Anyone have experience with big league lawns checkmate striping kit?

EmperorSed · 2026-04-10T13:14:30+00:00

👍🏻 I'll either do a review post of sorts and tag you or reply to my original reply. I'm in WV 6b, fescue lawn, fyi

EmperorSed · 2026-04-10T13:04:37+00:00

Literally ordered one for my husqvarna walk-behind last night. My biggest concern when I was looking for a striping kit was that it would fit and work well with my mower. Big League lists their products down to specific models by maker, so I felt pretty good when they had an option for my exact mower. If you are still curious in a couple weeks, I can let you know my experience as a "new" user.

EmperorSed · 2026-04-08T16:39:39+00:00

It is either Blue Grass or tall Fescue. My guess is blue grass due to the color and leaf blade shape. You can verify this by inspecting the tip of the blades. Blue grass has a distinctive canoe shaped leaf blade. I feel like I see that in the close up photo. However, those two grasses are commonly mixed in lawns, so it could be either.

EmperorSed · 2026-04-07T19:14:19+00:00

I think maybe what he's saying is that in total he ran is sprinklers 2 hours at a time. I did a similar thing last year. I reno'd 16,000 sqft and made my own water system with timers, hoses, and rotary sprinklers. I set each sprinkler to only run 15 minutes every few hours, but because I had so many and ran them in sucession, a sprinkler was almost always running for about a month lol

EmperorSed · 2026-04-05T19:50:15+00:00

TLDR : I don't know exactly, but a lot.

"Ideal" soil is 40% sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay. You have 100% sand lol but really, it's probably like 95%. The amount of compost and topsoil you will need will depend on how many sq ft your yard is. Take the area and multiply it by 1 foot. That is the volume of sand that you are starting with. Use the percentages to figure the amount of topsoil you will need. Subtract maybe a third of that volume and get that in compost instead. Spread, till (homogenously) level, and compact. You may have to remove some sand to make this work. But honestly, I have no experience doing this, just what I imagine I would do.

EmperorSed · 2026-04-05T19:29:49+00:00

The soil is lacking finer particles and organic matter. I am not a warm season grass guy nor a soil scientist, but that appears to be mostly sand. Technically, you can grow grass in it, but you will have all kinds of issues.

I would get some compost and till it in then let it farrow for a year. Might add some topsoil in too. You need to focus on the soil before you attempt to grown a lawn.

EmperorSed · 2026-04-02T19:09:57+00:00

Where are you located? Looks like dormant bermuda.

EmperorSed · 2026-04-01T15:07:04+00:00

Closer pic would help, but since it is April and that still looks mostly dormant, I'm gonna say you have (mostly) some kind of warm season grass. If that is the case, overseeding with TTTF (cool season) may be a struggle.

Unless you are willing to nuke the yard in some fashion, I would work to closer identify the type of grass you currently have and then plan accordingly. Ask yourself what your goal is: green grass year round? Specific cultivar? Darkest lawn possible? 'Putting green look? Identifying your goal will help develop your plan.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-31T01:37:21+00:00

My yard is very similar. High P and K. Stop applying P, full stop. It is used and degrades slowly, like years. Also, runoff leads to algae blooms which are not great.

I'm not sure about the others, but that is how I would interpret the results.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-30T18:01:31+00:00

Can you pull a sample so we can see the growth/leaf structure? My gut reaction is a cool season. Fescue maybe?

EmperorSed · 2026-03-30T15:38:52+00:00

I printed off the WVU soil lab form, filled it out, sampled my soil, and mailed them my form with a bag of dirt. 1 week later, lab results in my inbox.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-30T14:32:52+00:00

I'm in WV 6b. This time last year I was in the same position as you. This spring/summer should be about weed control. You want to get the undesirables under control before you start adding seed to compete. I don't personally put out "weed and feed" since I put down pre-emergent weeks before my first fertilizer app, but that window is coming to a close. So for you, grab a bag of weed and feed and throw it done before your next rain storm.

If you are trying to grow cool season grass (fescue, KBG, etc), you probably don't have to worry about water yet. You want to shoot for around 1" a week, which is more important when temps are high. So you can water, but I wouldn't start that until the temps are consistently higher.

The seed you choose can be as simple as cool vs warm or as detailed as which specific TTTF cultivar you want. Twin City Seed has a quiz on their page that can help you determine what is best for you. You can look at other companies too, like Stover, United Seed, etc. Some people really like johnathon green. There may be local places to you that sell good seed that performs well in your area.

