Small Backyard Lawn Renovation NEPA
Hello all, enjoying forum and advice. Thanks to all who contribute. Wanted to share small project details, any advice would be great. Background:
Found this forum after (unfortunately) I bought some product.
~1200 sq ft, in Northeast PA (Scranton). Not kept up over past 6 years (since daughter was born). Prior to that had commercial service. The guy said it was in terrible shape and had "difficult to kill" weeds. I don't recall varieties, was about a decade ago. I cancelled service when child came (~6 years).
Until recently (past week) No feeding or watering by me, just cutting. No weed killers either.
Since the kiddie pool & toddler swing set are too small for her anymore, the backyard lawn was cleared for repair. Also planning on using it as test bed (for me) for front lawn repair (next year) if it cannot be salvaged.
Goal: Have a lawn, starting with backyard. Started Wednesday 2nd of September 2015. Wanted to plant seed by Labor day (September 7th).
Current state of backyard: Gets ~7-10+ hours of direct sun during summer months behind me is East (in pic) standing on deck.Deck casts morning shadow, it provides shade until ~10-11am (there is moss growing at the base). Some vines on retaining wall (behind the trees, Thuja green giant privacy) seems to be growing into the grass from beneath. There are 12-14 ft hedges to the right, lawns veers left in photo, even worse over there.
On approx August 30 I laid down Preen Lawn Weed Control (before finding this forum) thinking I could salvage. There was essentially no grass to salvage. So I started with a "rapid reno" due to (possibly) quick October chilly weather.
The white stuff is dying cloves (I think) and crab grass, after I started to spray Roundup directly on it (before I found forum and bought concentrate+sprayer).
I used RU concentrate after that pic (Wednesday), scalped with mower at lowest setting Friday,and more RU concentrate in sprayer again Friday evening. Even with this approx 900 sq ft area, I had 2 lawns bags full after first scalp.
Saturday tried to setup oscillating sprinklers with a Rain Drop timer from Amazon (thank God for Prime shipping, local big box had some cheap/bad looking timers). My 10 year old Gilmore sprinkler wasn't cutting it possibly due to lower water pressure (I split with Y adapter for 2 sprinklers, get 70-80psi at the main, have expansion tank + this is opposite end of the main into house). The other oscillator was new, but wouldn't cover his "L" shaped lawn. I did get it watered a few times however. So..
I went to Lowe's and Home Depot Saturday evening and went "sprinkler crazy", I ended up grabbing a new "pro" oscillator from HD, with some orbit stake in the ground models as well. I grabbed some $7 cheap plastic square model as well. My local HD doesn't carry Lesco with Dimension unfortunately, but I grabbed a bag of Sta-Green lawn soil (at Lowe's) to fill in the swing set holes, a depression from a long gone bush, and a small depression in the middle of this yard (to avoid puddling).
The rotating stake in the ground models were tested Sunday morning (~6-7AM), they work great (after fiddling with them a bit). One is covering one half of the L, and the other opposite half.
After the yard dried a bit, I used a metal rake to pull up anything/everything I could. also roughed up the surface. What I pulled up, plus another scalp with the mower , filled another yard bag. I laid down some new dirt in the holes, and snapped some pics of the prepped area (I think these were before rake and final scalp).
Above - Morning Deck shadow on the right.
Above - The other half of the L, some dead spots upper right were there before I started.
Above- Larger dirt spots were depressions caused by draining kiddie pool for 5 years. Used Sta-Green lawn soil to level a bit.
After final scalping/rake. I laid down my grass seed (~9AM Sunday morning) and Scott's New Lawn fertilizer right on top (walking on the seeds). Used Scott's broadcast spreader. For grass seed I bought from Big Box due to timing, and learning how quickly I needed to plant in Fall, as preferred time ,just a few days ago. I choose Pennington's Tall Fescue. Was 20% off at Lowe's this weekend. I bought a 7 lb bag, based on bag rate it should have been enough for this area. However, I bought a 3 lb bag and laid that down as well. Here are pics of the mix label:
Above was the 7 lb bag. Below 3 lb bag.
