A Singer, A Song

I am completely aware that what I’m about to admit officially qualifies me as Hank Hill’s real-world counterpart. My yard puttering has become less about what needs to be done and more about what I can find to obsess over. I look for excuses to make yet another trip to Lowe’s. I do OCD things like patrolling the borders of the flower beds, searching for stealthy mulch escapees, scouring the lawn for weeds so small that the sunshine hasn’t even reached them yet. I strategize about which path across the yard and into the garage will track in less grass. I follow intricate hose-winding rituals that are utterly inscrutable to everyone but me. I water not because the lawn really needs it but because, well, it might need it. (Bermuda is supposed to be drought-tolerant, eh? I have no plans to test that theory.)

So on a recent trip to Lowe’s I walked past a bargain that I couldn’t pass up: a reel mower that was on clearance for nearly $40 less than its in-the-box counterparts. You know what a reel mower is, right? My dad had one that pretty much sat idle in the shed, sulking and oxidizing. They’re a human-powered contraption with helical blades that spin whizzy-izzy as the mower is being pushed along. I’d heard long ago that reel mowers did a better job at cutting your lawn than the standard gas-powered kind, but I was too impetuous then to listen to sage advice, too much of a young upstart to appreciate the idea that something so antiquated could be better than the shiny models that graced the floor at Sears, their Briggs & Stratton engines gleaming a mysterious and enticing black, emanating that vaguely familiar scent of grease and machinery and industry.

As the pre-pubscent me pushed my dad’s through a patch of grass once or twice, I remember being somewhat intrigued by the elegant sound the bearings made as the blades spun, noting with slight wonder, “Wow — this thing runs without gas!” It was the same sort of eyebrow-raising epiphany as when my granny showed me her floor sweeper. “What? No electricity? How does it work?”

So now I’m a convert. Why? I’m glad you asked! Let me enumerate what I like about my new purchase:

• First and foremost, the grass is noticeably “happier” after being cut. I used to notice that after mowing my lawn would have a grayish-green cast to it. That’s because a rotary mower’s tearing action causes more trauma to the grass tips; reel mowers shear the grass with scissor-like precision rather than tearing it. As a result, the lawn requires less watering and is more disease resistant.
  
• It takes no more effort to operate than my rotary mower.
• Other than an occasional blade sharpening, it costs nothing to operate. No filters, no oil, no gas, no spark plugs.
• It requires no winterizing.
• It will not scalp uneven areas in my lawn.
• It’s smaller and lighter than my rotary mower but cuts a considerably larger 20″ swath.
• Smell the grass — not the exhaust. (Another tribute to Hank.)
• It’s far less noisy. I noticed that my neighbor was using her cell phone while I was mowing just a few yards away.
• It doesn’t blow clippings into the flower beds or onto the sidewalks.
• It takes up far less storage space in my shed.

So… anyone want to buy a stinky, heavy, loud, gas-guzzling (but perfectly-operating!) behemoth? I’ll throw in the grass catcher for free.

This is a follow-up to my earlier post, Landscraping 1.

Well, things happened for us (praise the Lord) more quickly than I ever thought they would or could. The awful pit that was our back yard is now so lush and inviting, it looks like a park back there. There are no trees or shrubs yet — those will have to come later as finances allow. The shed is still pending for the same reason, and the flower seeds that Camille planted for a little more immediate color have yet to sprout… but the hardest and most dramatic work is done. The transformation is mind-blowing. I’m standing here looking out the kitchen window at it all: “Is that my back yard? MY back yard?”

Almost as amazing to me that it’s done is that it was done in one week. The men from Stagg’s Landscaping — I can’t compliment them enough — showed up onSaturday, May 3 and finished their portion of the job on Monday, May 5. Then I got to work… and work I did! I was out there every day, sweating and puffing. On Thursday Camille and I put the sod in, and I spread mulch (mulch and more mulch) through Saturday night.

I think the effort was worth it! See for yourself:

When we moved into our house 7 years ago, the contractor had planted some weasly little boxwood shrubs by the front porch. I didn’t like them. We purchased some mock orange shrubs at Underwood nursery and put those in. For the first couple of years, they were really nice shrubs: bright, shiny, evergreen leaves that started out in a beautiful shade of spring green, changing to a deep forest as the leaves matured. The shrubs grew quickly and filled the bed with mounds of foliage. The only problem is that they didn’t quit growing. They spilled over both sides of the bed, and when I’d try to prune them back, the bare hollowness of the shrubs’ innards would show. The longer I waited, the more I realized that something was going to have to give. And so in a moment of inspiration last week, Isaac and I pulled those shrubs out.

Now 8 trim little gardenia bushes have taken up residence in those same spots. Daddy and Isaac planted them nicely, fertilized them, watered them, mulched them, and then stood back to admire our handiwork. Isaac chirped, “We did a good job, daddy!” as he dusted off his hands. Come the summer months (next year if not this), we’ll enjoy the fragrant fruit of our labors.

As is often the case with most spring projects, there was a kind of cascading result: 4 hanging flower baskets, petunias for the flower beds, bags of mulch, plenty of raking, plenty of sweeping, and more fertilizing. Then inspiration hit for us to finally find a solution for the awfulness that is our back yard. The contractor who built our home did a slipshod job of grading the back hill and providing for adequate erosion control, and so now we have a royal mess on our hands. Bless her heart, Camille purposed to do it herself if that’s what it took, but I hate to see what will be hard work on her part go completely to waste. It’s going to be a big job an expensive venture to fix, but our hope is to dig about 5 feet into the hill, build a 5-foot retaining wall to extend the usable portion of our yard, and even add a small potting shed for gardening tools, our lawn mower, and other garage flotsam.

Here’s what that back hill looks like now. I’ll keep posting pictures as the project progresses (Lord willing!).