The grass is always greener.....

I hereby resolve to grow grass in my neighbor's yard this year. I gave up on growing grass in my front yard about four years ago. The soil is horrible. There's about a two inch layer of of topsoil and under that is a massive brick of red Maryland clay that makes it nearly impossible to grow anything. Plus, my yard is under several large oak trees that keep it mostly shaded. Growing grass was an exercise in futilty, so I finally put weedcloth over everything and piled mulch on top. Then I started planting things that I like - from azealas to hosta to a lilac bush.

It's different in my neighbor's yard. As you know from a previous post, I take care of my neighbor Jim's yard. He, too, has lots of shade in his yard, but the sun seems to stream through enough to make growing grass a viable option. Last year, I put down some good soil on top of his crappy soil, and then I put on grass seed and a mat of that straw-like material that you roll out. We kept it well watered, and grass actually grew! I was surprised and pleased. Then, at the end of the summer when I was sick of looking at what was left of the straw mat, I pulled it off the grass. Big mistake. It had been keeping the new grass moist and happy. And when it was gone, the grass got dry and unhappy and died. Sigh.

So this year, I'm going to put out the grass seed early and leave the straw in place until it disintegrates. Then I'm hoping the grass will be greener on Jim's side of the yard.