Mowing, Mowing, Gone

On Saturday, April 12th I was complaining about how awful our yard looked despite all of our work. Normally we are mowing the lawn by April 16th. This year the grass had not grown an inch. So Douglas, aerated and fertilized and seeded the mess, and we crossed our fingers and hoped that things would improve.

Fast forward to Saturday, May 03, and the grass was growing out of control. Douglas had let it get especially long so that it would be well established before he mowed it.

I took some pictures to commemorate my dandelions before they were all mowed down. I love these cheery flowers.

They look so pretty next to the tulips. By now, the dandelions and the tulips are all gone, and I miss them. However, they will live on forever here on my blog.

I picked several dandelions and violets just before he mowed to add a little color in the house.

I also added this tulip that Douglas found on the sidewalk. I have a feeling that a child picked it and then dropped it after his mother scolded him. Maybe I just have a vivid imagination.

He was afraid that our little mower would have trouble with the longer patches. He decided to cut them by hand before mowing.

I went into the house to clean the basement and organize my bookshelves. When I came outside again to check out the progress I was shocked by what I saw. Instead of rows of freshly mowed grass, I was greeted by a big hole.

Is this what you do to improve the curb appeal? Douglas tried to convince me that there was a rock under there that was ruining any chance we had at growing grass, he would have to extract it. The problem is that the rock might be as big as our house. No matter how big he dug the hole, the rock refused to budge. We had to accept the fact that the boulder had beaten us. If we are going to have our perfect lawn, it is going to have to happen over that thin patch of dirt covering the  rock.

Finally, after all that the mowing commenced. Douglas was right about it being difficult. The fertilizer was working its magic because it was thick, thick, thick.

Things were looking good at the Cape of Dreams that Sunday. You can hardly tell where the hole was, can you?

One week later on Sunday, May 11, and the grass was high again. I did not take a good picture, but I think that you can tell in this picture. Douglas had already mowed area in the background, while I was sitting in the tall grass.

We also had to fix another hole in the back yard. Kahlua was the culprit responsible for this one. For some reason, she just keeps digging in that spot right in the middle of the yard. We protected it with this wire. She went straight for it when we let her out and seemed upset to find she could not get at it.

Things were looking good again. Unfortunately, I cannot show you the full picture or I ruin Wednesday’s surprise. Check back to see the new awesomeness in our yard.

One last update on how well our grass is growing. Despite mowing on Sunday, Douglas had to mow again on Wednesday because the grass is growing like gangbusters. I hope all is growing well for you also.

Happy Homemaking!