Now, I must confess that lawns never used to hold much appeal for me. I could appreciate that when the grass was freshly mown the garden looked better but I wasn't going to lose sleep over it. Perhaps that was because Mr Shoestring was usually the one who looked after the lawns. At Shoestring Cottage though I have a cute little hand mower which makes a pleasant clattering sound when used and because the smaller area makes lawn mowing more pleasant I have begun to notice the kinds of grasses (or more to the point, weeds) in the lawn. In fact you couldn't really call it a lawn, there are a lot of undulations, bald spots and of course the entire spectrum of weeds known to New Zealand botanists. Shoestring Cottage may house the national oxalis collection too; I know I have the miniscule, medium and jumbo sized varieties. Plus paspalum, don't get me started on paspalum. So now something must be done.
It is astonishing how many varieties of grass seed are available in the local hardware shop - sturdy, utilitarian, durable types or the enticing emerald green soft velvety sorts, what to do? Then there is the problem of the birds - about 200 of them sleep in the ivy on the side wall and of course nothing would please them more than a delicate light supper of freshly sown grass seed and then perhaps an early morning healthy repast of more seed - if any seed remained that is. So before anything more is attempted a bit more research needs to be done - best not to rush in. Perhaps oxalis and paspalum aren't that bad after all.
