One thing that I have always liked to do is tend to my yard. It all started back at our first house on Borla Drive right here in Las Vegas.
My neighbor across the street was always working in his yard, and going in and out of his garage on the weekends. Stuck in an office all week, I secretly admired his ability to keep the garage spotless, and the yard in tip-top shape. Since we didn't have any money back then to really do anything else on the weekends, I figured I could and should become a "Yard Rambo." When I ultimately made this decision, the garage became my lair. A place for me to do manly things like use a torch, oil up the chain saw (we had 3 trees that needed trimming), and have a "Man Shrine," aka "The workbench."
Back then, I loved working in my little yard. No Saturday is complete TO THIS DAY without at least 3 trips to Home Depot/Lowes/Star Nursery. More than once I have been asked for help by some lawyer-geek trying to fix his sprinkler problem. I guess I just have that "Yard Rambo" look.
From our little house on Borla, to a very nice lot on Abanico, to our present 1/2 acre on Alberti, I have always had great pleasure in working to make our house/yard/pool look as good as possible.
I'm lucky since I get to golf during the week with clients. I've always felt that golf on Saturday's had a couple of problems:
1) Golf courses are waaaaay too crowded with women and oriental people playing (they play really slow, ask anyone, it's true, look it up) sometimes in the same group. If I find this out, I usually just leave since there is no point in playing behind them. They refuse to allow anyone to "play through" which is proper golf course etiquette.
2) People that are generally nice guys show up on Saturday to play and insist on hitting brom the back tees.....and their final score is usually 100+. Of all the things that are bad in the world, hitting from the back tees without a handicap of 5 or less ranks in the top 5.
3) Father and Son Day at the Course. While a great concept, this duo,on any afternoon, also poses a problem. Dad wants to show the kid how to play and basically turns him into a crappy golfer who wants to play from the back tees. My advice to any Father? Get your kid some lessons from the club pro and stay out of his way.
All of the above lead to the dreaded 6 hour round. I'd rather spend my Saturday making my yard look good than hitting and waiting....hitting and waiting.....
Playing on Sunday? I quit playing on Sundays when I joined the church some 24 years ago. I still don't think it's that big of a deal to tee it up after going to church meetings but I refrain. There are A LOT of guys I know who travel on Sunday who don't think twice about all of the commerce that is required to get that jet off the ground, yet they look down at the poor guy who plays golf on Sunday as one who has sacrificed his soul. Me? I don't care what you do on Sunday. I just want people to be happy and quit judging others.
I digress....And so....a long time ago I decided I would devote my Saturday's to making our yard tight. I have loved every single minute I have worked in my various yards. I know sprinklers, I know fertilizers, I know flowers and plants and trees. It has been fun tearing up yards and replanting... I have also been able to teach my sons the value of working in the yard.....the beauty we create.
Sure I could hire someone to do my yard, but the satisfaction I get from laboring in my own yard is second to none..... That pain I feel on a Sunday from working hard on Saturday? Awsome! We all know this feeling. It's the "you-know-you-worked-out" sort of ache. Everything from my calves to my butt, to my back (which gets worse each year), to my shoulders and forearms....I ache but it's a good kind of ache.
I hope that each of you can spend some time in your yard working it....feeling the earth in your hands....planting flowers.....getting into the zone and forgetting about the 10 bad things that lead off the local newscast. Embrace the little things God let's us have fun with....
Go and cultivate your garden.
14 comments:
Keith:
Wow. what an enlightening blog. Didn't know you hated God's school so much. Surely they taught mercy at the school you went to.... oh... wait. you went to U of U, huh? that kind of says it all! HA
I agree on the gas price issue, but I have an additional solution. In addition to dropping the nuclear bombs on the ragheads, send Lee Cummard's wife over there. She is one tough chick! Let them Arabian whack jobs get the wrath of an angry Coug wife!
The bacon thing. Hmmm That explains the smell of bacon on Fast Sundays. It's YOU! Jewish people and bacon--what a combo! Do you have Hebrew ancestors?
Never noticed your yard, but now I'll have to. Thanks for a good laugh.
John
I need help keeping my grass green when my dog pees on it. Suggestions?
Steve,
This is a predicament that many dog lovers have and it's a frustrating one. Sure, there are products you can buy at the pet store or on-line that "guaranty" results....none of them work. Here's the only solution I've found that helps: when your doggie goes #1, hose down the grass for a few seconds to dilute the urine. If you have spots, DO NOT by the insulation looking "grass-in-a-bag." You know, the stuff they sell that has grass seed, fertilizer, and a blueish asbestos looking filler that promises to turn into real grass in like 5 days? This too has never worked. Here's what you do: Dig out the old grass, put some seed in there, cover it with peat moss and water it like a Chinese rice field.
