Yard. Work.

Why is Memorial Day also the National Gardening Day? (or for that matter, the day all mattress stores put their goods on sale?)

I started a week early. Well, actually a year and a half early... I killed my small backyard lawn in Fall of 2010.

My First Rule of Gardening: Kill the Lawn.

I was once told by a Master Gardener that Nature abhors a mono-culture. Lawns are a monoculture. Well kept lawns, though beautiful, are time and money and chemical intensive chores... First you flatten the ground. Add nutrients and top soil, grass seed, keep everyone off the newly planted area while the seed grows. When you finally have a lawn, you must water and fertilize and mow, then water and fertilize some more so you can mow again. Repeat.

And add weed-killing chemicals in between.

So I killed the lawn. Then waited to see where the dogs would carve out a path.

My Second Rule of Gardening: Plan the Garden Around the Dog Path.

So last week, I got out the rototiller to till up the space for the new flagstone walkway (exactly OVER the dog path).

And discovered that the previous homeowners had watched the same Home & Garden network that I've watched, and added SOD to give the yard more "Curb Appeal." And it was beautiful, though I knew when I bought the house that I would eventually invoke the First Rule of Gardening.

A 50 Pound Feed Bag FILLED
with Sod Mesh

Well, the rototilling has helped me add a Corollary to the First Rule: Sod is Evil.

Sod, apparently, comes in rolls like carpet. A fine green nylon mesh holds the sod and roots and dirt together during transport. I guess I thought the mesh was removed when the sod laid, but apparently not. When I moved in and saw the mesh, I assumed the mesh I could see would decompose over a few years, but apparently not.

So, to all my Word Nerd friends, here's an etymological puzzle: Which came first, the use of horrid mesh in laying sod or the use of SOD IT! as a British expletive? Or perhaps Sod (the grass) was named for SOD (the expletive)?

Rototilling that 50 X 3 foot path took ALL DAY. Actually, the Rototilling part was a small portion of the day. The rest of the day was taken up in multiple opportunities to dismantle the rototiller and remove the Sodding mesh...

At any rate, late Monday and the garden is beginning to take shape. Some plants added, lots of seed planted (creeping thyme between the stones, a variety of wildflowers between the path and the house).  Still to come are the seeds for the space to the west of the stones. And of course, I need to expand the drip irrigation.

I know it looks like a lot of dirt, but ... well, like gardeners everywhere, I see peace and possibilities.

My Third Rule of Gardening: Gardens Should be Everchanging.

Because Life is.