My Experiment Paid Off

Well I have got to say that all the time and hard work finally paid off. The picture above is from my new front flower bed...aren't the impatiens simply gorgeous? They struggle through Baltimore's record 54+ days of over 90 degrees. Some days I didn't think they would make it but with enough water, they did. Speaking of water, my water bill arrived and it was 3 times the normal amount for June, July and August...YIKES! But look at the payoff!



How many of you remember reading my post back in August about covering all my grass with black plastic to kill it...well really I should have said weeds with a little grass. Anyway, here's a picture to help you remember what it looked like...



The black plastic along with the sunny, hot and dry August weather really cooked what was under the plastic. I started unveiling and working on reseeding in early September. Most of the grass...errr...weeds had died off with the drought and lack of rain already so killing the rest was pretty easy.



I started by dethatching each section I was working on, trying to work in strips. Then I added new top soil, raking it out as smooth as possible. Then came the organic fertilizer....boy did the flies like that when I wetted it down. And finally the grass seed.


I watered, and seeded and seeded and watered. The grass filled in little by little making a nice lush carpet on the ground. I had to convince a neighbor to take off her shoes and just stand and rub her feet through the new grass....oh, there's no other feeling like it.


I still have some more work to do on the front lawn. There are still some small bare spots that need to be reseeded. And I still have some weeds and I'm taking care of those by hand and pulling them as I see them and as time allows. I've had neighbors stop and look and comment positively about the front yard. I love my new flower bed and front lawn....my last part of this project is to remove the remaining bushes and put another raised bed in that area but alas that will have to wait til next spring, as my budget and back can't tackle another flower bed project right now.