Lawncare and Squeezing It In

Yesterday was the continuation of the first stage of the Great Lawn Rescue. As I may or may not have mentioned, we have some disaster areas on our lawn, and some of these areas are substantial. The problem is, the grass has been supplanted by weeds, and in some sections, the weeds have completely taken over. There are plus sides to this. The weeds are green and in essence look like grass when viewed from a satellite, but up close you can really see them. They are the broad leaf variety and flower, which is nice in spring because it helps the bees, and the flowers are kind of pretty. The kids love them, so it's not all bad.

The problem is, the grass is gone, and while there are many who feel that if it's green, let it go, I'd like to at least try to restore the grass. The chemical option is not an option for us. Personally I think it's a waste putting all those herbicides into the ground just to get a golf course on your property, but that's just me. Also, that can't be good for your groundwater, which we drink, not to mention the kids and animals that play on it.

So our approach is to try to encourage the grass and hope it will take over rather than try to destroy the enemy. I've been told come the first frost, the weeds will die, and that Fall is a good time seed and fertilize. With that in mind, and along with my super high-tech, state of the art seed spreader, I did just that. Friday was a beautiful day, and the kids and I prepped the soil and spread the goodies. I prepped by raking over the bad spots, which was essentially the entire front lawn. I think raking helps aerate and loosen the soil, while also removing unsightly weeds. I'll tell you one thing, I ended up with a huge pile of weeds.

The spreader worked okay with the fertilizer, though it got clogged a fair number of times. Enough to discourage A&N from wanting to do it, and they instead played with the large pile of weeds, moving it back and forth and creating mountain ranges. It's amazing what kids can come up with when you just turn off the TV.

Yesterday, we had beautiful weather, as well, though the forecast called for rain for the next week. Bummer! We were slated to go to rollerblading and then to the library, and I had to go to hazardous waste disposal (they only pick up twice a year) in the morning. We were short on time. I jetted over to discard all my leftover gasoline and mineral spirits, then got some watch batteries to fix the kids watches, then home to get ready to go. The kids were in the bath, so I figured I had about an hour to get some stuff done before we left.

I whipped out the lawnmower and told R that I would mow until we left. I managed to mow the side yard and the back, but couldn't get to the hill and down by the garden, which is a complete disaster. After mowing like my Mentor recommended (short-short-short), I spread seeds over the entire area, and I planned on fertilizing the next day or so, or whenever the we get a break in the rain.

By the time I'd finished, cleaned the mower and put away the seeds, the kids were in the car and R was getting her shoes on. I ran upstairs, changed clothes, got in the car, and we were off.

Even though it's raining today, I will attempt to remove boards off the barn. Wish me luck.

Wow, just goes to show you what you can do when you just do it, rather than sit around and fret about how you're going to do it. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Fred Fokkelman for the pic.