Friday, September 22, 2023

"Mom, look!"


My neighbour is done with lawns. His last stretch of lawn was the boulevard, which he covered last year in an effort to kill the sod's root system. This spring the tarp came off and mission accomplished -- with grass on only my side of the property line. Not that I blame him, because when he asked if I was committed to my lawn, I never gave him a definitive answer, and he is not the kind of person who asks twice when given anything less than an affirmative. 

Last week he asked to borrow my metal rake so that he might break up the hard packed soil and get the rocks out before seeding. The seed will be a cereal grass of some kind, like the magnificent sliver, green and blue rye he planted last year on what was once his front lawn. Can't say I wasn't a little sad for not having said No to lawns when he asked me, because I like the idea of our boulevard being unified, and not divided.

While tempted to bust my sod and join him, I decided instead to preserve the lawn, shine a light on it. I began by giving it a wide edging. From there, I pulled up everything that wasn't from grass seed. Because the ground is hard with tree roots, I highlighted one of the knuckles from the Japanese cherry trees the City planted some 70 years ago. I even took it further, roping it off and hanging from it a sign. Well, that sure got the kids stopping on their way home from school!

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