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| Wednesday, August 09, 2006 |
| Backyard Blitz |
I have decided that the back yard needs an overhaul. I have been attempting to post a picture, however, it is NOT WORKING!
So instead I will tell you. The Atayard contains a very large, completely unused Hills Hoist, a very small orange tree that continues to cheerfully produce fruit despite my dogged mistreatment of it, a grape vine grown over a high frame, an overgrown jasmine piled up on the fence near the grapevine, and an odd brick construction which serves as a handy place to hide crap behind. It currently disguises a hacked-up ladder, a collection of old bricks, about 50 pavers left over from paving the front of the house, an assortment of pipes and bits of wire and other junk that can't go in the regular rubbish bin.
Oh, and then there is the grass. Uneven, lumpy, clumpy kikuyu grass. Scabby and patchy and unloved, it gets long and shaggy in the warm weather and brown and unhappy in the winter months. Having begun to dig, Ata has discovered that there are many fat white-grey grubs nestled in the grass roots. The soil is heavy clay, thick and dark and sticky. One could quite possibly make bricks out of it, if one had the inclination. It is, however, also full of worms.
This presents a new dilemma in beginning to dig up the lawn. Lots of earth comes up with it, bound together by invasive kikuyu roots. And in the earth - worms. So. Ata wants to remove the grass, but she wants to keep the worms. So the process goes: dig up a half-a-shovel-sized clump; put it in the wheelbarrow; break off the dirt and tease out the grass; dispose of the grass, rescuing the odd stubborn worm that insists on clinging to the grass roots instead of the earth; and put grass in the green waste bin. It is very slow. However, the other option is to poison the grass and dig it all out with a dingo, thus clearing the space to lay pavers. And the very strange thing? Ata is too impatient for this approach. She wants to do it NOW, not wait for the grass to dies. NOW, not wait to hire the dingo. NOW, not wait until all the rest of the project is organised. NOW NOW NOW.
And so she does it the hard way. One half-a-shovel at a time.
Oh well. At least she has good worms. |
posted by Ata @ 4:42 pm  |
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| 1 Comments: |
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Have you thought of renting aflame thrower? Quick, easy and highly fun way of clearing out the old growth. ;)
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Have you thought of renting aflame thrower? Quick, easy and highly fun way of clearing out the old growth. ;)