Green backyard grass, except for that one patch

/ April 19, 2015

The mower will be out of the shed soon in the yard of my dear wife Karen and I’s Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood.

Looking good to the right side.

Looking good to the right side.

A good portion of our backyard is looking lush, considering it’s the year-round playground for Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle. Playground-plus, actually, if you know what I’m saying about doggie needs.

A rough patch.

A rough patch to the left.

I’d estimate that 80 percent of the grass is coming back green. Directly behind the screened porch is looking good, if I ignore the dog-dug holes and uneven ground left by the roots from the biggest tree in Eastwood we had taken out three springs ago because of its double-trunk and overgrown proportions.

To the left, though, against the fence that separates our grounds from that of Good Neighbor Tim and his delightful wife Lorraine, brown and beige prevails.

I don’t quite know if a disease took hold in that spot from our huge snow pile that refused to melt from the first of the year until this month or Ellie B picked that as a favorite watering ground this winter. It does appear wetter than the rest of the yard.

If it doesn’t bounce back naturally, I’ll have to read up and devise a plan of action. I’m not a fertilizer guy. I don’t need golf course- or baseball stadium-quality lawn to make me happy.

Oh, I almost forgot. That is the spot where Karen just last night suggested we put a flowering cherry tree. We’d have to fence off the rectangle from the dog’s advances this year. Dig it.

Could be anything under the sun.

Could be anything under the sun.

One more good look at the bad spot, with an artistic touch.

Has your lawn come back healthy or not this year, and what have you figured out about it? Do you fertilize your lawn, or let nature do its thing, and why? Do your pets force your yard strategies, and in what ways?

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79 thoughts on “Green backyard grass, except for that one patch”

  1. Aww, so Karen loved the DC cherry blossoms so much, she now wants some of her own? 🙂 My front lawn is ruined by all the leaves we had this season. I’m thinking of trying that new “spray-on grass.” I’ll let you know how it goes.

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  2. Nice, Mr. B! I actually helped my Mr. B with a little raking this weekend and our yard is already looking pretty good. The dandelions are sprouting and the tulips leaves are visible and green. We’ve got to get some mulch for the gardens and then Mr. B will be taking the lawn mower out as well. A flowering cherry tree! DC right in your back yard. 🙂

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  3. Flowering cherry tree – that would look spectacular i think. Our grass is a liitle bumpy and full of clover – which makes it appear very green.

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  12. Pretty plushy green. We do fertilize and seed. We have neighbors who are green thumbs who are very helpful. 🙂 That is a bonus for us!!! Good luck with your cherry tree. We may actually do some planting this year. But I’m thinking more zebra grasses. I love the look and variety.

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  13. We have no complaints about our lawn, because we missed soft, green grass so much while we lived in coastal Georgia — all prickly ground cover and sand, eww! lol! The front and side here are lovely, lush, fewer weeds. The back has a lot more crabgrass and dandelions, and we’re okay with that. My long-term plan is actually to add so many native flowers and foods, we won’t really have a lawn in ten year’s time — at least not one that requires more than a quick walk with a push mower.
    We have 1.3 acres (in the city!) so adding 3 vegetable beds and a pile of perennials last year barely made a dent. But that’s the thing — to add slowly over time. We’d be very comfortable with that, as I love to garden, he hates to mow, and there are obvious environmental and financial benefits.
    I think your patch would make a nice place for a baby cherry tree 🙂 The fence gives it a bit of protection for the first tender winters, hm?

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    • I’m envious of your plan, Joey. Great space in the city, my friend. You and hubby will reap many benefits from your gardens. That’s fantastic. In our plot, which is as big as we want at this point, yes, that fence is good protection for the planned cherry tree!

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  14. Hey, cuz! Your grass kind of looks like ours. YAY for lawns that are greening! It is still chilly here but I have been determined to ignore the chilly Northern winds while reopening my gardens. Today I begin number 8 of 20! I am getting there!! LOL Sending Much Love to you this day, your cuz from the west, Amy ❤

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      • Wishing you and Karen could stop by with a spade and knee pads. LOL Cuz, this is a LOT of work, and when I am finished, I must turn around and fertilize and do bug control. *sighs* One of my biggest motivators to get this finished is to be able to blog again as I normally do. I miss you! And so many other friends too! The colors this year, FYI, seem so vibrant to me. I can actually see GLOW in some of the photos I take, LIGHT coming from the flower itself. Just amazing. Take good care, cuz!! (((HUGS))) AmyRose ❤

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  15. Your lawn looks remarkably good for having a dog Mark. My friend’s back yard has those brown splotches throughout her yard.

