Landscaping is cathartic

Why am I using a fancy word like “cathartic” to describe cutting the lawn? Given that almost everything is getting a new name for the same old thing or task, I thought it wise to use “cathartic” because it communicates what I want to get across in just one word. Landscaping is also cool, bad, sweet, etc. depending upon your generation. I prefer to say that landscaping is cathartic.

One thing that I have noticed is that many young people are not into plants, grass, and bird feeding. Perhaps it’s the years in front of a computer screen or smartphone. Working around the house (assuming you live in one with a garden and/or yard) seems to be the domain of folks entering their forties and older.

I bought my first home after leaving the U.S. Air Force at the old age of 23. Fortunately for me, my dad taught me how to maintain a house which included pulling lots of weeds, mowing, planting, pruning, and cleaning the gutters out (yuck). I hated trimming the rose bushes where I always got stuck.

When I was young, landscaping was work

In those early years, I did not pay much attention to the idea that this was good exercise and should have been cathartic. Perhaps I did not know what cathartic meant at that age. Most of my friends helped out around their houses as well so it was just something we did. Years later I recall that it was a great bonding experience with my father.

Don’t worry, I bonded with my mother as well. When I was a teenager she let me drive her car long before my father let me drive his. That was truly cool although not exactly cathartic. My mom taught me to cook, do the laundry and clean the house. The latter task was a lesson learned after much consternation. Here I go again, using big words.

For some people who work full-time jobs and in families where both adults work, working in the yard may seem to be just another chore. This is why I am writing this because you can turn that chore into something cathartic.

Landscaping is truly cathartic for many and it can be for you as well. Learn about grass for example. What type of grass do you have? Fescue, Bermuda, etc. Did you know that each type of grass requires different watering depending upon the planting zone? You ask, what is a zone. Here is your first lesson:

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone

Start by going to the USDA website (see above). You enter your zip code and it will tell you what zone you are in. This is where you start with any living thing you want to add to your property. Producers of grass, plants, tree,s, etc. all list the hardiness zone on their products. This is to help you avoid planting items that will not survive for example a hard winter.

Generally speaking, if you can buy a live plant in your area at a nursery, it should survive. The word “should” is important. Some plants require shade, others a bit of both. Some grass is drought tolerant and some require frequent watering.

This is the fun stuff

This is the fun stuff for me, I like to know things and I love becoming a mini-expert on for example grass. Not only do I look up items on the internet, but I also talk to anyone I know with a lawn for example to get their experience in my area.

There are some great websites where people blog about all things landscaping and add their personal experiences. Most of these sites are not commercial sites although they may have ads inserted here and there. Click on this one that I found at random. Check out manufacturers’ sites for tips as well.

If you want to install a sprinkler system for your home, try the companies that make sprinklers. Try Toro’s site, they make sprinklers. This page has lots of how-to videos. The manufacturer sites are very informative. It is in their interest that you succeed with their products so they hire the best to explain and train you.

Learning landscaping is like going to college

Consider landscaping and its various aspects as a bit like taking a course in college. Pick a topic e.g. trees and dig in. Consider planting fruit trees on your property. Fruit trees take time to produce large quantities but if you love the particular type of fruit, you will be very pleased with your success in harvesting your organic fruit each year.

Most trees will fruit the year you buy them and plant them. Some will have fruit on them when you buy them. Some trees will go into shock at first and recover. A year or two later, they will start bearing fruit and each year they will bear more. Here is a thing that I did not know when I purchased my first tree to plant.

Did you know that trees may need pollination?

So what is pollination? Simple, trees are similar to living things, they need both sexes to make another thing. Check with the nursery before you buy the tree if you will need a companion tree so that they and the bees can cross-pollinate. Some trees are self-pollinating and do not need a companion. Wow, who knew.

If you live in an area prone to termites, you may want to keep vegetation away from the foundation of your home. This is something I learned along the way. You do not want water seeping under the foundation because you planted too close to the house.

Some areas of the country are always in a water crisis so be careful of the landscaping you do in those areas e.g. California. I had a home and other properties in Las Vegas, we used xeriscape landscaping. Another fancy word for lots of rock and drip irrigation. You can still create an inviting landscape design with drought-tolerant plants and rocks.

Tools, a trip to Lowes

Tools, this is the fun part. Many people love that trip to Lowes, True Value, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, and others. There are so many tools that make landscaping fun, just looking for them is part of the enjoyment. Researching for example on the right type of lawnmower is a learning experience.

Talk to your neighbors about what tools they use. So here is my lawnmower story:

We moved to Ocean Springs, MS from parched Southern California where you can get a ticket if water runs in the street from your irrigation system. Everything grows where we live including weeds. It’s a love-hate situation, the tools make work easier and so does the lawnmower.

I live on 2 acres, one is landscaped with grass. I do love exercise but there is more to taking care of the lawn. It needs to be edged and my weed walker gets a work out knocking down tall grass near trees. I decided to buy a lawn tractor, I always wanted one anyway.

