Thursday, April 21, 2011

Green Thumb Green with Envy



They say a man's home is his castle. Well this manly man's home has green grass with pink and white flowers that receive entirely too much attention lately. I attribute this mainly to the wife and my social calendar now limping for activity when compared to 6 months ago when our cup runnneth over with you name it. But back to these days where  i'm   Beginning to think that I wasn't much of a "man" before I became a homeowner.  I really didn't take pride in how a home reflected me and my family. I considered my home as a place to pass out between long weekends and keep my electronics safe from outsiders. But now, my home has become my hobby. Particularly my front yard.  2 weeks ago I slaved (for lack of a better word for a black male working in the yard) for almost 6 hours planting new flowers in Miracle Gro soil and black mulch. All done voluntarily, FOR FUN. Example: I have on more than one occasion woke up at 5 something in the morning to fertilize my yard and prevent weeds. I'm a garden club member (for email and promotion reasons) at Calloway's Nursery. I'm obsessed with trying to get an awesome lawn. So much so that in an attempt to rid the yard of current weeds I accidentally grabbed a weed AND Grass killer which is what is currently giving the lawn a psychedelic cow pattern (pissed face). Regardless it's fun trying to get those patches back and staying on top of what I think will soon be considered one of the better yards in the neighborhood. Which brings me to another driver of my obsession...my next door neighbors. 


With sayings like "the grass isn't always  greener on the other side" I can't help but immediately think of my neighbors, who's grass and landscaping is greener & brighter and with less weeds. They moved in maybe 2 months before we did and have always seemed to be on top of their landscaping. So much so that they had the original sod mowed down to reseed it (I quickly followed suit less successfully). Come to find out the woman who lives there's  ex husband was a landscaper and she seems to have the greenest of thumbs. Allyson and I are both friendly with the next door neighbors and even more so me who is always trying to get the lowdown on the secrets of such a lush palatial spread of foliage. The secret... Miracle Gro...often. So with MY Calloway's formulas of slow release this and that and fertilizers of extra Nitrogen this and that I plan on somewhat giving them a friendly run for their money. Especially since I found out they have been hiring help.I just can't explain why their same flowers (mind you planted a month before mine) look like Barry Bonds needle partners. I'm calling for testing! Its Just Me Against the World... I feel like the 2 PAC of landscaping (a phrase most likely never uttered, ever). Fun hobby I picked up waiting for Mia to consume my time the back half of this summer. 

Before

(After) 
Notice the slightly greener grass next door

I'm going to place stones around the tree beds
 Playing in the dirt. No turning back
Damn Splotches!

2 comments:

  1. You have a good lawn. Don't let it get away from you. It's hard to bring it back to what it was. Keep on keepin' on.

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  2. Thanks man. It's coming around. Those spots kill me

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