    A flowering cheery tree sounds like a great idea – I love the smell of blossoms! Inspired by your trip to DC, per chance? ❤
    Diana xo

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  16. Well, when I read your title, I was honestly expecting a patch of snow. So glad that is not the case. We live in an apartment here…and of course it being L.A. and all, grass coming back is not so much an issue. However, of the many houses I have lived in, I have yet to have lived in one with a perfectly healthy lawn. I think it is my fate to live under the curse of a black thumb.

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  17. Wow – that last shot is beautiful! We have dog issues as well – but I agree with you that the lawn doesn’t have to be perfect to make me happy…it’s just grass. Ours is on a schedule with a lawn company for fertilizer and pests, so it usually looks pretty good. Definitely time to mow again – grass grew quickly just over the past 2 weeks!

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    • This week I will change the oil in the mower and cut ‘er down, Kelly. 🙂 I think you are smart to enlist the lawn maintenance schedule with a company. Someday for us, maybe. 🙂 Good fortunes for a nice yard enjoyment year for both of us, my friend. 🙂

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  18. Yards are patchy, like beards. One summer, we had a plastic kiddie pool that killed the grass for years aftrer we trashed it, so we had to truck in some pallets last year. There’s also a spot where the dogs chase each other in circles until there is no grass, only dirt, and we just gave up there. We do put fertilizer on it. Glad to see green in your yard. And sunlight!

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  19. it’s coming up green, and that’s a good thing. a flowering cherry is a beautiful thing, i love karen’s idea and i am so excited to get out there again and do stuff!

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  21. Hey Mark – I like the idea of a cherry blossom tree there- but keep in mind they are short bloomers – and while it is wonderful – the tree is actually rather boring for most of the year – which I know is part of the charm – but for this reason if I were going to put in any new tree, I would find a local native one that bloomed more. For example, here in VA we have crepe myrtles and they are my tree of choice because they start blooming in summer and have a show that lasts until snow arrives. As much as I actually like ours – (the one the builders put in that is still hanging on) well I would not put in this one again – or a dogwood – and just for that very reason -check this site out if you have a chance:

    http://www.bbg.org/news/eight_things_you_probably_dont_know_about_flowering_cherry_trees

    Flowering cherries actually don’t belong in a traditional Japanese garden.

    Conifers, maples, azaleas, and mosses are all much more common in traditional Japanese gardens, which are created to showcase year-round seasonal interest. In Japan, flowering cherries, with their short blooming period, symbolize the ephemeral.

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    • Thanks, Y. We have a flowering Robinson crabapple in front, and you are right, the short blossom period on that is frustrating, too. I’ll make sure my garden supervisor, my dear wife Karen, checks out the link as well!

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      • thanks for the reply – and I just uploaded the photo of our blooms and want to share this one of the healing tree trunk:

        have you ever heard of diatomaceous earth?

        well we use it for our pets and a few other awesome things – and so a while ago I decided to treat the infection on the trunk of the cherry tree with some DE – and it seemed to stop the growth of whatever was killing it. I mention that now because of the blossom talk – but also because you mentioned your lawn has that patch, which I think could benefit from some sprinkling of DE – and it is all natural too – 🙂 =

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  22. Now that the snow has finally vanished, I’m seeing that the Great Lawn of The House on the Hill is coming in much better than in past years. I reseeded it 3 years ago, so it’s about time I see the results!

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  23. Your yard looks great Mark! You have a lot more green grass there than we have yet. Almost all our snow is gone – except for small piles in the shade that are slowly disappearing – but much is still brown. Considering Dogamous Pyle’s backyard usage, it looks great. I see that you have rescued all the odds and ens that she carried out into the yard over the winter. ha! Now she’ll have to start all over again building a new collection. ha!

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    • Karen pulled in the toys when she was doing clean-up duty, Paul, and Ellie B is bringing them back out one-by-one! You can spot a toy by the leg of one of the red chairs in the top photo. When I mow, I pick them all up and toss them on the porch. When I’m done, the dog brings them all back out one-by-one again. Never-ending! … You’ll get your green up there soon.

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