Because of our drought I do feel a bit of anguish over the front lawn most of the year and it is looking very shabby this summer due to reduced watering, but there are some things that you just need a grassy area for, and playing barefoot baseball with your cousins is one of them. We have our older grandkids stay with us during the summer and whenever they get rambunctious in the house the standing order is "out in the front yard with that!" They spend hours hitting the ball, running bases, planning schemes, collecting treasures, searching for eatables, watching butterflies, making up games, running through the sprinklers, learning to whistle, sharing secrets and a whole lot of others things that make up the memories of childhood summers. A grassy play area on a summer afternoon at your grandparents house is a wonderful rite of childhood, at least it will be for our grandchildren.
Although the play lawn is not a major concern of mine, I must admit, compared to the rest of the SJC property, it is looking pretty good! If you look closely it is really just a conglomerate of mowed grasses and weeds, but they are well fed with chicken manure and they seem to be getting enough water, in spite of all my sprinkler woes, to stay pretty green, at least for now. Some of the grass is warm weather grass which will turn brown when the weather cools down. There have been lots of activities with baseball games, a bounce castle, picnics, sprinkler running and lots of games of fetch with the dogs this summer, not to mention some very hot weather, but it holds up well. I wish I could say as much for the rest of the gardens!
