I've started my renovation! I'm on the second app of Glyphosate now, still watering it to get all weeds as possible. Long story, short, I had a POA problem in the lawn, this spring and I had applied Katana and ended up damaging and killed most of my Tall fescue from my partial reno from last November. You live you learn, now hoping it comes back better.
I just did my second app of Glyphosate yesterday one week from the first. I def saw a lot of spots that were still green. I didn't water but this morning I woke up to a nice rainy morning so I may hit it one more time before I start the process of bringing in new soil and seeding next week. I will admit, this is some scary stuff. I hope my grass grows in and survives the winter. Going with GCI Cool Blue TTTF and KBG mix
@@senseisawk6468 I actually went with United seed super turf II. It’s TTTF with 10 percent KBG. But it came along great. Don’t be scared. Just make sure you water enough and put down some Tenacity when you seed to prevent weeds. You will be fine!!
I've never been able to get my lawn to grow in as thick as the one you've got. This year I'll be using elite varieties (Mazama, Midnight, and Bluebank and Grandslam Rye), so hopefully they grow in thicker than the Scotts blend I've been using the last couple years.
My wife was watching people walk by and staring at our lawn trying to figure out what happened. She made me get a couple of signs made that said "Caution Lawn Renovation" Good old Vista Print to the rescue.
Not looking to do a full reno, but I can vouch for GCI Turf's TTTF. My yard has never looked better even with the ridiculous amounts of wild violet and creeping charlie I need to tend to this fall.
I’ve just done this 3 months back gone from rye to kbg I’m in the uk so smooth stalked meadow grass we call it that stuff is so slow to get established still not filled in 100% hopefully next season it goes crazy and fills in.
Yeah bluegrass takes awhile to establish. Once it gets to about day 30 or so after germination I like to push it with small amounts of nitrogen often to get it to fill in
Just moved into a new house, and have been planning my renovation for a couple of months. About to start killing the salad bar in my front yard, borrowed a Sun Joe from a friend, and have my GCI TTTF on the way. Dumb question-- Running the seed over with the Sun Joe doesn't damage or redistribute the seed? I've never heard of doing this step, only hitting the seed with a lawn roller. I'm in the process of getting some topsoil delivered, and found me a nice little pallet to level out the lawn. If I'm adding about 1/4" of topsoil, do I need to worry about bringing out the core aerator? I will be renting that along with a peat moss spreader from Home Depot. Moyock, NC. Cannot wait to dominate the new neighborhood!
Nice vid you did a awesome job on it. Going to renovate my front lawn this year rework my sprinkler system for better coverage. Thanks for the share👍👍👍
You likely did these things, but to expand for new lawn care nerds: August may or may not be too late. Most of these calculations for a renovation "start date" depend on when the first hard freeze is for your zip code. The start date in Massachusetts will be earlier than the middle or lower parts of the transition zone such as Virginia or North Carolina. Without checking I think you want to have seed down and watering at least 8 weeks before this freeze date. Back up 4-6 weeks for fallowing the lawn which is killing weeds after the first glyphosate application, and the follow up applications. Buying 100% of the products you need for the renovation prior to the first application of glyphosate. If you pull that trigger and cannot get one of the products you needed, it's panic time. Seed is not an infinite product each year. The amount of seed fluctuates with the success of the seed crops each year, and how many people need seed for renovation projects. You're spending the money anyway, so why not play it safe. A happy wife = a happy life. When you spray glyphosate, you should mow lower so when you spray, you're also hitting the weeds that grow very low to the ground. Watering will not only show you any plants that were not killed by the first glyphosate application, but if you are watering multiple times daily as if you were germinating new seed, you will force growth on the weed seeds that will be competing against your desirable grass seed. I'd suggest having the step of leveling the lawn done, watering for another 2 weeks to encourage more weed growth, and do a final spray of glyphosate the day of or even a day after putting down seed. Glyphosate absorbs through foliar contact, so if there are no blades of grass or exposed grass, glyphosate will not harm the new seeds. Sun Joe scarifier/dethatcher - my best friend during my lawn renovations. The next time you do a lawn renovation, the last step for me was the Sun Joe with the dethatching tines. I pulled this BACKWARDS and those tines leave amazing little ruts that are perfect for sowing seed. By the time you put down seed and water, the seed will be covered 1/4 to 1/2 inch without going over after seeding, which may displace seed in areas. The seed tends to come up a little more visibly in rows, but since you're cutting your lawn at 2" or higher most of the time (higher for people with bumpy lawns), it's invisible. There are still plants in between, but not as much. If you are not going to till the top 2 inches of soil as I did in my emergency unplanned reno, I used the Sun Joe scarifier attachment on the lowest setting and because I know how important this part was, including trying to somewhat level this part of the lawn, I probably spent 10-15 hours doing this on my 2,000 sq. ft. reno. I broke up the soil, removed as much dead organic matter as I could, moved soil with a rake or the Sun Joe and leveled out some low areas and lowered some higher areas. As far as putting money out for a drag mat versus the item you put down the peat moss with, I'd use a drag mat all day long. Peat moss may hold water and tell you when it is time to water, but I trust my automatic watering timer more than me being able to keep an eye on the grass and be sure it gets watered as it starts to dry. I currently have the Orbits B-Hyve Bluetooth timer which allows me to water each of the 4 zones up to 16x a day. I started my reno in August in Virginia with Zoysia and Midnight KBG so between those I'd have coverage over the winter, so I was watering 12x a day for short duration to keep the top 1/2" to 1" moist all day. As weather cooled and the seeds were moving towards establishment, I reduced to 8x a day, then 6, then 4, until today I'm watering once every 4 days, but watering longer to force the roots to chase the water deeper to avoid shallow root syndrome. I was seeding the Zoysia so it was 90-100 degrees every day for the first 3-4 weeks which is why I watered so frequently. Personally, I always recommend to anybody that wants