Grow Your Own
Whilst gazing at a backyard that was dominated by thorns and weeds, the plan seemed somewhat simple and straightforward: soften the soil through excessive watering, slaughter everything off, let the soil breath through milling, enrich it with some quality turf and composts, install the sprinkles, level everything out, seed the lawn, program the watering, sit and wait for nature to do its magic.
No. It never works out like this.
Never.
Let's just pick a random 5% of the problems you come across:
Ants that will steal your precious lawn seeds and transport them to the neighbor's garden.
Birds that will do the same.
Goddamned weeds that will come out faster that your lawn.
Cat piss.
Leatherjackets that can destroy the roots within 24h.
Fertilizers.
Thaching.
Rolling.
Scarcing.
Aerating.
Moss.
Cutting higher in the spring, lower in the summer and never when wet.
More water, less water.
Water copiously (or maybe not, so roots can develop deeper?), neither at night (creation of mosquito-friendly environment), nor at daytime (too much evaporation).
Bio.
Toxic.
Shade problems.
Heatwaves.
Frost.
The aforementioned are strictly related to the lawn.
Herbs, flowers, vegetables and evergreens have their own encyclopedias on how to make a sane man perform a full mental u-turn.
What truly remains a mystery though, is how on earth this torturous procedure turned out to be the most beneficial anti-stress treatment we have ever tried. When 125 bpms shook our chest at an incline position, nothing managed to bring this value down to 70 except picking a hand shovel and start digging. That's all we know.
So there you go: Alluring flower scents every time you open up your window, fresh herbs and veggies for your kitchen, a green carpet to lie on sunny days and relaxed heartbeats.
When was the last time you were offered such a plentiful bouquet of benefits in exchange of your sweat?
P.S.: Some major contributors along this procedure include our friend and garden guru Makis Tsokas (aka Doctor Plant), Dr. Hessayon's excellent book "The Lawn Expert" that served as a bible and the nameless agriculturists we've exhausted with our persistent questions.
Whilst gazing at a backyard that was dominated by thorns and weeds, the plan seemed somewhat simple and straightforward: soften the soil through excessive watering, slaughter everything off, let the soil breath through milling, enrich it with some quality turf and composts, install the sprinkles, level everything out, seed the lawn, program the watering, sit and wait for nature to do its magic.
No. It never works out like this.
Never.
Let's just pick a random 5% of the problems you come across:
Ants that will steal your precious lawn seeds and transport them to the neighbor's garden.
Birds that will do the same.
Goddamned weeds that will come out faster that your lawn.
Cat piss.
Leatherjackets that can destroy the roots within 24h.
Fertilizers.
Thaching.
Rolling.
Scarcing.
Aerating.
Moss.
Cutting higher in the spring, lower in the summer and never when wet.
More water, less water.
Water copiously (or maybe not, so roots can develop deeper?), neither at night (creation of mosquito-friendly environment), nor at daytime (too much evaporation).
Bio.
Toxic.
Shade problems.
Heatwaves.
Frost.
The aforementioned are strictly related to the lawn.
Herbs, flowers, vegetables and evergreens have their own encyclopedias on how to make a sane man perform a full mental u-turn.
What truly remains a mystery though, is how on earth this torturous procedure turned out to be the most beneficial anti-stress treatment we have ever tried. When 125 bpms shook our chest at an incline position, nothing managed to bring this value down to 70 except picking a hand shovel and start digging. That's all we know.
So there you go: Alluring flower scents every time you open up your window, fresh herbs and veggies for your kitchen, a green carpet to lie on sunny days and relaxed heartbeats.
When was the last time you were offered such a plentiful bouquet of benefits in exchange of your sweat?
P.S.: Some major contributors along this procedure include our friend and garden guru Makis Tsokas (aka Doctor Plant), Dr. Hessayon's excellent book "The Lawn Expert" that served as a bible and the nameless agriculturists we've exhausted with our persistent questions.