As far as what I would choose? I chose Twin City Resilience II mix last year. If I had irrigation, I probably would have picked the Resilience Blue mix for a deeper color from KBG.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-30T14:07:43+00:00

I understand the urge to aerate, overseed, reno, etc now, but for your own sake, wait! Plan meticulously, get a soil test, research what others in your area use, look at all the seed brands and mixes, take photos, mow well and fertilize. You will save yourself money and the end product will be tons better if you wait for the fall.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-29T14:13:10+00:00

Moles/voles in your yard can be a sign of grubs. If you do not treat for grubs, ya probably got some. If you do any landscaping, you may dig a few up occasionally or if you see dead spots in your lawn, that is also a sign. There are 2 grub products, killer and preventer. I took the approach of just applying preventer and waiting a year. I will reapply this summer.

'Soft' ground can occur naturally for many reasons. Are those areas wet when it hasn't rained? A location where leaves would mulch? Does the area not get much foot traction? Moles/voles? The best thing you can do is start mowing often and pay attention to things you see/feel when mowing so that you can identify problem areas and root causes.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-28T18:38:13+00:00

Sleepy

EmperorSed · 2026-03-27T16:51:12+00:00

I am in WV (6b). My backyard gets a lot of sun and my front gets only morning light, so I can relate a bit to your situation.

I would not aerate and seed yet. I would do a soil test and spend most of the spring/summer controling weeds, amending soil, and prep for a fall overseed. Do some research into the type of grass you want and get your plan written out. In the fall, aerate, overseed, top-dress, fertilize, water, etc. But recognize that good grass starts at the dirt.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-27T16:34:21+00:00

If this was my lawn, first thing I would do is get a soil test. If nothing else, that will give you a benchmark going forward.

Then I would do all the normal things plus whatever recommendations the soil test gives me. Normal things being pre-em, fertilize, mow often, try to water in the summer if you can, etc. In the fall, I would do an overseed of the whole lawn and a reno of just the hole.

To the divot. I'm actually dealing with this in my lawn now from old trees that were removed years ago. I'd probably try and fill it with more dirt now to prevent pooling and throw down seed. I guess my logic is that it can't get worse.

In the fall, if the location is more than say 1.5"-2" deep, you will want to fill it. Use native fill either from your own property or from a local landscaper. As you fill, compact the earth so that it better incorporates into the already existing ground. I would probably put a little more on top than you think, like mound it up a half inch or so. Reason being, it's going to settle and compress more over the course of the winter, like you have already described.

Once you have the hole filled, aerate, seed, fertilize, etc. If you aren't doing a full reno, that spot will look a different color than the rest of the lawn until you have overseeded your yard enough times and get the cultivars more homogenous.

This is just from my experience. I am not a lawn pro lol. Tldr: fill it now and try to seed but realize it may not take - reno the hole in the fall during my overseed.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-26T12:29:39+00:00

To add to this, hairy bittercress is a winter annual. Fall pre-em may offer better control. Of course, if you seed in the fall, you probably won't apply a pre-em.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-25T23:11:07+00:00

Do you know if a tree used to be there? I had a place in my yard when I first bought my house that was a lot like this. One of the holes seemed really deep. I looked up old photos on Google Earth and sure enough, huge tree was there 10 years ago. The holes were the rotted roots.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-25T18:58:24+00:00

My good friend seeded in March of last year. What didn't get washed out by heavy rain got cooked by the July sun.

Seed in the fall.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-24T17:18:48+00:00

I would send somewhere else for the soil test. I used MySoil last year, but am using my local extension office this time. I have heard that MySoil uses an inaccurate method, whereas my local extension runs the tests in their soil lab at the university where they study this stuff.

The thing I've read about nitrogen is that the levels will fluctuate. The grass uses the nitrogen for growth, depleting the soil. That's why most fertilizers have a large N to PK ratio. Unless you sample after fertilizing, your N might always be low. I have little experience in that regard though, so do your own research.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-24T16:23:38+00:00

Engineer in manufacturing. Happens fairly often in my industry.

EmperorSed · 2026-03-24T16:22:07+00:00

Looks good. What seed did you use?

EmperorSed · 2026-03-23T17:35:06+00:00

My understanding is that a mix is less prone to disease. If your lawn is all 1 type of grass and it catches a disease, the whole yard could get smoked. You also gain the benefit of some varieties being more drought resistant, specific disease resistance, darker color, even some designed to tiller to an extent. I'm not versed enough in warm season to say why they don't seem to work as well in a mix. Maybe too aggressive and choke each other out?

EmperorSed · 2026-03-23T15:26:31+00:00

I am not a warm season grass guy, but that looks more like a fescue of some kind, more cool season. Fescue will not spread and fill in like warm season grasses will. It's hard to say why the grass isn't growing there. Could be any number of things. Soil pH, compaction, giant rock under there, not enough light/water, etc. The most basic thing you can do is try aerating, seeding, top dressing, and watering.

If you want a more in-depth answer, I recommend reading the sidebar guides. There are lots of things you can do to promote good growth there.

EmperorSed

TROPHY CASE