[liamjones]

What made you decide on the RPR Sport vs the RPR Sprint or RPR Golf varieties?

Using figures from BSPB 2020 i created a spreadsheet to calculate overall mix performance, Barlibro (the Barenbrug RPR cultivar) isnt in the BSPB, but is in the french turfgrass-list, where it performs very well.

For the 'creeping' rye, it came down to RPR sport, RPR golf and germinal a30. Whilst the a30 was the best value for money, it sort of wasn't because it was only a 10kg bag vs Barenrbugs 20kg bags. I only needed 10kg though. Ultimately i didnt pick the a30 because both the RPR's performed better. I chose RPR sport over golf as total greeness(combined summer/winter) and disease resistance were higher than the golf. The RPR sport was also cheaper. Finally, i've seen the RPR sport(used to be called stadium) used in a couple of places online, @piotrkol and @j1ggy from here. Looks really good. The RPR sprint i didnt consider because 'RPR SPRINT is designed to be maintained at 60mm+ height of cut' so it's cultivar selection has been picked around that goal. I think mow height is also a contributing factor toward my selection of RPR sport. it's recommended HOC at 18mm is roughly what ill be going for. the RPR golf was 12mm.

 

[liamjones]

After rotivating to 8inches last weekend, this weekend me and a friend set about installing the two sprinklers and getting a final level to the lawn.



We used 21ft scaffold poles set across the lawn against a string line. Dug out each bay and stamped down the soil then added screened (8mm) topsoil and screeded off with a timber.

 

[RasmusAnd]

Herbicides
Tenacity for new lawn establishment
Already have some triclopyr and glyphosate for sport treatment if required
Yet to decide if any other pre-ems required, eg prodiamine (barricade) or pendimethalin (available in UK) cant use on new lawn anyway so will wait.

Excellent work! I have overseeded last fall with Barenbrug RPR Intensive (I believe it's a golf mix). So far so good. But I have a problem with Poa A - Would you be willing to share how you got your hands on Tenacity?

 

[liamjones]

Excellent work! I have overseeded last fall with Barenbrug RPR Intensive (I believe it's a golf mix). So far so good. But I have a problem with Poa A - Would you be willing to share how you got your hands on Tenacity?

Thanks, you need a lawn journal so i can have a look! I got the Tenacity from someone in the UK who'd bought it from an american eBay seller.

 

[RasmusAnd]

Excellent work! I have overseeded last fall with Barenbrug RPR Intensive (I believe it's a golf mix). So far so good. But I have a problem with Poa A - Would you be willing to share how you got your hands on Tenacity?

Thanks, you need a lawn journal so i can have a look! I got the Tenacity from someone in the UK who'd bought it from an american eBay seller.

Okay, thanks. I have been looking at US Amazon and Ebay but I will just have to look a bit harder for someone who will ship to the EU.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time it takes to put into a lawn journal but here's a few pics of my lawn about three weeks after I scarified, overseeded (again with RPR Intensive), and top dressed with sand to level out the humps and bumps it had gotten over the years.

 

[lfrancis]

What made you decide on the RPR Sport vs the RPR Sprint or RPR Golf varieties?

Using figures from BSPB 2020 i created a spreadsheet to calculate overall mix performance, Barlibro (the Barenbrug RPR cultivar) isnt in the BSPB, but is in the french turfgrass-list, where it performs very well.

For the 'creeping' rye, it came down to RPR sport, RPR golf and germinal a30. Whilst the a30 was the best value for money, it sort of wasn't because it was only a 10kg bag vs Barenrbugs 20kg bags. I only needed 10kg though. Ultimately i didnt pick the a30 because both the RPR's performed better. I chose RPR sport over golf as total greeness(combined summer/winter) and disease resistance were higher than the golf. The RPR sport was also cheaper. Finally, i've seen the RPR sport(used to be called stadium) used in a couple of places online, @piotrkol and @j1ggy from here. Looks really good. The RPR sprint i didnt consider because 'RPR SPRINT is designed to be maintained at 60mm+ height of cut' so it's cultivar selection has been picked around that goal. I think mow height is also a contributing factor toward my selection of RPR sport. it's recommended HOC at 18mm is roughly what ill be going for. the RPR golf was 12mm.

Thanks for the detailed reply. Definitely swaying towards RPR Sport myself now. Looking forward to seeing how your project progresses, good luck.

 

[liamjones]

Applied glyphosate yesterday for the 2nd time using a hand pump sprayer. Really not happy with it, I added marker dye and could see what was going on. the spray was really mixed in the rate it was being applied, and the nozzle made it come out in a cone.



I decided to get a Solo 475 backpack sprayer after reading positive reviews. It's a diaphragm pump so the pressure is more constant and the nozzles are changeable to TeeJets. Just using the standard flat spray at the minute really happy with the results.



