This is a little history on a project that has been 20 years in the making. Ever since I started playing Golf i always wanted a piece of the course at home. Maybe even a practice green if it was possible. So over the past 10 years of playing with perennial rye and Cal Trimmers I said, F-It, let's go for it. So the big question was do i continue with the Two-Putt Poa, or something different.
After lots of input from many people and research I decided to try Seed Research of Oregon's 777 Super Bent. Once I decided on the turf type I needed to go about the best means to succeed. So in November of 2020 I rented a Track Loader and a 7' x 14' dump trailer and started removing 1200 sqft of native clay soil for the winter sub base prep.
***November 22, 2020***
After removing 6" plus of my none draining clay I covered the whole area with 6 mil. plastic. This plastic would not move much for the next 2 months. While the PNW rain fell as it does often in the winter months I started drawing irrigation, subgrade drain, and perimeter curb.
***November 29, 2020***
These drawings were rough drafts and changed significantly during the process. So when the days were decent I would head outside and just plug away on the ground work.
***November 29, 2020***
Once I had the perimeter set and layed out I started on the new irrigation and digging up my existing drainage for future expansion.
***December 11, 2020
***December 12, 2020
Then came time to rework my deck stairs and start the perimeter curb. This portion of the rough in was tough because of the difference in grade. I didn't want to have to many serious grade changes so this took some time to get it where i was happy with the final grade.
***December 22, 2020***
And what better then a Christmas Eve concrete pour! Wow that was cold and took all day to be able to brush this.
***December 24, 2020***
Once I had that stair landing poured, and after over a month of terrible weather it was time to start forming the rest of the perimeter curb. I am lucky I did this when I did for lumber prices were not through the roof yet! Fheeewwww
***February 9, 2021***
Now for the most important part of this whole project. DRAINAGE! Where were are in our neighborhood, we receive all the runoff from the properties to the west of us. It's a gradual grade of 75' of elevation for 2 blocks that all comes to us. So I wanted to do the best I could with the budget I had to not let water sit in my future sandbox.
A few pictures before there was a photo of a end of 4" perf pipe about 16" below another curb I poured last summer when i built a new patio slab under our deck. That 4" perf leads to a 6" perf pipe that my neighbor and I put in a few years ago that leads back to the street. So that 4" connection is where I wanted to tie all my "fishbone" drainage to. I installed a total of 200" of wrapped 3" perf pipe that all lead to that 4" connection. Roughly 130' inside the turf area and another 70' that is just outside the perimeter curb.
***February 24th, 2021
Then I had a couple good weather days and prepped and poured the perimeter curb.
***March 16th, 2021***
At this point I was already 2 weeks behind my seed down date. So I had to race to finish the drainage and prep for root zone mix.
***March 17th, 2021***
Then I was like OMG I have to get this irrigation roughed in or I will never make it. With the help from my friend Corey from Johnson Irrigation, he took my drawings and slapped them on a AutoCad program and made sure everything work as it was designed. Flagged all head locations and started hand digging and glueing.
***March 25th, 2021***
Now it was time to rough subgrade and set grade stakes. I ran string lines every 8' from perimeter curb to patio slab and marked each grade stake 1/2" below my string line so I had plenty of room for future Topdress. I also dropped some Simplot Lime and Planet Turf for nutrients and a Carbon Source.
***March 29th, 2021***
I then cut all those stakes down and set all my Hunter Pro-Spray PRS-30 to grade as well and then tested all zones.
So I then did some math and ordered 13 yards of fairway grade sand from our local distributor that services all the Golf courses in the area. This is where the real hard and tedious work began.
***March 31st, 2021***
Pushed all that sand around and rough graded the root zone mix. Once that sand was pushed I added more lime and another feeding of planet turf into the root zone mix.
***April 3rd, 2021***
Unfortunately that 13 yards wasn't close. I ordered another 10, and topped off the remainder of the turf area and compacted and finial graded the area. I ended up with 23 Tons of Sand and used 21 of it. Which was a blessing in disguise because I now have plenty for weekly topdressing.
***April 5th, 2021***
Now came 777 Seed down and Black Gold Peat to cover and additional fertilizer. Additional Planet Turf for more Carbon source. So April 11th was more than 5 weeks behind my goal date but it was what it was.
***April 11th, 2021***
I was so used to VIP 3 PRG and Two Putt Poa germinating in 4-5 days i was getting nervous not seeing anything. But after 8 days...
***April 17th, 2021***
Then the 777 started taking off.
***April 18th, 2021***
While that was growing and me waiting to cut it for the first time i finished up the perimeter drain.
***May 4th, 2021***
Then it was time, .50" for the first cut.
***May 5th, 2021***
Finished back filling the perimeter drain
***May 24th, 2021***
Now currently i have 3 cuts at .40" and a good regular feeding schedule, micro nutrient schedule and topdress schedule. so I cut then sit back and enjoy.
