aquaponic organic

Having just moved into a new house I was confronted for the first time with the responsibility for the lawn. My other half had taken it upon her to do the flower beds and installed the pond and planned all the raised beds and their locations. She was all a-buzz with frenetic planning energy suffice it to say the entire collection of gardening books found a permanent home on the dining room table. Every time I was having dinner I was quizzed on which plant looked better, this one with a terribly long Latin name or this other one with an even longer name. My brain could not handle it any longer and I had to call a halt to it. So as my old granddad used to say the best way to do nothing is to get on the committee. So I said to the dearly beloved, in a very committee kind of way "You do the flowerage and I will handle the grass". We can compare at the end of the season." Little did I know that bright idea would mean for my peace of mind. Needless to say that in the aftermath of the garden bed and raised bed building I was left with a dust bowl to rival the mid-western United States, all I lacked was the tumble weed. Actually those were rolling through my mind. I did not have a clue, but was I going to admit defeat - never.

So what does one do when in such a quandary? You do what any self respecting know it all smarty pants does, you go to Google and search for what everyone else is doing and this where I got involved in a forum called "To grass or not". The merits of no lawn mowing and neatness and a bit of Zen were all spoken about as was the smell of fresh cut grass, the closer to nature look, the fact that green is somehow imprinted on our DNA as a feel good colour and an anti-depressant. I was quite amazed by the vigour of the debate, paving vs gravel vs stone vs the green stuff. Then if you are really feeling adventurous there is the ultimate multi-seasonal multi-variety grass strategy. This is used by the top golf courses around the world to keep them looking perfect all year round. I couldn't help myself and had clicked the link and was presented by a no holds barred battle plan of how to plant, how to keep the birds from eating the seed, how to stop pests and when exactly to mow. You must not let the grass grow to long before you mow as the roots will surface and you are left with yellow grass roots and pale patches. The theory is to cut often and a little bit at a time. At this rate I thought I would be out there every second day. Thus after a heady time of informed research and forum discussion I thought myself equipped to make my decision.

Grass it would be, three different types of seed and multiple planting sessions and cross wires to deter the birds and it would all be amazing. I was going to run it past 'her that rules the roost' on the coming evening. So when I got home that night I was not terribly impressed that 'she who must be obeyed' had gone to the local garden centre and got some chap to come and lay a lawn that very same afternoon. Just like that, huh! OK I had to admit it did look good! When I asked what about my ideas all I got was a "you snooze you lose punk" look. Suffice it to say I am now banned from any gardening duty (apart from the odd move this or chop that big tree type stuff) and to be fair the grass does look rather impressive. My wife did have a point in that it took a little while for me to research it all. However, if it is important then, in my mind, spending 6 months on understanding the finer aspects of how to grow the perfect lawn does not seem unwarranted.