Thursday, November 4, 2010

Think It Over: lawns.

It's that time of year again. Homeowners are watching the forecasts and nodding sagely. "Yep. Looks like one more mow before we're done for the year."

Lawns are a big deal to a lot of people. The people in our City Hall are downright rabid about the subject. If your grass gets too far past the crewcut stage, you get a "fan" letter. If you ignore the fan letter, you get a fine.

I've never met anyone who ignored the fine.

I'm in favor of a tidy yard, but I rarely get excited over huge tracts of grass. I laughed at the lawn-care specialist who offered, for a hefty fee, to rid my yard of those "unsightly weeds". He seemd downright horrified when I announced that I make tea from those "weeds" in order to avoid all manner of annoying ailments.

Haven't seen the dude since...

There's a large empty lot next to our place, and it gets mowed on a regular basis. It's for sale, and in another life, I'd have plunked down the cash. In another life, I'd be wealthy and free from property tax, too.

Anyhow, the land. I have this vision in my head of what an empty lot should be, and an extended lawn is not it. In the middle of the lot, there would be a gazebo surrounded by roses. Flagstone paths would radiate out in several directions, enclosing raised beds. These beds would be loaned out to folks in the neighborhood for growing vegetables.

A community garden and gathering place. That's MY ideal lawn. What's yours? Think it over.

6 comments:

  1. LOL...love the fan letter. When I was little my parents owned the side lot next to our home. My Dad spent $500 on fireworks, in the 1950's, and shot them off in that side yard. My mother grew flowers. Not one vegetable plant. She was raised on a farm and sick of growing crops I guess. Anyway, the whole neighborhood came to our house on the 4th of July.
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, fantasy author

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  2. My ideal yard is any yard that surrounds a home full of happy people....and, as always, I'm sure my response is off-topic :)

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  3. My mom-in-law uses her weeds for the same thing.
    My ideal yard would be a field with a pony. :)

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  4. Nancy-- your mom sounds like a friend of ours. He was raised on a farm by a father who had no tolerance for flowers. Our friend now grows some of the most beautiful peonies I've ever seen!

    Mohamed-- I think you're right on the money. :)

    MT-- I've always wanted a pony! The closest we ever got was a foul-tempered donkey...

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  5. My hubby likes everything short and neat and tidy, I'm more the wild sprawling cottage garden meadow type. LOL!

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  6. My ideal lawn is large and sprawling with trees to shade it and squirrels and dogs and people.

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