Green Green Grass!

As you may have noticed from some of my blog photos, I have been in a fight with my backyard since we moved into this house.  For a while, it seemed we had okay grass in the backyard.  And perhaps I should have paid more attention to it while it was “okay” and before it slipped into a non-resuscitative state. :)  Ooops.

Last fall was the last straw, and after many bad photoshopping jobs, I was just fed up with our backyard “grass” and we decided to start from scratch.  First things first, I got my trusty Round-up sprayer out and went to town killing all the bad stuff—weeds, moss, “grass” and all.  I am really good at killing grass, it seems.  By the end of the week, it was dead, dead, dead.

Enter my best yard-working buddy, Mama.  We rented a tiller from Home Depot and she and Michael tilled the yard over and over and over again.  It was really hard packed and it took forever to till it up.

And we raked all the thatch, weeds, rocks, and everything else but the dirt until it was looking pretty.  Then it started to rain and Mama and I raked the whole thing level in the mud.  That was fun and no one took any pictures!  Darn!  Even though it was hard, messy work I am so glad we did not skip this step.  You can definitely tell the difference in the levelness this year.  It was so much easier to set up tables and chairs without all the dips and valleys in the yard.  Hooray!

Then we spread starter fertilizer and shade-loving grass seed.  Straw on the whole thing and regular watering… then onto waiting, waiting.

I’m sure the grass sprouted and grew and looked okay for the end of Fall last year, but I got distracted with beautiful new floors, and decorating for parties and forgot to take any more pictures of the Great Grass Project until this Spring, when we remembered that our grass was sort of still new… and whatever happened with that?! 

I was psyched when it came up all green in April:

It was still a little patchy and I was worried that it needed more seed!  We raked off some more of the remaining straw and a couple of weeks later, it had really filled in and was sooo green!  Yay grass!  Go grass, go!

There were a few spots from Miss Riley that I had to patch, but otherwise it was looking good!  And after reseeding those patches, I was left with a backyard to be proud of and just in time for our Summer party!  I am so happy to have grass that we can run around and play on.  I actually have to mow the backyard every week now instead of once a season!  :)

And now it’s time for my famous before and after comparison!  (I’ll admit, I’m a fanatic.  Sometimes, I read other blogs and I’m thinking, “where is the before and after comparison, people?!”)  So, here it is:

Ahh, it’s gorgeous!  Looks like it’s time for a picnic! :)