Spring has sprung in the Pacific Northwest. Well, actually it sprang… sprung in February. That was when the frogs started croaking the trees started to show signs of life. Now the Roses are almost done leafing out along with the hydrangea. My tree is about to burst into bloom and the rhubarb is growing. All about a month early. The weeds, however, have been doing just fine since it started raining again in September.

Between life and the rain (btw: Washington State is no longer in a drought. Mother Nature fixed that by the end of September. It’s amazing we all haven’t drowned!) I haven’t really had time to go out and work in the yard. I did weed the garden by the shed in November because the amount of shotgun weed that bout to bloom was getting out of control, so it is doing better than the rest of the gardens. About two weeks ago I finally was able to clean up the front gardens but not the lawn. At the time I only had weekends to work outside and the only day it didn’t rain was Saturday so I wasn’t able to finish. When I saw that it was suppose to be nice this weekend and we had nothing planned I knew I had to take the opportunity. The problem was, where do I start?

Like most gardeners, by the times January rolls around I start thinking about what I would like to do this year in the garden. Are there any changes that need to be done, projects that I have been mulling over the last 15 years that I want to tackle? What I did know was I needed to mow what can be in the vaguest sense of the word be called a lawn before it rained again. As I was cleaning the landmines our dog and a few other critters so graciously placed around the yard I realized what my project would be.

Last years drought took a toll on our grass. No rain for three months with 90F pretty much every day made keeping plants alive almost impossible. You just could not keep them watered enough. So something had to go or I would end up with a $500 water bill. No thank you! So the lawn was sacrificed. We weren’t the only ones. Not many lawns survived last summer.

Now to bring it back to life.

My knowledge of lawn care is simple. You mow it twice a week in the spring, maybe once a week to knock down the weeds the end of summer. You kill the moss then weed and feed it at various times in the year. Keep it short in the spring when everything stays wet and keep it longer after July 4th so you don’t have to water it as much. (July 5th is when summer official starts in Washington. Ask anyone who lives here. They will tell you it is true.) Usually the only part of the lawn that does get watered is what is near the flower beds.

Here is what a couple areas look like now.

I have more, but I think you get the idea. Pretty sad. This is mowed. I spend the rest of the day raking storm debris, leftover fall leaves and pine needles. Pine needles are the Bain of my existence. They get EVERYWHERE. Anyways, now the yard looks better, except for the grass. I’m hoping the rain holds off long enough tomorrow that I can go buy some moss/weed and feed and put it on the lawn tomorrow. Crossing fingers and toes.

So aside from maintaining and moving a couple of plants, this is my project this year. As always I may add to it, but we will see how this one goes first.

Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

Heidi