Yard work in the summer is always a bit tricky, especially if you have a bit of travel thrown in. There is always the question as to how much to water and how often to mow.
This year it is also a bit complicated as the yards of the houses on both side of me have been neglected.
Here is what one of the yards looked like last week. You can see that the grass is almost entirely brown and there are countless volunteer trees growing in the yard.
The sprinklers between this yard and mine usually work a bit together for good coverage. However, the neighbors who had been here longer than me sold out and moved away. They had neglected the lawn once the house was sold and it has taken awhile for the new owner to rent it out. Because of this part of my yard had been drying out. Especially since the two large trees are searching for water.
Thankfully the house is now rented and the yard has been cleaned up and the sprinklers have been turned back on. You can see the yard in the background of the picture above and it looks much better.
The other direction is just as bleak with no improvement in sight. The renters have turned off the irrigation system and totally neglected the lawn. They had cleaned up some of the trash in the yard and I chopped down some of the tall weeds so in this picture it doesn’t look as bad as it was. However, the only water that their tree gets is from the section of lawn that I water. I will need to increase my watering or just let mine stay a bit brown.
My backyard is in better condition. Most of the backyard gets good shade and water. Here you see what three weeks of growth looks like.
There are some areas of my backyard next to the neighbors where the grass is dying due to plants on the other side of the fence taking water, but thankfully they are not too bad. Eventually the plants will die and maybe my lawn will then be able to recover. If I water enough for the bad areas then I will get too much water elsewhere. I will just have to be patient.
I will just have to enjoy the parts of my yard that look nice 🙂
However, with the air quality the way it has been with the numerous California fires I have had to pretty much shelter in place. It would be nice to have a not too hot clear day to just lay in the shade in the backyard and read a book.
Steven
Braman's Wanderings 