Green Acres

I have new grass! I have a new front yard! After many months of waiting / working / prepping, the time finally came yesterday to install my new green carpet. I'm not sure if I'm wise or devious, but I elected to pick up the sod myself instead of forking out the $75 to have it delivered. Just after I unloaded my first load of sod, Jen's brothers (Kevin - 27 and Ryan - 18) showed up and started working. I didn't get back for another hour with the second load! By that time, 2/3 my lawn was laid and I hadn't even worked up a sweat yet.

Had I had Adam's 2-axle trailer instead of Mark's (Jen's dad) single-axle fella, I could have done it in one trip. It's amazing how heavy a single pallet of sod is. In retrospect, given how much time I spent and $$ on gas on two trips, it may have been a wash having them deliver the sod. The only problem is that I think the delivery is kinda like the cable guy: "We'll be there between 10 and 2." Then they show up at 4. Oh well, it's all done now. We have a bit of work still to do, like re-doing our flower beds, cutting in a flower bed around our birch tree, putting down mulch, etc. But what a difference green grass makes to the front of my house.

From the first of 5 or 6 RoundUp applications on July 21, to the initial tilling on October 8, to the sprinkler work May 10, to the grass installation May 17...it's been a long time since we had a front yard.

From this picture on the left, you can easily see the extent of the Bermuda Grass we killed. That was some nasty stuff when we tilled it up (and when we tried to kill it).