A perfect Lawn.
Ok, I am about ready to call a perfect lawn (heck, even a nice lawn) an Unattainable Dream.
The first year we lived in our house, we had sod. We put it in the spring of 2000. It looked nice at first, but because of a couple of mowings that cut the grass just a wee bit too short, no sprinkler system, and NO SHADE - the sod did not do as well as had hoped... In fact, by the spring of 2002 it looked like this...
We were not the only person that had the same problem. There were a total of four lawns that all installed sod the same time (in fact my neighbor across the street put his in the same day we did. We were "encouraging" each other from across the street!)
One of the four "slit-seeded" over his dead lawn in the fall of 2001. That yard come back well, so two of the remaining three of us (myself and the neighbor across the street) decided to "slit-seed" our lawns the next spring (2002). (The fourth used "hydro-seeding.)
My across the street neighbor's lawn came back beautifully, as did his next door neighbor (the hydro seeder). My lawn started coming back, but was very thin. I slit seeded again the next year, and the lawn got a bit thicker, but was not even close to being "the perfect lawn".
I have since done all kinds of things to get the lawn to come back - I have three larger trees now (and the shaded areas are doing better), and in 2005, we installed a sprinkler system (but hate to, and cannot afford to pour money all over the lawn in the form of my water bill. I use the system sparingly, and run it about half as long as my neighbors do - but their water bills are double mine, so I need to be realistic.) It helps, but unless you are willing to spend $300.00 a month on water, you are still fighting a loosing battle. What it does help with is consistency and coverage. When I do run it, all areas of the lawn are watered equally. When I used a sprinkler, it was much more inconsistent.
We are on a year round Odd/Even and hour-of-the-day watering ban. Basically, I can water on the odd days of the month, and only from midnight - 10 am and then again from 7pm-midnight. I have my system running one sprinkling in the morning and one in the evening on odd days - and run between 6 and 12 minutes per zone (depending on the size and layout of the lawn).
This year is the first year that portions of my lawn appear "healthy" and may even seem to have a fighting chance. Although not perfect my any means, I feel a little better about how the lawn looks this year! Here are pictures I took today of my lawn. Because of the new DECK, I am unable to take a picture from the same vantage point, but I took a couple of pictures that show the difference in my yard since 2002. You can see how big the maple tree (it is the densist tree on the far right) has gotten since the "before" picture. (It's the white stick coming out of the ground in the "before" pic...)
One of the four "slit-seeded" over his dead lawn in the fall of 2001. That yard come back well, so two of the remaining three of us (myself and the neighbor across the street) decided to "slit-seed" our lawns the next spring (2002). (The fourth used "hydro-seeding.)
My across the street neighbor's lawn came back beautifully, as did his next door neighbor (the hydro seeder). My lawn started coming back, but was very thin. I slit seeded again the next year, and the lawn got a bit thicker, but was not even close to being "the perfect lawn".
I have since done all kinds of things to get the lawn to come back - I have three larger trees now (and the shaded areas are doing better), and in 2005, we installed a sprinkler system (but hate to, and cannot afford to pour money all over the lawn in the form of my water bill. I use the system sparingly, and run it about half as long as my neighbors do - but their water bills are double mine, so I need to be realistic.) It helps, but unless you are willing to spend $300.00 a month on water, you are still fighting a loosing battle. What it does help with is consistency and coverage. When I do run it, all areas of the lawn are watered equally. When I used a sprinkler, it was much more inconsistent.
We are on a year round Odd/Even and hour-of-the-day watering ban. Basically, I can water on the odd days of the month, and only from midnight - 10 am and then again from 7pm-midnight. I have my system running one sprinkling in the morning and one in the evening on odd days - and run between 6 and 12 minutes per zone (depending on the size and layout of the lawn).
This year is the first year that portions of my lawn appear "healthy" and may even seem to have a fighting chance. Although not perfect my any means, I feel a little better about how the lawn looks this year! Here are pictures I took today of my lawn. Because of the new DECK, I am unable to take a picture from the same vantage point, but I took a couple of pictures that show the difference in my yard since 2002. You can see how big the maple tree (it is the densist tree on the far right) has gotten since the "before" picture. (It's the white stick coming out of the ground in the "before" pic...)
My "unattainable dream" looks something like this...
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