The grass is greener on my side

It seems like it has been raining a lot more than usual this late in the summer. But at least my lawn is green.

Every year since I have moved in, I have used Scott's annual lawn care program on my lawn (including the Summer Guard which is supposed to protect against summer bugs). Last year, my neighbor came over when I was out working in the yard and told me that he thought I have bugs in the yard. "That's what all those brown spots are" he said, as if I hadn't noticed them. I noticed them. But it was a lot more dry last summer. AND, all of the brown spots were in areas that get full sun all day long. The other shaded or partially shaded areas of the lawn were much more green. So much so, that it almost seemed like there was a line drawn exactly where the shade from the large cherry tree is in my front yard, with everything being green underneath it, and things being more brownish outside of the shaded area. So it seemed like too much sun and too dry was the culprit to me, why would I have thought there were bugs?

"I wouldn't have said anything except now the bugs are getting into my lawn. Watering won't help because it's bugs, not just dry" he said. He must have seen me watering my lawn a few times. Still a little surprised at this, I didn't say much. But I looked up some things on the internet later.

I found many articles like this one about grubs. It says that grubs
"... eat the roots of grass, causing irregularly shaped patches
of wilted, dead or dying grass in April and May, and again in
August to mid-October. With a serious infestation, the turf
can be lifted up from the soil and rolled back like a carpet.
If the damage to the grass is not too severe, the grass will
recover with normal watering and fertilizing."

So this seems to suggest that watering could help. But whatever. The article goes on to tell you how to check your lawn and count the grub population. It suggests
"If animals such as skunks, raccoons, birds and moles are digging up the
turf to feed on the grubs, consider treating your lawn."

It did seem that some of the dryer areas were being dug up by something. I had thought by a dog, but perhaps by some other critter. So I entertained the idea that the digging might be because of something feeding on grubs. And did as the article said to check the grub population. I picked 3 or 4 separate areas of the lawn, cut out a square of turf and lifted it up. And do you know how many grubs I found? Zero. Zero grubs.

I'm not so sure how my neighbor thinks he knows so much. Usually the grass seems greener on the other side. But my grass is usually greener before his in the Spring (thanks to Scott's fertilizers I'm sure). And mine seems greener to me a lot of the time. Explain that! Plus I have less crabgrass in my whole yard than his whole front lawn alone.

A couple of days later, he knocked on my door and said he had bought a bag of grub control and had more than enough for his yard so he wondered if he could put the rest on my lawn too. "It's a waste, but knock yourself out," I thought. "Sure," I said. I guess I didn't fix the brown spots quickly enough for him. Must be nice to have a wife to take care of half of the household chores so he has more time to get other work outside done, unlike me who has to do all the stuff around the house myself.

What sucks though, is that I have a hard time not stewing over this every single time I mow my lawn this year. Usually it passes. Sometimes I end up in a bad mood by the time I'm done mowing and stewing. But I like to be outside doing stuff so I guess it usually makes up for it.

I pulled some weeds from the lawn the other day, and planted some grass seed in their place. I wonder if he'll see the "missing grass" (where the weeds were) and think that's bugs too. I've been watering the lawn at night after they go to bed so he won't see me watering and tell me that watering won't help, again. Crazy, I know.

They're having a baby soon, so maybe he'll have something better to pay attention to now besides my lawn.