I am not certain what it is that drives us to have green yards. It must be something very powerful. I mentioned in the spring 2006 post, "True leadership," that I mowed the yard for the first time on March 29 this year.
The last mowing of the year, pictured to the right, was November 30, 2006. That is eight months of mowing the yard. I managed to get out of a few this year, but that is still a lot of trips around the yard. When you figure the bluegrass in my yard starts growing in early March and will still grow some in December, there is not much down time even for grass.
There is absolutely nothing that feels as good on your bare feet as a lush bluegrass yard. Yet I have to admit there is something nice about Centipede grass which is often seen in coastal Carolina. It stops growing and turns brown in October. It might not feel as good on your feet, but you don't have to fertilize it in the fall, and it probably needs to be mowed about half as much as bluegrass. Unfortunately it probably will not survive the Roanoke area winters.
Maybe we should get some of our land grant colleges working on a cool area grass that does not need to be mowed very often. Just think how much time and fuel we would save.
We could just give up on yards and let them go natural or turn them into vegetable gardens. With the number of deer that wander through our yard (see Bitter tomato harvest), vegetables would never work here unless maybe we plant collards, brussels sprouts or something else inedible to man and beast. The deer even cleaned out our pansies by the front step.
Fortunately the human memory tends to dull the things that are a pain so I am sure that by next March, I will be ready to mow once again.
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