looking super forward to the leveling that will happen on May 10th. I'll make sure to take before and after pics.

 

Well the big weekend is here. I will be leveling this weekend. I got a 6 yards (full dump truck) of masonry sand. I will likely need close to another full truck but I wanted to get one and get all my gnarly big spots filled in first then probably wait a month or so and come in and do the whole yard with a true layer. I more like spot leveling in bulk this weekend. Went with straight masonry sand.

It's been raining for 3 days in a row here but stopping today and no more likely in the 10 day forecast so should be a good time to do it.

Since it has been raining I took the time to start my manual to electric earthwise reel mower project. Spent a couple hours on it yesterday and so far so good. I realistically will likely only ever use it on my front yard as the backyard is sloped pretty big and manual pushing even that 50ish lbs up hills is not pretty.

Yard is looking pretty good. I did some tidying up and removed some bushes etc and put some AMS out last weekend. The PGR should be on the downslope now and should allow me to hit the N hard after the level to get the fill in going. I mowed last Sunday and will scalp on Friday presand. We are also supposed to start hitting 90 degrees late next week so all that combined is good news for the growth and fill in. I will make sure to get before and after pics

Reel mower electric conversion pics.

 

Are you scalping with a reel? What HOC are you scalping at? Im a week behind you in schedule and my biggest source of nerves is coming from only being able to get the HOC down to 1.5". Im scared that is going to make it tough to get the sand down to the soil.

 

Ok I feel like I'm never going to be able to move again but the leveling is done and went well. I put 12 yards out. I had 3 neighbors helping first day. Finished up with another 5 hours solo this afternoon. I am very happy so far to get those multi inch "regrading" type spots done. Even if not perfect I know it will be much better. Hopefully if I have to do again I can rent an ecolawn and give it a "normal" topdress leveling. I won't do all that by hand again. To much work for a 50 year old, even with 3 other 50 year olds helping . It looks like I have my own private beach now.

The drag mat proved the winner tool wise. Don't get me wrong lawn leveling rake worked well also as well as the back side of a rake but the drag mat was more useful than I would have guessed.

 

That's so much work, oh my goodness. Bravo for getting it done!
So how's it look like now a week later?

 

One week update. Sections are growing in nicely. The front yard especially I think with a few spot exceptions will only be another 4 to 6 weeks before you won't be able to tell. Back and side are where I had multi inch spots and of course those will take time. I will say I'm happy with how it's holding and the major regrading parts look good. I will for sure need to touch them up late in the season but mission accomplished as far as major reworks. What is growing in looks great. Super dark green and looks healthy. I did put down 0.5lb/1000 of N P and K last Tuesday. Will hit it with another .3 or so of N later this week. I tried to take pictures from roughly the same spots. Totally different time of day (10am compared to 6pm) but gives a decent comparison.

Also did another interesting experiment. I had one flower bed that Bermuda was overtaking so I thought why not sprig it in the areas where I did massive sand but didn't put plugs. So I pulled the runners up and just stuck a hole in the sand with my finger and buried them. I have watered the areas twice a day for 5 minutes and they seem to have in large part taken really well. Time will tell of course but so far I'm happy. Pictures of just after I planted sprigs and then today.

And today

 

Made a first cut with my electrified Earthwise 7 blade today and man I'm sold. I've never reel mower before and I have to say could already totally tell how much better the cut is. It's difficult to show with all the sands spots still but cut at 1.25 inches probably 5k of the 8k I have and only used roughly half of a battery. I left where I had super thick sand and sprigs to let it grow in more but honestly I'm not sure I'll use the rotary again this season unless I scalp for a leveling touch up later in the year. Tomorrow going to spray another 0.25 of N with Ammonium Sulfate.

 

This evening I sprayed enough AMS to put down 0.25lb/ 1000sqft of N. I also added Feature at 2 oz per 1000sqft since it has been 2 months since I added any iron or macros. I'll water in tomorrow morning. We have had zero rain in the last 2 weeks. Next week looks promising for at least a little. Overall happy with where I'm at. I'll certainly need to mow again early next week. I'll get 2 week pictures early next week before I mow. The sprigged areas are looking great. I know will be months before filled in but they are all green and growing in straight sand. I'll probably spring a couple more area next week since my experiment went well. Just pulling them from flower beds and random plants in pots.

 

Well we finally got rain and as usual here when it rains it pours. We received about 3 inches in 24 hours. 2 different lines of thunderstorms. Fortunately the yard overall faired fairly well. Some sand washout but only one significant area. I'll likely go get a 1/2 yard of topsoil later this week and fill in and then come back a week or so later with a half yard of sand to fill in the cracks and level.

Like I say otherwise I'm very happy. Sprigs are really really growing in big time and are at least 3 times their size in just a couple weeks. I was very worried this are would washout as it's sloped and like 8 inches of sand in places but it held well l.

And some shots from the same angles as before. Front yard is filling nicely and probably needs another month and will be super nice again.

Back has several large patches that will take time but overall happy with progress.

Same with left side yard. Some washout from the gutters I'll have to deal with but nothing major.

The neighbors on my right are building a boat dock and so there is a section I share with them that will get destroyed. Luckily they let me talk to contractor with them and they agreed to level everything back. Bring in 419 sod and sand after that so I'm confident that will be OK when all said and done. I knew they were likely to do it so I didn't level much on that side anyway. Really glad now I didn't waste the time or money. I'll take some pics of that as they are starting today.

Going to try to get a mow in tomorrow if the rain will hold off as we are supposed to get another round tomorrow but it needs mowed in a bad way.

I'll spray another round of AMS at 0.3 lb/1000 either late this week or early next just depending on the weather.

 

Enjoy that earth wise for a long as you can, but you are now hooked on reel mowing.

Your next step will be getting a real reel mower.

 

Not this season for sure. We'll see next season. Hell I still have a lot of growing in to do to get the yard back to presentable before I'm even tempted to do that!

 

The fill in continues nicely. Front is probably 75% there. Back closer to 50% I cut it with my electric reel mower on Saturday then lowered to 1" today. Some minor scalping in back but nothing that won't grow out with next mow. The good news is that a consistent scalp, not from the unevenness from before. I'm pretty pumped about that. I'm itching to put PGR on it but I'm going to hold out until at least July to grow in as much as possible.

Plan is to spray another 0.3N/1000 of AMS on it tonight.

There were two very small beds with bushes in the back I pulled out right before the level and then leveled with sand that have at least 2 inches there. There are growing in fine but both are full of sedge as being beds they didn't get any preemergent and honestly not any post emergent except and occasional glyphosate spot treatment. I hit those areas with a Celero (imazosulfuron)/sulfentrazone combo on Saturday. Side note I have basically zero spurge and neighbors have tons so I am 100% sold on Gallery (isoaxben) and will use that again in the fall and the spring.

I have not done anything with the washout by the back tree yet. I am contemplating getting some quotes to relocate a pop up drain that's there along with running my side gutters underground and tying them into some existing drainage but we'll see. That may be a fall or next year. I could do it myself but I just don't feel like doing that much digging so I'll likely hire that out. Proper equipment can knock it out in a day.

Back

Side

Front

The sprigs continue to amaze. I have cut the water back to 5 minutes every other day . It's probably 30ish percent coverage of inches of bare sand in just 3 weeks

Today

 

I'll hit it tonight with 0.3lb N/1000 of AMS and then water in good in morning. Just a quick comparison shot of week 1 vs week 3


Front week 3. Week 1

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