This Old House Hour.... Really!?!?!?!?

[canesisters]

Today on This Old House they were re-doing some guy's backyard.
First - they de-sodded the WHOLE YARD - and threw it away... OMG, what my chickens could've done with that...
Then they tilled up the entire yard and added a ton of compost but THEN they covered the WHOLE thing in sod!!! SOD!!!
It was all set to become a wonderful garden and they ruined it by covering it with weeds! You can't eat that stuff

I'm so upset, I think that I need to go outside and sit in the dirt...

 

[digitS']

Cane', for a short while my neighbor had 3 species of plants in his yard. Then, he took out the row of arborvitae along the driveway.

So, he has 2 dwarf Alberta spruce (not more than 2' tall) on the northside of his house and a bluegrass lawn.

He once asked me if I was responsible for some weeds he was carefully pulling from the edge of his grass. Could be. There are so many different things in my yard, I can't keep track of the weeds! I'm thinking of sprinkling some ornamental allium seed over the fence this year. He fights with the perennial poppies that are on my side and trying to sneak under the fence - maybe Papaver somniferum seed would provide him with some entertainment . . .

No. He is far more like 90% of the neighbors than DW & me. I'm sure that there are some with only one species of plant - grass. Some that are doing their best to kill even that, thru neglect.

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

I find that truly hilarious..... To dig up tons of green manure, throw it away, then bring tons of composted manure to plant grass. Talk of ignorance, they should be sued.....

I know to some of you, chemicals are a 4 letter word but come on. Use a contact killer-couple come to mind. Kill the yard, give it 2 weeks to die, till it, plant new grass or sod. U can work in more compost if u want but no need. Plus u haven't hurt the worms.

 

[lesa]

I love watching those shows and the home improvements ones. I always talk to the tv and say "What! Don't throw that out! Save those cabinets- someone can use them!" The yards are the funniest. I think they should bring the camera back in a season and take a look at all their hard work... I bet the sod is dead and the new plantings are full of weeds!

 

[so lucky]

I don't understand how we US citizens went from having a place for the sheep to graze (English reason for yards) to needing vast expanses of perfect green carpet, with no bugs and no alternative plants! Then polluting the air trying to mow it. digitS' if I were you, I would be so tempted to accidentally blow some non-bluegrass seeds of some sort over there! K-31 or orchard grass?
And those kitchen remake shows! Most of the time the "old ugly kitchen" they tear out looks better than mine!

Edited to say that I don't know for sure that's the reason for English lawns--think I read it somewhere-----

 

[seedcorn]

Steve, resist the urge. I had a yard to play with kids. Grass killed if in garden, plants killed in my yard. Everything has a place. Out of place becomes weed.

I'm one of the anal ones who wants grass with nothing but grass. If my neighbor was trying to sabatoge my yard or garden, would not be happy neighbor.

 

[thistlebloom]

My lawn is "mostly" grass, but it also has lots of clover, plaintain, hawkweed, bellis and of course dandelions, but they are all green and look lawnish enough for me. Since I have plenty of area to garden I feel no guilt for having a lawn. We actually use it too.

 

[lesa]

The combination of green stuff I affectionately call "grass".

 

[Jared77]

For me its real simple. My property has 3 things.

1) Gardens be it flowers and nonedibles that line the walkway and edge part of the house, or the edible garden.

2) "The meeting area" which is a spot over there for the dogs to go and handle their business. A very low fence that's roughly 6" helps clarify where to handle those things and where NOT to go if your barefoot.

3) The rest of the property for the kids to play on. Soccer, tag, whatever. The only time I yank anything out of the "yard" is if its something that would painful like a thistle, or something highly invasive like burdock. Otherwise its a Heinz 57 of different plants that get trimmed with the mower every so often. Time with my kids is WAAY more important than time pushing a feeding system for the grass or mowing it back down to keep it in check.

And when the kids are grown up and moved away with families of their own, I'll still have a play area for the grandkids, a fort or castle, or some kind of playhouse, a jungle gym of some sort for them to climb on, and maybe I'll expand the flower beds a bit and expand into some roses so I have more to putz around with when I'm retired.

I can't say I'm surprised by them doing that. For the sake of TV you get that "instant green" look that they are looking for. Its for the ratings. Us gardeners are in the minority. I lost count how many times I hear that Scottish sounding fellow pushing fertilizer, crab grass inhibitor, and what not. As many times as I've been to the big box home supply stores for things for the new house I'm always seeing people buying bags and bags and bags of the lawn care items. We have somehow been conditioned to believe that a green monotone expanse is a sign of how good we are at growing things. Its really too bad.

 

[canesisters]

I totally understand wanting an open area for kids to play. I guess that my frustration was that they even brought in extra equipment to till up right next to the house and fence so that they could plant grass 'wall to wall'. As far as I could see, there werent any other plants in the yard. I was actually being funny (a little) but it has opened up a good discussion.
I don't have any kids. I do have dogs. Jared, if you could share how to train them to do their business in a certain spot I would be very grateful.
I hope, little by little, to turn most of my yard into either gardens of one sort or another or chicken pens. I'm tired of spending time mowing grass. I'd be much happier tending beds of flowers/veggies. When we bought the land the intention was that this would be 'the meeting place' for family events. We set out lots of yard and grassy areas for various uses. But after my husband passed I sort of became invisible. (People don't know what to do with someone who is no longer half of a couple.) So, the older I get - the more all this grass tending is becoming a nuisance. Instead of spending hours listening to the mower and weedeater drone on, Id rather be gathering flowers to beautify the house or my office. Instead of toting gas cans, Id rather be toting baskets of eatable goods to friends and neighbors.