Greener on the Sides

We've always had issues with growing grass in our yard at this house. We bought the house knowing it didn't have a working sprinkler system. Unfortunately, this gets in the way of growing grass, especially trying to grow grass in places which don't already have grass. Over the years, I've stood outside and watered the lawn by hand. We've also purchased a variety of lawn watering gadgets and tried them throughout the years. You know what the best way to water your yard is?

Rain.

Each spring, I love the rain and how much our grass grows because of it. It's been the sustaining factor in keeping our grass alive through the winter and year after year. Yes, I supplement here and there from July-September, but the rain we get in the spring is invaluable for our yard.

This year was the first year when I really thought to myself, this is too much rain. As someone without working sprinklers, the rain is the only time our entire yard gets a good soak. It's really gotten soaked this year. And we could really use some more sunshine to accompany all the rain.

Every year we clean out our gutters and pull out some of the richest compost made with no work on our part except to get it out of our gutter. It's terrible for the drainage, but makes some amazing compost. This year, I took that compost and I dumped it on the side of the house in a part of the lawn that was especially low. There was a tree cut down on the side of the yard before we moved in, and a few years after we moved in, we had the stump ground up. It left a bit of a hole that would sink year after year because of the loose soil and rain. 

This year, I filled it. And with all the rain that's been falling, the grass has been spreading and filling in over the hole all by itself. 

This is the current state of what the hole looks like. As you can see, it's lots of grass and a little hole of dirt in the middle. Every now and then I'll give it some extra water to keep the soil moist, but with all the rain we've been getting, Mother Nature has been doing her own thing. You want to know how big the soil patch started out when I first dumped the compost there?

Everything within the red circle used to be a patch of dirt. I planted no sod, no plugs, no fertilizer, did absolutely nothing except water it here and there along with the natural rain. This photo was taken on June 5, 2021. I'll have to do an update when the entire hole is filled by grass and no more soil is visible.

Sadly, this may be my first successful planting "experiment." I know I've posted about other ones, but sadly, those all ended in failures which is why I haven't updated. The astilbe? Gone. Gardenias? Gone. However, the succulent basket I wrote about in the gardenia post has thrived! 

I'm not the greatest with plants at all. Growing things (as are raising children) is a very hands-on process. I think right now the children have taken priority whether or not I like it. But as they get older, I'd like to spend more time outside growing things, even if it's just filling in the soil patches in my yard with real grass.