This is what a good part of our front lawn looks like this year.
Too much drought and grubs last season I guess. I'm not one to fuss over a lawn but we kinda had to do something about this lest it fill in completely with weeds. Sure, weeds are green but there is a certain expectation in a neighbourhood that you at least aim for neat and tidy. Besides, there's a mantra going around now by the lawn care companies that lawns are environmentally friendly as they convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, trap pollutants and provide cooling. Or course they don't mention in the same sentence the fact that they spray pesticides on that environmentally friendly turf and that the grass prefers a substantial amount of precious water.
All I know is, the grass provides exercise for my husband while cutting it, provides plenty of reason for me to sneeze in the spring, and provides food for the multiplying rabbits in the neighbourhood, and probably provides grubs for the birds, raccoons, and skunks. The ideal weather for grass growing was slipping away so we decided that we should check out some lawn care companies because this would be no small job. I actually won a year's worth of lawn care many years ago in choosing a slogan for one of these companies...they are still using the slogan. We called them and one other company. They left their quotes in the mailbox...and we left their quotes on our kitchen table. Life has been too busy with much more important things on our mind, and we didn't get around to making a decision until.......we got a repair bill for our second car - $800. That decided it. The evenings are still cool and rain was in the forecast. We would tackle this one on our own.
Last Saturday, we borrowed a truck and my husband got two loads of triple mix soil and began putting piles of it all around the lawn. We were feeling good that there was a nice light rain that would water in the grass seed when we were done. Yes, a nice light rain. I continued raking out the piles of soil as my husband dumped the remainder, cleaned out the truck, and returned it to our friend. It wasn't long before I could feel the pain of blisters forming on the insides of my thumbs under the gardening gloves. (They still hurt!) The rich, crumbly soil was now quickly turning to clods of mud as the rain began to pour down more steadily. My coat was not rain proof. I was drenched to the bone. Water dripped off my baseball cap and off my nose - I couldn't wipe my face or it would be streaked with mud. The piles were actually too large to spread effectively and we didn't have enough to do the whole lawn. I pulled harder and harder on the soil to try to spread it. I squished the mud down with my old running shoes (now trashed) until I literally had an inch of it on the soles and had to keep scraping it off. My arms were aching. I really questioned whether we were wasting our time because how would the seed grow up through all these clods of dirt? I don't know how many hours we worked but for me it seemed an eternity. When the soil was spread as well as we could under the circumstances, I went in the house to peel off my clothes and have a shower. My husband stayed outside to spread the grass seed and then we both watched from inside as the rain began to really pelt down and puddle all over the lawn as the wind picked up. Not the ideal conditions for grass seed to take hold! And now we water daily (if Mother Nature doesn't) and wait.
It can take a lot of sweat and toil to grow something. It's during this difficult time that you want to just pack it in and say it isn't worth it. Nothing will come of it. I'm not doing a good job. The odds are against me. No one cares anyways, so why am I putting myself through this for nothing? My husband has always been one to persevere until a job is done. (His dad taught him that no job is worth doing unless you do it right and stay at it until it is finished). That's why he's a good match for me because I'm the one to give in when the going gets tough. I really hope this has a happy ending and that we at least get some new growth from it. It will be a start and can be improved upon again in the fall.
The following Monday, I was out watering the lawn when a truck dropped off some young men on the street who began going door to door to drum up some lawncare business. A young man approached me, obviously knowing we were trying our hand at planting seed, and offered to aerate the lawn for us. I thanked him but explained that we had no extra money and that we were going to handle the lawn this year. He tried again to offer the aeration services, but I insisted that we really couldn't afford it. He said okay and turned to go. He turned back and said, "Ma'am, could I offer you some advice? Next time", he said, pointing to the crabapple tree now full of leaves and emerging blossoms, "start growing your grass seed earlier in the season before the tree starts leafing out so the sun can get through to the lawn." In that moment I confess I wanted to hit him. Perhaps I should have just let him have it with the sprinkler - by accident of course.
