The Perfect Lawn

[ZethLent]

Many of you fine fellows on the site will likely have a yard, and may even have a lawn that demands as much upkeep as a well shaven face.

When I became a new home owner I went through a number of years of trial and error/failure with the lawn in my yard.

Last year after white grubs, sod webworms, and other pestilence decimated my grass once again, I vowed to see if I could establish a 'Perfect Lawn' the next opportunity I got.

I'll admit, I live in zone 8b, and am keen on establishing a cool season grass variety.

Now in doing so I joined another forum and through the fine advice I got there I am hopefully on the road to a fine lawn for the years to come.

So last year, after the decimation, I winter seeded an elite perennial rye grass (Harrier) which was excellent as a winter over grass, but was only a quick fix to the situation.

In the spring I installed an underground sprinkler system with Hunter MP Rotator spray heads. Got a soil test done, and made the appropriate soil amendments. Things were one a roll.

At the beginning of August I told my wife that it was time for me to start the lawn renovation and that it would take several months, where the kids wouldn't be able to play on the lawn space for as long as 2 months. That didn't go down well... but in the end she agreed and I sprayed a non-selective herbicide (Round-up Maxload) on the entire lawn. I made good use of the sprinklers by watering the dead and dieing lawn in promoting weeds to attempt a take over of the yard. Two weeks later I applied a second blanket of round-up to kill all of the weeds that had made a go for it.

I used 2 yards of top soil to level and regrade the space and rolled it with a water roller. Seeds went down, fertilizer went down, soil conditioner went down, and I topped things off with 1000 liters of peat moss. Set the sprinklers and prayed.

In the meantime a typhoon has struck several times, and the temps have been a little erratic, but with the miraculous containment by Tenacity (a selective herbicide) the perfect lawn seems to be on a path to a long life.

Here are the post round-up and grading, and last week shots of the yard.


(click to enlarge)





Here's a link to the thread I have for the lawn renovation: http://aroundtheyard.com/renovations...an-t12214.html

[RoyalCake]

Pictures didn't show up for me here Seth.
I too like a good lawn - unfortunately I rarely achieve that goal

[pfries]

I understand it, was Foreman for a Nursery and landscaping company a lot of years ago.
Now 5 kids and cattle my pasture looks better than my lawn .

Sometimes I let them sneak out into the yard so I don't have to mow and then tell my middle boy he needs to grab a shovel.....

[bombay]

now you will have to refurbish a vintage cylinder mower Seth. i just picked up a Ransomes Ace Mk II but the lawns been put to bed for the winter here so i cant even get to use it till April

[ZethLent]

Ha! I have two mowers, an engine rotary and a 6 blade reel push. No refurbish needed.

My grass is still growing with daily highs at 15 degrees celcius, so I haven't done my final winterizer yet.
I have a kilo of Urea sitting and waiting for the top growth to stop. I expect the first or second week of December...

We'll see.

[SVMAD]

Its getting to summer here in South Africa. Also have an irrigation system coupled to my borehole. my lawn gets water every night.
I then put some lawn dressing (50% soil, 50% chicken poop) in my lawn about a month ago. Currently I am mowing my lawn 2-3 times a week. If I leave my lawn for a week, the grass will grow up to 4 inches, making it a nightmare to mow!

[Bruno]

I remove the moss every year, throw on some fertilizer / anti-moss / calcium throughout the year as appropriate, and for the rest I just mow whatever decides to grow on my lawn, be it grass, weeds, or flowers.

[Joegags]

The houses in my neighborhood are a little over 40 years old, and most of my neighbors are original owners. So my block is filled with retired guys who spend their days in the spring and summer tending to their lawns. Needless to say, that is the last thing I want to do when I come home from work, so my lawnwork is a constant "Keeping up with the Joneses" endeavor.

[ZethLent]

I just sprayed the lawn with ferrous sulphate to get more green for the winter months.
It is the first time for me to use this and I hope that it works well.

[bombay]

have you put any potassium and phosphorous down? id be more concerned about the roots than how green it is for November