Mine's going OK - with the exception of Hanna, Mother Nature has been pretty cooperative. I got mine started on Aug 15 and did my first mowing today. Hanna flattened some of my fescue on a hilly area and it hasn't picked up yet but I'm hopeful.

Our KBG is showing the green fuzz in the bare spots. There's been a lot of rain since we aerated and overseeded. So our lawn is getting really long. The hose is disappearing in the grass. Next weekend, I think we're going to mow.

Northern VA - Did my TTTF rejuvenation this past Saturday.

Cut short and core aerated mid week after Hanna came through, overseeded, fertilized, raked, topdressed with 4.5 cu. yards of compost, raked again, rolled, then began the watering regimen.

Our weather forecast looks great this week sunny with day time highs in the mid 70s (after some very hot humid weather this weekend).

Hi Paul,

KBG doing well. Threw down some seed in bare spots after Hanna came through. That's now beginning to germinate. I noticed some yellowing in spots so I gave a 1/2 dose of starter fert and cut back on watering. Will post pics this weekend.

Fine fescue around new walkway is struggling a bit. It's hard to keep the dog off and it never perked up too well after Hanna. My fault for not cutting it prior to the storm. Last night some damping off hit a few spots due to the hot/humid temps. I'll assess the damage further this weekend and I can always pull out any dead grass a re-seed those spots. It's still early enough temp wise but due to the angle of the sun it's not getting enough light and drying out time so if what I plant this weekend doesn't work I'll wait until Spring. I seeded fine fescue in early spring before very easily.

My final section of grass in the damp area by the woods is coming along well. Here I seeded some newer Poa Triv cultivars.

Speaking of Poa, I still have all my poa annua. In fact, I'm wondering if at some point I should treat the KBG front with a pre-m (say early November) and if that will prevent some poa germination. Is this something you did last year?

Greg

Hey Greg,

Glad to hear you threw some fert down in the yellowing KBG areas, that is EXACTLY what it needs. I had the same thing happen last year. I suspected fungus, but fert was the key. Expect to put more down soon. It is really unbelievable how much nitrogen those new KBG grasslings need, and they will continue to be hungry until next fall, so feed well and often for now.

I am not sure how to deal with Poa annua on a new fall installation of KBG. As you know, I got plenty. And as ridiculous as it may sound, some of it has actually continued to send up seedheads all summer long! So I am pretty sure that I have some of the perennial varieties of Annua well established, and will need to take them out with either round-up or a very expensive selective next year.

This year, for you? Sure, go ahead and put down the Pre-M on your schedule, but I think that much of the Annua would have germinated by then. Still it might help avoiding early spring germination, but regardless I think you will still be getting some POA. No fault of yours of course, that is just the way it is.

Best,
Paul

Thanks for the advice Paul. Do you know of any post-emergents that take care of Poa Annua? Maybe we could split the cost?

Greg

Hey Greg,

Ethofumasate (Ethofumesate? Sp?) Is the only one I know of that is available to homeowners. It is hugely expensive and sold in a very concentrated form, and out of my budget this year - I want to see how my Dimension works at reducing the population, if at all, before trying that. I don't think you could even use it on such new grass, so I think next fall would be a better timeframe for you too.

I think Egghead and some others might be interested in this too, so maybe we could arrange a group buy next year? One of us buys the stuff and divvies it up (we are talking ounces per acre, get out the medicine dropper!) and distributes. I think that until the patent runs out we won't be seeing formulations designed for the average homeowner. Apparently there are other products in the pipeline that may turn out to be more effective against Poa Annua, but I can't see them being cheap, at least at first, either.

Just thinking out loud, what do you think?

Paul

Hi Paul,

We can certainly look into something like Prograss for next year.

Greg

Paul,
I may be interested nex year to split some certanty or something. The POA is really showing up now. I have planted some grass in some 4 gallon pots so I can replace the larger POA spots next spring, but by the looks of it, I may need something more.

Dane

Backyard is looking great. Front Yard..not so much. Scalped the yard, Aerated, dethatched, all that. In the weeks prior I gradually lowered the mow height so I didn't shock the yard with the final mowing. I walked the yard 5 times in one day. The starter fertilizer has jump started the broadleaf weeds. I'll have to reseed some spots where I nuked the common bermuda that invaded. Unfortunately I'm losing a battle with a neighbor's yard and all their ills are spreading into mine. I know in time with patience. Since nothing was done last year with NC's drought, I was looking forward to getting the yard back into shape. The yards around here are brutalized by the end of the summer. I've still got about 3-4 weeks to get the seed given there are no unexpected cold snaps which was why I did the yard early this year. I knew it would take much more tending to than years past.

I used western and streambank wheatgrass in the front (with glue grama in the hellstrips) and sheep and creeping red fescue in the back. Instead of using glyphosate, I just stopped watering for the month of August (highs mostly in the 90s, no rain). Not all of the grass died (should've used glyphosate). I seeded on 8/30.

The grama came up first (surprisingly). I presoaked the wheatgrass seeds and they came up much faster and higher germination rates than years past. The wheatgrass is coming in pretty strong, with a few areas that aren't all that thick, but most of it pretty good coverage. It's even coming up in the areas where the existing lawn didn't die. Both of these wheatgrasses are rhizomatous, so they'll start spreading (maybe not until next fall, since they often spend a year establishing extensive root systems). I'll also be dormant seeding.

The sheep and creeping red fescue has come up, but not as thickly as the wheatgrasses. The sheep fescue is a bunch grass (although it is supposed to tiller aggressively and spread some that way) and the creeping red fescue spreads via rhizomes, but not all that quickly. I'll be dormant seeding with more sheep fescue, so maybe I'll get better coverage. The back yard has more shade, so more of the existing lawn survived the neglect, anyway.

Overall, I'm satisfied with it. I'm going to try watering only once or twice next summer (we get almost no water from June through September) to favor the native grasses over what's left of the traditional lawn.