Let's talk about something major.
Something physical. Something green (or brown). Something annoying and expensive and infuriating--and alive (sometimes). Something that I curse more often than I'd care to admit and loathe for the mostly the same reasons.
But something that brings great JOY when it's thriving.
Something called...
GRASS.
Yep. That's right. This is a post all about the grass in our yard, ha. (Brace thyselves for important subject matter, and if you're not interested, abandon now, ha.) But, first, before I drone on about this very riveting topic, please enjoy a couple of glorious pics I took two night ago, in the beautiful witching hour light:
Look! It's green grass! That's pretty darn filled in! And, yeah, sure, it's just one small area of the property, but on the whole, things are looking pretty solid--especially on the hells of August (our worst, hottest month!).
It's hysterical how invested we've become in the growth and maintenance, of late. Look at the hubby, in the distance of this pic, checking things out with a closer eye, ha:
Okay. Now. To rewind...
We live on 3/4 of an acre of land and pretty much have every terrain you can imagine.
We've got some manicured areas, some xeriscaped areas (mostly mulch), we've got a fun lower-level to our backyard that's untamed and wild, and...we even broke down a couple of years ago and installed turf in the upper level of our backyard, for all the reasons I'm about to list (but see the post below, if you're interest in a walk down memory lane):
We live in South Texas.
We've had heinous weather fluctuations--and really devastating freezes in the past few years.
We don't get a ton of rain.
We've been on water rationing/restrictions for as long as we've lived here (meaning: you can only water your grass one day a week--during certain hours).
And...oh, yeah. We have a ton of wildlife that roots around and ruins the grass (ahem, I'm talking about you, armadillos).
So. Yup.
For all those reasons and many more, it's been really, really difficult to keep our grass alive--let alone, attempt to have it thrive (tehe, I rhyme).
Honestly, our property is a little overwhelming at times, in terms of upkeep, and the hubby and I definitely pick and choose our battles over the years. And if you've followed along with this here blog for any length of time, you know that we've definitely had some major property battles over the years. To say the least.
But this past year--likely because we have Coda pup and take her on approximately 2,734 walks a week that require us to survey our property as we come and go--the grass has really become a thorn in my side. A thorn that I want to make thrive! (More rhyming!)
So.
In the springtime, I waged a campaign for us to pick a couple of zones and try to get them looking perkier, if you will.
Our first order of business was the half-circle area that's right by the curb, as we had a lot of grass that was just dying or crying out for help because of the full sun onslaught and the roots of our aging Bradford Pear trees, and it was just looking sad.
So we could better support the area and get it looking pretty, we dug up a portion of the never-gonna-survive grass right by the curb, and created a mulch bed for visual interest. Already, it was SO much better, but you'll see how the grass was patchy and most definitely not thriving:
Then, we started focusing on the grass that was left, BIG time.
The hubby even went to painstaking effort to dig and replace sections of sod, and it was a whole thing that we watched, day by day, wishing it and coddling it into healthy existence! (Hand watering is allowed, but it's a whole thing. Dedication, I tell ya.)
Excuse Coda pup's head in the corner of this pic, but it will give you an idea of some of the patches we installed:
When I tell you we looked at it, talked about it, and worried about it for the past six months, nearly every day, it's no exaggeration, ha. Not in a crazy way. Just in a we're-walking-past-it-yet-again-so-let's-check-on-progress-way, ha.
I am thrilled--thrilled!--to report that the whole zone is looking so much happier. I really can't believe it actually worked! In part, because we've learned you really have to keep the grass very high down here, in the Summer, for it to have any promise of shading itself and surviving the heinous heat. So we asked our yard crew to please, please keep it high--and only mow every other week--and it's helped in a major way!
Also. Please hysterically note the DIRTY brick in the above pic. That zone has been power-washed, now, and it never fails to shock me when I see the before/after!
In addition to the sod that was replaced in certain areas, we also went to a lot of trouble adding top soil to help the grass thrive in the rocky, rocky terrain down here.
I mean, our area is called Stone Oak for a reason.
Specifically, near the edges and near the driveway portions, the additional soil seemed to help, and now the grass is growing in more bountifully. Also: hello, power-washed driveway!
Hysterically, we've always had one lower-hanging tree limb in the above pic that we've wanted to trim so you can better see the house when you're driving up to it from that view. But we've recently decided we will NOT remove it, because it shades the grass! Ha.
Truly, it's hysterical to ponder how much care we've put in to the grass, but every little bit (along with very recently hiring a new weed service!) is helping.
So...onward and upward! And, next year, we'll probably pick yet another zone to baby and help out.
Home ownership is such a thing. Everybody in the world who's fortunate enough to own and maintain a home feels the burden. It's equal parts joy and pain. And the lists of to-do's or to-fix are never-ending.
But...I'm so grateful for positive results regarding this one, tiny endeavor. It will be a constant, uphill battle, and next week or next month, our grass might look like crap, again. But, for now, I'll take the win!
Okay, peeps.
More (non-grass) posts, soon!
Over and out.
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