I’ve been so caught up in my garden this year that I’ve almost
forgotten about the large green thing that takes up most of the
space back there
– the lawn.
I’ve been so caught up in my garden this year that I’ve almost forgotten about the large green thing that takes up most of the space back there – the lawn.
The way the back yard is set up, there’s a lawn in the shape of a rectangle; there’s a concrete walkway surrounding that, and then surrounding the walkway on three sides is a narrow strip of dirt which I’ve used for planting vegetables.
As long as I can maneuver around the vegetables on the concrete walkway, I haven’t paid much attention to the lawn. But now that my tomato plants have grown together and spilled across the walkway, I have to go around by walking on the lawn.
And that’s when I noticed the big brown spot. It could be there because the tomato plants have covered part of it, or it could be there for some other reason I won’t be able to figure out.
The point is, it’s there, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I have a few gardening books, but I don’t have any lawn books, as the lawn is really the least-glamourous thing in the yard, I think.
When harvesting the tomatoes this weekend, I noticed the spot and really started looking at the lawn. There’s a lot going on there, I discovered.
As I traipsed over a portion of it, I saw some yellowjackets crawling around. I think these are leftovers from the nest they had established in the pole for the clothesline. Walking a little more carefully so as not to get stung, I saw a bunch of tiny white flies buzzing around and also some moths. Who knew moths lived in grass? Not me.
Honestly, I didn’t know that much stuff lived in the grass. I mean, I knew slugs and snails, ants and spiders could be found there, but all these other insects? Perhaps my back yard lawn is just special. More likely, it’s in need of some extra care. That would explain the other brown spots I noticed, too.
Basically, my care of the lawn involves watering, which is left to an irrigation system on a timer, and mowing, which is done sporadically with a push mower. If I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll edge the lawn and cut down the stalks of grass that the mower doesn’t cut. My dog appreciates that – she often won’t walk on the lawn because those stalks tickle her belly.
But I guess it’s time to learn something more about caring for lawns, uninteresting as it seems to me. Maybe, if I get the lawn healthy enough, I can invest in a ride-on mower. Now that would make lawn care worthwhile.
