#33 Life Lessons From Lawn Care

So I'm gonna go REAL DEEP on this must anticipated post...Are you ready?

Life Lessons from Lawn Care

So last year we had a really bad drought here in Texas and we decided, because of the water restrictions in our neighborhood, we would just stop watering the lawn all together.  Needless to say we just about killed the entire lawn. So this year we have been trying real hard to get it living again  without sodding or hiring a professional (Hey we are not made out of money!) and not be the shame of the neighborhood (which we are pretty close to being).  I think we have done more crap to this lawn this year than the 5 years we have been here combined.

this is what it looked like...but without all that green

We aerated it (we have NEVER done this) 
We seeded it 
We watered it almost daily 
We added a fertilizer 
We did a liquid weed and feed 
We seeded again 
I weeded the CRAP out of it 
We added topsoil to the dead spots 
We kept watering 
We SEEDED AGAIN 
I did another fertilizer

The water never stopped flowing from our sprinklers

After all this, our lawn was still spotty, had weeds, and still the shame of the neighborhood.

Then about a week or 2 ago I decided to seed the backyard again and read the directions on the seed bag. It said to rake the dead spots first, then add seed and water.

I followed.

Grass started growing in the dead spots.

HOLY CRAP

So this morning after my weight watchers meeting....down 5% of my body weight thank you very much....I grabbed the rake  and for an hour cleared all the dead grass from my front lawn.  I then got on my hand and knees and pulled out (from the ROOT) every STUPID STINKIN' WEED that I could find.

Hubby then mowed, I edged, he weed-eated, I swept.

3 hours of non-stop yard work. I was /am exhausted. But our lawn actually looks decent for the first time this year!

So what life lesson did I get from this horrible experience?  Here you go:

1.You got to clear the dead things out of your life so it can flourish.

That seed was never going to take root because there was all this dead grass underneath it that was preventing it from getting to the soil to grow.

This was a real dead bunny courtesy of our dogs that I had to ALSO clear out

What's the dead things preventing you from growing?

2.If you just treat the symptoms, the ACTUAL issue will never be resolved.

Our issue was that the seed never had a chance to get to the root. We tried all of the above to fix it, but all that was in vain because it was never helping the seed get to the ground. 

This is Jerome after a run in with my daughter. I fixed him up with glue but that will only last till the next time she breaks him. What we should do is not let her touch him...but she loves Jerome so much!

Let's be honest, that person you just were really short with wasn't really because their face annoys you, it's because you're cranky that you didn't get that promotion...which is really because you slacked off at your desk and was on blogger and facebook for most of the work hours...

3. Sometimes you have to pull that crap out by the roots

The weeds kept coming back because I was doing a crappy job of pulling them out....you know...I just pull the green stuff off and nothing else. Well until I got the green AND the roots...the seen and unseen things...that stupid weed was going to keep on growing.  And coincidentally, the root system was getting bigger, even though you couldn't see it above the ground.

I would also put in LIFE as well

We you are always apologizing for the same thing over and over again...or are feeling bad about the same thing over and over again...maybe you need to pull it out by its roots and really stop that behavior. 

All in all it was a lot of work, but I can already see the difference in my lawn.  And it doesn't mean I'm never going to have to pull weeds or mow anymore, I still have to maintain it. But isn't maintaining so much easier than starting from scratch?

I would say....

SURE DOES!!!