Organic Lawn: June

Last month I wrote about our plans to maintain our lawn organically at One Small Change.

Progress:

We have mowed and edged a few times.

We started watering the over the Memorial Day weekend.  We don't have a sprinkler system, so I bought a couple of hoses and sprinklers that I've been hauling around the property.  I set up rain gauges to ensure we are getting 1 - 1 1/2 inches of water each week.

I've been working on the weeds in the garden areas, cracks and driveways.

Observations:

The back and side yards are holding water very well.

The front yard was extremely dry when I watered it for the first time and the water started pooling which would indicate there is more clay than in the back.

There are more dandelions and clover than I initially realized.

Learning:

Aerating and fertilizing have had to make room for lawn mower maintenance.  My husband bought an old riding mower from the house sellers. 

We could tell the blades were dull because the tips of the grass were more whacked off rather than cut.  Then the tips would turn brown soon after mowing.  The strangest thing though, was the mower was leaving a mohawk in the center of each cut.

Our neighbor helped us remove the blades so we could sharpen them.  We couldn't believe the thing was cutting any grass.  The blades were dull and chipped.  The ends were completely gone.  I wish we had kept the blades or at least taken a picture.  It was really quite impressive how bad the blades were on this mower.

We made a trip to a tractor supply store and picked up new mower blades and a belt.  Our awesome neighbor helped hubba replace them.

Hubba mowed last night.  Everything went much more quickly and neatly with his newly refurbished mower.