The green, green grass of home

STEVE KAWARATANI

“The other man’s grass is always greener.”

--Petula Clark

“If you plant it, they will come.”

--with apologies to

“Field of Dreams”

Spring is almost upon us. And it follows that daylight hours are

increasing and winter storms become consigned to memory. Catharine

and I enjoy our lawn, as do our cats, Tiger and Ollie. The resident

raccoon and skunk dig through the turf, in search of a late evening

snack ... while doves and finches drop seed from their feeders, which

germinate into weeds. All this usage keeps me busy maintaining the

grass for our collective pleasure.

Although I strive for a green, weed -free lawn, I won’t sacrifice

the health of my family, pets, wildlife and the ocean. That requires

conserving water, use of low impact fertilizer, organic pesticides,

and a nonpolluting, electric lawn mower. Of course I rake up the

stray clippings manually, as the use of blowers is forbidden in

Laguna.

I spent considerable effort preparing the soil prior to laying the

tall fescue sod. That meant double spading the existing soil with

redwood compost, gypsum and Gro Power to a depth of 8 inches. The

work has paid off, as the roots of the lawn have established quickly

over the past eight months, requiring less frequent watering

(particularly due the elevated rainfall levels). However, when I do

irrigate, I water deeply, to ensure that the roots don’t stray

upward.

My fertilizer of choice is the organic product, cottonseed meal.

It is a balanced fertilizer that contains all of the major nutrients

a lawn requires. Being a natural fertilizer, it becomes available as

food gradually, so the lawn grows a bit more slowly. This means I

don’t have to mow on a weekly basis. And although my lawn is not as

brilliant green as those that are fed with high nitrogen fertilizers,

it doesn’t pollute with excess, nutrient runoff.

Lawn pests have been mainly limited to broadleaf weeds and grasses

from the birdseed. Although herbicides are available, I have decided

to mow the weeds down or to pull them by hand. This sure beats row

exercises at my gym, and keeps our wild friends healthy. When I do

cut the grass, I use lawn clippers and an electric mower, to avoid

the smell of gasoline and exhaust in the garden.

Occasionally, I have needed to patch holes in the lawn. The

wildlife have found the earthworms in the soil, and they strip the

sod to find their tasty morsels. I simply tamp down the soil, spread

some tall fescue seed, and cover the patch with mulch. Within a

couple weeks, the patch has filled in.

My winter calendar has been filled with planning gardens,

attending to familial responsibilities, and the ubiquitous story pole

musings. However, spring marches in, with personal and gardening

priorities including time to smell the roses ... life is too short to

do otherwise. See you next time.

* STEVE KAWARATANI is happily married to local writer, Catharine

Cooper, and has two cats. He can be reached at 949.497.2438, or

E-mail to [email protected]