Other Years

2022
May 23: First mowing of the back yard. It has been very wet.
24: First mowing of the side yard, and I applied fertilizer to the back and front yards.
August 20: Doing fine.
 
2021
May 29: First mowing of the back yard. It has been dry and the grass was not too long.
May 30: Fertilized.
 
2020
April 1: Greening up.
May 27: Finished fertilizing. It has been mowed once but not raked.
 
2013
May 18: I mowed the back lawn and fertilized it.
June 23: Doing well, but the laed acid battery on my mower has become very feeble and I can mow only a little each time.
September 23: In July I bought a new lithium battery-powered mower. It has been a pleasure to use and charging those small batteries is really convenient.
 
2012
April 30: I finished the first mowing 3 days ago, and spread fertilizer today. The grass has not grown much as the weather has been dry.
 
2011
April 15: New grass is showing already in the areas that I built up with topsoil last year. I must have sprinkled grass seed last fall, although I don’t quite remember.
May 11: I fertilized lawns and boulevards. Some of the lawn got moist fertilizer spread by hand, so I expect it to be streaky.
18: First mowing of the year on the back lawn.
June 1: First mowing of the year on the back boulevard. As a result of the rainy weather the grass has grown very long, and the battery mower does a quite poor job of it. However after another mowing it will look good, unless the mowing is delayed by more rain.
 
2010
April 29: I applied fertilizer this morning, before the rain.
June 17: Doing fine but quite long due to lots of rain and little time to tend it.
 
2009
July 4: It got its first mowing quite late, and hasn't had its second yet.
August 3: Doing fine.
 
2008
April 15: I mowed the east front lawn short. There was no sign of the scilla so I don't think I harmed them.
May 7: I fertilized with Scott's 22-2-2 with iron sulphate. I set the spreader at 6 because the fertilizer was damp and wouldn't come out well at a lower setting.
 
2007
March 24: I scattered some grass seed near the lilacs, where the grass was killed last year when I took out the lilacs.
April 8: It looks fine and will be dry enough to begin clean-up soon.
30: Ben cut it short.
31: Sprouts from the seeds near the lilacs appeared today.
June 16: Moisture has been ample and it is growing fine. The patch near the lilacs is crowded with sprouts. I am fairly amazed at the good germination rate of that 7 year old seed.
 
2006
April 27: The lawn has greened up nicely. Emile raked some about a week ago and yesterday he and David C. almost finished raking and mowing.
28: I applied fertilizer, first a light sprinkling of a Scott product with lots of iron (spreader set on "2") then a generic fertilizer.
August 1: Fairly brown due to the extremely dry weather.
 
2005
May 25:  The lawn has been growing fine. There were a few dead patches at first, but they have begun to fill in. The part that used to be hedge is half covered in grass now. Last Thursday Ben did the first mowing. Today I had the lawn aerated by Green Drop, $55.
July 11:  Ben has been cutting the lawn, shorter than I like but the mower is broken and can't be made to cut long. It rained again last night, and the whole lawn is soggy. This is very untypical for this time of year.
August 8:  I bought a new lawn mower, a cordless electic one from Canadian Tire for $299 plus tax.
9:  I tried it out. It cut the back lawn fine as a mulcher but ran out of juice before finishing the side with the rear discharge bag. The manual says the battery will have to be charged and discharged a few times before it will hold its maximum charge.
September 3:  I sprayed all the lawn with Killex.
15:  I overseeded.
 
2004
May 26:  Many dandelions in flower on the west boulevard.
28:  Ben gave the first mowing then spread fertilizer on the lawn and the boulevards.
29:  The Weed 'n Feed fertilizer was damp so I tossed some by hand on the dandelion patches on the west boulevard.
August 24:  There are still many weeds there.
October 18:  No weeds now.
 
2003
March 27:  The snow is gone and the first signs of green appeared today.
April 15: Jamie gave the lawn its first post-winter mowing.
May:  It received Weed 'n Feed.
July 5:  Doing fine.
September 4:  I sprayed all the boulevards and the front lawn with Killex.   The side boulevard is heavily infested with dandelions and other weeds.   All other areas are fairly good.   Unfortunately I do not believe the sprayer sent out a concentrated enough solution, only about 1/5 of what it should be.
5:  I overseeded here and there.
15:  I resprayed all the boulevards except the west one, on which the weeds seem to be dying.   The sprayer seemed to work properly today.
 
