This Grass Should Be Green

You would think that should be the case, for every lawn. But if you had come by my house and taken a gander at what was on my yard, some months back, you might have seen a different kind of color. I don’t even think it’s in the color wheel.

What happened, you might ask? What turned my once green, green grass into a burned patch of land? What did I do to make my lawn look like the end of days was upon the neighborhood?

I’m being melodramatic here but really, short of rolling tumbleweeds, my lawn looked as though a disaster had been through my street. It looked really bad for several months, and I didn’t even want to look at it every time I went out the door. Seriously. I would make a run for my car and then try to blur out the area where my yard stands, and pull out of the driveway like some crazy woman. (Of course, I still looked at my mirror to make sure I wouldn’t hit anyone or any car that might have been passing.)

What happened to my yard — the short answer — is me. I neglected my lawn for so long that I never even realized just how much space weeds have taken up. Weeds compete for food and water with grass. When they take up enough space on your lawn, they will beat the tar out of your grass and they will win the fight for nutrients.

Hoffman’s Lawn Care, a lawn care and landscaping service out of Columbus, Ohio, points out that the presence of weeds is not the only problem that leads to the eventual “browning” of grass. Other factors include improper mowing, which leads to disease that turns grass brown; poorly placed sprinklers, which may fail to reach certain areas on your lawn; drought or heat wave, and pet waste.

Brown patches on your lawn can be prevented. You can have the lawn aerated during the fall season. You can also apply fertilizer during spring (and even fall). You should also try spring and fall cleanup. Incidentally, http://hoffmanslawncare.com provides details on what cleanup services would entail.

And you should always water your lawn in the mornings, and water deep, I’m told, because this not only helps to save the precious resource but it is far more effective than shallow watering every day.

Naturally, it was way too late in the game for my lawn to go through any preventive measure. I had to get a lawn care company to create a whole “resurrection” plan so that my lawn could look alive and vibrant once again.

It took a while before my yard started resembling idyllic nature and it did cost me a considerable amount of money. But it was all worth it.

Now I get to feel a sense of calm and peace whenever I look out my window. I no longer have to dash to my car every morning. And I can arrange little get-togethers on my lawn, for barbecues or al fresco dinners with friends and family.