Remind me again of that phrase I can never remember

[desperance]

Displacement activity. That's the one.



As you can see, I have a whole new vegetable bed to dig over.

As you can see, I have made small headway thus far.

I wonder how many shovelfuls I have ahead of me? And how long it will take for all that vile creepy grass to break down into healthful humus, and how many trips to the town dump meanwhile for civic compost, and what I should actually grow in it once it's ready for, y'know, actual growing...

Meanwhile, I should go and dig another row. As my alternatives are worrying about stuff and/or feeding a pill to Barry, I think I'd rather be digging.

Comments

[movingfinger]

Given the durability of grass around the Bay Area, it is likely to take an annoyingly long time and give you weed-grass for awhile to come. If you can bear it, shake the soil from the roots, toss the grass, and dig in compost and/or manure or whatever other amendments your soil needs. Lime may speed the breakdown if you want to leave the grass in there.

This is a most superior displacement activity, too! Think of the future displacement activity it will provide---planting, weeding, picking, cooking...

[desperance]

Thanks for the advice. Do you know the local weeds well enough to diagnose what kind of creeper-grass I'm fighting here? It lies along the ground rather than growing upward, and sprouts rootlets at every joint, is tough as wire and grows practically while you're watching, questing ever further into open ground...

[movingfinger]

Oh man. No, I can't identify it by name (it could be St Augustine grass), but if it's stoloniferous, meaning it spreads by rooting from joints/stolons, then you need to remove as much of it as you can and pull any sprouts as they appear in your later garden (when it's wet is good). Put it in a black plastic trash bag, not compost. It can re-root and re-establish from any segment.

[desperance]

Yup, that general impression has been building in me all year, as I tried to stop it invading from the lawn onto the flower beds. It are the suck.

[movingfinger]

It is not real grass, it is a weed.

I realize it is not my back, but: Consider doing away with the lawn altogether---if doing the work on one's own, I'd suggest digging it all out, hauling the grass away, putting down shadecloth (to suppress weeds) and having a load of pea gravel dumped on top. Much easier to care for, low water, looks nice, flexible because you can make as many beds as you like with it or do a patio or what have you later. This is however the sort of thing that many landscaping firms are ecstatic to do at reasonable cost, including hauling.

[desperance]

Karen says I'm not allowed to do away with the lawn. She wants it for those parties that we don't exactly have. Either we will have more parties, or I will encroach slowly, little by little, another little bed and then another... She'll never notice.*

*I hope.