Technology
Turgrass Installation
In this episode, we delve into the essential steps for successful turfgrass installation, covering soil preparation, seed selection, and watering techniques. Listeners will learn about different seedi...
Turgrass Installation
Technology •
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Interactive Transcript
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I'll hear a little bit talk about grass seed, what you need to do. A lot of this is
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very fundamental if you follow a few very important guidelines. The preparation of
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the soil, fertilizer, your seed, and what you're going to coat it with are the
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material you're going to use to help insulate it to absorb the moisture to help
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it to grow. So let's get into a little bit of grass seed and grass seed
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preparation. Now just to touch a little bit of base about the few different ways
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that you can go about to this. You can go the normal way of seeding, fertilizing,
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and putting straw on top. That's the kind of the common every day. You can install
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with a process called hydro seeding and then application with straw on top as a
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top bedding material for the seed. You can hydro mulch and hydro mulch is with the seed
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application and the mulch. It's a paper by product and it's recycled newspaper
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stuff like that and it's bailed up into 50 pound bales and it's thrown in a tank with the seed
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and the water and fertilizer all mixed together and spray that on top and it all is kind of done
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in one process. You can also install sod. Sod is an inch and a half layer of turf and
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the top layers of the soil in order to get the roots and everything of the turf specimen that
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you get it from a lot of time. We get these from sod farms where they are very controlled environments
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and the type of sod that you were getting is very specific and what you were looking for as a high
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quality most generally homeowners get installed. With the installation of all of these products
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there's a basic way of soil preparation. The best way is going to be to look at your soil by getting
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a soil analysis. A lot of your local cooperative farm stores, farm ag stores and a cooperative
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extension and stuff like that are going to have a way for you to get an analysis done on your soil.
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Your soil is going to tell you what kind of nutrients you have, what kind of nutrients you lack.
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You're going to take that analysis and you're going to look at what type of seed source that you want,
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can afford are going to put in all of the above. You're going to want to look at these different
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types of things because if you want a Kentucky bluegrass and your current soil is not nutrient
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efficient enough and isn't going to grow anything but crabgrass and weeds you want to amend your soil.
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So look at what type of amendments you're going to might need. As a favorite rule of thumb we have
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lined to climb and sulfur to sink so maybe you need pH levels raised in your soil. So we're going
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to throw some lime in it. We're going to raise the pH level so maybe you need to just drop the pH
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levels and we're going to put some sulfur in it to sink it. Maybe the nutrients aren't going to
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be a factor but maybe your watering and the water availability is going to be a factor. So you really
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got to decide on what's going to work best in your environment whether you're in an arid environment
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or a humid environment very much rainy environment versus dry environment. You may need to look at
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some alternative sources of providing irrigation for your product and at least for the first 14
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days or so 21 days you're going to want to irrigate your product a couple times a day for about 10
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minutes at least. You don't want to water in very hot afternoon sun it's the best to water in the
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morning and in the evening. That's kind of some of the aftercare stuff though so more on the
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preparation of the soil. Now preparing the soil like I get to is very critical. If you have nutrients
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minerals or other organic material that has to be incorporated it suggests that it's
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incorporated at this time of the preparation of the soil. If you have leveling, if you have filling
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or anything that you need to do I'd also do it before any of your nutrient additions that way
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it all gets the nutrient addition not just the parts that are lower in your property. So
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in incorporating we're going to look at incorporating up to six inches.
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So we're going to want to tell and in telling you're going to incorporate this material amendments
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nutrients everything that it's going to need and you're going to tell it in six inches.
