Growth & Learning

Even though the temperatures outside might not reflect it, we are now officially into the spring growing season. With that in mind, I decided this would be a good weekend to plant some new grass along the side of my house where I had done some landscaping last year. This would be a perennial grass (instead of the annual rye I planted last year) and it would be a permanent solution. With any luck it will become a nice lush carpet where I can enjoy walking barefoot.

Since this was a landscaping project I brought in my trusted landscape experts (who happen to be my brothers) to assist with the heavy lifting and provide consultation on how to actually get everything to grow. I talked with my brother Tim in advance to prepare for the work and he agreed to purchase the grass seed and other necessary dressings for the impending yard. I rented a massive tiller to help make the work easier. Tim and Jay arrived on Saturday morning and we wasted little time getting to work (after eating lunch of course).

Without getting into the gruesome details, I learned two specific things this weekend. First of all, we probably took on more yard then we realistically had time for. It ended up being about 4,000 square feet and while we did finish (barely in daylight), it took a lot more time then expected. While it might not look like it, one of the pictures is before and the other is, in fact, after.

We ended up using about 35 pounds of grass seed; 15 pounds of fertilizer; two tanks of gas on the tiller; two bales of salt hay; four yards of top soil; and about 25 different rakes, shovels, and implements of destruction. I now have a relatively leveled side yard that should produce a really nice lawn that I’ll get to mow. The second thing I learned is that the next time my brothers come to town; I need to stock up on various paper products and juices.