Good news, bad news (but mostly good)

What the whole yard should look like.

Summer number two is behind us. I have to admit, by mid-August I was pretty ticked off about the whole thing and ready to throw in the towel. Now that cooler weather (and heads) have prevailed, I can give you a more accurate account of what's going on out there.

First the bad news. The crabgrass had its way with the lawn for most of the summer. (In spite of my corn meal gluten vigilance.) The black medick went a little nuts, too - most likely a product of my crappy builder's-grade sprinkler system. Black medick likes dry and we have plenty of that. The pinheads who installed the sprinkler system didn't give us enough heads so there are great swaths of lawn untouched by water, no matter how long I run the sprinklers. A fix for another day.

That's about it. Not too terrible.

The good news: the good grass made a strong comeback once the weather cooled and the crabgrass died off; the dandelions are much fewer in number than in previous years; and the clover patches are doing really well.