to do a lawn renovation to strongly consider a grass type that spreads laterally and self-propagates. Most warm season grasses like Zoysia, Bermuda, St. Augustine and others do this and fill in thickly. Cool season grasses that do this are Kentucky Bluegrass, creeping fescue, and although Ryegrass doesn't spread like this, Barenbrug has a few cultivars they have had out since around 2010 that spread lterally. It may not be as fast as some others, but you can get those gorgeous stripes that Ryan Knorr shows off with Rye. The Barenbrug product is called RPR or Regenerating Perineal Ryegrass. I like self-healing lawns like this because if you get a weed and it creates a dead spot, you don't have to fuss with overseeding and the constant watering and hand holding. I accidentally killed about 10 sq. ft. of my Zoysia 2 years ago. Instead of reseeding, I just pulled about 6-8 healthy plugs and placed them around the inside of the dead area and watered for a few weeks and the entire area was filled in as fast or faster than putting down new seed and watering multiple times and day and waiting for the lawn to establish. I didn't need to fuss about carefully mowing that area. Self-healing turf types allow this type of easy fix. I don't know if you can pull plugs from cool seasons turfs to do this. If not...so sorry for that overseeding headache. If you have dogs, you should have a self-healing lawn because they will dig at times, especailly dogs with a high prey drive if they locate a mole in the lawn. Mesotrione will not work for any warm season grass that I'm aware of for seeding. It doesn't block all weed seeds, but it is a HUGE help to combat any weed seeds that are bound to pop up. It last as a pre-emergent for 21 days, and you can't reapply until 30 days so you'll see some weeds popping up by that 30th day. The second application of Meso will kill most of these weeds. Although you seemed to have not put down any balanced starter fertilizer such as 10-10-10 or 13-13-13 which would be enough for new seed nitrogen/phosphorus/potassium. What I did on my last reno was once the new seedlings had been germinated enough to be a good thickness versus toothpick thin new blades, I did a foliar application of 30-10-10 at 1/4 pound per 1,000 sq. ft.. I think I read that a foliar application is equal to 10x as much granular, but since it goes directly to the plant it gives a good rapid boost without leaving excess fertilizer in the soil that may still push growth when the lawn is trying to store energy in the roots for the first winter. A more balanced foliar application may be better, but I already had 30-10-10 on hand. The end results speak for themselves though. You have a gorgeous lawn. I cannot stress enough how important it is to level your lawn before seeding. You can only raise the soil level by top dressing maybe 1/2" at a time twice a year, so get ahead of that headache while you're already busting your button getting the sed bed ready. Again, most of this is directed at new lawn care nerds. If you go to "The Lawn Care Forum.com", there is a cool season timeline countdown covering every step under the cool season section. It's a great place to congregate with fellow lawn care nerds and keep a running journal of the work you have done. You can watch the progress as well as get input from other lawn care nerds when you have questions. Tons of great info on herbicides, insecticides, places to buy products you never new existed. As a warm season Zoysia lawn care nerd, I'm extremely jealous you cool season guys have Mesotrione. I wish there was a warm season variant for us to help with a safe pre-emergent during seeding and germination. On the flip side, warm season turfs tend to tolerate pre-emergents better so we can have more annual weed protection so I guess I can't complain too much. One last oddball tip nobody else has ever considered to my knowledge. Watering a seed bed will make that section of soil soft and easy to dig through. Moles are rodents and rodents hate the smell of many spices. I bought some Tomcat Rodent Repellant granules and put down about 1 pound per 100 linear feet along the perimiter of the renovation and then again, every 2 weeks. The water will dissolve the granules and push the smell down into the soil and once I started going this on my last 2 renovations, I've had almost zero issues with moles. The ones that did come in didn't stay long. There are oils and such you can spray that do the same thing, but these granules are easy. Looking back, I should have considered a liquid application product. As with the 30-10-10 I applied, I had some rodent repellant from the last reno so I just used it.
Happy (hot/humid!) Tuesday! This whole process would absolutely KILL me (the "killing" thereof), but as you say, the end result is so worth it. Schwhew! 😨👩🌾💚🌱🌿 Folks in the East, stay cool this week! [another "schwhew"!] 99 on Thursday in Maryland! 😰 =^..^=🇺🇲
If you couldn't do a full kill off and you needed to have a garden growing this year, should I just spot spray thistle, then level, dethatch, aerate, spread seed, cover in with peat moss or straw blankets, fertilize with granular? Our lawn is trashed and mainly Bermuda grass (wire grass) BUT we cannot kill it off due to run off into our garden & fruit trees. We will be using Black Beauty Ultra grass seed.
I probably should do this this fall… but here is my question. If I overseed every fall and spring with my favorite seed, will I get the same results? I understand it would take a lot longer compared to doing it your way. Just curious. Also congrats on baby and glad to see you back.
@@mrkuz4644 that’s exactly what I’m overseeding with. Just in the first overseed I’ve seen really good results. So I’m hoping just a few more will make it all kbg and prg
@The Lawngest Yard ...excellent point!... I think you would get excellent results year to year as long as you had good rainfall - that's the key - but that's never guaranteed in summertime unfortunately, unless you had a good irrigation system. Seems like, tho', with a good aeration and overseed each year (and even twice a year as you say) things should improve. (...but I'm the Garden Whisperer, not the Lawn Whisperer...) 🤷🏼♀️ Doing that along with his Sanctuary?!! - well, you probably still be the envy of your neighborhood! 👌👩🌾💚🌿🌱 =^..^=🇺🇲
If I want to over seed rather then full renovation what’s the best grass seed to use. I live in Massachusetts and my current lawn seem to have multiple types from KBG, fescue and some zoysia. Was hoping to do in August low cut then use Sun joe and fescue with some top dressing compost with hopes the fescue will win out. Any ideas would be great, thanks Mike
@thelawnmentor if I use the round up grass and weed killer, the one with the blue lid, will it prevent the seeds from growing? After I use the Round Up solution and everything is killed how long do I have to wait before the chemical is gone from the seed to start germinating?
