Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Our Grass Woes

I don't mean to brag but I have the cutest garden and flower beds.



Look at my sweet little wren.


The deck is darling.


My green house. Oh my!


I adore my garden ornaments.


I struggle with the perennials but they do put on a good show every now and then.


The grass has been a constant battle.
The grass looked great before we moved in 23 years ago.
It's looked terrible since then.


There were several spots in the front and in the back that were completely dead.
I think it is where the roofers threw shingles off of the roof in November.


It all looked okay by the end of the fall.
I raked five times to make sure leaves weren't sitting on the grass.
I'm still bitter about it. (Kidding - not kidding.)
 Every year it feels like we are starting over.
Things looked very bleak at the start of the spring.


Our lawn guy moved to Houston so I put out an all call for a new one.



Don't be fooled by the green. That is not grass. It's weeds.

The great Crepe Myrtle Massacre.


We have a tendency to rock any area that has refused to grow grass.
If we add anymore stones, it will look like we live in the desert.
I wanted to re-sod again. This would be the 4th or 5th time.
The new lawn guy came to assess the atrocity.
He literally laughed at our back yard. We have hit a new low.
He recommended an aggressive treatment of something to treat a fungus and some weed and feed.
We had been doing all organic. Clearly it was not working so he has fired us from caring for our own lawn.
We cannot be trusted.


After a month, things are starting to regrow.
An area that was St. Augustine is coming in with Bermuda.


It's progress.


I will keep you updated on this riveting saga.
Do you have grass woes?
Katie











11 comments :

  1. Oh Katie! It is a Texas woe isn't it? We hired TruGreen to do our lawn for the year. So far they've done two applications over a 3 month period and I'm not sure if it's better or worse! I was just thinking as I looked at it this morning that maybe we need to re-sod, but it sounds like that hasn't been successful for you, so maybe not! I will be watching to see how yours turns out. Thanks for making me feel not so alone.

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  2. I have grubs. They eat your grass from the roots and the only thing that seems to kill them are moles which make it a minefield to walk through. I put grub killer on but now it's almost not worth the bother. This is the back yard, fortunately and it's hideous. Practically dirt except where it is weeds. Rick suggested hiring a rototiller guy to dig it up, flatten it down, put more grub crud on and try planting again. I'm at the point where cement and stones is sounding good. I'll be curious to see how you come out -- I know this will be a longtime battle for me. (At least you have your pretty spots out there!)

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  3. There is a nasty fungus going around here in Central Ohio. I use a weed and feed chemical service year round. Last summer one of their new techs scorched out back yard - we have 2 acres of grassy yard - and it left stripes, I was super upset. This year they are only letting a very experienced tech work out lawn - they know me well because I am the one who got my entire street to use their service - they know the power of talk. : - )

    I don't know what else to say but I am so so sorry. You'd die if you knew how green my grass is. It will happen for you - it will cost. Oh and part of their service is grub control. And of course healthy watering. I know Texas is hot and dry - it is usually humid and rainy here, so that always helps - we do get cloudy days on end sometimes. Just not today- we have perfect weather, yippee!

    Hugs and prayers for you and your poor grass. : - (

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  4. Could your yard be too shady at this point? Bermuda definitely doesn't like shade. We try very hard not to use many chemicals especially in the flower beds. The grass is just another story...you can't control the weeds without some kind of chemical treatment. I hope you figure something out! Our Oklahoma yard just refused to grow much grass and we resodded over and over. We ended up putting flower beds everywhere.

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  5. I feel your pain. I live in Florida and there are parts of our yard that have never grown grass. We've planted, sodded, watered and watered! After 15 years my husband has given up on grass and we're hoping to get permission from our HOA (nazis?) to plant drought tolerant plants.

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  6. Oh- I know how hard it can be to keep grass looking good. We are very fortunate with this lawn but when we moved in we hauled in TONS (and I do mean tons) of good topsoil, seeded, watered and prayed. We now have a beautiful, lush lawn and gave up 'fixing it' ourselves a few years ago when we almost killed it. Back to a lawn service for us that does weed and feed and we mow often with the blades set high.

    Good luck...other than the grass---your yard is quite beautiful. xo Diana

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  7. Katie

    Go ahead and brag! Beautiful, gardening is about the good, bad and beautiful!

    Debby
    Debbygoesshabby.blogspot.com

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  8. I feel your pain.
    I live in FL and that could be my yard except for the pretty sitting area near the fence. It is so dry here, I don't know if the front yard will recover. I planted a lot of trees for shade and the back is all leaves at this point. The one place the yard was growing well has become a retention pond from my neighbor's yard draining towards my yard. I say make more flower beds and plant more trees. When you find the solution, please feel free to share with us.
    Myrna

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  9. Katie,
    Living in unincorporated Tarrant County means I can do pretty much what I want with my "yard." I don't really have a traditional yard. I plant rye grass around Sept/Oct. for the areas close to the house and garden shed. The grass looks pretty all winter and is still looking nice and green. We mow occasionally in the winter, but I love the look of a meadow. So, one area near the house is allowed to grow without mowing until the rye grass dies down due to the heat that arrives in May/June. Then we mow it completely. My yard is dormant in the summer. Much of the rest of the property is left natural. I can get away with that in the unincorporated country. Plus, I love the natural look.

    Judith

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  10. Lol, my grass woes started four years ago in the back yard...I just had to get two ( not one but two) border collie puppies. They thought it was great fun to pull out the grass and then eat it. Finally last year we resodded it and we have grass for the most part. There's dog trails and bare shady spots but after three years of mud and dirt, the green is so nice! Good luck with your yard. It's frustrating when you can't get it to grow.

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  11. I live in Florida and grass is not normal here. Folks try but most yards have more weeds than grass. Our "soil" is mostly sand and I think it's ridiculous that everyone thinks they have to have grass. Grassy lawns came from cool, damp England. Unless you live in the Midwest (I'm guessing) grass isn't an easy accomplishment. Try a rock garden or sand garden in a big blank spot. Add more statues, a bench, or some other ornament that would attract the eye. Then everyone would go wow look at that and not look for grass.

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