I’m the proud owner of a house in these United States. Right there, as of 2018, I hit a certain new set of demographics – school-systems, real-estate-taxes, mortgage-bound etc. The past 20 years I’ve worked hard, saved and scrounged, deferred vacations and other niceties and along with my wife, was able to afford a modest downpayment to a house in a competitive neighborhood.
I like to think of myself and hands-on and because the lawn on this house is small enough, I decided I’d be the landscaper of our property. This was one case where I actually wanted a bit of “hard work” and without any prior experience, looked forward to what I could accomplish with my own two hands. So unlocked a new demographic – lawn-care.
Turns out a certain mix of brown and green can get me to see red – who knew! Eg given the onslaught of crabgrass (green) alongside dying/dead patches of grass (doo-doo brown), in a fit of rage (seeing red) in Sep 2023, I started literally digging out patches of lawn – a destructive and fun enough exercise for kids that they happily joined along. I imagine it looked like madness to the neighbors who saw it – “hmm, are they digging around for something in their front lawn?” …
Pick a grass variety that works for your lawn
So based on region, certain grasses will thrive. I wanted a grass that would do well in the summer heat of northeast US without the need for “excess” watering [conservative footprint]. I explored a few different varieties – Kentucky Blue Grass, Rye but landed on Zoysia.
According to my neighbor on the other side of the street, who I deem best placed for judging, we now, in 2024, have the best lawn on the street! This little accolade did not come easy. It is the result of 5 years of trial and error. Also, it’s not guaranteed to be the same next year. It’s possible there could be a whole new/different lawn challenge. But I walk away this time with a little sense of accomplishment knowing the effort & sweat that went in is starting to pay off.
