So I’ve apparently hit a point in my life when lawn care gains relevance.  I didn’t see that coming.

It used to be a chore to cut the grass but, over recent years, it’s become less so.  I thoroughly enjoy spending time with my family, but sometimes it’s also nice to spend time alone … and it doesn’t happen very often any more.  I’ve heard of people talk of a “third place”; the first two are work and home, the magic “third place” is somewhere for oneself. Somewhere to be away from both work and home.  My third place is becoming my lawn.  One of the few activities that will guarantee time without being interrupted (much) is cutting the grass.  Something to do with high speed rotating blades and children with no sense of danger I suppose.

So I’ve found myself, dare I say, enjoying cutting the grass.  That in turn has led to a new pride in seeing little bits of extra effort actually showing improvements.  In 2016 I bought a motorised scarifier and, in Spring and Autumn, I’ve used it to remove moss and thatch from the lawn.  The result has been a much improved lawn.  I’ve also done a couple of “weed and feed” treatments which have also shown visible results.

This success has led me to do a bit of research and I’m going to take things a little bit more seriously.  I’m now the proud owner of a hollow tine aerator and a 16 litre backpack sprayer.  This coming spring I’m all ready to start “the (second) year of the lawn”.  There will be scarifying, aeration, chemical spraying and mowing.

I’m actually looking forward to it.

Sad really.