Mow, Mow, Mow Your the Yard, Gently in December
Today I mowed the yard. The reasons for doing such were two-fold.
One, the grass seed that I had planted before we went out to Montana in September is growing at a faster rate than the other grass around it, creating an uneven appearance in the lawn. Since it has been warm up until recently, this grass has continued to grow. The disparity in height among the blades has become pronounced. Kind of like middle school among the kids...
Frankly, I don't really care. But, lawn care in my neighborhood is treated as an art form and it looks bad if I don't behave according the the "Guild of the Grassmen" ethos.
My newer grass is also greener. When Scott's came out at the end of September to re-seed the entire yard, the guy had said that the seeds he planted would replace my grass...and it is happening but slowly. I had planted the first round as it sprouted quicker and gave me time to give it about a weeks worth of water before we headed West.
I figured that some grass would certainly look better than no grass (we had some spots balder than Kojak) and that I could not guarantee that the Scott's grass would grow later because of it getting possibly colder in October. The Scott's grass, slower hatching and growing--and a darker green--has taken months to come up, even with it being warmer and all. So, it is like a tortoise and the hare type of thing I guess.
I never thought that growing grass could be so much pain...a pain in the grass.
Second, I read on a lawn care website that one should not leave gas in the lawn mower over the winter. It apparently gums up the carburetor. Being that I had to have a costly carb rebuilding repair job on the mower a couple of years ago, I didn't want to take any chances. As my incredulous neighbor, catching a smoke outside on his front porch, looked on I cranked on the mower.
Bringing the mower to a low idle, I shared with him that I was trying to avoid a costly repair. I thought that I need to explain myself so he didn't think I had gone loopy....kind of like shoveling the driveway in July of its imaginary snow. Most of the yard was fine-looking, except certain higher blades of the upstart greener grass. He is not a "Yard Yoda" so maybe he did not notice the disparity in the grass size and color. Although more proficient than me in lawn care, he is still on the Jedi-training side with me.
After doing the trimming of the greener grass, I wanted to run the lawn mower until it ran out of gas. I figured that it wouldn't take too long. Thus, I tied down the throttle and went inside, leaving the lawn mower running out back....kind of like a crying child alone at the mall. I had thought that I might be able to run out of gas doing the trimming. No such luck.
After about 15 minutes of the mower running by itself, I decided to go outside a mow the rest of the yard even though it didn't real need it. My yard was like one of those older blue-haired ladies who goes to Holiday Hair every week to get a trim...more for companionship than anything it seems. I guess my mower just wanted to spend more quality time with its master. It did look kind of stupid having the mower running with no one pushing it for an extended period of time. So, I went out to mow the whole yard. It did benefit from the trim. Yet, the goal was to get the stupid mower to run out of gas. I figured I would just push it until its final gasp and then roll it to the shed.
Well, after cutting the whole yard, and even mowing down the additional growth under bushes (yes, "kick em when they are down" lawn care philosophy to weed clearing), the mower was still going strong. Getting my lawnmower run out of gas started to seemed to be as the miraculous menorah event celebrated in Hanukkah. It just wouldn't stop and sputter out.
Finally, the lawn mower went silent. I shall not push it again until the spring draws nigh. "To everything there is a season." And, I am happy to announce that mowing season is finished.
One, the grass seed that I had planted before we went out to Montana in September is growing at a faster rate than the other grass around it, creating an uneven appearance in the lawn. Since it has been warm up until recently, this grass has continued to grow. The disparity in height among the blades has become pronounced. Kind of like middle school among the kids...
Frankly, I don't really care. But, lawn care in my neighborhood is treated as an art form and it looks bad if I don't behave according the the "Guild of the Grassmen" ethos.
My newer grass is also greener. When Scott's came out at the end of September to re-seed the entire yard, the guy had said that the seeds he planted would replace my grass...and it is happening but slowly. I had planted the first round as it sprouted quicker and gave me time to give it about a weeks worth of water before we headed West.
I figured that some grass would certainly look better than no grass (we had some spots balder than Kojak) and that I could not guarantee that the Scott's grass would grow later because of it getting possibly colder in October. The Scott's grass, slower hatching and growing--and a darker green--has taken months to come up, even with it being warmer and all. So, it is like a tortoise and the hare type of thing I guess.
I never thought that growing grass could be so much pain...a pain in the grass.
Second, I read on a lawn care website that one should not leave gas in the lawn mower over the winter. It apparently gums up the carburetor. Being that I had to have a costly carb rebuilding repair job on the mower a couple of years ago, I didn't want to take any chances. As my incredulous neighbor, catching a smoke outside on his front porch, looked on I cranked on the mower.
Bringing the mower to a low idle, I shared with him that I was trying to avoid a costly repair. I thought that I need to explain myself so he didn't think I had gone loopy....kind of like shoveling the driveway in July of its imaginary snow. Most of the yard was fine-looking, except certain higher blades of the upstart greener grass. He is not a "Yard Yoda" so maybe he did not notice the disparity in the grass size and color. Although more proficient than me in lawn care, he is still on the Jedi-training side with me.
After doing the trimming of the greener grass, I wanted to run the lawn mower until it ran out of gas. I figured that it wouldn't take too long. Thus, I tied down the throttle and went inside, leaving the lawn mower running out back....kind of like a crying child alone at the mall. I had thought that I might be able to run out of gas doing the trimming. No such luck.
After about 15 minutes of the mower running by itself, I decided to go outside a mow the rest of the yard even though it didn't real need it. My yard was like one of those older blue-haired ladies who goes to Holiday Hair every week to get a trim...more for companionship than anything it seems. I guess my mower just wanted to spend more quality time with its master. It did look kind of stupid having the mower running with no one pushing it for an extended period of time. So, I went out to mow the whole yard. It did benefit from the trim. Yet, the goal was to get the stupid mower to run out of gas. I figured I would just push it until its final gasp and then roll it to the shed.
Well, after cutting the whole yard, and even mowing down the additional growth under bushes (yes, "kick em when they are down" lawn care philosophy to weed clearing), the mower was still going strong. Getting my lawnmower run out of gas started to seemed to be as the miraculous menorah event celebrated in Hanukkah. It just wouldn't stop and sputter out.
Finally, the lawn mower went silent. I shall not push it again until the spring draws nigh. "To everything there is a season." And, I am happy to announce that mowing season is finished.
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