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Now if your property doesn't need nutrient rose grass just fine and you're okay with just
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throwing a general pro mix down go ahead and prep your soils you're going to prep them at about
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a quarter to half an inch and you want it tailed on the surface. Now professionally on the large
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scale we use harley rakes a lot. A harley rake is going to be the removal of the grass surface if
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you have any grass surface or weed surfaces or anything like that. We specifically kill it all
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and we use a chemical application to complete that. Now let's say your grass is dead and it's just
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soil surface. Depending on your soil surface if you have sand the preparations going to be a little
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bit different for leveling. If you're going to have clay it's going to be a little bit different. So
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I have clay to sandy clay areas where I'm at in northwest Ohio.
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The preparation of our soils is sometimes difficult. Preparing clay if it's very dry in the middle
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of the summer it's almost like your drilling into cement. So it's really about the timing
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different types of rainfall amounts and stuff that you got. Obviously you're not going to be able
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to do too much tailing or too much harley raking. In soil it has two inches of standing water.
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You're just going to create a mud bath that will be a mud pit. You might as well call your buddies
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get some trucks over and have a mud bog. But preparing this surface wait till it's dried out.
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It doesn't have to be super dry but dry enough. It has to be pulverized. It can't be clumps. It can't be
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big balls of mud. When it is done the surface you can literally pick up the soil and it's almost
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like a dust. It's dry. It's dry. It's basically a blow in the wind if you throw it up in the air.
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So having it prepared at this level allows the grass to grow very easily.
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Now let's say you've gone and prepared all your soil and it's pulverized. It's almost a dusty substance.
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We're going to go ahead and throw our fertilizer down spreading with a fertilizer spreader.
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So you want to use a seed start fertilizer. You want to use a fertilizer that's high in nitrogen
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and your potassium and your phosphorus is really there's mild amounts of it. Let's put it that way.
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For phosphorus a lot of places are a lot of states are going to
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do programs where they do not have that chemical in the analysis anymore due to the
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runoff problems that we've been facing with our algae bling. Most generally though you go to the
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store and you'll find fertilizer source on the self. Those fertilizer sources are going to tell you
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it is a seed start fertilizer. Pick you up a seed start fertilizer.
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Use that for your fertilizer like I said put it down with proper application method properly
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distributed, get it fertilizer spreader and get cheap ones from Loseman Arts one deep,
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both box stores like that is hardware whatever. Go to these stores and get you a little fertilizer
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spreader spread it evenly. Do the same thing with the seed use the same spreader and spread your seed.
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You're going to have to calibrate it a little bit differently. Seed is a little bit heavier.
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It's spread a little bit different than the fertilizer and seed both. So just make sure you're
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applicating at the correct application. At the correct application.
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Right. Applicate both your fertilizer and your seed and then it's time for your top dressing.
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Now 99% of people would use straw because it's very readily available. Navars have it,
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your farmers have it. Local hardware store will probably provide it. There's a couple of different
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other materials one being hydro mulch and once you can buy by the bail and break it up on a surface
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and there's also another product called pen mulch. It just looks a little pelleted mulch that
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expands and absorbs water and a lot of the new mulch products like pen mulch specifically has a
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nutrient availability in it and releases it into the seed which goes into the ground etc.
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So you get your fertilizer down. You get your seed down and you got your material covering your seed.
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Now we're going to water it. We're going to water it in. We're going to water it in good.
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And if you have the ability watering it in good means water your whole area for like 20 minutes.
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Okay. I like to set sprinklers out with timers that go back to the hydrant and hook up
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the hydrant and allow it to kick on. So many times a day for so long and it gives you a time period
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of every eight hours or 12 hours or whatever's necessary. So in your first watering you're yard.