After walking around a bit more, I let loose with sprinkler's, ran 3-4 times today (pretty hot Labor day weekend, almost 90 or at 90 each day). This dirt dries quickly due to direct sun and lack of rain past month. I will settle in at every 6 hours going forward, for 15 minutes a pop.
Last shots below, finished before 11:30AM Sunday prior to Labor Day. I realize I should have started weeks ago, and should try better seed, and things like Dimension/Tenacity (I think?),but didn't have time. Other than that, any advice?
Comments (18)
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoRelated Discussions
KBG backyard renovation -- day 25
Comments (6)Billhill, Yup. I agree. I think I've gotten better results this time too, just because I have a better idea about what to do. (I owe bestlawn, bill and AJ for that) But you are surely right about the anxiety level. That first year with the front yard, I was very anxious about whether it would come in or not....See MoreBackyard Renovation
Comments (16)gonativegal: Thanks�so glad you liked the renovation :-) You're probably right about using curves in too small of a space�the straight lines make it seem much more ordered :-) terenne: I totally agree�the first post isn't super-exciting�but I wanted to cover it, for reference and just to put all the info out there, as I always find the preparation portion of renovations always get glossed over�and they are the parts that always seem to be hardest to wrap my head around! I agree that the large rototiller was probably a bit too much for that size space�which we laughed about after it only took about 45 minutes to complete the job! However, the ground was so hard and compacted (after 80+ years of being under a garage) that I made the decision that I'd rather get it done with so we could move on to the other parts of the reno before the summer heat set it. I've actually hand-dug every other square inch of my property�so I don't feel any guilt about renting a tiller for one piece :-) Also, since I don't own (or use) a mower, leaf blower, hedge trimmer or any other yard machinery�I sort of feel that mitigates 45 minutes of tiller usage ;-) As for driving traffic to my blog�I guess it does, but since I don't make any $$$ off my blog, it's mostly because I've already formatted the content for my blog, so it seems silly to transfer it to GardenWeb, and make their servers bear the burden :-) prairiemoon2: Thanks�so glad you enjoyed it! If you're ever in PDX, stop on by for a chat and some ice tea (and maybe even a few Agastache cuttings)! Oh yeah, I've done my fair share of hand-digging (just ask my neighbors�and my back)! I think it was the scope of this project that really spurred me to use the tiller�what I accomplished in 45 minutes easily would have taken me days and days of hand-digging�and let's remember, our time is valuable too�and my back certainly thanked me! For all my other projects, I still plant on doing them with a good old-fashioned shovel :-)...See MoreWhat can I plant in a low light, clay backyard? NC
Comments (22)Everything gdpossehl said! Plus, I'm in your same area and have the same soil! The original homeowner planted English Ivy and we're breaking our backs getting rid of it! Resist the temptation!! This year, we've had TONS of wild, native violets coming up and I've even been pulling them from the gravel driveway and transplanting them into spots where we've eradicated the ivy. They're a wonderful, native groundcover and look beautiful in garden beds too! I'm big into using natives, so my suggestions will show that. Try Maypop (passion flower vine) along the fence. It grows very quickly, has phenomenal flowers and is evergreen. You can cut it all the way back each year to keep it neat, but no need to. Moss will NOT work with a dog. We have a moss yard and it's super super delicate! The deer tear it up super easily and it gets invaded by weeds that have to be hand-removed (except in the deepest shade like under the canopy of a Japanese maple....the moss looks awesome there!). I definitely think you could do some semi-raised (even just mounded for a more natural look) beds around the edges/corners. Then you could have beautiful native bushes (itea, clethra, viburnum, etc.) grouped with ferns and other shade-lovers. I've found that it's no use to fight the clay! Remember that clay soil has a ton of nutrients! It's just a bit dense for many plants. But not all! There are tons of plants that are clay tolerant. I think your biggest problem is that that soil looks hard-packed. You'll need to loosen it up where you want to plant. I would just dig down a bit and amend with compost and peat. That does the trick for me. Though this nursery doesn't sell to the public, check their site for an amazing assortment of native plants! www.northcreeknurseries.com . You can then check with local nurseries for ones you want, or check online. Good luck!...See MoreHardscape for small backyard (8b)
Comments (28)I know it's been a while but I'm back for some final help (hopefully!). After getting many quotes and having long wait times we finally have someone coming out Wednesday to do another walk thru before things begin. We have been busy prepping, weeding and leveling the space. We are using poured concrete and decided to do a rectanglar shape versus curved lines, below is an aprox layout. Final dilema are those dang trash, recycle and yard waste bins. They will not fit under the deck. My idea was to line all three up going S to N as seen in below drawing and then using some sort of privacy screening which would allow for less hardscape and some more planting space. My husband prefers to line them up along the fence going E to W and have more hardscape to pull them out. I am not sure how we would screen them though and be able to pull them out. I'll draw husband's preferred layout of receptacles in green. I know this seems like a small thing but I figure there is probably a simple solution? I've included some pictures of the space in question. And yes I know we still need to prune that Camelia :)...See Morenewtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoSome updates 1 week in, sprouts. Not everywhere. Above one of the better spots, below a bare area.