2002
May 27: Jared gave the lawn its second mowing.   He had previously raked it and applied fertilizer.
September 8: I spread winterizing fertilizer and herbicide on the side and front boulevards, the side and front lawns, and on the back boulevard as far as the maple tree.   The side boulevard got about double the recommended concentration.   About a week ago I scattered general fertilizer on the back lawn.   Today I used my new fertilizer spreader that I bought last week at Revy for $30.   The grass is long because the weather has been rainy.   The lawn has been generally fine.   It did not get mowed much this summer as while I was away, the mower was broken, and after I returned it took a long time to get it repaired.   Now it's broken again--broken starter cord.
September 9: I sprayed the back lawn and the back boulevard between the trees with Killex.
September 22: I overseeded the lawn with Parkview seed mix from Brett Young Seeds, 70% Kentucky bluegrass and 30% creeping red fescue.
 
2001
May 4: I moved some edging in a garden path, and put a few plugs in that path. Edward MacIntyre raked the front lawn.
May 17: William gave the lawn inside the fence its first mowing. It was long.
June 6: I finished mowing the entire lawn.
June 28: I bought a new edger, a Toro string trimmer, from Home Depot, $24.95, as my old one broke down a few days ago.
July 5: Helen brought over Joan's old fertilizer spreader yesterday, so today I fertilized the lawn. I used principally President's Choice Twice-a-year Lawn Fertilizer Plus Iron, 24-6-12.
July 13: I finished the bed around the ash trees. I put in edging, put plugs in the bare area outside the bed that had been covered with plywood, and sprayed inside the bed with glyophosate.
December 2: I installed some edging along the east fence in September and October, but I did not finish getting it in.
 
2000
May 8: The lawn is fairly green. Stripes are still evident from last summer's fertilizing. There are almost no dandelions, whereas nearby areas have many in flower.
17: I mowed the back lawn. The grass was long. We had a long dry spell, then it was too wet to mow.
June 8: Fertilized with a slow release fertilizer.
14: Four and a half days of rain left six and a half inches of water in the garbage can!
July 12: A very wet summer so far.
September 11: I sprayed the lawn and the boulevards with Killex against dandelions. The solution I used on the back lawn was too dilute.
12: I resprayed the back lawn.
October 4: Although some dandelions look dead, some do not.
 
1999
March 18: Part of the lawn is visible today, and some of the grass stems are green. This is not new growth, however.
April 30: Wayne mowed the lawn today, its first mowing this year.
May 2: I laid out paths in the garden, and marked an extension of the garden towards the house.
3:  I sprinkled grass seed on the intended paths.
17: No sign of grass sprouts. Gilbert moved edging to mark the edge of the extension, and set plugs of grass from the extension in the centre path.
18: I sprayed the back and side boulevards, and the lawn by the east garden, with some liquid Weed and Feed from Parkview Street. The sprayer kept clogging on the back boulevard, but I persisted, so I don't know what result I'll get there. Gilbert put more plugs in the centre garden path. Blades of new grass are visible in the other paths.
19: I watered part of the back lawn with ammonium phosphate sulphate that I got from Parkview Street. This fertilizer is unfortunately now a damp powder, and can not be sprinkled, so I dissolve it before sprinkling it.
20, 29, June 2, 3, 6, 7: More fertilizing.
June 6: Stripes are quite evident in the lawn due to the uneven application of fertilizer by watering can.
30: Flourishing.
August 3: Flourishing.
31: The same. It has been growing slowly lately. The new paths are grassy now except where I did not seed, where the yellow tulip bulbs had to come out of, and where the clustered bellflower was flowering, and along their edges because the edging had yet to go in.
September 2: I sprayed against dandelions, except for the side boulevard, using half Killex and half 2,4-D. There were no weeds in the east half of the back boulevard, but there were many in the west half.
24: I sprayed the side boulevard and again the back boulevard with Killex. The previous application on the back boulevard does not seem to have been effective, perhaps because it showered that day and then for about a week after.
October 23: William gave the lawn its final short mowing.
November 21: I mowed the side boulevard and the garden strip outside the fence, to chop up the dead marigolds and to pick up leaves.
 
1998
June 2: Ordinary condition. No fertilizer yet.
 
1997
May 7: Many dead patches.
June 1: Largely recovered.
 
1996
May 4: Gilbert cleaned the lawn with the mower and rake. It looks fine. There were many ladybugs under the leaves. The collected detritus was put into the garden, and the lawn was fertilized.
 
1995
May 23: It came through winter with a few brown spots, but generally well. There seems to be less quack grass in the back yard, perhaps the result of wet summers and regular mowing. Few dandelions, very few. I guess last autumn's spraying was effective.
September: Sprayed again with 2,4-d.
October: Not raked before winter.
 
1994
June 16: 2,4-d applied to all the lawn and boulevard.
21: Finished first fertilization.
August 17: The 2,4-d killed many dandelions. The lawn has done well. The grass seeded among the weeds along the fence is thriving among them.
~22: 2,4-d ed that area, but it rained soon after.
 
1993
~October 12,13: I mowed the lawn and boulevards at the second highest setting. I got many leaves off the lawn that way.