Yardwork, 4/23/13
Posted on April 23, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 22 Comments
No, not by me. I have allergies (which reminds me, time to take my Claritin for the day. Okay, there we go). But others are here to do a little work for me. This fellow for example, is doing a bit of reseeding; there are some bald patches in the lawn due to a few years of heat damage and dry spells, and if you leave them too long you start having erosion and other problems. So this guy’s out there putting down new seed over those spots. And not bad timing at all, because tonight and tomorrow have showers in the forecast, followed by a couple of days of temperate, partly sunny skies. Perfect for seed to take root. Grow, little grass, grow.
You could play golf on that grass!
Putting green surely although a driving range would be more exciting.
I’m working on my yard as well in anticipation of the coming rains. Gosh can our lives be more alike..aside from the you’re an established famous writer and I’m a hack.
I’m curious as to what kind of grass you’re putting in. We just bought our first house that has a couple of bald spots on a hill in the back, but everything I’ve read says that you should do your reseeding in the fall. Do you have a particular variety of grass that seeds well in the spring?
How is the long term test drive on Krissy’s mower? Any problems? Time for a guest column?
Aw, look at the cute little tractor!
Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?
Kaellin18:
You would have to ask Krissy, as she handled the details. I’m just here during the day to see it happen.
Wow. That’s a lotta lawn!
I’m still doing all my own yardwork, but my daughter keeps bragging about how strong she’s getting, which means maybe it’s time to hitch her to the mower.
Showers in the forecast is the best time to do some seeding. My parents did so on their retirement property and were able to forego having sod put down, to the amazement of their new neighbours who told my dad he’d never get the lawn to grow from seed.
John can I play devil’s advocate a little? Why waste all that land, fertilizer, water growing grass, when you could seed it with food? Even a lawn of parsley and mint would be of more value!
Dani:
“John can I play devil’s advocate a little?”
Here’s the Lawn FAQ for you.
Looks like a great place for a PagoJet: http://youtu.be/7ZEO0qMWqI0
Wow, I live in Saskatchewwan and the yard is still half-covered with snow, while the grass that CAN be seen is brown. I don’t suppose you want to trade?
Your own grassroots movement?
I think your lawn FAQ is too long and polite. “It’s my goddamned lawn” is all you need to say.
The fellow in the picture is using a lawn roller to flatten your bumps.
Which reminds me. My wife and I got her birthday present early. The lawnmower is working out well. A Masport, 150cc engine. I had no trouble cutting our yards which really needed it (lots of rain the last couple weeks here).
Cambias: True, but it’s also his goddamned FAQ!
@Cambias: you should see the blunter FAQs on this site.
(Check the right-hand sidebar.)
If you were asking reseeders to reseed your lawn for free, and they were doing it without question, then that might deserve a blunter FAQ along the lines of: “, pay me!”
Then again, it might not… John might not feel as connected to reseeders as he does to writers :-)
John you are a good sport for not giving the above- mentioned “it’s my own goddamned yard” answer, which while it may be true wouldn’t actually answer the ” why” portion of my original question. I’m impressed that you actually have a yard FAQ, though I guess it’s unsurprising that you’ve encountered such questions before. I’m also glad to read that you’ve got a garden and aren’t watering all that grass. And I’m sorry that the question has been asked so many times as to be an annoyance. I just look at all that green space and immediately get lost dreaming of all the things I’d grow! So the devil’s advocacy isn’t intended to be snarky… More a mixture of friendly jealousy and actual curiosity.
Have you read Ward Moore’s bizarre post-WWII end-of-the-world novel Greener Than You Think, about an irradiated lawn from L.A. taking over the world? It precedes the lawn=suburbia=soul death iconography of later postwar culture, and is surprisingly straightforward as a story.
Anyway, someone this picture made me think of that book for the first time in a long time.
Ooh, it’s free!
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24246