Deere John

The arrival of spring meant it was time for me and Jason to dive back into yard work. We worked very hard last fall to get our sprinkler system in and our sod laid down. It was altogether a pretty miserable experience because we were in such a mad rush. We worked what seemed like endless hours but we made it before winter hit. We laid our sod on November 17^th, about a week and half before it started snowing. Quite a few people questioned the intelligence of laying down sod so late in the season. However, we had done our research and found that late fall was supposed to be a great time to lay sod because heat is much more detrimental than the cold to its root system. I am happy to report that our grass is doing wonderfully. Its roots have taken and it looks healthier than most of the more established grass in our neighborhood. This was accomplished without doing some crazy watering schedule to keep it alive. Because it had months of cool wet weather to adjust to its new home it didn’t require any special attention. Jason took out his new John Deere for the first time a couple weeks ago and mowed it. Our first lawn mowing ever! Yeah!

We have been planting trees, bushes, and flowers this spring. This is much more enjoyable work than putting in sprinklers! I really love plants and have quite liked planting things in our yard. Jason laughs a little at me though because I have a tendency to talk to the plants while I am planting them.

The only thing that has made this planting not quite as fun is the weather. The incredibly cold weather has caused havoc with our planting plans. We have planted through snow and freezing temperatures (snow at the end of April-that’s just not right). While these conditions didn’t bother the plants, most of them have taken very well, they did bother the planters. But we have persevered and now have a few trees, over 30 bushes, and a plethora of other plants in our yard. Wow! What a difference they have made. Our yard now has its own personality. We still have a lot more work to do to get the rest of our plants in before it gets too hot, but I am actually looking forward to some more planting!

I know a lot of people complain about having to put a yard in and they just want to buy a house with the yard already finished or hire the work out to some landscaping company. I admit there are times throughout our yard endeavors that I have questioned the sanity of doing everything ourselves, but there is something exhilarating about seeing a project you have put so much time, effort, and thought into finally come together. Jason and I are so excited to see the plants that we picked and planted ourselves grow and flourish. We walk around our yard regularly just to see how much they have grown.

BTW plants are expensive, especially when you are buying them in large quantities. Jason is still in sticker shock from our trips to the nursery. One trip, in which we bought about 20 bushes and a tree, cost us roughly $800. He thought that was outrageous. Apparently he thinks plants should be cheap, but unfortunately they are not.