Our Yard

Our yard looks as though it has mange. There are patches of grass, but its almost half dirt. It's the only real description I can think of that is accurate.

There are a couple benefits when you have a mange yard. Less mowing and less watering come to mind. When you have two boys who love dirt, it can almost be too easy to ship them out the door, and tell them to go play. They go to the sunny spot, a warm, dark brown mange spot that is dirt. They push it, throw it, kick it, pat it, breathe it, pile it. This picture was taken back in March:



They would do this all day long, if I let them.

Unfortunately, there is supposed to be grass right there. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I have steered them to the back yard where we have a big dirt pile that they can dig in, but the painfully bare spots in my yard are becoming a burden.

Why does our yard look like this?
a. I'm Lazy.
b. We've been in a drought for the last 7 or so years.
c. The dog has, over the last 2-3 years, destroyed our lawn by his constant running.

Here is what that same spot looked like a few days ago:



We have many other parts of our yard that look like this, and I want to solve this problem this year. My two next door neighbors both have beautiful green yards. Flowers and bird baths. Solar Lights and Roses. Ponds and waterfalls. Patios.

Not us.

I really want a nice yard and a green thumb. I do try! I have spent many, many hours outside, but my efforts seem to be in vain. I planted 22 plants in my 2 flower beds last year and all but 5 died. Oops.

I have never been able to successfully plant grass seed in the last three years. In fact, one of the reasons I put in a flower bed on the corner of our yard is because there was no grass there. But the dog made another Mud Hole right next to it, since our grass is so fragile and prone to disintegration:



This year, I plan on being more vigilant than ever, and I will post the progress, if there is any! Please Keep Me Accountable!

So far, I have raked, planted seed, covered the seed with more dirt and watered about 90% of the bare spots.

The weather has been beautiful, yet dry. I need to water the new seed at least 2 times a day, since it seems to take ages for seed to grow, and they need to stay wet.

I am also working on my base tan while doing all of this yard stuff, so I don't have to slather on the sunscreen all summer. Fortunately I am building off a nice burn tan I got last July. Now, if I could only lay out on my back for a few minutes a day without anyone seeing...

So I am off. I am going outside to water my dirt grass seed. I guess I will be taking every shower at the Y to reduce my water bill. Just kidding.