Weeding the yard

It's that time again.  Time to get out into the yard and deal with all the weeds that have snuck in over the winter.

But while out there, on the second day of clearing out the tiny back yard, I realize that this would have been a lot easier had I simply plucked each weed when I first saw it.  But I was busy with other things.

Our little garden in the back is visible from the kitchen, dining area and family room and we've put a lot of hours into it over the last few years.  But I spent so much time and effort on the fancier things I missed the obvious.  The weeds.

From a distance the weeds are nice.  A bright green spreads over what could have been grass, shading what I wanted originally and leaving a giant, prickly, hard to remove and on further inspection, ugly plant.  I didn't put it there, it found it's way in when I wasn't maintaining the grass properly.

So distracted with the BBQ area, patio and rocks, the grass went ignored even though it serves as the backbone of the yard.  The grass is a nice thing to look at from the bedroom window as the laundry dries on the line.  The kids play in the grass.  It cushions their landings from the slide and is nice to put your toes in on a hot afternoon.

But there's so much upkeep with grass.

I wish I could go back and tell myself that the extra time and effort in keeping the weeds out would be worth it in the long run.  These weeds are of all different sizes and shapes and are a pain to remove.

And now, with them gone, the yard looks horrible both up close and from a distance.  It won't be easy to fill the holes they left, dead grass underneath, but I know that with time, and tending, it will grow back strong and beautiful.

But still a part of me says it's easier to leave the weeds and look at the fancy things in the yard, ignoring the largest thing in the yard and the thing that brings us the most joy in the spring, summer and fall.

All the fountains, BBQs, rocks and other distractions can't hide a weed ridden yard, no matter how shiny or expensive they are.

Comments

Anonymous said…
***EMS ALLEGORY ALERT!***

Your regular readers will get it, but you know this is going to fly about 10 feet over the heads of 95% of the JEMS Facebook fans, right?
Thehappymedic said…
Just talking about my day...
Brendan said…
How many times can like this??
Unlimitedhours said…
Ah c'mon folks, the allegory is so clear it whacks you in the face. But I'm reading this and while absorbing Justin's point, I am also contemplating his actual garden plight. Here at my place we have :
A) no grass or weeds to look at because it's all covered in gray/whitish crap about 2 feet deep (which is better than the 4 foot depth we had 2 weeks ago).
or
B) a yard that transposes between frozen med and just plain mud.
and,
C) A general situation that will not bring thoughts of weeding, mowing, or any other such yard work for another 4 weeks at least. (They are predicting more snow tomorrow, dammit!)
So my comment to you Justin is to enjoy the bright shiny things whilst realizing that the rest of us will suffer longer then you will. Pick out the occasional weed and allow that void to fill in. Eventually, you will have all the weeds gone and have a nice lawn. By that time, the rest of us will be preparing for the first snowstorm of the new season.
You have a garden, while some of us have 9 months of winter and 3 months of damn poor sledding.
How's that for an allegory?
UU
Little Girl said…
I am just a lowly Dispatcher, but I have to wonder if the weeds were actually common plants that strangle out the grasses and pretty flower or if they were actually humans who have strong comments and actions who figuratively strangle the hard workers and higher achiever/shinning stars on a team.

I know from personal experience that once the weeds are pulled from a team it take a while for the empty paces to fill in with the nice green grass and pretty flowers once again and until that happens the team looks very pretty disjointed and lacks that pride that comes with excellence.