A springtime lament

Every year it’s the same. The snow melts, revealing bald spots where the grass has issued a self-inflicted cease and desist order. Patches that were perfectly lush the previous year succumbed to winter for no apparent reason. Patches that were a little sketchy in the fall have not miraculously improved.

Yet I look at nearby flower beds where grass is creeping through the brick borders and defying the landscape fabric and I wonder where I went wrong. I can grow grass just fine. I just can’t grow it where I want it.

My dogs take part of the blame. But I’ve had dogs for years and flora and fauna has generally coexisted happily. There were the occasional yellow patches that got burned and lots of big, dark green patches that got over-fertilized but on the whole, the lawn around the house was in pretty good shape.

I’m not under any illusion our place will ever look like something out of a commercial for the glory of lawn chemicals. Because of the dogs, I avoid spraying chemicals in general. So we have dandelions and violets and some other annoying little weed I can’t name but thrives everywhere. Mostly the grass does okay. The dandelions and violets aren’t hurting anybody and as long as the little weed doesn’t have stickers or poisonous berries, it can stay.

Then last summer it didn’t rain. By the time it remembered how to rain, the damage had been done. The thin spots went bald and the bald spots expanded and oddly enough, the lawn fairy didn’t sweep in and fix any of it before winter.

There are several issues at play here. The first one is the huge maple tree south of the house. It shades the house, which is wonderful. It also sucks up all the available moisture which is not a problem in years when we get normal rainfall. Last year we were a good 10 inches below normal and while the tree seemed to be doing fine, the grass under it wasn’t.

This was complicated by Banner and Raider’s determination to turn certain parts of the yard into an Aussie racetrack. When the snow went off this spring, the racetrack extended from the patio to the east gate. Need I mention we are talking dirt track racing?

The dogs have a tendency to race out of the house with all four locked in. Never mind there is nothing exciting going on. No one is handing out free hamburgers in the far corner of the yard. It’s a routine potty break just like they do multiple times a day. But exits from the house are still executed at a high rate of speed and there’s a great deal of racing around like idiots before getting down to business, all of which is hard on the grass.

I don’t mind. I love my dogs. This is what dogs do. This is life with dogs. It’s just that absence of grass in the presence of life with dogs often equals mud. Grass prevents mud. Thus, grass is desirable.

So once again, this spring finds me sowing grass seed, putting up creative fencing to keep the dogs off it, hauling water and praying it comes up and thrives long enough to really take root.

Then I can complain about having to mow it.

Comments: Melinda.wichmann@southeastiowaunion.com