So we had originally planned to build the house this past spring. Then lumber and other material price skyrocketed so we pushed it back til they come back down. Unfortunately they’re still not there. I have some other projects I’m going to begin though such as clearing the land, putting a fence up on the backside, possibly planting some treees this fall, and maybe digging a pond
About to do a full Reno on my front and back lawn. Just received my GCI tall fescue. I have to level my front lawn. Do you recommend sand or soil for leveling?
I noticed you didn't mention anything about aerating. Also, why not put down the starter fertilizer and Tenacity before the top dressing? Does it even matter? lol
Doesn’t really matter but I like to do it last then water it in so I’m not spraying it, then walking all over it to topdress. Just seems better to me haha
would a tiller also work instead of a thatcher? Our lawn has become a disaster due to the incredibly high temperatures the last 2 years. Was thick and full like yours and now is patchy and dead.
New homeowner here and also a new parent. We took over a terrible-looking lawn and I would like to improve our patch. Just wondering if you have any concerns with using the chemicals in your lawn around your kids? Is there any other way to kill off or do a yard reno without them chemicals? Awesome video, thanks for the info!
I personally have no concerns because I believe once the stuff dries you are fine (label also says so). Other alternative would be to rent a sod cutter and rip up all the existing turf but that’s a lot of work
When mixing meso and sanctuary, do you need to "double" the water used. Or lets say if the Meso takes a gallon and the Sanctuary takes a gallon to mix, do you just need to use 1 gallon of water for the whole mixture?
The hardest part for me is the watering. I did not do a full renovation but just reseeded my current lawn in hopes of fixing bare spots and help it thicken up. But the watering really sunted it. With a full time job, I just could not get out and water enough. It didnt help the we got NO RAIN for 3 weeks after I seeded.........
Opposite happened to me. I did a big seeding job in hopes of a renovation before summer. Huge storm came through and removed most of my seeds. All that work for nothing. Just gave up until fall comes.
Watching your videos on lawn renovations. I’m in Central Arkansas..it’s early May. Would it be too late to start this process? What if I went through this year and started this over the fall/winter? Or if not this year should I wait until early spring next year?
5:06 Do you have any videos on the process for leveling? It is mentioned briefly but not really explained. I’m going to need to do this in my back yard reno..
I would love to do this but my neighbor’s lawn is all weeds. She refuses to spray or even give me the permission to do so. Needless to say, i am a regular tenacity and speedzone user as needed.
How much peat moss do you use as part of your top dressing? I am in the middle of my restoration on 5k sq feet and trying to figure out how much peat moss I need.
@@TheLawnWhisperer unfortunately man. I’d love to have Kentucky or something finer. My goal would be to have my lawn looking like a course green but not sure it’s possible
How late should you kill all grasses?? Girlfriends lawn is just weeds and some fuscue, I think... It's starting the Third week in September. Northern New Jersey.
I have 9 types of grass and 40 kinds of weeds at the house we just bought. I will do a renovation and start over, but i need to figure out what to plant. We've moved into the transition zone in middle Tennessee. All my experience is much further south where hot grass is the ticket.....now I'm not sure. I want a grass that feels good under the feet, that i don't have to reel mow, that i can mow once a week rather than 3 times a week....and i don't have irrigation yet. What's the recommendation?
An alternative to peat moss that I have seen work well in holding the moisture, working into the soil, and protecting the grass seed is simple sawdust. If you have, for instance, any kind of saw mill or wood working shop near you or any other place that produces sawdust you are likely going to get that for free since they are constantly trying to dispose of it.
How do you keep such a nice lawn with neighbors who don't and have loads of weeds?!?!?! We bought a house a year ago and the person who owned it before us never took care of the yard, the back was literally a jungle and very overgrown from what we've heard. So we've obviously been doing some work on it... But unfortunately a lot of people in the neighborhood don't take care of the weeds in their yard. When it's dandelion season, our neighborhood looks pretty with all the yellow, sure... But uh, yeah, not so fun later on 🤣🤦🏻♀️ we treated and mowed ours last year before they went to seed (hoping that keeps it down this year, probably not though), however neighbors seem to just leave them until after they seed 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ is it going to be possible to have a nice lawn or should I just expect a yellow sea every season? 🤣 We also have tons of wild carrot/queen Ann's lace, false strawberry, just... A lot of different things. About to follow your method of killing the yard and starting over this year 🙃
So if I use straw and Tenacity together wouldn’t that take care of any potential weed seeds that may or may not be in the straw? Still leaning towards peat moss tho
Hard to say what is in the straw. Tenacity doesn’t prevent EVERY weed. There’s potential for something nasty in the straw. Might be worth the risk though is straw is easier for you ? 🤷🏻♂️
If you’re happy with what you have just do some power raking or something to help with seed to soil contact and seed it. I’d still recommend the rest of the steps though
Okay in all seriousness. How crazy am I? I am going to kill off all my Bermuda next summer and go KBG. It’s hot hot hot (105 this week) and humid here but don’t mind watering etc. My fear is my neighbors Bermuda creeping in all the time. Which KBG do you think would be best? I want deep dark green.
