Filed under: Cash for Grass | Tags: bird, border, Cash for Grass, feeder, finch, garden, landscape, mulch, netting, plants, rock, seeds, silence, wildflower, Zen, Zen rock garden
Much work done on the project over the long weekend. First, Rose and Calvin planted a couple hundred wildflower seeds carefully in seed trays in the backyard, which turned out to be a very labor intensive way to feed premium seeds to finches.
For round two, I protected the seeds with plastic netting, and also hung a bird feeder with finch seed nearby to try to distract them. ($27 for netting, feeder, and seeds, not counting wildflower seed losses)
Seeds with finch fence
I also managed to get all the rock mulch spread. Phase 1 is almost complete. All that is left is to put in the last handful of small plants, and finish the border, which will require about 20 linear feet of additional border rock.
The down side to buying all very small plants to save money is that they are so small at this point that it is hard to see them among the rock. The yard looks more like a zen rock garden than a living landscape. (If you are a zen master, I understand that a rock garden is also alive in its way, but it is not, therefore it remains noisily in silence.) I hope the plants not only survive but will fill in by late spring and give the appearance that I knew what I was doing.
Can you count the plants in the area which used to be lawn in the photo below?
Zen Rock Garden Replaces Lawn
Wrong. The correct answer is way more than that, and two of the ones you counted were actually boulders…
No, not quite that many, I still have to buy some, and the wildflowers are hopefully going to grow in the seed trays to be put in later…
Yes, that’s about right. Nicely figured.
Filed under: Cash for Grass | Tags: California, cash, Cash for Grass, catharsis, chaparral, construction, debris, garden, grass, grasslands, lawn, native, plant, plants, sod, trees
Today I began ripping out grass. I don’t have any plan made yet as for what specifically I will put back in it’s place, but the grass is on its way out.
I have a picture that looks very nice in my head of what this will look like when done, but nothing on paper. I have started doing research on native plants on-line. Did you know that less than 10% of California’s land area has ANY native (pre-European) plants left excluding trees? Almost all the grasslands, hills, chaparral and forests have either been replanted with or entirely overcome by invasive and non-native species. I feel I have embarked on a kind of sacred mission to help preserve a few remaining bits of California’s botanical history in my own little garden.
After a long day at work, feels good to be out with a pick and shovel, ripping out the lawn I have decided to oppose on moral grounds. The sod peels away easily, as the roots have barely penetrated the native clay and rock even after 8 years.
I am also learning something about the construction industry. Under the sod I am finding bits of pipe, nails, siding foam, soda cans and construction waste that our builder laid the sod over without cleaning up. Among the more interesting finds: a large broken mirror, a 2-foot length of heavy chain, a 30 pound slab of broken concrete, and a hole with several beer bottles which I hope were not left by people responsible for the structural integrity of my home.
I have also created a waste problem. What do I do with the sod I am ripping up? We have a “green waste” can that the city picks up every two weeks that I had planned to use. I filled it to the top with about 30 square feet of lawn. That’s means I’ve got about 16 months worth of grass at that pace of pickup. Hauling is not in the imaginary budget that goes with my mental pictures.
For now I am making a big pile in the front yard. In just an hour or so I ended up with 70 square feet of grass pulled, one full green waste can, one pile of grass, and 630 square feet to go…
