Back in April, I wrote about how our house didn’t explode – but that the yard got a little torn up when the gas company did some digging and replaced part of the line. This was also around the time that several heavy trucks had driven through the grass at the edge of the street. The yard was a bit of a mess near the street all along the property and worse right at the mailbox, but we had been assured that “someone would come back” and resolve that.
Who that would be and when they would show up were left up in the air.
Our next door neighbors also had their yard damaged and they didn’t wait. As soon as the threat of frost was done, they were out there with dirt, grass seed and straw. I took my cue from them and bought some dirt, grass seed (two kinds) and a bail of straw.
Which turned out to be ⅞ of a bail too much straw.
I spread the dirt and raked it, spread the grass seed and watered it well. Spread the straw over that and watered again. And then I watered any day that it didn’t rain until the grass started coming up.
I cleared away the straw and kept an eye on the new growth. It wasn’t 100% coverage, but it looked like I had put some effort into it and figured it would fill in eventually.
Fast forward to today when a truck pulled up while I was fixing my lunch. I was done with my yardwork for the morning and watched from the window to see how the pros would handle this.
Would they use a special fast growing seed? Straw, mulch or some other material? I didn’t see a water tank – would that be up to me or was the seed coated in a water retaining gel?
The guy got out of the truck and got a bucket from the back. He reached into the bucket and then tossed some grass seed on the patch near the mailbox. He did this a couple more times, then put the bucket back in the trunk, then got in and picked up a clipboard. I saw him check off something on the clipboard as they drove off.
And that was it.
3 months of waiting for a couple handfuls of grass seed.
I left my lunch in the microwave and headed back outside with straw…
(Seriously, does anyone need some straw? I’ve still got 3/4 of a bail.)
…and a watering can. I covered the small patch of very ordinary looking grass seed where it hadn’t quite filled in with some straw and watered it well. Then I went back inside to eat my lunch.
There are two possibilities.
- I had already done such an amazing job that all they felt they needed to do was help things along with a little grass seed.
“Good job, Anthony! You did great with your yard and the neighbors would be proud of you.”
- Since they didn’t have straw, fancy water-retaining grass seed, or any way to water it – this was all they could have done. No one came to the door to let me know it was done so the birds would likely have wiped out the seed if I hadn’t seen them come and go – and gone out to finish things up.
What would have been more helpful would have been a pamphlet with some guidance on what to do to restore the yard when the gas company left.
Instead, we got the standard – substandard – treatment. I could be cross about it, but it was just a classic example of bruacruary. We were told someone would come out and someone did – and they worked on the yard that had been torn up when our house didn’t explode.
And it still hasn’t exploded. So, I’ll tend to the bonus grass seed and wait for the re-greening of the yard.