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You wouldn't get that seed imbibed without water. You want it to soak off that water so it sprouts
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and it goes crazy and you want it to do as fast as possible in all at once. So water properly trying
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to do the correct watering area try to water it all for the same amount of time and you'll have it
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all come in appropriately. Now Mother Nature helps and we love Mother Nature helps but it doesn't
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always work that way so giving you the best advice that I know of. If you have the ability to irrigate
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the area four times a day for 10 minutes for three to five days I can guarantee you if you installed
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it the correct way and you water it the correct way and you're nutrient are correct in your yard
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it will grow and it will grow great it will grow so good it'll choke out all your weeds. You won't
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even probably have to put any chemicals down to keep the weeds out because it'll be so much
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brand new good grass growing so quick that it will choke everything out. Now you want it to get
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a little bit longer you want that root system of that grass to get in there. So let that grass grow
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let it get a little longer yeah it's going to look a little shabby at first but you're going to be
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super happy you get to know your yard right and then you're going to hate it the rest of the time
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because then you're going to have to keep mowing it or you're going to love it because you like to
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mow grass like I do but mowing it that first time leftover pieces on top of the grass don't worry
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about it wait until you would normally mow your grass again skip that time go to the next time
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so let's say it's in the middle of gross season in about four more days after cutting your grass
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for the first time you're looking like ah maybe I should cut it again no no no no no wait eight days
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if it's five days that you think you should be cutting it again if it's five days you think
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you should be cutting it again wait till 10 okay then give it a cut again then go back onto your
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normal schedule I know it's going to be a little painstaking at first but it's going to be super
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healthy and beneficial for your yard the taller your grass gets the deeper those roots go
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that's why it's hard to get a weed out that's growing up really high because it's growing up
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really high the weeds are down really low so now there's many types of grass so make sure you get
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the right grass most homers are going to go homeowners are going to go after that Kentucky blue grass
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it seems to be the prettiest grass that there is that is most widely accepted as the prettiest grass
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let's just put it that way we have different blends that we use in the industry we have an
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ODOT specified lawn mixture that specifically has so much of this kind of grass warm season grass
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and the cool season grass for this state or that state and every state varies so my ODOT grass
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seed is going to vary depending on where I'm going in which state now we also got lawn grass seed a
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lot of that's going to contain like I said Kentucky blue grass because that's what lawns like to
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have in homes like to have that's what they like to have in their grass so we put lots of
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grass in them make it look rough then we also have our grid iron grass and that stuff is just
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completely immaculately strong pretty much will grow on cement not really but I'm just saying
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and we also have an athletic field turf type and very rigorous very tuck and very good looking
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so you got different types look up what type did you want look what type there is if you're really
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concerned about your grass you're going to be spending a lot of money it's worth it take a little
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bit of time to learn if you learn about it it will grow take your time have some fun with it do
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this stuff correctly it's all over the internet if you've got any questions pull it up for your area
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don't look up grass seed for Ohio if you're in Wyoming don't look up grass seed for Florida
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if you're in Utah and look up the grass seed for your area look at the types look at what you're
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looking for and you can also call a garden center call a local turf guy see what kind of lawn seed
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is going to be best majority of them will probably tell you I know I would give me a call I would
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let you know scots lawns grass seed fertilizers have very good stuff it's a little pricey
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but have applied correctly and doing things correctly and everything that you're supposed to do
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following the steps that I've laid out for you if you've followed those steps it will grow
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there's also professionals in all of your retail stores so your box stores your
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renards your home depot your lows all of them stores they're all gonna have a professional back in
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the green section go down to your lawn and garden center ask them some questions they would love
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to help you they could pay to help you so they're definitely gonna if you don't want to go down
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to the store call ask for the lawn and garden center they'll send you on the phone over to the
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keep master technicians on staff so they are very overqualified to give you the advice that's
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necessary to plant some grass if you want to hear more about grass types if you want to hear more
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about specific turf types and different things to use in different area let me know and we'll
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shoot another podcast out there we'll get into some details about some turf more people want it
