i've been using Tenacity for what seems like all summer, and its doing a heck of a job. i've held off the very front yard to avoid being the neighborhood eye sore as long as i can. went out today and finally applied the first app to the front. its a real mess, so many varieties, so many shades, so many heights. i jokingly said to my wife "should just RU the front and side instead of wasting the Tenacity by applying multiple app to basically kill off the crap". without hesitation she said "go ahead if you think its worth it". did i just got permission?

so here is my chance to kill the front and side, about 5-6k sf. Should i take advantage of her permission and RU the eye sores and do a full reno and not just try and overseed KBG into my sub par builder's mix? is a full reno much more work than killing 50% of my lawn with Tenacity, scalping, fallowing, and seeding? the way i see it i'm just swapping out one herbicide for another, and the real work comes after.

oh, i already bought Midnight II, Prosperity, and Bedazzled.

any help or comments will be helpful.

Reno if possible. You'll be happier once the stress fades from the renovation itself (your doctor may be able to prescribe a nice course of Xanax to get you through the reno season...)

Sub par is always going to be sub par, and the variety of shades and heights and widths isn't going to improve.

did i just got permission?

I'm going to defer to the immortal words of Vice Admiral Grace Hopper: "It is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission".

Do not ask for clarification or confirmation. Proceed as if she INSISTED that you do it. Ask forgiveness if she changes her mind (but the grass is dead).

Go. Home Depot is open until seven in most locations. Round Up Red Cap is cheap. Spray. Wait a few hours until it's far too late and proudly announce that you followed her advice and are renovating that section.

i've got the RU in stock, it'll be down by nightfall.

should I add another to the Midnight II, Prosperity, and Bedazzled mix? Blue Velvet seems nice, perhaps Moonlight?

GO GO GO GO man!! YES that was permission, just tell her you need to take 1 or 2 steps back (eye sore) to leap 3 or 4 steps forward (succesful renovation) Your entire lawn will turn yellow and die (good thing) fallow fallow fallow and RU again Now comes the back breaking work....i rented a power rake to pick up all the dead crap...that was HARD labor
Keep looking at lawn pix on here for inspiration and keep telling yourself "I could be doing this without help from BL" In the long run you'll be glad you did the renovation!

seriously, i feel more confident with my renovation with BL behind me. RU as soon as u can, if u think KBG takes forever to die, try waiting for a lawn to die, mines still has some green and i already sprayed 2x in 5 days. Total kill is supposed to be 1-2 weeks...

job done, used every last drop in the bottle I had. I'll buy more today, I'm sure I'll need another dose in a couple days for stubborn spots or overlooked spots.

new to this wrote:job done, used every last drop in the bottle I had. I'll buy more today, I'm sure I'll need another dose in a couple days for stubborn spots or overlooked spots.

Go get 'em complete and total death is good! Plus you will get some weeds popping up when you fallow, so you zap them again.

You are on you way

What's next? Now you need copious quantities of alcohol, as you will question everything you've done or will do. And waiting for germination will seem to take years.

andy10917 wrote:What's next? Now you need copious quantities of alcohol, as you will question everything you've done or will do. And waiting for germination will seem to take years.

Been there, drank that, Andy is SOOOO right on

My first reno I was torturing these good folks. "I see areas with no growth!!!!" (that would be my blend of KBG that takes longer than TTTF to germinate)

andy10917 wrote:What's next? Now you need copious quantities of alcohol, as you will question everything you've done or will do. And waiting for germination will seem to take years.

after I was done I went for a mt bike ride and second guessed what I had done just hours ago. I hope I made the right decision, can't undo Round-UP.

My buddy just got back from a trip through NY and picked me up a 12pk of Yuengling Black-Tan and Yuengling Light (why not for sale in CT???). Last week I made a trip to the store myself and bought a bottle of Laphroaig Cask Strength Scotch...I'm set for copious amounts of alcohol.

Yeah, my quote during reno season was, "I have pills and booze that ain't gonna swallow themselves. Excuse me."

It's a stress, and somewhat nerve-wracking. And you are, at this point, committed to the course.

We will be here when you have chewed your nails down to the knuckles. We've been there. We know how it feels. You will still feel like you are alone in the world many times in the next 60 days.

Some of us are serial renovators. That is the most virulent form of Lawnatic Disease.

Good Luck

I advise you to not power rake. You will disturb embedded weed seeds, waste time and money. It is not necessary to remove any of the old grass. It's almost counter productive. Most people do this because they are used to a tilled seed bed and they need to see dirt If you can afford compost it will hasten the decomposition process of the old grass and add lots of organic matter all at once something you can't do to thesame degree when a lawn is present

If you must do something you can cut the lawn to 1 inch and either bag or not bag the clippings. If you do not have a mulch mower then bag the clippings.

My plan is to let it die off as much as it will by Tues/Wed, mow it down low. Fri is my day to rent a p/u and drop loads of topsoil (to fix unevenness) and compost (just because I think it needs it). After that I'll fallow and spot spray as needed. I guess I'm shooting for that Aug 15th seed date although I wouldn't mind being several days early since I have SoilMoist seed stuff on its way.

Can someone let me know when this reno will be walkable/mowable if seeding is Aug 15th and all goes well? I've got a tree in the front yard that drops tons of leaves ~Halloween. I think I'll be ok, just need some reassurance.

You can check out my reno with almost the same blendIt will depend on the weather and other things. (In keeping with my experience with relatively the same blend) Nominal weather, full sun area,correct watering you'll look at worst case scenario 35 days first mow and 50 days safely walkable. you can blow leaves off with a leaf blower 25 days in and to the hover walk (ask Morph).

You can check my reno with almost the same blend. You are starting 30 days earlier than me. The only thing you are risking is slow germination from the soil being too hot. The longer ittakes for germination the greater your risk for washout, seed loss, seed bed disturbance and loss of proper seed distribution.

If you are not too hot and you lay that blend in compost you could pop in 6 days (Bedazzled). You'd like that huh?

I want to applaud you. You havedone your homework, you have listened, made good seed selections and came in perfect timing. Only a disaster can derail you now.

Hover walk: The walk where you try not to touch the new sprouts. Been there, done that.

I want to applaud you. You havedone your homework, you have listened, made good seed selections and came in perfect timing. Only a disaster can derail you now.

+10,000. Some bare spots are inevitable, but you can get those by dormant seeding when the weather turns.

Thanks for the encouragement. I think I’ll be alright barring a torrential rains. I’ve got about 60# of seed coming in (for 5-6k reno, LOL) so I’ll have plenty to dormant seed this winter.

I’m also overseeding the back with Lesco Double Eagle so I’ll test out how well KBG will blend with it and my existing mix, but I will surely leave some for dormant seeding and hopefully it’ll keep if I need it in the spring.

Also, since my Tenacity kill of the backyard’s creeping bent grass I notice some nice grass peeking up through the dead stuff, should be an interesting fall.

Need to research the hover walk, it’ll be tough at 215#.