***May 31st, 2021***
Took a few shots just after sunset!
***June 9th 2021***
First Cut @ .30". Well on the way to .125" by fall.
***June 12th, 2021***
More to Come...
After lots of input from many people and research I decided to try Seed Research of Oregon's 777 Super Bent. Once I decided on the turf type I needed to go about the best means to succeed. So in November of 2020 I rented a Track Loader and a 7' x 14' dump trailer and started removing 1200 sqft of native clay soil for the winter sub base prep.
***November 22, 2020***
After removing 6" plus of my none draining clay I covered the whole area with 6 mil. plastic. This plastic would not move much for the next 2 months. While the PNW rain fell as it does often in the winter months I started drawing irrigation, subgrade drain, and perimeter curb.
***November 29, 2020***
These drawings were rough drafts and changed significantly during the process. So when the days were decent I would head outside and just plug away on the ground work.
***November 29, 2020***
Once I had the perimeter set and layed out I started on the new irrigation and digging up my existing drainage for future expansion.
***December 11, 2020
***December 12, 2020
Then came time to rework my deck stairs and start the perimeter curb. This portion of the rough in was tough because of the difference in grade. I didn't want to have to many serious grade changes so this took some time to get it where i was happy with the final grade.
***December 22, 2020***
And what better then a Christmas Eve concrete pour! Wow that was cold and took all day to be able to brush this.
***December 24, 2020***
Once I had that stair landing poured, and after over a month of terrible weather it was time to start forming the rest of the perimeter curb. I am lucky I did this when I did for lumber prices were not through the roof yet! Fheeewwww
***February 9, 2021***
Now for the most important part of this whole project. DRAINAGE! Where were are in our neighborhood, we receive all the runoff from the properties to the west of us. It's a gradual grade of 75' of elevation for 2 blocks that all comes to us. So I wanted to do the best I could with the budget I had to not let water sit in my future sandbox.
A few pictures before there was a photo of a end of 4" perf pipe about 16" below another curb I poured last summer when i built a new patio slab under our deck. That 4" perf leads to a 6" perf pipe that my neighbor and I put in a few years ago that leads back to the street. So that 4" connection is where I wanted to tie all my "fishbone" drainage to. I installed a total of 200" of wrapped 3" perf pipe that all lead to that 4" connection. Roughly 130' inside the turf area and another 70' that is just outside the perimeter curb.
***February 24th, 2021
Then I had a couple good weather days and prepped and poured the perimeter curb.
***March 16th, 2021***
At this point I was already 2 weeks behind my seed down date. So I had to race to finish the drainage and prep for root zone mix.
***March 17th, 2021***
Then I was like OMG I have to get this irrigation roughed in or I will never make it. With the help from my friend Corey from Johnson Irrigation, he took my drawings and slapped them on a AutoCad program and made sure everything work as it was designed. Flagged all head locations and started hand digging and glueing.
***March 25th, 2021***
Now it was time to rough subgrade and set grade stakes. I ran string lines every 8' from perimeter curb to patio slab and marked each grade stake 1/2" below my string line so I had plenty of room for future Topdress. I also dropped some Simplot Lime and Planet Turf for nutrients and a Carbon Source.
***March 29th, 2021***
I then cut all those stakes down and set all my Hunter Pro-Spray PRS-30 to grade as well and then tested all zones.
So I then did some math and ordered 13 yards of fairway grade sand from our local distributor that services all the Golf courses in the area. This is where the real hard and tedious work began.
***March 31st, 2021***
Pushed all that sand around and rough graded the root zone mix. Once that sand was pushed I added more lime and another feeding of planet turf into the root zone mix.
***April 3rd, 2021***
Unfortunately that 13 yards wasn't close. I ordered another 10, and topped off the remainder of the turf area and compacted and finial graded the area. I ended up with 23 Tons of Sand and used 21 of it. Which was a blessing in disguise because I now have plenty for weekly topdressing.
***April 5th, 2021***
Now came 777 Seed down and Black Gold Peat to cover and additional fertilizer. Additional Planet Turf for more Carbon source. So April 11th was more than 5 weeks behind my goal date but it was what it was.
***April 11th, 2021***
I was so used to VIP 3 PRG and Two Putt Poa germinating in 4-5 days i was getting nervous not seeing anything. But after 8 days...
***April 17th, 2021***
Then the 777 started taking off.
***April 18th, 2021***
While that was growing and me waiting to cut it for the first time i finished up the perimeter drain.
***May 4th, 2021***
Then it was time, .50" for the first cut.
***May 5th, 2021***
Finished back filling the perimeter drain
***May 24th, 2021***
Now currently i have 3 cuts at .40" and a good regular feeding schedule, micro nutrient schedule and topdress schedule. so I cut then sit back and enjoy.
***May 31st, 2021***
Took a few shots just after sunset!
***June 9th 2021***
First Cut @ .30". Well on the way to .125" by fall.
***June 12th, 2021***
More to Come...