The blue heat does fantastic in the heat. I think if you mowed it more often than I do it would be darker. However I’m really liking the mountain view seeds 365ss mix, it would be a good one. Or the barenbrug Turf blue pro. I think you’d be happy with any of those
@@dchildress17 if you are just wanting the dark green, then GCI tttf is great. I scalp down my Bermuda every year and overseed with fescue. I live in Edmond so I have the same heat you have.
Currently killing off 12,000 sqft of my lawn for a reno. Could I get by without using peat moss? Hoping that I can just broadcast seed and that the dead stubble will help keep everything down. I’ll walk over the lawn with a rake to help get the seed in better contact with soil. Watering should be on point, I just really don’t wanna buy tons of bags of peat moss if I don’t need to
Can be. You risk higher weed pressure and the heat of summer possibly wiping it out but it definitely can be done. Especially if doing ryegrass or fescue. Bluegrass takes longer to establish so it’s riskier
What reel mower are you using at ua-cam.com/video/ne7moSI-f78/v-deo.html? I have been looking for a small reel mower for me for my side yard as a way to get into reel mowing. It is laying some nice strips and looks great.
@@TheLawnWhisperer well from a distance, the neighbors yard looks identical but on some clips you can see that theirs has some weeds in it, while yours is looking amazing.
@@TheLawnWhisperer ...why, if I may ask? Is it because you want everything as smooth and level as possible?... And those plugs of dirt would defy that concept? Ser! I'm genuinely interested! 🤔👩🌾💚 =^..^= 🇺🇲
@@naturegirl7777 aeration can bring dormant weed seeds to the surface where they will germinate. If your lawn is compacted you can do it but give it enough time to water t and get the weeds to grow so you can kill them. Another reason is the level aspect. You could aerate, remove the cores, back fill with sand and that would solve all those issues. But that’s a lot more added work
So many comments could be made, but all I can say, is thanks for the great content brother 😎 only the brave will benefit from the "process"
Great video! Love the step by step. Caught my wife glancing at the video while watching so told her to be prepared for this next year!!
I've started my renovation! I'm on the second app of Glyphosate now, still watering it to get all weeds as possible. Long story, short, I had a POA problem in the lawn, this spring and I had applied Katana and ended up damaging and killed most of my Tall fescue from my partial reno from last November. You live you learn, now hoping it comes back better.
Congratulations on the new family member, Glad your back .
I just did my second app of Glyphosate yesterday one week from the first. I def saw a lot of spots that were still green. I didn't water but this morning I woke up to a nice rainy morning so I may hit it one more time before I start the process of bringing in new soil and seeding next week. I will admit, this is some scary stuff. I hope my grass grows in and survives the winter. Going with GCI Cool Blue TTTF and KBG mix
How did this turn out for you? I'm thinking about it (using the same grass seed mix) and freaking out, ha ha
@@senseisawk6468 I actually went with United seed super turf II. It’s TTTF with 10 percent KBG. But it came along great. Don’t be scared. Just make sure you water enough and put down some Tenacity when you seed to prevent weeds. You will be fine!!
Have seen all the videos leading up to this, but was a good refresher as I am currently waiting to throw some KBG down in my backyard renovation.
I've never been able to get my lawn to grow in as thick as the one you've got. This year I'll be using elite varieties (Mazama, Midnight, and Bluebank and Grandslam Rye), so hopefully they grow in thicker than the Scotts blend I've been using the last couple years.
Very well explained! Your results speak for themself.
My wife was watching people walk by and staring at our lawn trying to figure out what happened. She made me get a couple of signs made that said "Caution Lawn Renovation" Good old Vista Print to the rescue.
Step by step - nicely done bro!
Not looking to do a full reno, but I can vouch for GCI Turf's TTTF. My yard has never looked better even with the ridiculous amounts of wild violet and creeping charlie I need to tend to this fall.
Hey quick question what part of the country you live
This will be my plan next year! Great content, as always, Justin!
Good How To. Front flower border is looking good!
I’ve just done this 3 months back gone from rye to kbg I’m in the uk so smooth stalked meadow grass we call it that stuff is so slow to get established still not filled in 100% hopefully next season it goes crazy and fills in.
Yeah bluegrass takes awhile to establish. Once it gets to about day 30 or so after germination I like to push it with small amounts of nitrogen often to get it to fill in
Just moved into a new house, and have been planning my renovation for a couple of months. About to start killing the salad bar in my front yard, borrowed a Sun Joe from a friend, and have my GCI TTTF on the way.
Dumb question-- Running the seed over with the Sun Joe doesn't damage or redistribute the seed? I've never heard of doing this step, only hitting the seed with a lawn roller.
I'm in the process of getting some topsoil delivered, and found me a nice little pallet to level out the lawn. If I'm adding about 1/4" of topsoil, do I need to worry about bringing out the core aerator? I will be renting that along with a peat moss spreader from Home Depot. Moyock, NC. Cannot wait to dominate the new neighborhood!
Nice vid you did a awesome job on it. Going to renovate my front lawn this year rework my sprinkler system for better coverage. Thanks for the share👍👍👍
Thanks Justin a great review for me for my kill off
Glad to help!
I'm starting this weekend on a section on my Father In Law's lawn in Fishers, Indiana if you want to drive up and help! lol
You likely did these things, but to expand for new lawn care nerds:
August may or may not be too late. Most of these calculations for a renovation "start date" depend on when the first hard freeze is for your zip code. The start date in Massachusetts will be earlier than the middle or lower parts of the transition zone such as Virginia or North Carolina. Without checking I think you want to have seed down and watering at least 8 weeks before this freeze date. Back up 4-6 weeks for fallowing the lawn which is killing weeds after the first glyphosate application, and the follow up applications. Buying 100% of the products you need for the renovation prior to the first application of glyphosate. If you pull that trigger and cannot get one of the products you needed, it's panic time. Seed is not an infinite product each year. The amount of seed fluctuates with the success of the seed crops each year, and how many people need seed for renovation projects. You're spending the money anyway, so why not play it safe. A happy wife = a happy life.
