A Man, a Woman and a Lawn

Let me tell you a short tale about a man, a very good man, a man who works hard, has always supported his family and friends, a man worthy of praise, and a man with faith in the natural order of life.

Such a man went out into his garden one late summer day and saw a lawn filled with weeds and moss. It looked green, but was not correct. A lawn should be green with grass, not moss, thought the man. So he went out and bought some weedkiller, very toxic stuff, and sprayed the lawn with it, in order to destroy the wild intruders in the grass and he waited somewhat impatiently. Lo and behold! When he raked over the lawn a few days later, the weeds and moss had disappeared, but unfortunately, so had the lawn. The green space that looked like grass had been almost entirely weeds and moss and in killing those, he had killed the green space that appeared to be lawn.

The man was not deterred. He raked and dug and turned over the soil. He removed stones and cleared the once green, now muddy space. He went out again and bought grass seed and scattered it over a few patches of ground. Every few days he scattered more seeds. Each evening, after a tiring day of work, he came home and dragged out the garden hose and stood watering the now pathetic patch of churned earth that was once called a lawn. Every day he came home and checked to see if the seeds had sprouted and the grass had grown. Little by little patches of the newly seeded space began to appear. Slowly the green started to appear again. He watered and watched and waited and the grass started growing by itself. The 'lawn' still looks like a slightly sad patch of a forlorn playing field, not the lush estate lawn he imagined, but the man continues to have faith in nature and comes in each night, as the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, and asks if the grass has grown today.

Now, another tale. A tale of woman who sees the green of a moss-filled lawn and thinks, green is green, no matter whether it is grass, moss, weeds or stinging nettles. A woman who discourages the man from doing more than is necessary, wants to leave well enough alone and just get on with life with as little disturbance as possible. A woman who equates the digging up of weeds and raking over the soil with raking over life and looking under rocks as asking for trouble,

The woman repeatedly discouraged the man from his garden labour. Each evening he would stand in the semi-darkness watering the few new blades of grass while she sat indoors and thought about how plastic grass would have been so much easier, so much less trouble and so much more reliable. The woman has little faith that a packet of seed would restore the previously green patch of land. Every evening she would look at the former lawn and reinforce her belief that digging up things that look fine on the surface is futile at best and such hard work. The woman believed that leaving well enough alone is the way to live life.

The woman is so lucky and blessed to live with the man. She is surprised to see the healthy shoots of green grass appearing. She is filled with admiration for the man and how much effort he is willing to put in to ensure that the lawn is filled with strong and healthy growth. The man does not give up and is sure that the grass will grow by itself, with just a bit of help.

The man and the woman have been together for over 43 years and still marvel at the different ways they approach 'lawn-care'.