In Pursuit of the Perfect Lawn
Over the years my attitude towards lawns has changed.
I must have spent too many hours mowing lawn as a teen because when we bought our first house I was quite ambivalent about the condition and appearance of our grass. As long as it was trimmed, I was fine. It could be weedy and brown, but as long as no anomalous growth showed from the road it was all good.
After a while my attitude changed, perhaps because brown grass isn't much fun to view or traverse. So my goal then became to have a yard that was mowed and green. I didn't care if it was full of weeds, as long as they were green weeds. This required watering during dry spells, but that was okay if the result was a nice shade of green.
That phase also ran it course as I became dissatisfied with neatly mowed green weeds. I then sought to be weed-free as well. This required fertilizer and weed killer — five times a year. But then to get the most out the product I was applying, more water was required.
Overall, I am pleased with the results — and it looks great from the road, as evidenced by the many positive comments I receive. Alas, with fertilizer and more watering, comes more frequent mowing. As it is turning out, the pursuit of a well-trimmed, green-colored, weed-free lawn is taking more time than I want to give it.
It seems that I know how to have a lousy looking lawn and I've figured out what it takes to have a great looking lawn, but I'm thinking that the perfect lawn is part way in between — it looks okay, but doesn't take much time. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do that.
I must have spent too many hours mowing lawn as a teen because when we bought our first house I was quite ambivalent about the condition and appearance of our grass. As long as it was trimmed, I was fine. It could be weedy and brown, but as long as no anomalous growth showed from the road it was all good.
After a while my attitude changed, perhaps because brown grass isn't much fun to view or traverse. So my goal then became to have a yard that was mowed and green. I didn't care if it was full of weeds, as long as they were green weeds. This required watering during dry spells, but that was okay if the result was a nice shade of green.
That phase also ran it course as I became dissatisfied with neatly mowed green weeds. I then sought to be weed-free as well. This required fertilizer and weed killer — five times a year. But then to get the most out the product I was applying, more water was required.
Overall, I am pleased with the results — and it looks great from the road, as evidenced by the many positive comments I receive. Alas, with fertilizer and more watering, comes more frequent mowing. As it is turning out, the pursuit of a well-trimmed, green-colored, weed-free lawn is taking more time than I want to give it.
It seems that I know how to have a lousy looking lawn and I've figured out what it takes to have a great looking lawn, but I'm thinking that the perfect lawn is part way in between — it looks okay, but doesn't take much time. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do that.
Posted by Peter DeHaan at 5/30/2008 8:33 PM 
Categories: Lawn
Tags: lawn Peter DeHaan blog author Peter DeHaan Peter DeHaan Musings Musings of Peter DeHaan
Categories: Lawn
Tags: lawn Peter DeHaan blog author Peter DeHaan Peter DeHaan Musings Musings of Peter DeHaan
Comments