Well, alright Jim.

I renovated August '08. I had very poor germination sowing into Rounded Up grass. Poor seed to soil contact was my guess.

35 days after sowing and winter approaching.

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56 days later, first frost and Halloween are here. I figure I just try again next year.

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But to my surprise, May '09 brings new hope! Somehow what did germinate survived a Chicago winter. Seeds laid dormant until spring. There is hope!

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All is coming along except for a hump left from a plumbing emergency in February. With a little more luck and feedings, the elite KBG will have completely spread and filled in the voids.

-Gary

Wow, looks great Gary. I am sure it will fill in fast as it looks very healthy.

Here is my yard taken late April. No fertilizer this spring just Dimension. I put down 3 apps of fertilizer last fall.

I have since put down Milorganite 5-2-0. Not bad for a rookie...... :)

This is 5 years after killing the yard full of bermuda.

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Gary, looking good, but I still think you're mowing too high... Brind the mower down to 2 inches and go from there.

Chiefsfan, looks like you have some shade, how did bermuda managed to get in your yard?

Your lawn looks great for just 1 application of Milorganite, is it Fescue?

My first spring of taking my lawn seriously so I know not ideal but looking good for me. I just put down my first dose of high nitrogen fertilizer today and have been following Texas Weed's advice. I am anxious to see how it looks in a few weeks when the nitrogen gets going. Texas Weed if you read this does it look pale green to you? Anything I can do to make it darker? Iron perhaps?

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Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:90833}}

Looking good guy's! It is habit formimg. LOL!

It came in from the neighbors lawns. Before I killed it you could see the arc of the shade where the bermuda would mot grow. I "nuke" the fence line to keep the bermuda at bay.

I hit the lawn 3 times last fall. This is the greenest thickest lawn I have seen. I used Loveland fertilizer and a winterizer called Snowman from them.

Kelly

Kelly, is that tall fescue you've got there?

IIRC it is Lesco Transition blend. I am very happy with it.
I mow it 4 different directions and at the highest setting.

Kelly

Fescue lawns when grow tall stripe very nicely. Good job on that lawn. Love the stripes on it...

Here's my Kentucky Bluegrass/PRG lawn:

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And final:

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Looking awesome as usual Auteck. I am mowing at the highest setting and it is laying over a little in areas. Should I lower back down some as it looks like you are mowing much lower than me, thanks. Oh and love that Deodar in the front. What variety do you have? Way underutilized tree as far as I am concerned, very classy look.

Thanks.

How high is the highest setting on your mower? If the grass is already laying over then you're mowing too high.

I'm mowing at 2.5" except for the Midnight II KBG, which I'm mowing at 2 inches. It looks like a carpet right now. If you like the looks of tall grass, don't mow higher than 3 inches. The recommended mowing hight for PRG and KBG is in between 1.5" to 2.5". Usually anything higher and you'll lose density and the turf can also harbor diseses and insects.

I just fertilized 2 days ago with Lesco 18-24-12 (slow release) about half inch of rain came down, so it's watered and working its way down into the root system. The next application will be in September.

I will definitely lower back down to 2.5-3. Currently at 4. Have read that higher is always better but maybe not so for KBG and PRG. Thanks again.

Four inches is WAY too high for your location.

You have very mild summers, you can easely keep the mower set to cut at 2.5". At that height, the turf is very dense and weed resistant; not to mention it looks like a carpet. If you get into drought, then you can raise the mower up to 3 inches and water ONLY when the grass tells you to (the color of the grass will become darker green than usual with a shade of grey).

Did you get down to the freezing mark this morning? I know Boone got down to 34F, Charlotte 42F, and Raleigh 44F.

My lawn is loving it I'm sure...

We will do. 35 at the house but upper 20's 200 feet down the mountain. Heavy frost on the valley floor.

Jim, I forgot to respond to you about the Deodar Cedar. I don't know which type it is, but it has a blue green color and some silver as well. One of my favorite trees.

I agree 100% with you, way underutilized just like the Blue Spruces. Another tree I like a lot is the Canadian Hemlock. I have 4 in my backyard, here's picture of them during the winter as well as the Deodar:

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The Hemlocks

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I like KBG mowed higher than Auteck does. I mow mine at around 3.5 to 4 inches and it recently got up to about 8 inches high (too tall, but I was out of town longer than expected). It never flopped over even when it got that tall.

Many of the newer varieties are dwarf type and can be mowed lower, but I think that if the grass isn't flopping over, it does better if it's mowed high because it allows more blade for photosynthesis, it shades the ground more, blocks weeds from growing and encourages deeper root growth.

If the grass is laying down, then I agree that it should be mowed lower.

Excellent pictures of the snow. Have you tried Blue Spruce?

Auteck are you guys getting the wooly adelgid on that side of the state? It is pretty much everywhere over here now.

Thanks.

No wooly adelgid here. Canadian Hemlocks are not very popular here and I think that helps keeping the propagation of the adelgid to min. As my trees get older and bigger, I will have to spray them at one point.

Do you have Hemlocks at your property?

BP, I noticed that when Bluegrass or Ryegrass are over fertilized, the grass plants tend to send out more tillers and grows faster without laying over at a lower height. However, when fertilized propertly, the grass starts to lay over at a much lower height, and as you propably know, with turfgrass, less is better. I have also noticed that Bluegrasses cut at 4 inches high tend to look a lot like Tall Fescue.

I suppose we can agree to disagree on this issue.

There are several small Hemlocks on my property. I am surrounded by large Hemlocks however on all sides of my property. I also have American Chestnut on my property but it dies back after getting up to about 10 feet tall due to the blight. Have an extremely large diversity of native wildflowers and trees that I have found growing on my 1 acre. Let me know if you are interested as it is fairly extensive.

Auteck - what mix of KBG/PRG did you use? I need to plant my lawn soon and want to get a good mix and your lawn looks beautiful.