Did a test run this evening and uses 6L one way, so probably whilst I'm getting used to it am going to double up to 12L and go both directions.

Got the sprinklers set up on smart things now so I can hook it up on a 4 x schedule (7am,11am,3pm,7pm) to start during germination. Then onto one that calculates rainfall and tops up the rest. The area is looking a bit lumpy as have walked over it a couple times, pretty soft under foot. A few patches get waterlogged too where the clay content is higher. Am going to apply some sharp sand tomorrow to improve drainage.



Also got my test results back today from the lab. Pretty happy, just going to try and keep the sulphate down over the season. The results are as follows:

 

[liamjones]

Got the seed down today!



Sowed it in two directions with a basic drop spreader. 6.8kgs I ended up using over 120m2.

Made sure to fluff up the soil before sowing and added some sharp sand and compost to heavier areas identified by the sprinklers.



Raked again, rolled, levelled with a lawn lute and added seed by hand to the scraper back high points. rolled again.

Once happy with seed coverage, contact and level I filled up the new backpack sprayer with tenacity at 4oz/M (3.5ml / 120m2) and blue dye.





Let it sit for 3 hours then got the sprinklers back on a schedule. 3 minutes every 4 hours to start, will see how we get on. Don't want any washout.

 

[Richard Slater]

Looks good, you've worked hard I am sure you will be rewarded

 

[lfrancis]

Looking forward to seeing some germination there @liamjones.

Did I see a Gardena irrigation system installed?

 

[liamjones]

Looking forward to seeing some germination there @liamjones.

Did I see a Gardena irrigation system installed?

Yes it's two Gardena OS 140 on a single 25mm feed. Mains pressure is about 3 bar. I've got it teed directly off the mains. It's controlled by a hunter PGV valve connected to a smart things controlled plug power supply. At my last place I had it set up with a fibraro relay, but as I only have one zone here I just have it on a single plug, cheaper way of doing it.

I'm having a bit of an issue with one of the OS 140's thiugh, it's got clogged up and I can't seem to dislodge to trapped dirt. Two of the nozzles are trickling out and causing an issue with lot of water pooling around the sprinkler head

 

[lfrancis]

Thanks for the response, I'll take a look at that setup.

Have you tried using a needle/pin to dislodge the dirt in the nozzles?

 

[liamjones]

Thanks for the response, I'll take a look at that setup.

Have you tried using a needle/pin to dislodge the dirt in the nozzles?

Yeah have had them completely off and as much casing as I could remove still to no avail. Have sent Gardena an email waiting to hear back.

 

[liamjones]

We have germination day 4.

 

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Congrats on the green babies!

Glad to see you didn't try to get grass growing right against that southern fence! That would be frustrating and probably muddy

 

[j1ggy]

Those of you having any doubts aboit RPR Sport - don't! Just check my latest picture in my topic
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=270157#p270157 as it shows how cool it looks at 17mm or 5/8". Also, it germinates in 3 to 4 days and stays fairly green in the winter and I have nothing but praise for it.

And it goes in line with the above post. Oh, and I had Gardena pop-up sprinklers and I've replaced them with Hunter's. And I kinda feel the Hunter is better, especially because it's half the price...

 

[lfrancis]

That's two sources showing 4 days rapid germination, nice. How long @j1ggy until you saw the spreading capability of the Barlibro? Should really help with dog urine spots.

I'm thinking of killing mine in August/September and spreading this.

 

[j1ggy]

IDK... All I had was earthworm problems. But seeing how fast it germinates and fills those spots, I'm really happy. That's the right word. Happy.

I just thought that it'll be a major PITA, but this has really brought my spirits up, as I cannot afford to have any bare spots at such a low HOC.

I'll take a few pictures tomorrow just to show where its at after a week and how the other bare spots (which I seeded on monday) look.

Oh, and I wasn't ready for such rapid germination and growth and I might have mowed it at 17 mm with the rest of the court. And if I did, it doesn't seem to care...

So I wouldn't be to worried about any prpblems that may derive from having your dog pee on it, as you can repair it fairly quickly. In this time of the year, that is.
Is it a male or female dog?

 

[RCUK]

Congrats mate, hard work has paid off and nice to see those young shoots!

Check out another RPR fan here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ0JL_MZr5_gf5aDcGrgaaQ

 

[liamjones]

Thanks all, I should add I have adjusted my irrigation schedule to every 2 hours 7am-7pm for 3 minutes during this UK heatwave. Had 20c+ since sowing, today was 26c!

@j1ggy As for the gardenas, I went for them because of their ability to cover a square area, the hunters cover circular areas I think so would struggle with corners or massively overspray onto decking/fence? I'd be all up for going Hunter I highly rate their PGV valves