16+ years in the making!
We procrastinate. We are not handy-people. Status quo is usually juuussst fine with us.
So, it took us 16 and a half years to do this project.
Day one: Mid-1993. Izzy, heavy with child, dons a face mask, heaves a pressurized sprayer tank, and sprays Round-Up on the entire backyard, one that the real estate agent had called "rustic."
16 years later......
September 18, 2009: Izzy picks up the phone and calls her gardener (the one who works the rental, which has a better lawn than this house) and asks him to come over.
Four weeks later: Ta-daaaaaaaaaa!
I didn't take "before" pictures. Like p-doobie and her office, I would've wilted with embarrassment. Besides, y'all know what it looked like. *shudder*
Jose and his team started work on October 3. The first day was spent using hand tools to start the prep. They worked on tree roots, took out a stump, turned under the soil, and dug trenches for the sprinklers.
On the second day of work, a couple days later, Jose put in the sprinkler valves, pipes and sprinkler heads, while the guys brought a truckload of
Shiny New Sprinkler Valves!
Ooooooh! Sprinklers!
Day Three, a half-day of work, brought Jose back to do some adjusting of the sprinkler system. Izzy had changed her mind and decided that an area should be included. This meant moving some sprinkler-heads and prepping more area. They spread the mulch more evenly over the area. No pictures; it looked about the same.
Day Four was a good day! The guys rototilled, raked, and rolled the area! They placed gopher netting over the whole yard! Whoooo-hoooooo! If they had stopped at this point, I would've been ecstatic over the improvements!
Sorry, gophers. You'll have to visit the neighbors instead!
(hee hee hee)
(hee hee hee)
The project was halted for a few days as our first rainstorm of the season passed by. We like rainstorms!
And then a miracle happened. *cue harp music*
Yesterday afternoon, our carpet of green goodness arrived.
The team worked quickly to lay it out before dark.
By dusk, they were almost finished.
And this is how it looked this morning.
Finally my little children have a wonderful place to play! ....Oooops.
And now.....the trick of it.
I'm sure you are thinking, as I did, "Gee, Izzy, California is a thirsty state! How in the heck can you justify installing such a water-loving landscape?" And to this I answer: I'm not sure.
You've no doubt heard of carbon offsets. Perhaps I can use this same concept, as nebulous as the idea is.
- We have 16+ years' credit of spilling not a single drop of water on the backyard. Can we count that?
- We can skip a shower once in a while.
- We can be more mindful of turning off the water more often during a shower, and take shorter ones.
- We will continue to endeavor to wash only full loads of dishes and clothes and re-wear clothes when possible.
- If it's yellow, let it mellow.
- I can be very mindful of watering the new lawn judiciously.
- I'll plant some drought-resistant plants in the non-grass areas.
- I'll continue making the front yard drought-resistant (I haven't watered out there since I established my new plants a year ago, and hadn't put a sprinkler on in the previous 15 years).
- It's an El Niño year, perfect time for planting.
- I'll research installing a greywater system, finally legal in California.
All in all, however, I'm terribly excited! So are Cocoa and Kibble, and the rest of the family. Next up: reactions.
6 comments:
I can certainly see why you are so excited about your new landscape--it's beautiful! I loved both your narrative description of the process and the photographic sequence. Thanks for the tour!
And your plans for water conservation are very commjendable. I've learned a few tricks since my hot water heater is in the outside closet, a long way from faucets. I have learned to wash my hands in cold water instead of running the water until it gets warm. When I need only a little hot water, I heat it in the microwave instead of running it until it gets hot. If I have only a few dishes to hand wash, I heat the water in the electric teakettle. Etc. etc. Sometimes when I want to sponge off only a small area of my body, I heat the wet washcloth in the microwave instead of running the water! I'm sure you will find lots of ways to conserve water.
And do you have plans for a Phase Two of the MMEHHIP?
Yay! A lawn! I'm so exciting!
We have a nice lawn, too. it is fun for rolling around with the pooches. Then when I need to pick up donations that Mr. Rowdy makes, I let it dry a little and us a rake and snow shovel.
We have a grey water tank on the little house which is where we do laundry and take showers (this is why we ask that no one P in the shower out there...). Jack then pumps the tank and waters all the outside trees. We haven't used that water on the lawn...don't know what detergents and soaps from the shower does to lawns.
In the house, it takes about a gallon of water running to get from cold to hot...so I just stick a pitcher under the faucet when I need hot water and use that water to fill dog water dishes or water inside plants. There's always a gallon jug full of water in the kitchen!
Cool pix, too!
Awesome! The yard looks great. Our friends Laura and Don have a graywater system and really like it.
I'm almost finished with the MME Honorary Home Office Project.
Ohmygosh! That long, long post and I forgot to thank our benefactor!
T*H*A*N*K**Y*O*U*, MME, for a beautiful lawn!
You're more than welcome, Izzy! I'm pleased to be a part of it.
Cool yard. Have fun taking care of it.
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