This whole going organic thing is gonna kill me.
O sure I was all a twitter when our first cute little weeds popped up, and the bunnies living in our back yard filled my heart with joy.
But the lawn as degraded to a bright green carpet of crabgrass sprinkled with Suess-like weeds and frankly, we are a bit overrun with wildlife.
It's actually amazing just how much wildlife you notice when you are cutting the grass with those silent reel mowers. You see and hear so much more. I notice bugs and worms scampering out of my way as I walk by. Sometime I may see a small garden snake slither by. With my nifty non-engined mower its easy enough to pause for a moment and let nature pass.
However... unless we quit our day jobs we can't realistically cut our entire lawn with the reel mower. So we're still using a pretty hefty 15hp tractor to do the big parts of the lawn.
But now... now I know about all the wildlife teaming in our yard and garden so I drive my big orange tractor around in a state of near panic. I sit up as high as I can in the tractor seat straining to see over the front of the long hood -- looking for life. Our neighbors have to be wondering why anyone would cut the grass soooo s l o w l y.
Yesterday afternoon I was out in the side yard cutting the grass at a snails pace when I saw a little frog jumping out of my way. He froze as I drove nearer to him.
Not a problem, I simply took my turn a little early and headed back in the other direction, leaving him to rest in a patch of long crabgrass and weeds. As I swung back around it suddenly occurred to me that he may have moved. Oh my! Now I don't know where he is! How far could he have jumped since I made my turn!!!
I slammed on the brakes. Looking... scanning... searching... I finally saw him - still frozen just where he was before. And so I took another pass, only to stop and look for him on my return.
This was going to take a long time.
But I couldn't find him. I even got off and walked around a little bit - calling out to him "toad?, toad?, dude you gotta take cover"
I just gave up and put the tractor away.
So if you come by this week - you may notice a strange mowing pattern.
I like to think of it as a lawn mohawk.
15 comments:
I'm thinking you could easily win the "Most Entertaining Neighbor" award.
I think so too!
I also think you are sweet to care so much about the yard critters.
I wish we got frogs in our yard! All we get are mosquitoes!
Weese... perhaps a mirror attached on the front of the tractor so you can see... and perhaps it could be one of those magnifying mirrors, so you don't strain your eyes??!!
Jes sayin'...
I think that a picture is necessary with this post....
people trim their shrubs into shapes, you could call it lawn sculpting
You are a budding Vagina(lawn)Artist!
I hear if you porposly run the little innocent creatures over, then you will return in your next like as one.
True Story...I think
oh I have bad memories mowing fields with the tractor. poor birds, poor bunnies, poor froggies.... It is so hard to see them!!!
I think Val is definitely onto something with the magnifying mirror idea!
Tell ya what (innocent look), hook it up to your tractor, throw the tractor in a little UHaul trailor, and you can come try it on our lawn, just in case it doesn't work, so you don't mess with your own lawn creatures.
I thought the same thing as Sassy. I wonder what the neighbors were thinking. We are overrun with rabbits at our house. Bing mows with care too. Once, when she was too tired, she hired a local teenager to do it and he came in and told us that he had accidentally run over a bunny in the yard.
Bing reacted as if he had run over our daughter. I felt so badly for him, she just let him have it.
my goodness! how do you run over a bunny! they are big...you can see them!! (do I sound like Bing - I would have given the kid hell too)
--note to Maria...if you come back to read this - i was going to email you regarding this comment...alas you have no posted email address on your blog --
Frogs and lizards and things all go the opposite way to what you would expect, I guess that's why they do it really.
Perhaps the key is to leave a little mohawk for them to live in?
Weese, Weese, Weese - what am I gonna do? This new house - it has crab grass and some other weird weed thing. How am I going to get rid of it without chemicals? Is there a way?
hahn.. we must learn to accept our lawns for what they are. all plants are beautiful. each little weed is a miracle and should be revered and honored...
yeah - its killin' me too.
I hear there are organic weed and crabgrass control product. I don't know too much about them except that they are 3 times the price. And since we treat 30,000 sq feet here they are NOT an option.
(hmm, tho the therapy might end up costing more...hmm)
Forgive me for just now reading this... but I am LMFAO!!!! Damn, woman, I can so see it... (and so relate!)
I'm sure all those cute little critters appreciate your efforts to keep them safe. I am constantly rescuing frogs from my pool so I can relate to this post.
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