When you spray glyphosate, you should mow lower so when you spray, you're also hitting the weeds that grow very low to the ground. Watering will not only show you any plants that were not killed by the first glyphosate application, but if you are watering multiple times daily as if you were germinating new seed, you will force growth on the weed seeds that will be competing against your desirable grass seed. I'd suggest having the step of leveling the lawn done, watering for another 2 weeks to encourage more weed growth, and do a final spray of glyphosate the day of or even a day after putting down seed. Glyphosate absorbs through foliar contact, so if there are no blades of grass or exposed grass, glyphosate will not harm the new seeds.
Sun Joe scarifier/dethatcher - my best friend during my lawn renovations. The next time you do a lawn renovation, the last step for me was the Sun Joe with the dethatching tines. I pulled this BACKWARDS and those tines leave amazing little ruts that are perfect for sowing seed. By the time you put down seed and water, the seed will be covered 1/4 to 1/2 inch without going over after seeding, which may displace seed in areas. The seed tends to come up a little more visibly in rows, but since you're cutting your lawn at 2" or higher most of the time (higher for people with bumpy lawns), it's invisible. There are still plants in between, but not as much. If you are not going to till the top 2 inches of soil as I did in my emergency unplanned reno, I used the Sun Joe scarifier attachment on the lowest setting and because I know how important this part was, including trying to somewhat level this part of the lawn, I probably spent 10-15 hours doing this on my 2,000 sq. ft. reno. I broke up the soil, removed as much dead organic matter as I could, moved soil with a rake or the Sun Joe and leveled out some low areas and lowered some higher areas. As far as putting money out for a drag mat versus the item you put down the peat moss with, I'd use a drag mat all day long. Peat moss may hold water and tell you when it is time to water, but I trust my automatic watering timer more than me being able to keep an eye on the grass and be sure it gets watered as it starts to dry. I currently have the Orbits B-Hyve Bluetooth timer which allows me to water each of the 4 zones up to 16x a day. I started my reno in August in Virginia with Zoysia and Midnight KBG so between those I'd have coverage over the winter, so I was watering 12x a day for short duration to keep the top 1/2" to 1" moist all day. As weather cooled and the seeds were moving towards establishment, I reduced to 8x a day, then 6, then 4, until today I'm watering once every 4 days, but watering longer to force the roots to chase the water deeper to avoid shallow root syndrome. I was seeding the Zoysia so it was 90-100 degrees every day for the first 3-4 weeks which is why I watered so frequently.
Personally, I always recommend to anybody that wants to do a lawn renovation to strongly consider a grass type that spreads laterally and self-propagates. Most warm season grasses like Zoysia, Bermuda, St. Augustine and others do this and fill in thickly. Cool season grasses that do this are Kentucky Bluegrass, creeping fescue, and although Ryegrass doesn't spread like this, Barenbrug has a few cultivars they have had out since around 2010 that spread lterally. It may not be as fast as some others, but you can get those gorgeous stripes that Ryan Knorr shows off with Rye. The Barenbrug product is called RPR or Regenerating Perineal Ryegrass. I like self-healing lawns like this because if you get a weed and it creates a dead spot, you don't have to fuss with overseeding and the constant watering and hand holding. I accidentally killed about 10 sq. ft. of my Zoysia 2 years ago. Instead of reseeding, I just pulled about 6-8 healthy plugs and placed them around the inside of the dead area and watered for a few weeks and the entire area was filled in as fast or faster than putting down new seed and watering multiple times and day and waiting for the lawn to establish. I didn't need to fuss about carefully mowing that area. Self-healing turf types allow this type of easy fix. I don't know if you can pull plugs from cool seasons turfs to do this. If not...so sorry for that overseeding headache. If you have dogs, you should have a self-healing lawn because they will dig at times, especailly dogs with a high prey drive if they locate a mole in the lawn.
Mesotrione will not work for any warm season grass that I'm aware of for seeding. It doesn't block all weed seeds, but it is a HUGE help to combat any weed seeds that are bound to pop up. It last as a pre-emergent for 21 days, and you can't reapply until 30 days so you'll see some weeds popping up by that 30th day. The second application of Meso will kill most of these weeds. Although you seemed to have not put down any balanced starter fertilizer such as 10-10-10 or 13-13-13 which would be enough for new seed nitrogen/phosphorus/potassium. What I did on my last reno was once the new seedlings had been germinated enough to be a good thickness versus toothpick thin new blades, I did a foliar application of 30-10-10 at 1/4 pound per 1,000 sq. ft.. I think I read that a foliar application is equal to 10x as much granular, but since it goes directly to the plant it gives a good rapid boost without leaving excess fertilizer in the soil that may still push growth when the lawn is trying to store energy in the roots for the first winter. A more balanced foliar application may be better, but I already had 30-10-10 on hand.
The end results speak for themselves though. You have a gorgeous lawn. I cannot stress enough how important it is to level your lawn before seeding. You can only raise the soil level by top dressing maybe 1/2" at a time twice a year, so get ahead of that headache while you're already busting your button getting the sed bed ready.
Again, most of this is directed at new lawn care nerds.
