Lessons on Lawn Care, Progress and Learning from Mistakes

 

We Care for Lawn Care--somewhat

Mowing the grass is cathartic. I’ve said this before. Yard work is a theme that comes up regularly. It’s not a primary feature of my writing but it’s a recurring topic that resonates with me. Running and fitness are far more common themes on my page. I can humble brad about how I just don’t know if 30 miles a week is enough. Or how my weightlifting schedule has gotten progressively more detailed, despite my frequent missed days. There’s a risk of being 'braggy' when talking about success.

Lawn mowing wins aren’t really a thing. But as this blog concerns my life, lessons come from everywhere.  

To Seed or Not To Seed

At a certain point lawn mowing gets to be a pain in the ass. By September I’m usually sick of it. Last year I planted new seed in two bare spots and ran the sprinkler for around 3 weeks, for at least an hour a day. The hot summer takes its toll on a yard despite a much thicker, greener display. I figured a few things out over the years regarding grass. Paying Tru Green to come out 6 times a year is much more effective. But it’s also really expensive for a lawn this size. Can I make do with seed, water and the occasional weed killer? Yes of course. I have the time and I need the challenge. Oklahoma soil is sandy and nutrient deprived. You can lower your expectations here or you can spend more time caring for the land. I split the difference, lowered expectations and half the time.

Time is Not on My Side

Even on a light schedule, a decent lawn requires effort. You won’t see progress without some weekly maintenance. It’s why the best thing for your lawn is a mower. That probably sounds silly, but if you’re consistent the weeds won’t become a problem. It’s the cleanest, cheapest solution to keeping crab grass to a minimum. Otherwise, you’ll have to cover it with weed killer multiple times a year, a temporary fix at best. I just emptied a bottle of crab grass poison on my largest section. It will probably keep it from spreading for a month. Long term the only way to get rid of it is by digging it out and replacing it with new seed. New seed takes a lot of water. With prices going higher on everything I’m not excited to spend extra money on grass, an obvious luxury expense.

I’ll keep my improvements here and there until the weed control is dialed in enough to dump feed down a few times a year. That grass feed works well on existing turf. The hope is to thicken up the good grass and force it to spread out and overtake the rough, weedy parts. I’m much closer than I was.

Digging To China

One possible reason lawn care is cathartic, is that I can see the progress where there was only struggle before. It’s a low-level creativity that anyone with just a little effort can achieve. I’m describing not just mowing but the whole yard experience from landscaped areas to flowers, planters and grass. I covered a shallow tree root with a pile of dirt a few years ago and sectioned it off with some old landscaping timbers. The plants haven’t come around strong yet. The dirt is too shallow for a much of it. That’s my guess right now since nothing is working well. I might have better luck with ground cover and prairie grasses. It takes a few years to get it right.

That planter is a microcosm of my whole lawn care history at this house. At first I didn’t put in the effort. I mowed the lawn but beyond that, there were weeds and vines all over the back fence. They grew too high and started interfering with the electric lines that separate my house from my neighbor’s. By the end of the July you couldn’t see beyond the fence into the neighbor’s yard. Eventually I’d tear out the overgrowth and clean up the excess, a herculean effort that I did multiple years. The city came out and cut everything over 15 feet high. That helped me keep the growth to a minimum.

It looked a little less crowded season after season. One year I finally went in with a shovel and started digging out roots before they could overwhelm the fence and the garage. Now I take the mower back there like nothing ever existed. I got serious about keeping that spot clean when I replaced the roof on my garage. It would’ve been impossible to do the work needed on the garage without serious digging along the fence side first.

Conclusion

 Anytime I get discouraged about the yard, I remember how bad it looked when I moved in. I’ve planted countless bulbs, ground cover, evergreens and perennials that only lasted a season. But much of it grew and thrived. A little at a time, the effort starts to pay off and the progress becomes apparent. Lawn care’s catharsis comes from past success and knowing that more is possible.