Above was the sta green top soil, I need to find a screen to filter this stuff. Too many sticks, wood chips. Below is a barren area of my soil. The leaves are falling from nearby tree.
Top shot for comparison.
Some other spots coming in...
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoSome progress at day 14, and the worst trouble spot where germination didn't happen bar a few strands (left side). I covered the bad area below in 1/8 inch top soil and reseeded). It seemed to be puddling a bit there, had the weirdest/worst weeds too, prior to renovation. This seemed to fix puddling issue after a 15-20 minute watering test. I could reach my foot in to press down and improve seed/soil contact. Am going to lightly mist it with a hose once per day as I am upping water time to 15-20 minutes but now twice day for next 2 weeks.
Here is the other half, coming in a bit better, might be mowable soon!
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoAlso bought a yard enforcer motion sprinkler, skunk and squirrel issue. Here is another angle f trouble spot. The area with dead weeds does has grass coming up, just not as thick but it's there.
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoDay 20 shots, still patchy, pics make it look a bit worse that it is I think.
Close up shows there is grass coming up within the areas with dead grass.
The area I reseeded on day 14 doesn't seem to have growth after ~6 days. I used my mower on second highest setting to try and blow some of the leaves off the lawn today, lost my nerve after 2nd pass.
I did apply approx 50% bag rate of Scott's new lawn fertilizer (today) and watered for 30 minutes. Will do the same on Day 27/28 (Oct 3/4), and then apply Urea for winterizing around Nov 7 (depending on weather). Also ordered a new mulching blade for mower, current blade 7-8+years old, chipped it on a rock when I scalped this yard.newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoDay 30 shots, shows where I will dormant seed thin spots. Tried mowing before last rainstorm (few sections had blades around 5-6 inches). Some tracks left but they appear to be resolving themselves , some young blades damaged unfortunately. Planning on Milorganite after a few more days of sun to dry it out, then Urea around November 7-10. Looks better to me than pics show for some reason. Already started planning front yard Reno for this spring (it's smaller in the front, only 300 sq ft) manageable watering. Should have done this awhile ago!
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoThanks! I already bought the Tenacity :-) Here are closer shots near the blacktop, it sprouted later and doesn't show up in the shots further away. I'll lay more seeds in the bare spots now, that's good to know, thanks!!
I do see newer sprouts near the blacktop, some others stayed bare, strangely near the other sprinkler head? This sprinkler area was "ok" looks bare in the overhead shot tho:
Another that's ok close up, but spots around it for more seeds, very small thin blades in those bare spots (strain and you can see them):
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years ago2 month mark, about 6.5 weeks post germination...outside of a large rabbit which mowed a few strips this past week, I think it's coming in nicely.
newtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agoAnother angle at eye level. It's a bit darker than this pic shows, more like one above. But those lighter areas are getting lighter, some thin blades seem to be dying off in thicker areas.
morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)
8 years agonewtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agonewtolawncare Scranton 6a
8 years ago
morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)