Revenge of the Weeds Part II

The thunder rolled and I could hear the wind howling over the chimney stack. A quick inspection out the patio door answered my question - yes, it was raining, hard. It's just past midnight and I'm comforted again by the ominous forecast from wunderground.com earlier in the day calling for evening thunderstorms and rain through the night. For, it was that forecast which confirmed my mission for the evening - mow the front yard. I chose to accept it, and after a quick dinner I bid adieu to my family to join the rank and file of the grass corps for the next hour.

Could lawn care be any more dramatic? Really? Well, I've made a lot of changes based on my successes (none) and failures (many) of last year. I've learned that my bermuda grass is much happier at a shorter height. The 2-2.5 inches last summer just didn't do what I was hoping, whereas the .5-1 inch turf is already a vast improvement to the yard. It's been very tough getting the lawn work done the last two weeks, between work, family, church and weather I've had few opportunities to take on the many battles of this war - but phase II is complete.

The back yard was the hardest, by far. It took 2.5 hours to mow. The grass catcher would be full after a single swath of 30 feet. I was fighting the night as the final passes were made. When all was said and done, I hauled 14 full 39-gallon lawn and leaf bags to the street for curbside grass clipping pickup. Two days later I was able to put down the weed preventer and get it watered just before leaving for a friend's house to eat pizza and jam.

I should add that a few tools have been extremely helpful this summer. For instance, my in-laws blessed me with a Ryobi gas weedeater with an interchangable shaft. I've already bought the blower attachment and I have my eye on the hedgetrimmer attachment for a May acquisition. I've also gotten some good use out of a cast iron tractor sprinkler that follows the path of the hose until it shuts itself off at the owner-positioned "Stop" marker.

But, once again, if everything goes well - I will have Kirk to thank. Next step, Scotts Turf Builder fertilizer. Kirk swears by it and he and I will both be treating our lawns come May 1. Until then, my children will enjoy running barefoot in the backyard and I'll be keeping a watchful eye on my sworn enemy - the front yard crabgrass.

God bless us all!
David