Grass is expensive...

[captpackrat]

Well, it looks like the National Weather Service was wrong AGAIN, not a drop of rain in sight, so the gardener will be dropping by today.

It's going to cost $250 to get the front and back yards under control. At this point I really don't have any choice. I don't think my grandfather's old lawnmower would be able to handle foot-high grass, and trying to use a weed-wacker on a few thousand square feet of grass is like trying to shave with a pair of tweezers.

Fortunately, after this, it's going to be a lot cheeper. A mere $80 a month will cover weeding, mowing, raking, trimming, pruning, sweeping, everything. (I don't think it covers fertilizing, but that's a dump-pellets-into-spreader-and-run-around-the-lawn-for-5-minutes thing.)

Why not do it myself? For one, I hate gardening. Always have. And then there's the fact that I know practically nothing about it. I know the difference between grass and trees, but I don't know how short the grass should be cut, or when to use fertilizer or how much or what kind, or how to properly prune a tree, or what the heck de-thatching is.

If I had the money, I'd replace all the grass with Astroturf. Looks good year-round, never needs mowing, never needs watering, weed and insect resistant.

Comments

[mortonfox.livejournal.com]

Astroturf or simply paving it over is not the worst idea if there are no neighborhood prohibitions against doing so. Otherwise, it's going to cost you nearly $1000 a year for maintenance.

[hydra-velsen.livejournal.com]

You need a bush hog for that kind of grass problem.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Wah! Don't you know that pn0ys need grass? What if everyone replaced all the grass with Astroturf(tm).

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

I've got apple trees. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

But apple trees only have apples what, one month out of the year?

And you have no idea what a horsey tummy ache is like. Sometimes we die from it. ;p

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, putting in Astroturf probably wouldn't work out, what with all the trees. The leaves and fruit and stuff out fall on the ground, and I'd have to go out a pickup rotten fruit and stuff, instead of letting the mower pick it up and mulch it.

San Diego weather is weird enough that most of my trees have fruit all year round. The apple tree has been putting out fruit for over 6 months.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I didn't think an apple tree would even bear fruit in San Diego. Normally they need to go dormant for a certain number of weeks and be chilled down into the 30s or lower to reset the blossoming cycle.

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

We've had apples here for years. Unfortunately a lot of them get ruined by worms. Stupid bugs. :P