If you go to "The Lawn Care Forum.com", there is a cool season timeline countdown covering every step under the cool season section. It's a great place to congregate with fellow lawn care nerds and keep a running journal of the work you have done. You can watch the progress as well as get input from other lawn care nerds when you have questions. Tons of great info on herbicides, insecticides, places to buy products you never new existed.
As a warm season Zoysia lawn care nerd, I'm extremely jealous you cool season guys have Mesotrione. I wish there was a warm season variant for us to help with a safe pre-emergent during seeding and germination. On the flip side, warm season turfs tend to tolerate pre-emergents better so we can have more annual weed protection so I guess I can't complain too much.
One last oddball tip nobody else has ever considered to my knowledge. Watering a seed bed will make that section of soil soft and easy to dig through. Moles are rodents and rodents hate the smell of many spices. I bought some Tomcat Rodent Repellant granules and put down about 1 pound per 100 linear feet along the perimiter of the renovation and then again, every 2 weeks. The water will dissolve the granules and push the smell down into the soil and once I started going this on my last 2 renovations, I've had almost zero issues with moles. The ones that did come in didn't stay long. There are oils and such you can spray that do the same thing, but these granules are easy. Looking back, I should have considered a liquid application product. As with the 30-10-10 I applied, I had some rodent repellant from the last reno so I just used it.
Great one Justin!! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
Thanks buddy!
Great video!!!! Straight and to the point!!!!!
Happy (hot/humid!) Tuesday! This whole process would absolutely KILL me (the "killing" thereof), but as you say, the end result is so worth it. Schwhew! 😨👩🌾💚🌱🌿
Folks in the East, stay cool this week! [another "schwhew"!] 99 on Thursday in Maryland! 😰
=^..^=🇺🇲
Sheeeeeewwwww is right!!! Hot! But we are so close to fall weather, my favorite time of year
Good Morning Justin ☕
Atta boy Nathan!
@@TheLawnWhisperer I started to miss your videos bud. We need to get together again one day.
If you couldn't do a full kill off and you needed to have a garden growing this year, should I just spot spray thistle, then level, dethatch, aerate, spread seed, cover in with peat moss or straw blankets, fertilize with granular? Our lawn is trashed and mainly Bermuda grass (wire grass) BUT we cannot kill it off due to run off into our garden & fruit trees. We will be using Black Beauty Ultra grass seed.
I probably should do this this fall… but here is my question. If I overseed every fall and spring with my favorite seed, will I get the same results? I understand it would take a lot longer compared to doing it your way. Just curious. Also congrats on baby and glad to see you back.
I’ve been wondering the same. If I keep overseeing with KBG/rye can I eliminate the areas of fine fescue I have.
Would take many many years instead of one fall.
@@mrkuz4644 that’s exactly what I’m overseeding with. Just in the first overseed I’ve seen really good results. So I’m hoping just a few more will make it all kbg and prg
@The Lawngest Yard ...excellent point!... I think you would get excellent results year to year as long as you had good rainfall - that's the key - but that's never guaranteed in summertime unfortunately, unless you had a good irrigation system. Seems like, tho', with a good aeration and overseed each year (and even twice a year as you say) things should improve. (...but I'm the Garden Whisperer, not the Lawn Whisperer...) 🤷🏼♀️ Doing that along with his Sanctuary?!! - well, you probably still be the envy of your neighborhood! 👌👩🌾💚🌿🌱
=^..^=🇺🇲
@@TheLawngestYard good to know. Thanks I’m going to give it a go and see what happens. Right now my lawn is about 90% KBG/rye
Looks awesome! What's the time line, start to finish? Also, any suggesfions on how to get rid of moles & voles that are tunneling every where?
4-6 weeks depending if you spray 2 or 3 times
If I want to over seed rather then full renovation what’s the best grass seed to use. I live in Massachusetts and my current lawn seem to have multiple types from KBG, fescue and some zoysia. Was hoping to do in August low cut then use Sun joe and fescue with some top dressing compost with hopes the fescue will win out. Any ideas would be great, thanks Mike
@thelawnmentor if I use the round up grass and weed killer, the one with the blue lid, will it prevent the seeds from growing? After I use the Round Up solution and everything is killed how long do I have to wait before the chemical is gone from the seed to start germinating?
Another great vid. Wondering the status of the new property. What’s your game plan?
... I've been wondering too!... Maybe some upcoming projects will be revealed that he hinted about! 🤞👩🌾💚
=^..^= 🇺🇲
So we had originally planned to build the house this past spring. Then lumber and other material price skyrocketed so we pushed it back til they come back down. Unfortunately they’re still not there. I have some other projects I’m going to begin though such as clearing the land, putting a fence up on the backside, possibly planting some treees this fall, and maybe digging a pond
@@TheLawnWhisperer Dang man, that stinks to have to delay your build. But I understand, lumber costs are crazy these days.
About to do a full Reno on my front and back lawn. Just received my GCI tall fescue. I have to level my front lawn. Do you recommend sand or soil for leveling?
Sand or a mix would be good. Straight soil will break down over time and end up not level again
Keep it moist. Once your in, there is no pulling out.
Good stuff sir. Wont the dethatch after the seeding create bare spots?
Nope! At least I haven’t had any issues like that! Should be fine 👍
I noticed you didn't mention anything about aerating. Also, why not put down the starter fertilizer and Tenacity before the top dressing? Does it even matter? lol
Doesn’t really matter but I like to do it last then water it in so I’m not spraying it, then walking all over it to topdress. Just seems better to me haha
Great videos! Very informative…Live in Texas, Is March too early to start killing off a lawn?
Did you use the small dethatch tines or the fixed blade attachment? What height setting did you use? 0?
would a tiller also work instead of a thatcher? Our lawn has become a disaster due to the incredibly high temperatures the last 2 years. Was thick and full like yours and now is patchy and dead.