After much research, I found a tractor that has a gas engine but powers a generator that powers the twin blades. This unit is truly a tractor which means it can pull a trailer and do other things. It has a built-in 7kw generator. I added a wench to the front and a trailer hitch for my boat trailer and utility trailer.

That breeze on the tractor

Even on a hot day, driving the tractor at 12 mph around the yard creates a breeze that cools me off. It takes no time to cut the lawn with my tractor. But, and there is this big but, I ran into so many stumps that I kept bending the deck. When you bend the deck, the blade hits it and stops.

The fix was to remove the deck under the tractor and bend the metal out. What a hassle. I tried to drive around the stumps (they are very low) and that helps but once in a while I hit one. My property is in pretty good shape now but I mow my neighbor’s acre sometimes and he has several stumps. So the problem continues.

My friend down the street bought a new zero-turn lawnmower and brought it down to mow my property. Wow, it was great. He went around those trees (I have 80) and finished in record time. My wife said I should get one which would reduce stress and get back to that cathartic thing. I was shocked. So of course, I took her advice (I do once in a while) and bought a 54″ wide zero turn.

I could not go on without inserting a video of another use for lawn tractors, the race. Yes, I said race. When you have two tractors you can organize a race with your family. Check this out

The new lawnmower reestablished balance and harmony at my house. It works great. I use it to mow my neighbor’s yard and my friends down the street when he is out of the area. I learned many things about lawnmowers and zero turns as well. This one has a fabricated deck which is much stronger than a stamped deck.

Two types of lawn tractor decks

Did you know that there were two types of decks? I did not. That fabricated deck is reinforced and when I hit a few small stumps, it glides over. What a great invention. I enjoy cutting the lawn and my neighbor’s lawns. No, I am not going to start a landscaping business although doing something you like is a bit cathartic.

I retained my tractor, I use it to haul my trailer around the yard with my other tools. By the way, after all of these years, I found a new tool. Black and Decker make a battery-operated garden tiller that has four tines and is great for getting weeds. I hate bending over, I am tall. This device chews up the weeds fast.

Here is a tip about tools. Start and stay with a system. Most of us like battery-operated tools, they make life easier, no need to carry gas cans or cords. The basic problem is the cost of the batteries for the tools. The way to manage this is to stay with one manufacturer for all of your electric tools.

I am on the Black and Decker 20-volt line of tools program. All of the tools take the same battery. I have the weed hacker (string trimmer), blower (to move the grass to the neighbor’s side), drill and my new tiller, and a sander. I often need more than one battery at a time so I use batteries that come with the other devices.

Required tools

Of course, you can not get that cathartic feeling without organizing your garage to hold all of your tools such as:

• Shovel (round end and square end plus short and long plus trenching)
• Rake (steel and leaf, small one for garden)
• Sledge hammer (for bending and breaking stuff)
• Pick (large handle and a small one for various tasks)
• Grass aerator
• Pitchfork for leaves and large debris
• Hand tools (lots of them)

I decided to stop short of going into the whole organization thing and garage layout. That’s another story.

Think about the concept of “gratification”. When you are on the job, much of what you do gives you no gratification until the project is done and results come in. Often, gratification does not come at all from our daily lives. Of course, your child will graduate from high school 12 years after they enter and that’s gratification but it’s delayed.

When you install plants or sod or trees, you can see the results of our work both immediately and later as they flourish. As flowers grow on the plants and fruit grow on the trees. You did that. You designed your landscaping, you planted it and you reap the rewards. A job well done.

I sit on my patio and survey my work

I sit on my patio and survey all of the work that my wife and I have done and I am proud of it. During the actual process, I get dirty, sweaty, and tired but it’s worth it. I have never hired a gardener to maintain the house that I lived in. It’s not the money, it’s the fact that I need the exercise and I want the gratification.

My wife laughs at my obsession with the lawn. Every time we leave the house after I have mowed and trimmed, I tell her to look at how nice it is. We laugh about it. Sometimes she tells me to go out and mow because our neighbor’s lawns need mowing and ours will stand out. I jump to it, go out and mow and guess what, my neighbors are shamed so they all come out. We share a few stories and back to work.

Neighbors help each other

We love our neighborhood. Our houses are not close together but we are a close neighborhood. Everyone loans out their tools and cuts the other’s lawns. Before we moved to Ocean Springs full time, my neighbors on both sides cut my lawn weekly. It saved me money hiring a landscaper and my neighbors enjoyed it as well (they like their tractors too).

If you live in a house with landscaping, consider jumping in. Ask around, check the internet and you will soon see that your hard work will pay off in great enjoyment. Get the kids out of the house and give them a shovel. Working around the house is a great family experience. This is one way to explain to the family that landscaping is cathartic.

Notes

There are many hardware stores to choose from but I want to particularly thank Lowes for their dedication to veterans. My store has veterans parking and Lowes gives a 10% discount on almost everything.

Lowes donate to veterans’ causes and hire veterans. Also, I think they will one day name a parking space after my brother who is there several times each week. We often see each other there. All Loews needs now is a coffee bar.

Thanks to pixabay.com for the photos

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