The Envy of the Neighborhood

 

                                                                             The Envy of the Neighborhood

When I'm sitting in the shade working on my translating, I often catch glimpses of the passing parade of strollers, joggers, bicyclers that get their daily exercise by taking advantage of the street layout in this neighborhood. It contains many dead end cul-de-sacs and stop signs at intersections, which discourage fast automobile traffic. Occasionally one will stop to chat briefly, and the conversation often includes a compliment on my beautiful lawn.

It's true. Out of about 100 homes in this area, this one is (IMHO) the prettiest. But it wasn't always this way. For years, for decades, I struggled with maintaining a lawn that wasn't embarrassing by its appearance. I dutifully sowed Tall Fescue in March and in good years I would have a decent looking spread of grass in April and early May. And then the assault began. It was attacked by crabgrass, wire grass, chickweed, a variety of other weeds, as well as periods of hot dry weather that left visible patches. I fought back, using broadleaf weed killer, digging up crabgrass and meadow grass, and having a deep water well installed so that I wouldn't have a big water bill from watering the lawn.

It was a losing battle. I just didn't have the time or energy to keep up that kind of maintenance. I had the kind of profession that required hours of at-home study, and I had other household chores that couldn't be neglected. By June the lawn was obviously deteriorating, and by July I was usually ready to throw in the towel and resort just to mowing the hodgepodge of green plants once per week.

But finally, a series of fortuitous circumstances converged to solve the problem in an amazing way. One of these was that the neighborhood got warmer; not as a result of some general climate change, but because urban spread brought more buildings, concrete, and asphalt into areas near the neighborhood, and the resulting warming affected the entire Lower Peninsula. The second lucky event was that a gentleman living in Florida bought the house next door to mine for his adopted son, and started a lawn of St. Augustine grass with some sprigs that he brought along on one of his visits. It was a very invasive grass, and when I consulted a local seed store manager she told me that it should be avoided by all means possible. So I fought it off for several years, until it finally sank in that that St. Augustine grass was much more attractive than my Fescue grass, with little maintenance other than a periodic mowing. So I happily surrendered, and allowed the invasion to begin. After the first year it had filled in about a fourth of the front lawn. After the second year, at least a half, and after five years, I had a beautiful green lawn with no bare patches and no weeds.

Why was it prettier than the next door lawn that had so generously started my St. Augustine lawn after I had insulted it for years by trying to keep it out? And there were a couple of other neighbors that had tried St. Augustine lawns, with only partial success. It turns out that you can destroy any lawn if you work hard enough at it. One way is to park various vehicles that leak oil on the lawn. Another way is to replace simple mowing with a procedure that is like shaving the earth. You can set the blade so low that it doesn't leave the grass enough green to work with properly.

One problem with the St. Augustine grass was those unsightly runners dangling over the curb. They are so strong that it requires a powerful edger to cut them off. An easier solution is to spray Roundup on a strip adjacent to the curb, but that strip of dead grass definitely subtracts from the beauty of that otherwise aesthetically perfect lawn. Another, minor, problem was that the strong grass is harder to mow than other lawn grasses traditionally used at this latitude. It was beginning to become too much work, as age gradually sapped my abilities.

And then, at last, a genie appeared out of a magic bottle to solve all of my problems. His name was Sam Harvey, a close neighbor. He combined two qualities that both worked to my advantage: a penchant for helping people in need, and an inordinate appreciation for attractive lawns. He spent many hours and dollars maintaining his own lawn, with an elaborate watering system, expensive fertilizers and seed combinations, and optimized timing of watering, sowing, and applying fertilizer. The result was a beautiful lawn, but it never matched the perfection of that amazing St. Augustine grass.

As I grew older I had more episodes of minor injuries, that made it difficult to perform some of the more physical household chores, Sam would always volunteer to help, whenever he perceived that there was a need. So, eventually he just took over the maintenance of my lawn. He mows it, edges it, and cleans off the driveway and street with his blower.

But that's pretty much all the care that the grass requires. When we have one of those hot dry spells that wreaked havoc with the Fescue, St. Augustine just shrugs it off, and digs its roots in a little deeper. When Crabgrass, Bermuda Grass, and the long assortment of other weeds and trash grasses launch their attacks, St. Augustine laughs at them. It's like Superman being attacked by mere mortals.

Although I say, “Thank you” when someone stops to admire it, my conscience hurts until I admit that the credit goes to Sam for his unmatched dedication to perfection in lawn beauty.

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