NEW Grass In Front Yard

Nightow1 · #1 05-08-2016, 08:03 PM

So On March 17th I ripped up my front yard. April 11th I plant new grass seed. Coming along pretty good so far, for someone that usually kills all plants.
Used 100# of Starter Fertilizer, 400# of 5-Way Fescue Blend Seed.
Here are a few pix of it from start to finish.

Terry C · #2 05-08-2016, 08:15 PM

Looks like it's coming along nicely!

olds45512 · #3 05-08-2016, 08:44 PM

It's green so I'd say you did pretty good.

J-Mech · #4 05-08-2016, 11:19 PM

Looks great Keith!!

ACecil · #5 05-09-2016, 11:43 AM

Your yard looks awesome, Keith!

j4c11 · #6 05-09-2016, 08:04 PM

Looking good. Do you plan on maintaining a pure stand of tall fescue or are you letting it turn into a natural area with weeds and whatever else comes up?

Nightow1 · #7 05-09-2016, 09:02 PM

No it will be maintained, going to add some more fertilizer next week, then around OCT, lay down 200# more of 5way to make it thick. I wish i could spray for dandelions and crabgrass this fall but i need the grass to come up thick first.

Dirty Steve · #8 05-10-2016, 08:45 AM

Looks pretty good! Did you use a grain drill? Do you have your own drill or rent/borrow one? I have been looking for a small food plot sized grain drill to rent to drill some areas of my lawn.

j4c11 · #9 05-11-2016, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightow1

No it will be maintained, going to add some more fertilizer next week, then around OCT, lay down 200# more of 5way to make it thick. I wish i could spray for dandelions and crabgrass this fall but i need the grass to come up thick first.

Great. I was asking because spring is generally a bad time to seed due to weed pressure, and also because the grass does not have enough time to drop serious roots before the summer heat. You can start spot spraying post-emergent (2,4D/dicamba/mecoprop) after the third mowing. After that best time to kill weeds is as soon as you see them, otherwise they will crowd out the young grass. Here's some tips that will hopefully be helpful to you in your quest to establish a great tall fescue lawn:

- Cut to 3.5" - 4".Tall Fescue does best at that height.

- Seeding/overseeding is best done in the fall. Do it when daytime temps are still hovering around 80, it helps with germination.

- Apply starter fertilizer with the seed, it has high levels of phosphorus which helps with root formation.

- Avoid generic mixes and research the cultivars on the label. For an outstanding lawn, check out seed super store and the varieties for sale there. Hint: it's not cheap seed. For a great lawn, check with a local JD Landscapes or similar.

- Check seed label for "Other crop" content. Find one as close to 0 as possible, or better yet, buy sod grade seed which would be 0%. Even a very low percentage, like 0.5%, could amount to thousands of Poa Trivialis or orchardgrass seeds across your lawn.

- If you do water your lawn, water deep and infrequent. Do not water every day or every other day, if there's always water at the surface you will get shallow roots. Water only when the grass shows signs of drought stress (could be once a month in the spring), and apply a whole inch of water at a time. You can test with a 6 inch screwdriver, if the screwdriver goes into the ground easily all the way, you're done watering. This also helps avoid fungal issues and prevents weeds from thriving.

- If there's areas where runoff occurs and water does not easily penetrate the soil, use cheap clear baby shampoo from Walmart, mix 3oz with a gallon of water and spray the area.

- Apply Prodiamine at 5 month rate 60 days after seeding in the fall to keep winter weeds from germinating. Apply Prodiamine early March at 6 month rate to keep crabgrass and other annuals from germinating through the summer. Once applied, do not disturb the ground, it will break the pre-emergent barrier.

- Apply post-emergent throughout the year for any perennials like dandelions and anything that breaks through the pre-emergent barrier.

- Fertilize with 3 pounds of nitrogen in the fall(Sept/Oct/Dec) and 1 pound in late spring. Iron helps with greenup.

- If you want to take up a notch, Primo Maxx( or the generic equivalent) can help deepen the green by another 2-3 shades, cut down your mowing by up to 50% and thicken the grass to golf course levels.

Good luck and keep us posted.