Wednesday, September 13, 2006
grass
our lawn needs some tlc and so I thought it would be a good idea to overseed in the decent places and reseed the bad parts. In preparation for this, I mowed the lawn extra close on Saturday and the got out the dethatching rake. I picked this funny looking rake only because it has pointy things on it and the plan was to rough up the bad parts so the new seeds would have some place happy to land and grow, rather than sitting on a surface of dead grass. Out of curiosity, I also gave the rake a few pulls across the 'good' parts of the lawn, just to see what would happen. Lo and behold, the rake magically gets filled with dead grass and leaves the healthy stuff in place. When properly worked over you're left with green grass and dark dirt beneath and that's it. So I spent a fair amount of time over the weekend running that rake over every inch of the lawn, not just the crummy parts as I had originally planned. The dethatching was more work than I had expected but I think I've given my new seedlings a good chance to become grass. On Monday over lunch, I spread the new seed and some starter fertilzer and am hoping for the best. I had my first dream of young new seedlings growing last night. How pathetic.
The whole notion that keeping a 'nice' lawn should be a priority for every homeowner still doesn't still too well with me. It strikes me as the height of suburban vanity and I know first hand the impact that excess nitrogen from fertilzers can have on local estuaries. But I was raised in the suburbs and can't shake the annoyance of my lawn being crummy. There's also the issue of having a nice place for Wolfie to learn how to play soccer. Hey Mike, what was that book about lawns that you read?
our lawn needs some tlc and so I thought it would be a good idea to overseed in the decent places and reseed the bad parts. In preparation for this, I mowed the lawn extra close on Saturday and the got out the dethatching rake. I picked this funny looking rake only because it has pointy things on it and the plan was to rough up the bad parts so the new seeds would have some place happy to land and grow, rather than sitting on a surface of dead grass. Out of curiosity, I also gave the rake a few pulls across the 'good' parts of the lawn, just to see what would happen. Lo and behold, the rake magically gets filled with dead grass and leaves the healthy stuff in place. When properly worked over you're left with green grass and dark dirt beneath and that's it. So I spent a fair amount of time over the weekend running that rake over every inch of the lawn, not just the crummy parts as I had originally planned. The dethatching was more work than I had expected but I think I've given my new seedlings a good chance to become grass. On Monday over lunch, I spread the new seed and some starter fertilzer and am hoping for the best. I had my first dream of young new seedlings growing last night. How pathetic.
The whole notion that keeping a 'nice' lawn should be a priority for every homeowner still doesn't still too well with me. It strikes me as the height of suburban vanity and I know first hand the impact that excess nitrogen from fertilzers can have on local estuaries. But I was raised in the suburbs and can't shake the annoyance of my lawn being crummy. There's also the issue of having a nice place for Wolfie to learn how to play soccer. Hey Mike, what was that book about lawns that you read?
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YO - American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn, by Ted Steinberg. Very good book, very informative, amusing, and interesting.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393060845
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393060845
I think your brain might also be working on other things than grass - "had my first dream of young new seedlings growing last night" - perhaps your own little seedling?
oh, gosh darn you and your thatching rake. now i'm going to have to spend my weekend doing the same thing. i always wondered what it did to the healthy grass, but was planning on doing it in the spring. i saw on that link that the fall is a better time to do it. coincidentally, i also did some repairing and reseeding on saturday. was i in your dreams too?
# posted by 
: 1:14 PM
: 1:14 PM
Thanks Mike, I'll be right on that book after I finish Lonesome Dove.
Erin, whatever is growing inside my dear wife's body has long past the seedling stage I'm afraid. If my next dream is about a mini ape raging around the yard, squishing the new grass, then I think you might be on to something.
Pete, you were not in my dream, so sorry. If your thatch is much thicker than a 1/4" and/or your yard area is bigger than 4000 sq. ft. or so, I'd suggest you consider renting a machine thingy to do the work for you. My thatch was relatively thin and still caused a major pain in the back to work through. Our modest lawn (front and back) took about 6 hours to rake and clean up after.
Erin, whatever is growing inside my dear wife's body has long past the seedling stage I'm afraid. If my next dream is about a mini ape raging around the yard, squishing the new grass, then I think you might be on to something.
Pete, you were not in my dream, so sorry. If your thatch is much thicker than a 1/4" and/or your yard area is bigger than 4000 sq. ft. or so, I'd suggest you consider renting a machine thingy to do the work for you. My thatch was relatively thin and still caused a major pain in the back to work through. Our modest lawn (front and back) took about 6 hours to rake and clean up after.
Try dumping 1,000 plus acorns on that lawn and one obsessed, allergy sticken, mask wearing husband trying to save our yard from oak "seedlings."
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# posted by : 3:51 PM
: 3:51 PM<< Home
