The Beetley Pampas

~ beetleypete

‘La Pampa is a province in central Argentina, within the vast Pampas grasslands’.

Given the definition above, I might be exaggerating slightly when describing my back lawn. It is an oblong shape, around 50 feet end to end, and perhaps 20 feet across.

Due to the recent rain, it hasn’t had its first cut this year, resulting in alarming growth to almost 18 inches high. Yesterday, it was sunny and warm. Today, I woke up to similar weather. This meant bad news for me.

I had run out of excuses not to cut the grass.

Luckily, I have a large and powerful ‘hover’ mower, that has a grass-collecting box incorporated. Though when the grass is that high, it still takes considerable effort to do the job.

Ollie came out to observe me as usual, making sure to get in the way as much as possible, as that is his job as ‘Assistant Gardener (Canine)’. I was keen to get the job done before the sun moved around to the back of the house after 2 pm, so set-to manfully.

Our lawn is grass as such, though it could hardly be desribed as ‘manicured’. Only about 65% of it is actually grass, a legacy of the previous owner laying a turf lawn of the cheaper ‘Meadow’ variety. That means almost 25% of the ‘grass’ is actually dandelions, and unknown weeds of other varieties. I suppose I could treat it with weedkiller, but I am conscious of Ollie, and I don’t want him getting any nasty chemicals on his paws.

The remaining 10% consists of sticks, thin branches, and acorn shucks, all of which fall from the large Oak tree that overshadows the house at the back. Fortunately, my mower has a thick rotating blade that makes short work of any woody intruders.

Almost two hours later, I have completely filled the composting recycling bin with the cuttings, and tackled my version of the grasslands of South America. Sad to say it left me hot, and with a very aching back.

So the small front lawn and strip at the side of the house is going to have to wait for another day of ‘enthusiasm’.

46 thoughts on “The Beetley Pampas”

  2. The important thing is that you actually a bit lawn that you can call your own. It is also wonderful that you have Ollie to assist you with your lawn maintenance. I am sure his presence adds an extra joy to the proceedings of getting the mowing done. The extra powerful mowing machine is a plus also.

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  3. Dont worry about the sort of grass you have, Pete! This way its good for bees. If you ever used to see a manicured one you can visit the Aldeburgh Golf Club, just a few miles away from you. :-)) Best wishes, Michael

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  5. I thought this was going to be a post about the swinging scene in Beetley, I glad it wasn’t 🙂
    Happy to hear you had a bit of sunshine and that it has improved your outlook, I feel the same this morning as the sun shines.
    Malina had her first grass mowing lessons last weekend 🙂

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  10. I took part in “No Mow May” so our lawn was really high too – sometimes having a tiny garden is a good thing, as cutting it yesterday took roughly three minutes 🙂 I hope your back feels much better soon.

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    1. I do the hedges at the front, but I have to get a man in to cut the big leylandii ones at the back. They are too high for me now, as a ladder is needed all the way along.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  12. It’s year, thankfully, since I mowed a “lawn”. What I have now is very pampas-like, far too big to be done manually, so a man comes by on a sort of hovercraft and zaps about for 10 minutes. Quite amazing. He doesn’t pick up the cut grass and it takes on the look of a hay field, which it basically is. But out in the stix, as e are, who cares. I almost don’t want to cut it at all because so many creatures live in it, but I do like to walk out there and am loath to become a target for ticks. The lower firld stays wild. That’s where a baby fawn was born two days ago. Hope your June turns out to be fab to make up for May!

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    1. Sounds like you have a much more substantial property. Our garden is small enough to do ourselves, but big enough to look shabby if we don’t. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  15. I should mow, too. I did some – about half of it – more than a week ago, but stopped when I discovered a fawn [https://wp.me/p4uPk8-3II]. That, and the following streak of moist weather, gave me a good excuse not to do more. But meanwhile I really need to as the grass is getting way too high. For me, it’s not hard work as we have a lawn tractor [https://wp.me/p4uPk8-1dU]. It’s just that it takes a long time [4 – 5 hours] even with that machine, and that it’s utterly boring. Btw. ours is not a (well-manicured) lawn, it’s just some different kinds of grass, and some areas where the grass is dead.

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  16. Been looking into getting a lawn care company to come in and do this… My husband’s enthusiasm has waned over the years and our lawn is looking dead and bare lol

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  17. I can’t say I miss mowing the lawn, but it was nice to have a patch of grass (pretty small in my case) at the back of the house, although not having a dog, I had plenty of problems with cats visiting and deciding it was a huge litter box.
    I quite like your description. Thanks, Pete, and I hope your back is good soon.

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