preparing the soil

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6)

• Wednesday VIDEO-POST: 2-mins on “Laying the Groundwork.” I’d value your feedback on this ongoing Wednesday project - DEREK

n our garden, we’ve worked hard for years to avoid spending money on grass. Grass is tricky in a state where a thousand different pests and pestilences continually conspire against everything from the blades to the roots. So our emphasis has always been on the flowers, the bushes, and the trees.

There is, however, the problem of erosion, especially with rain deluges like yesterday’s. So finally, after a decade or more of watching the front yard disappear, Rebekah and I decided to bite the bullet and call in the professionals.

What we’ve discovered, just like painting and refinishing, is that laying sod is all about the preparation. And this became abundantly clear when we interviewed potential candidates for the job.

TWO QUOTES: The first guy breezed by the house and stayed all of 15-minutes. He measured, scratched his head, then quoted me a price. “We can come in Thursday,” he said. “We’ll get the whole thing done, beginning to end. It’s no big deal.”

Well personally I think that spending a couple of large is a big deal, so I was none too impressed. Then along comes guy number two (Brookeside Sod, pictured above). “First,” he said, “we’ll come out and kill the existing grass and weeds. That’ll take seven-to-ten days at least. Then my crew removes the dead material, goes down for the old roots, aerates and improves the soil, applies pesticides, fertilizers (and more…), levels the ground, rolls it out (and more…). Only then do we bring in the sod and install the new grass.”

It was actually a lot more in terms of work and detail, but you get the picture.

My first thought was, “We’ll never afford all that.” But his price was, essentially, the same. Today they delivered the sod. Tomorrow’s the install. So far I’m completely impressed.

LIFE: Fact is, there’s nothing in this life worth doing that’s not worth doing with care, with preparation, with attention to detail, and with good old-fashioned hard work. Nothing.

“For he chose us, in Christ, before the foundation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:4)

Don’t miss today’s video post!!! Click anywhere on this sentence.

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