Another recap. Here's what we started with:
Then, after all the digging for the yard drainage, this is what we had:
And it was like this all through the winter.
I've just realized that I've never shown you all the work that happened over the winter. In Field of Dreams - Part One, I reminded you of the trees that once graced the North Lawn. Well, I said, "Off with their heads", and they were taken down. Two down by the road, one up by the house (see the first photo in this post).
They were dragged up to the top of the hill behind the house and burned . . .
along with a lot of the other brush that once blanketed the hill behind the house. It all was was burned and burned, and slowly burned, until it was nearly all gone.
Then spring came. The ground turned to mud and then dried and then the excavator returned . . .
and he worked his magic again until the North Lawn looked like this.
I got out my rakes and went to work, grooming every inch of the 20,000 square foot North Lawn, removing stones, large and small. Meanwhile, hay was delivered to the front yard.
After the seed was put down, seed by seed, I retraced my steps, scattering armfuls of hay over the seed to prevent it from washing away during the rains. Well, the rains they did come, and the seed AND hay they did wash away, down to the street. See the lovely gully below?
And still, I persevered. I seeded and hayed the yard in sections until all that I intended to be lawn for now was covered.
During my toil, I spied something across the yard on a slope that had once been covered entirely by rosa floribunda (wild-assed invasive, viney rose nonsense). Two pretty daffodils. Do you think they bloomed all those years, hidden by brush?
Day after day, I dragged the sprinkler around the North Lawn, keeping each kernel of Kentucky Blue sufficiently moist. Finally, after enough warm days and cool nights, we now have a lawn. It's not perfect. It looks better from the street than when you're standing right upon it, but I am tickled every time someone comes into the store and remarks "Your lawn looks spectacular!"
Then, after all the digging for the yard drainage, this is what we had:
And it was like this all through the winter.
I've just realized that I've never shown you all the work that happened over the winter. In Field of Dreams - Part One, I reminded you of the trees that once graced the North Lawn. Well, I said, "Off with their heads", and they were taken down. Two down by the road, one up by the house (see the first photo in this post).
They were dragged up to the top of the hill behind the house and burned . . .
along with a lot of the other brush that once blanketed the hill behind the house. It all was was burned and burned, and slowly burned, until it was nearly all gone.
Then spring came. The ground turned to mud and then dried and then the excavator returned . . .
and he worked his magic again until the North Lawn looked like this.
I got out my rakes and went to work, grooming every inch of the 20,000 square foot North Lawn, removing stones, large and small. Meanwhile, hay was delivered to the front yard.
After the seed was put down, seed by seed, I retraced my steps, scattering armfuls of hay over the seed to prevent it from washing away during the rains. Well, the rains they did come, and the seed AND hay they did wash away, down to the street. See the lovely gully below?
And still, I persevered. I seeded and hayed the yard in sections until all that I intended to be lawn for now was covered.
During my toil, I spied something across the yard on a slope that had once been covered entirely by rosa floribunda (wild-assed invasive, viney rose nonsense). Two pretty daffodils. Do you think they bloomed all those years, hidden by brush?
Day after day, I dragged the sprinkler around the North Lawn, keeping each kernel of Kentucky Blue sufficiently moist. Finally, after enough warm days and cool nights, we now have a lawn. It's not perfect. It looks better from the street than when you're standing right upon it, but I am tickled every time someone comes into the store and remarks "Your lawn looks spectacular!"
