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Lawn Projects and Yard Work

We don't need to say much about the struggle to get a lush, green lawn. If you have a lawn, you know it can be frustrating. Our lawn has more than its share of weeds, (though if we squint the weeds almost look like grass...), rocks and poor drainage. But we'll continue the quest for that perfect lawn, nonetheless.

The side yard often flooded in the winter and spring.

Dandelions filled the backyard.

This weedy pasture is a groundhog's paradise!

Still, from a distance the lawn looked nice.

The lawn was in for even more trauma. In May we rented a Kubota (a small backhoe) to dig out the foundation for a new patio on the back of the house. We took advantage of having the Kubota to dig out a series of trenches around the yard, then laid perforated and solid piping all the way down to the street. While the long term goal – a drier yard – was good, it really wrecked the lawn. Besides ripping up our grass/weed mixture, the backhoe also left deep ruts in the dirt, and left the area uneven and rocky. It looked ugly, and you had to be careful not to trip when walking across the yard. After attempting to pick up some of the rocks and rake some small areas, we realized that the job of cleaning up the mess was too big for us. We would have to call in the big guns. But first, we had to get through a hot, dry summer with our sad lawn.

Nate operating the Kubota through the first dig.

Many hours later, there's dirt everywhere!

Soon after the trenches were dug, they filled with water, indicating we have a high water table.

The longest of the 400 feet of trenches that we dug over the weekend.

That same trench curved and joined this one.

The final leg of that long trench, ending at the street.

The Kubota left its footprint...many, in fact.

Our lawn was marred by the crisscross of giant tire marks.

We chose Derstine Landscaping to renovate our sorry-looking lawn. They promised to do the job in one day, and stayed true to their word despite the amount of work involved. The first step had to be completed by us – killing the remaining grass and weeds a few weeks before they were scheduled to come in October. Jen was concerned about using chemicals on the lawn when she preferred to keep it organic, but Nate was sure that the topical spray he used on the green stuff wouldn't leak into the ground. Either way, it had to be done. About a week or two after spraying, the stuff browned and shriveled. Early in the morning the Derstine crew arrived, and proceeded to manually rake around the edges of the beds and barn. Then they brought in a preparator machine, which ripped up the brown clumps and evened out the rough areas. More raking ensued, as well as gathering up lots and lots and lots of stones. Finally, they used a hydroseeding machine with a long hose on it to spray a mixture of grass seeds and other cellular material throughout the lawn. They said goodbye, and left it to us to finish the job. For the next week, we had to water the grass almost constantly. For two more weeks, we watered intermittently. Finally we were rewarded with little grasslings coming up, sparse at first, then stronger. A month later, we had a nice covering. And the ground was wonderfully even. For the first time, the lawn didn't have any weeds. So although it was a lot of work and expensive, it seemed to be worth it!