Learning a lot ! What kind of camera and audio are u working with ?
Justin, it’s so thick! 😯
Thicky thick!!’
dude, did you work at a golf or something like that to know all this? Good job by the way. im really impressed
New homeowner here and also a new parent. We took over a terrible-looking lawn and I would like to improve our patch. Just wondering if you have any concerns with using the chemicals in your lawn around your kids? Is there any other way to kill off or do a yard reno without them chemicals? Awesome video, thanks for the info!
I personally have no concerns because I believe once the stuff dries you are fine (label also says so). Other alternative would be to rent a sod cutter and rip up all the existing turf but that’s a lot of work
When mixing meso and sanctuary, do you need to "double" the water used. Or lets say if the Meso takes a gallon and the Sanctuary takes a gallon to mix, do you just need to use 1 gallon of water for the whole mixture?
Great thanks buddy!
The hardest part for me is the watering. I did not do a full renovation but just reseeded my current lawn in hopes of fixing bare spots and help it thicken up. But the watering really sunted it. With a full time job, I just could not get out and water enough. It didnt help the we got NO RAIN for 3 weeks after I seeded.........
Opposite happened to me. I did a big seeding job in hopes of a renovation before summer. Huge storm came through and removed most of my seeds. All that work for nothing. Just gave up until fall comes.
Watching your videos on lawn renovations. I’m in Central Arkansas..it’s early May. Would it be too late to start this process? What if I went through this year and started this over the fall/winter? Or if not this year should I wait until early spring next year?
Thx for the vid. What did you use to top dress your lawn?
Peat moss
I live in Northern California. Would it be too early to start now in the spring?
I have some tenacity, I plan to use it at time of seeding. Would I still be good to use the liquid fert you mentioned?(I believe I should be able too)
Very good video!
Thank you!
Sorry bro... already started.. will watch anyways. 🤣 I'm also getting GCI TTTF. 👍🏽
Good!! I’m late to getting this video out
@@TheLawnWhisperer it's all good! You had a bundle of joy that came first. The before and after shots are amazing, looking back. 👌🏽
I've already killed part of my lawn, and it is too hot now. 100 degrees in Washington. I'm guessing wait until it gets into the 80s to seed?
I’d wait a little bit to seed unless you can easily keep it watered?
@@TheLawnWhisperer okay, thanks!
After dropping the seed I don’t need to cover it with top soil or compost?
I live in the northeast, will doing this at the end of July effect the grass growing back in the fall?
Great video
Thank you mr silent killer!
Hey LW. Would you recommend the Scotts Starter Fertilizer with Mesotriome if I don't have the liquid?
Should you aerate after scarifying?
5:06 Do you have any videos on the process for leveling? It is mentioned briefly but not really explained. I’m going to need to do this in my back yard reno..
I have a couple videos on it yeah. Also working on another currently
Once you hit with glyphosate. Did you scalp to lowest setting on your mower?
@@brandonreed3043 after it had died yeah
Do you recommended aerating or liquid aeration? Or do not have to totally do it?
It probably depends on if you have any severe drainage issues or not.
I would love to do this but my neighbor’s lawn is all weeds. She refuses to spray or even give me the permission to do so. Needless to say, i am a regular tenacity and speedzone user as needed.
My neighbors lawn is all weeds too, you can still do it! 👍
@@TheLawnWhisperer thanks!
Hey Lawn Whisperer,
I am about to kill my grass here in IL. Still have the neighbor issues but i am going for it
Can you walk on peat moss and new seed to move sprinklers or what is best practice with average joe sprinklers?
Yes be easy when walking on it
Yeah you can, just don’t trample all over it and you’ll be fine
How much of the old grass has to be removed? I have spots where there are dead stems, where the dethatcher and rake missed.
How much peat moss do you use as part of your top dressing? I am in the middle of my restoration on 5k sq feet and trying to figure out how much peat moss I need.
I put a bag in the Landzie and go until it’s all out haha makes it easy. If spreading by hand maybe 1/8th inch to 1/4 inch of peat Moss
Don’t use Tenacity on Bermuda seeding! Make sure you check which grasses it will affect!
Should you level your lawn before you kill off your grass
So the sanctuary is replacement for any starter fertilizer correct?
Thanks this sharing this. Any steps you would alter for a lawn in AZ?
I’m assuming you have or will have Bermuda?
@@TheLawnWhisperer unfortunately man. I’d love to have Kentucky or something finer. My goal would be to have my lawn looking like a course green but not sure it’s possible
How late should you kill all grasses?? Girlfriends lawn is just weeds and some fuscue, I think... It's starting the Third week in September. Northern New Jersey.
For the tall fescue RTF, how has that been holding up?
My lawn is so terrible. It probably needs to be reseeded, but it seems really overwhelming.
The guy at 1:12 is hawt
He’s a tool
I have 9 types of grass and 40 kinds of weeds at the house we just bought. I will do a renovation and start over, but i need to figure out what to plant. We've moved into the transition zone in middle Tennessee. All my experience is much further south where hot grass is the ticket.....now I'm not sure.
I want a grass that feels good under the feet, that i don't have to reel mow, that i can mow once a week rather than 3 times a week....and i don't have irrigation yet.
What's the recommendation?
Tall fescue
Tall fescue is what I would go with
@@TheLawnWhisperer Thank you! Would the advice then be to do a full kill off and reseed....or just scalp and overseed until the TTTF takes over?
An alternative to peat moss that I have seen work well in holding the moisture, working into the soil, and protecting the grass seed is simple sawdust. If you have, for instance, any kind of saw mill or wood working shop near you or any other place that produces sawdust you are likely going to get that for free since they are constantly trying to dispose of it.
