I, like so many, want to have a very lush green yard. One in which I can walk around barefoot, where it is soft and cool on the feet, and where one doesn’t sink down in the mud pit.
When we built the house, we knew the front yard would be sod, and we could pay extra for sod in the back, or they would throw down seed. We opted for the sod and seed because frankly, I thought the seed and straw would be laid well and not blow away. Unfortunately, almost as soon as they laid the grass seed, threw some straw on it, we had a nice storm that blew it all into corners of the yard and not much anywhere else.
The past two summers has been working on getting it into better shape. Our first summer was a time where weeds were taking over big time. I spent many an hour in the back yard on my hands and knees pulling weed after weed after weed. Couldn’t really use a weed spray due to our dog. Didn’t want to make her sick.
Last summer, after doing research for our type of soil (essentially a nice glob of clay), I found Kentucky Blue Grass is the best for the area. It was interesting to find out there are warm weather grasses and cool weather grasses, with the Blue Grass being a cool weather grass. This meant I had to wait until last September to sow.
Learning the lesson of the loose straw, this time I bought several rolls of the mesh entwined straw to lay over the seed. The challenge was keeping it down as it wanted to keep lifting up and folding on itself. Solved that issue by buying some staple-looking hook to push into the ground to keep it all in place.
It worked, and finally saw new grass coming in. Although it isn’t where we want it to be, the back lawn is looking better than it has so far. The dilemma has been timing.
We have a real issue with crab grass and other invasive weeds. The timing has to be just about right to hit the unwanted plants at a certain time, AND it can’t rain or be watered for a few days to give the granules time to do their thing.
Then, this also has to be timed with the weed and feed. Again, certain conditions have be in place. No rain for a few days, grass cut, and the grass needs to be moist for the granules to stick to the weeds. Plus, shouldn’t be done within a certain period of time from the crab grass preventer.
I’ve been juggling and reading, and rereading, and yes, rereading again to make sure my timeline is on track. It is Mother Nature who is unpredictable. The forecast seems to ever change. Like today and tomorrow were supposed to be dry, but the clouds are in and there is now a 60% chance of rain. It is a crap-shoot as to what will work when and for how long.
Hopefully, in the long run (maybe next year?), the grass will be where I want it to be. Then, all the hard work will have paid off.
Now let me go read those instructions again to see when I need to do the next feed.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 