Keith:
Have you ever run a sod cutter? I am in need of starting over in my back yard. It is not that big. I have about 1000 sq. ft. of grass that I need to cut out and replace. I may rent a sod cutter this weekend. How long do you think it will take me to cut 1000 feet of grass out with a sod cutter?
Keith,
I have rose plants in my backyard. Are roses supposed to be trimmed? I think I remember my mom doing this at some point in my youth.
Thanks
Dude, I can't wait hours like this for a response. I waited 2 weeks for an update.
Okay fellas,
Roses should be trimmed all the way down - leave a few inches and it will grow back. This should usually be done in February....you're okay to do it now though. Make sure to use fertilizer - use alot of it.
Our home on Abanico had 140 rose bushes when we moved in. Asian lady planted stuff everywhere....I ended up taking out most of them - too much trimming.
On the sod, 1000 square feet is alot of grass. You should rent a bobcat and dumpster from Ahern Rentals to take out your existing grass. You get to act like a blue collar working for a day, and your kids will love riding on the thing...it's like a big toy. In fact, I'm thinking about buying one just to play with it. When you take away the old grass/dirt it will be very heavy. Your back could never take shoveling it the traditional way....unless you hire some day workers (which I am not against by the way. They are at the corner of Cimmaron and Charleston every morning. The would pull your grass out with tweezers if you paid them.
Andrew....you have alot of grass. Think about this project before you start it....I had a pile of dirt/grass/branches that was 8 feet high in my front yard. It took 7 dumpster loads to get rid of it.
My advice: Hire someone. And put in fake grass.
Hey Yard Rambo, your advice sounds good...keep it up. You know that once we have a house of our own we will be caling you every weekend for help on the yard/plumbing/sprinklers, etc. Go you!
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I had Julio's lawn service over and homey quoted me 1800 bucks to remove the old sod and re-sod for me. I guess that's not a bad deal, but I just don't want pay that much money when I can rent a sod cutter for 75 bucks and buy 1000 feet of sod delivered to my door for 32 cents a foot. Just doesn't make sense. Maybe I'll work the sod cutter and hire 2-3 day laborers to haul it to the truck and make a few runs to the dump (i.e., the desert out behind my house). Then I'll need some reject sand and some of that gold dust stuff and have them come back in a week to lay the sod.
This is a very productive blog.
Did you guys buy Wade's old house on Abanico? Or did you have a different one?
Andrew,
We bought another house....the bigger one at the very end of the block. Stuttering Russ and his oriental wife Joy (?) had the place before us. Interesting though....Wade and Carolyn moved OUT about a week before we moved in. hmmmmmmmm....
Let's see, 32 cents a foot....1800 feet of the stuff. EASY to lay down. Now the hard part.....the backbreaking work is the "taking the old grass out" part. I shit you not Andrew, you will permanently wreck your back trying to scoop all that dirt and grass with a shovel (the cheap "guy" way)...or worse, hire the guys on the corner who will come back and rob you later. It's true look it up.
Either pay someone else to do the entire thing, or rent the bobcat and the dumpster. You spend Thursday and Friday after work getting the yard scraped and tight....your kids will love the bobcat sitting in your yard. Take pictures. It's easy to operate. Have the sod delivered first thing on Saturday. 3 hours later (tops) and you will be watering your new grass.
Make sure your sprinklers work good too....valves, timer, sprinker heads....no sense spending 2 large and having it all go dead again.
Remember: we aren't green. I water everything and don't care what day it is or if I'm left handed or whatever the hell the watering rules are....I gets my water bill and I pays my water bill....whatever it is.
Left handed. I actually laughed out loud when I read that. I think you're right though. I just need to pay somebody. With no football or bball on until August/Sept, I have a feeling my yard is going to look awesome.
Wow, Keith. I have a totally new respect for you and all of your yard knowledge. Thanks for the advice to Steve. We really need it!
-Christina
I seriously have a black thumb :( I recently killed two Lantanas!! But I think it's because I actually obey the watering restrictions :) Stupid me.
I had an Amaryllis flower for a few weeks, and nobody told me that they periodically die and a new thing comes up with another flower, so every week or so i thought i killed it, but then it grew back, and then i thought i killed it, and then it grew back. And then it died. Plants are too traumatic for me, i can't handle the ups and downs. Good job with your lawn and everything though, i guess it's just a talent some people posess, just not me.
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