First Aussie 😁. Great advice Justin. 😎👍👍
Trevor my man!!!
How do you keep such a nice lawn with neighbors who don't and have loads of weeds?!?!?! We bought a house a year ago and the person who owned it before us never took care of the yard, the back was literally a jungle and very overgrown from what we've heard. So we've obviously been doing some work on it... But unfortunately a lot of people in the neighborhood don't take care of the weeds in their yard. When it's dandelion season, our neighborhood looks pretty with all the yellow, sure... But uh, yeah, not so fun later on 🤣🤦🏻♀️ we treated and mowed ours last year before they went to seed (hoping that keeps it down this year, probably not though), however neighbors seem to just leave them until after they seed 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ is it going to be possible to have a nice lawn or should I just expect a yellow sea every season? 🤣 We also have tons of wild carrot/queen Ann's lace, false strawberry, just... A lot of different things. About to follow your method of killing the yard and starting over this year 🙃
Gorgeous
Thank you!
So if I use straw and Tenacity together wouldn’t that take care of any potential weed seeds that may or may not be in the straw? Still leaning towards peat moss tho
Hard to say what is in the straw. Tenacity doesn’t prevent EVERY weed. There’s potential for something nasty in the straw. Might be worth the risk though is straw is easier for you ? 🤷🏻♂️
Good knowledge. And it’s not easier for me but I always see the city use straw for when they seed new areas
@@Allan001213 straw is cheaper and generally easier and quicker to spread
@@TheLawnWhisperer thanks for the knowledge
Where did you get that red dye?
Rural king
What dye did you use? And do you apply the liquid fertilizer immediately after seeding?
Red dye from rural king or you could order blue dye
Question, will cutting as short as possible before Roundup a good idea?
Yeah it could help 👍
Any objection to not killing off lawn if it's 40% there ?
If you’re happy with what you have just do some power raking or something to help with seed to soil contact and seed it. I’d still recommend the rest of the steps though
What is that pink dye??
Indiana here to any chance u are in NWI?
Can't use tenacity on zoysia :(
Okay in all seriousness. How crazy am I? I am going to kill off all my Bermuda next summer and go KBG. It’s hot hot hot (105 this week) and humid here but don’t mind watering etc. My fear is my neighbors Bermuda creeping in all the time. Which KBG do you think would be best? I want deep dark green.
The blue heat does fantastic in the heat. I think if you mowed it more often than I do it would be darker. However I’m really liking the mountain view seeds 365ss mix, it would be a good one. Or the barenbrug Turf blue pro. I think you’d be happy with any of those
@@TheLawnWhisperer thanks bud! How do you think it’ll do here in the heat and humidity?
@@dchildress17 where are you located? If it’s that hot consistently it will definitely struggle
@@TheLawnWhisperer Tulsa, OK!
@@dchildress17 if you are just wanting the dark green, then GCI tttf is great. I scalp down my Bermuda every year and overseed with fescue. I live in Edmond so I have the same heat you have.
Currently killing off 12,000 sqft of my lawn for a reno. Could I get by without using peat moss? Hoping that I can just broadcast seed and that the dead stubble will help keep everything down. I’ll walk over the lawn with a rake to help get the seed in better contact with soil. Watering should be on point, I just really don’t wanna buy tons of bags of peat moss if I don’t need to
Damn. I was to late to do this year then
Can this be done in the spring?
Can be. You risk higher weed pressure and the heat of summer possibly wiping it out but it definitely can be done. Especially if doing ryegrass or fescue. Bluegrass takes longer to establish so it’s riskier
What reel mower are you using at ua-cam.com/video/ne7moSI-f78/v-deo.html? I have been looking for a small reel mower for me for my side yard as a way to get into reel mowing. It is laying some nice strips and looks great.
Wish you had taken a clip of the difference from yours and neighbors yard.
What do you mean?
@@TheLawnWhisperer well from a distance, the neighbors yard looks identical but on some clips you can see that theirs has some weeds in it, while yours is looking amazing.
@@05tech oh gotcha. I should have shown close up then. It may look decent from a distance but there are a LOT of weeds
What if I'm just overseeding?
I’ve got videos on that coming or you can go find my overseeding guide from last year
What about aeration? Since ya didn’t show - shall i suspect you don’t need to do this ??
Correct. At least I don’t like aeration during a renovation
@@TheLawnWhisperer ...why, if I may ask? Is it because you want everything as smooth and level as possible?... And those plugs of dirt would defy that concept? Ser! I'm genuinely interested! 🤔👩🌾💚
=^..^= 🇺🇲
@@naturegirl7777 aeration can bring dormant weed seeds to the surface where they will germinate. If your lawn is compacted you can do it but give it enough time to water t and get the weeds to grow so you can kill them. Another reason is the level aspect. You could aerate, remove the cores, back fill with sand and that would solve all those issues. But that’s a lot more added work
@@TheLawnWhisperer
...whoa, I hear ya'! Alrightey then... didn't know! =^..^=
Where do you live - doesn't timing depend on where you live?
I’d say no matter where you are you should be starting already though
No “Car!” at 1:01?
Pathetic.
Kidding.
Good refresher.. since my front yard is dead.
I’m rusty bro!!! I gotta ease myself back into it! No bag slap either 😢
"you can't pull out off this one" that's what she said....
7:00 how big is that flag?
Can't pullout. That's what she said. Spray and pray
Trust the Process unless your Sixers fan. Then you have to Trust the Process for 10 years and see no results.
Your lawn looks amazing. Next thing is to block the view from all those neighbors. You all are on top of each other.
You cant pull out now. That's what she said.
First Hoosier!!
My man Ned!!!