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but i'll do it faster so if you're interested in learning about something or want to know about a
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plant or maintenance on some plants or stuff on your property installation hard-scaping irrigation
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chemical application just let me know i have a wealth of knowledge in various different sectors
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of the green industry and we'd be happy to share it with you all we get a little bit into hydro
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seeding and hydro mulching really kind of the same concept it's a pretty big tanker truck with
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a spray gun on it or a spray hose on it and depending on the obstructions and the amount of
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area that we're doing will depict which type of nozzle we're using whether we're using from
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the top of the tanker or whether we're using from a drop hose that we pull out of the back of the
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truck now these two applications are like i said primarily the same thing it's your water your seed
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your fertilizer both all are used in both applications the only difference in hydro mulching versus
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hydro seeding is hydro mulch you actually throw a paper product mulch and allow it to adhere to
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the top that's why you see green material when you are hydro mulch and the one we also have a
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600 gallon hole behind bumper pole tank that we use for smaller home applications now we mix all
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these materials in together and it comes out to about let's say 3000 gallons of water
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200 pounds of seed 600 pounds of fertilizer and if we're doing hydro mulching you're looking at
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about another 600 pounds of hydro mulch plus the gallons of water eight pounds per gallon 3000
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gallons you're looking at some serious weight when we do some serious turf applications too though
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to replicate for the ODOT we replicate for cities universities colleges high schools
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elementary we do a lot of grass seed applications the soil preparation that is necessary for this
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procedure is the exact same thing as advocating the grass seed and fertilizer and straw your soil
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we just come in and do it for you we have big equipment that does it and we just take care of it all
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this is just an explanation for you on a large scale and small scale
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more generally on a smaller scale
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really lack the knowledge of what it takes to get your grass to grow why it grows how it grows
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what to look for when it doesn't grow and just the steps to take that are necessary
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before you put it in that way you don't waste your money
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now if we move on to the installation of another product called sod the preparation is exactly the same
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you're going to prepare it the exact same you're going to soil test it you're going to find out
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what nutrients are missing what nutrients are there you're going to find out what type of organic
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amendments you're going to need to incorporate in order to get it to where it needs to be
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and all your leveling and everything that you're going to need to do
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so if you're amending in products you're going to want to amend into six inches
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if you're simply your yard is good your amendments are good you don't need any leveling there's no
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preparation needed you go ahead and prepare your soil half quarter inch this necessary
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to allow the seed source to root establish develop and become the great term that you want to
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mo so prepare the surface you're going to install the sod when you're installing sod you're going to
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install sod in a staggered pattern so you're going to throw one three feet three foot piece down let's
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say three foot by one and a half foot now let's say you throw that three foot piece down you put in
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a half a piece line it up right beside it then you throw your next piece of sod and front of that
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half ounce you throw your next piece of sod in front of that half a piece and then you continue
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to stagger it the entire way now you do that for the next row and the next row and your next row you
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don't want them to all line up it won't lock it in you want it to lock in like a puzzle board
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and to do that you have to stagger them like anything in construction most generally you want to
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stagger it it makes it stronger it on the surface locks it in a lot better so stagger your sod
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if you have sod that's getting installed on incline surfaces decline surfaces however you want to
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look at it sod staples it makes sod staples dependent into the surface so it doesn't slide and the
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roots have the ability and time to establish into the surface so they are not moving
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if you are seeding hydro seeding and applicating seed into the surface of a incline
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decline surface however you want to look at if you're applicating the seed source onto a surface
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like this and you don't want it to go anywhere your area is known for rain you're expecting rain
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you're going to irrigate it you're going to do what you're supposed to do and give it some water
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any of these conditions there is a straw netting that we use in erosion
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we use this in erosion control so the seed stores and the fertilizer source does not run off
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and away from the area that we wanted until it is established and we do that so that the
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grass seed can use it establish and grow beautifully so you can mow it like you want to
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takes your time do a little bit of research and move forward your biggest thing is to make sure
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that your surface layer just have fun with it it's an amazing product
