Seven333 wrote:Ouch! Are those POA seed heads just left of center?

and they are relentless, even in 90+ degree heat.

Its a large area but wondering if a trimmer would work. And then run over it again with the mower and bag it. I was planning on doing that because my reel mower won't go low enough for a true "scalp". Probably a pain, but might work.

Also, love the video Morpheus...

rake and bag for hazordus disposal, shop vac, whatever. nuked once, water, nuke twice, water, nuke 3 times, plant seeds, water.
wait for grass and weeds to grow. kill more weeds next season.
and so it goes.................

No problem.
Bombri: Go out and pick up a thatch rake for yourself.

1. It will rake up all that dead matted stuff. Hard work? Yes, but it works.
2. These tools have two angles to them. One scraps, one combs. Go easy combing through the mats and you will do the job.

Looks like this.



Then go over the area again gently using a bow rake to gather up what the thatch rake removes.



You'll remove 'most' of the dead grass (ya waited to long before you scalped!) and when done carefully, you'll never disturb the soil.

If you must buy both rakes new, a.) both will cost less than 1 day rental of a power rake and b.) you won't have to return them when finished. You OWN both then and will find both to be great tools to have later on.

Brombi-----as 248n8 suggested.......

I just used a trimmer today to remove about 1000 sq ft of matted grass post Roundup. I then used my mower to bag the dead grass. It took one hour to trim the grass and 30 minutes to bag the dead grass.

I need about four more hours to completed the trimming for my renovation.

If you elect to do this wear a mask or be prepared to ingest a lot of dust.

Mark

Done raking about half the yard, the other half will be raked tomorrow. Seed will go down tomorrow or Sunday. Just got back from the store, JG you'll appreciate that I picked up 20 pots for free from HD. Still working to find something to set them in to catch the extra water and allow watering from the bottom up.

Question - we've had tons and tons of rain so the soil is incredibly soft, to the point where I almost leave footprints when walking. I still plan to roll the seed but I rolled seed in my back yard last year when everything was soaked and it compressed the soil too much in places. How should I go about rolling in the seed if the soil doesn't have time to dry up a little bit before I spread?

BB

Question to those who have used one: Can't you set a power rake to run just above the ground and remove the grass? If not what about a reel mower set to 1/16 inch?

The above would be tools you rent.

bombri wrote:Done raking about half the yard, the other half will be raked tomorrow. Seed will go down tomorrow or Sunday. Just got back from the store, JG you'll appreciate that I picked up 20 pots for free from HD. Still working to find something to set them in to catch the extra water and allow watering from the bottom up.

Question - we've had tons and tons of rain so the soil is incredibly soft, to the point where I almost leave footprints when walking. I still plan to roll the seed but I rolled seed in my back yard last year when everything was soaked and it compressed the soil too much in places. How should I go about rolling in the seed if the soil doesn't have time to dry up a little bit before I spread?

BB

If the seed is on the soil it will germinate. The regular watering will tap it down. Rolling is good, but I think Gary did the math, even a roller that is 300 lbs filled with water has less pressure than an average adults footprint.

jglongisland wrote:Rolling is good, but I think Gary did the math, even a roller that is 300 lbs filled with water has less pressure than an average adults footprint.

That's true, but I think the point he was trying to make was that rolling is not any more likely to cause compaction than walking on it. He's also noted that rolling not only helps make soil contact, it can press the seed down into the soil a bit assuming you've got the soil nice and moist prior to seeding. And it beats the heck out of trying to put a footprint on every square inch of the seeded area.
I didn't use one last year, but I'm going to try it this year.

Yesterday I put down(in this order) Seed (Moonlight 2, Kingfisher, Bewitched) rolled in, 2 bags of milorganite, another round of starter fertilizer at bag rate and 19 cubic feet of Peat Moss. I also planted 20 pots which you can see in a few of the photos. I'll post pics because I know they are the most interesting and I like looking at everyone else's reno's. I was outside for about 5 hours yesterday and had at least 5 cars stop and ask what the heck was going on. Their reactions to my explanations were relatively positive, although definitely surprised. Good times.





Side - predicted trouble area.

Other Side - better sun probably the best part of the lawn prior to reno

love your thread Bombri. I'm at the point right now trying to decide what to do with the remaining dead grass myself. Keep up the pics!

You guys had great weather for a renovation last week. Update time!

Excellent weather! I've been in California since Wednesday morning for volleyball so ill update tomorrow or Tuesday sa soon as I get the chance.
BB

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Alright, sorry for the delays but my schedule is somewhat busy. I'll start by saying that I am extremely happy with the lawn's progress so far. All this talk about needing strong drinks to cope with a new kbg lawn's inability to germinate in a timely manner is nonsense. Or maybe my standards were pretty low to begin with. Here are some pics

Also, maybe this is a noob of a question but I've noticed that it seems like there are a lot more blades germinating in the pots than actual seeds that were laid. Do individual seeds yield more than one blade of grass or am I imagining things?

Front Pics





Side Pics



Pots

bombri wrote:Also, maybe this is a noob of a question but I've noticed that it seems like there are a lot more blades germinating in the pots than actual seeds that were laid. Do individual seeds yield more than one blade of grass or am I imagining things?

Those are called tillers, whose activity will increase as you begin to mow. Click here for more information
Once the seedlings reach 3" tall, mow and maintain at 2" to increase the density from tillering.

Thanks Gary that's an interesting article and definitely makes more sense now to me.

Are my day 8 photos on pace with average? Behind? Ahead? How careful should I be about not walking on the new grass?

That looks about right for Day 8, Day 14 s when you should see it even out. There are plenty of seedlings getting ready to come out of the lighter areas (or are out) but its hard to see them unless you have the Peat/Dark background.

Try to stay off as long as you can. Personally I think they can recover from one step or two over a week's timeframe, but the longer you can keep off of them the better they'll be.

This is encouraging for us who are on day 4...

bombri wrote:Thanks Gary that's an interesting article and definitely makes more sense now to me.

Are my day 8 photos on pace with average? Behind? Ahead? How careful should I be about not walking on the new grass?

I'd say ahead of schedule. Your weather must be ideal!

Stay off the seedlings until they are 3" tall. It's time to mow then to 2". Make sure the soil is on the dry side before mowing and go straight - no 180 hair pin turns.