Sunday, September 25, 2016

Don't Water the Weeds

The grass is greener on the other side, is an overused cliche meaning many believe they would be happier in a different set of circumstances.

Then came the cliche the grass is greener where you water it, meaning if you want greener grass, take care of it.


We get it. We get the logic behind tending to your own grass.

I used to be a freak about my grass. I treated it myself with Scotts in the spring, summer and fall so my yard was thick, rich, and weedless. I remember pacing my yard with a bottle of weed killer to spray an individual weed that may have popped up. I may have only had to spray seven total.

Truly, I had the nicest lawn on the street and it was a competition in my mind.

Neighbors on one side used an expensive lawn serve that came out regularly and sprayed, but my lawn always looked much better.

The neighbors on the other side of me do nothing. This is the first year in 10 years they have mowed it regularly at least. It's full of weeds, bare spots, and often 12" high.

I understand the analogy of tending to your own grass if you want it to look good. I know what happens when you stop treating the weeds, they take over the grass.

I confess, my yard is mowed regularly and always a nice height, but I stopped passionately treating those weeds and my yard does not look the same.

It's a common sense analogy, but for most it is just more effort than what we are truly willing to do.

Then, I heard another, don't water the weeds!

This is baby steps. If you don't want to make the effort to do the work to make your lawn beautiful, at least stop watering the weeds.

The weeds of sarcasm, hurtful comments, questionable behavior and anything you don't want growing is a weed. The seeds of one weed will take over quietly and quickly.

Don't water (feed) the weeds. That makes complete sense.