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we kind of manicure our lawns and our residential settings in ways that we have never done before
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it is very manicured we call it keeping up with the Joneses because my yard's got to look better
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than your yard your yard has weeds mine doesn't mine is greener than yours
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I mean I understand throughout many years I've had some cycles of my life of my yard's going to be the best
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now I have taken out 60 70 percent of my turf and I have applicated it with fruits and vegetables in
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my front yard flowers and shrubs and all's amazing wonderful viewing products that look amazing
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and now back to the aftercare thought the aftercare is really really particularly water it
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just watered you don't want a mud pull on your front yard obviously but you're going to want it wet
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that seed has to absorb that water and if it doesn't stay wet for the three to five days that's
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necessary for a to absorb it and sprout it's not gonna if you got it too wet you're gonna kill it
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if you got it wet enough and didn't keep keeping it wet you're gonna kill it if you don't
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wet it enough it's not gonna grow because it's not alive to grow it has to be watered just right
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now that's like preparing your soil quarter to a half an inch on the surface
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for the seed to grow into seed is established most generally rule a thumb of seed plant the seed
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three times the depth of the size of the seed so a grass seed if you know or not
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is very small it's about the size of the end of a pencil head
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so you got a bunch of those now it's not very big so a quarter inch that's pretty deep
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for size of a pencil head it's about three times the depth if you replicate the seed source
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and it's deeper and it's supposed to it's not gonna be able to grow
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you'll suffocate it so it doesn't matter how much water you put on it it's not gonna like anything
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that you don't because it doesn't get the sun or the availability of oxygen or anything that
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it's gonna need in order to grow properly so watering watering is critical now in my area I live in
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first three days maybe five depending on how much mother nature gives us
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I'm going to water for at least three days four times a day 10 minute each time so that's
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gonna be 40 minutes of watering for my day for at least three days after that watering schedule
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I'm gonna cut it back to 10 minutes twice a day and I'm gonna set it up on the irrigation timer
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I can buy from Lowe's Menard Tum Depot and box stores probably some ace hardware probably your
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local home box store whatever town you live in Molinta Ohio Molinta hardware store
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um Charleston, West Virginia's Charleston hardware store whatever whatever local hardware store you got
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and I get some hoses and I get a connection that allows me to do a couple of different hoses
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that way I can do multiple different areas I'm going to
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replicate this water for another seven to ten days twice a day for ten minutes and I'm gonna watch
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the establishment of my turf grow now if it's not growing within this 14 or so days you how
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you don't see any grass seed coming in something's wrong if you don't see any grass seed coming
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up in two weeks it's not established something happened something go right application didn't go
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correctly something happened look back through your process see what you did see what you should have
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done and um try it again if you're scared to do it you you just worried that you don't have the
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ability you're not going to know how something like that I encourage you to call local professional
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and uh touch base with them talk to them maybe you can talk to your local garden centers
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talks to these talk to these box store pros they know a lot
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few little uneasy with calling Lowes Menard Tum Depot stuff like that not so sure of what you're
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going to get who you're going to talk to if they're actually going to have a pro on the floor
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I encourage you to call your local agricultural extension do I think you have an agricultural
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extension no I know you have an agricultural extension call them your local area agricultural
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extension will help you with all kinds of stuff they'll help you with the type of turf that's in
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your area how much water you're going to need for your area how many minutes to water it all kinds
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of amazing stuff what's a bugger in your area what type of fungus isn't stuff for prone to your
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area what type of outbreaks and stuff you have in your area anything that has to do with your
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environment your agriculture your plants your settings in your environment and everything about
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them your local agricultural extension will local agricultural extension will tell you so
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much information it'll blow your mind give them a call they can also refer you to areas for
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soil analysis refer you types of turf refer you many different things for your area give them a
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call give them a message email them they'll help you out promise well how to battle wraps it up for
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this segment I hope you've learned a little bit about turf how to establish some grass how to
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soil preparation you're going to need the importance of watering and just areas to reach out and touch
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base with people to give you a hand I'm recommending the products that are necessary to help you become
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the most prevalent grassbrower and mower in your neighborhood thanks have a good one