I think I have spread my various repairs/updates across various threads, but it seemed like I should just start a damn thread of my own.

This Sunday (and last Sunday, and next Sunday, etc...) I will be spending time fixing my drip irrigation installation. The 3/4" poly line that is buried 6 to 8 inches down and feeds the drip emitters is constantly failing. It usually fails where there is any kind of bend in the run, of which there are many. Many. So, the wifey is leaving for work during the week and sees a large puddle in the yard and the following Sunday I am digging up the area and patching the 3/4" line. Every. Damn. Weekend... Seriously.

Today's repair was particularly interesting because some rocket scientist ran a main line directly under a giant friggin cactus.

I circled the old line that I cut to re-route the line. Literally, directly under this thing...





And from the other side (now facing toward the house) with the other end of the genius-under-the-cactus-run circled in red:



So, an hour and fifteen minutes of lot's of getting stuck by a damn cactus as I dug around it, and the line is now rerouted and connected, another small leak in the line right near the small purple flowering lantana in the second picture is also fixed, and during the testing, I found ANOTHER leak on the other side of the driveway that I will save for next weekend.

 

Wow, that looks like a prickly situation.

Sorry, I'll see myself out.

 

I feel for you. I just re did a ductless ac. The alley behind the house had become slightly overgrown with paddles, barrels, and agave. Yay desert landscaping! I felt sufficiently aerated after a few trips to the dump.

 

Ouch

 

I ended up removing a bunch of paddles with long kitchen tongs. They were the most likely to hit me in the head as I worked, so they had to go... The Agave (I have a few in the back yard) are brutal. Like "pierce reinforced concrete" brutal. I feel for you.

I wish there was something more resistant to cracking and splitting that I could replace the poly line with. With my soil conditions, this stuff lasts a couple of years and then starts to fail.

 

I feel like Baloo taught me about this as a kid...

 

I thought the point of a cactus was that you didn't need to do that?

 

In before the

"stog starts making his own Tequila " thread

 

The irrigation is for the other plants, but the feeder line passed under the cactus for some reason.

 

Hmmm. how do I ask the wife about planting MORE agave?... She wants them all removed to make the backyard more kid-friendly. Some of them have been there longer than I have.

 

My bermuda lawn never really emerged from dormancy this year (I over seed with Rye inthe winter). I forgot to put a pre-emergent down, too, so the weeds were starting to take over.

So, rather than try to fix a bad looking lawn, I scalped it completely to the dirt with my string trimmer and removed all the debris.



Then I put down new seed and 3-1-2 fertilizer, and thinly covered it with poop dirt. My neighbors don't like me right now.




My only concern is that the seed I used was Scotts bermuda seed I got at HD/Lowes and it's not generally the highest quality. I need to spend a little more and get seed from a true nursery...


The Orbit BHyve timer makes new seeding super easy. I programmed the correct timing last year for the rye overseed, so I just re-activate that program and set it to default. So much easier than my old basic timer.

 

Did you do that recently?

My neighbors just put seed down. I have never considered doing that between May-Aug.

 

How do you even grow anything in the Arizona heat?

 

Bermuda grass loves the heat. You can seed it in the middle of July here.

 

I’ve never had such luck with Bermuda seedlings and heat. Hopefully you’ll have more luck than I did. for your results.

 

@ "moar ouch" label...

 

Filling in nicely after almost a week. time to start scaling back the water. During seeding, I run the sprinklers every two hours for 3 minutes to keep the seeds moisty (temps have been 105+ this week).

The bare spots actually have tiny sprigs coming up, they just don't show well in the pics. I applied seed in two different batches at two different times last week (cheapo Scotts garbage from HD and then later some quality seed from a nursery).



I really need to add sand and level the lawn, but that will have to wait for late fall because it's too damn hot to spread the sand right now.

 

My grass has looked like shit this year. I either mis-timed the pre-emergence or didn't put down the right stuff/enough of it. I've got crab grass and weeds popping up all over, and where they aren't, the grass is brown from the crazy hot days

Kinda jealous that you've been able to get grass to grow this late in the season.

 

Dumb question (sorry): But, given how dry and hot the climate is there, J, have you considered artificial turf? It may save the time and effort of this or you like the challenge of growing sod?

 

I think about it all the time, and it's a worthwhile investment for some applications.

The problem is that it gets hot. Really hot. And doesn't last as long as promised in our UV exposure. Also, I like the cooling effect of the grass, and the challenge, too.

 

I don't see what the problem is (was). It's not like you used their poop. .....





..... Did you?

 

I don't know about phoenix, but scorpions love to live under astro turf here in tucson.

 

Well, pffft...we have snow piles higher than a person here.

And you can't SEE the grass under it.

 

Holy carp, I had not even thought about that... No want no want.

I had some shave-ice the other day. That's like snow, right?

 

I put the milorganite and some gypsum down this weekend.

The milorganite I plan to use monthly or bi-monthly, and the gypsum probably quarterly to loosen the compacted clay soil we have.

 

Wow your lawn is looking great. Crazy the grass will grow that fast in 105 degree temps like that. I need to do the kill and start over with my backyard I believe. Trying to salvage it that last few years hasn't really worked well.

 

It's nearly all filled in now, I will post an updated pic soon. The Bermuda grass loves the heat, and when I seed in the heat I make sure to apply water every 2 hours to keep the seeds moist. The seeds cannot dry out during the germination period or they will die, and in 105 temps it's tough keeping them moist continually. My new BHyve timer makes it super easy, though. Once it's established, it can go several days without water, but initially every two hours for a few minutes.

Starting over has the advantage that you can really till the soil and loosen it up, as well as directly add soil supplements without having to wait for the percolate effect of surface treatments.

 

Good job, man! Watering every 2-3 hours is the part I missed. I was doing it once a day in the evening and it was too late by then, even in May.

Do you have the sprinklers on a timer, and are they underground?

 

In the heat, it takes every 2-3 hours to keep them moist.

I use in-ground sprinklers that pop up. Currently using a BHyve controller to set the timing routines.

 

 

Blammo... (the bare spot is from an outdoor pillow that blew onto the lawn and must have sat there for the week I was out of town).

The grass really needed some feeding. The Milorganite is making it very lush and healthy.

 

Hot damn, that turned out great!

 

Looks great man!

 

Thanks! I am a little surprised how good it looks. Just got back from a week away and I was impressed with how it's filling in.

 

Damn, that looks awesome and I was thinking Jefford had lost his mind.

 

That looks great. Please please come do my backyard now.

 

Turned out marvelously, stogie.

 

Thanks! Honestly, if you can grab a bag of milorganite at HD/Lowes and a spreader, it will cure most grass problems... Just be ready to mow because it works.
Thanks! Is your snow coming in nicely? How often do you need to scalp the drifts?

 

Frost actually hit the other night. But, it's climbing back to the 80s today.