For years I’ve dreamed of having a beautiful backyard—green
grass, colorful flowers, relaxing and attractive seating areas, maybe a lawn
dwarf or two—just kidding about that last part.
Our big old in-ground pool takes up most of the backyard, but there are
still “green spaces” around the edges that could look lovely. There are two grassy areas in the backyard. (The other areas have bushes and plantings,
but they are another sad story.) One space swings
around the short end of the pool. The other
is located part way down one of the pool’s long sides. It’s the latter parcel of land that is giving
me the most trouble. I can’t tell you
how much time and sweat and money has gone into that little 18X7 foot plot of
ground. It was seeded the year we moved
in and grass grew. We had a dog (York)
at the time that apparently had a nuclear power plant residing in his bladder
because what came out of there certainly was toxic. Huge, ugly spots began to appear in the
precious new grass. That was
disappointing, to say the least.
But then York went to live with our daughter—yea! Time to try again. This time son #2 helped me clear away the
sad old grass and lay down strips of beautifully healthy, thick
sod. Of course it was a pain in the neck
to run out there every day and water the grass until it was firmly rooted, but
it was worth it to have lush green grass.
Trouble arrived in the form of the little black puppy that
Son #1 simply had to have. Oh, he was cute at first (aren’t they all)
but he got big. Real big. Oxford is one powerful dog 120+ pound
Neapolitan Mastiff mix.
He liked to run hard all over the backyard to stay in
shape. He didn’t seem to care about the
wonderful new turf. Have you ever
seen a clump of grass fly into the air after
a golfer takes a swing? That’s what happened whenever Oxford pushed
off with his powerful hind legs. (Only
there were two clumps of grass—one for each foot.) He also like to dig. Oh my poor, poor grass! Pretty soon it looked like a battlefield that’s
been carpet-bombed. The evil stuff known as crabgrass came up
where the lovely grass had been cruelly torn away by big lumbering paws.
We lived with the mess for a few years until Son #1 decided to get
married and fly the coop. He wanted to take
his dog, which was good because I really didn’t want to have to tie Oxford to
the back of Daniel’s car. My heart
soared just thinking about the fact that we were now moose (I mean “dog” free!) This time I went back to using grass
seed. But first, a couple of inches of
soil had to be removed so water could drain into the future grass (that waved
gloriously in my mind’s eye), after we (meaning “I”) sprayed off the sidewalk
around the pool. Let me tell you
something. Removing dirt and skaggy
grass is no easy chore—even on that small piece of real estate. Ok, fast forward—the dirt had been shoveled
off and dropped in the side yard. Now it
was time to rake the ground up and toss down the grass seed. You know those moments in life when you feel
giddy with excitement? That’s how I felt
a week later when the precious tiny little grass shoots made their
appearance. I watered and watered and
even had some conversations with the new grass.
Then the unthinkable happened. We had the hottest, driest summer we’d ever
had since moving to this house. I tried to water consistently, but it didn’t
seem to help. The fragile little spears
started to wilt and fade.
Heartbreaking? Yeah, you could
say that. The worst part was the inner
dialogue, “How is it that other people have beautiful yards? What’s wrong with me? I guess I ‘ll never have nice grass….dirt is all I deserve,
apparently….” It was painful.
Now we have (and I know you’re going to judge me for this)
Cambridge, a smallish, but still powerful dog.
Before you abuse me in the “comments” section, tell me--what could I do? Son #2 needed him deeeesperately. I thought we’d be dog free by this spring,
because this son keeps saying he’s moving out.
And believe me—I had some big
plans for that 18X7 chunk of earth. As a
matter of fact, I had the most gorgeous backyard in the neighborhood, rolling
around in my head. But here we are with
a dirt patch and a dog—and it’s the time of year to plant grass! What to do?
You’re probably thinking I’m the biggest dolt in the world
for not thinking of this sooner, but it finally occurred to me that this dog is
about 90 pounds lighter than Oxford. He
could probably be blocked by a cheap little fence! Yes! A
fence—that was the ticket! So it is with a
joy-filled heart that I report to you that the cheesy, 18 inch, green wire fence (at
@six dollars per ten foot section at Home Depot) has been installed and is valiantly protecting the newly laid grass seeds. Yes, they are
safely snuggled into the earth, awaiting their glorious debut!
This is my year. I will be one of those people with green grass, I can feel it.
