It's just as well that the pest control came on Monday to spray the lawn for beetles. Late Wednesday night, landlord informed me that they'll be coming today. Need I say more? You know what's coming right?
Let me 1st present to you a picture taken in late September or early October. This was 5 months after we moved in. The lawn became like that becoz of insufficient water. The reticulation had to be turned off as it was winter & we were instructed to water once a week. It was during 2nd week of spring that they told us we could turn the reticulation back on. The landlord claimed it was becoz we didn't pull out the weeds that caused the lawn to turn brown (die).
This 2nd picture was taken in late November or early December after I painstakingly watered the lawn manually everyday with fortnightly fertilisation for 2 months. (Dried sprigs are the uprooted winter grass.) Surely it was a vast improvement, no? By then, we knew some things about lawn care. Like reticulation alone is not enough. Like reticulation can miss big areas which you have to water manually. Like fertiliser is super important. Photos speak for themselves. You be the judge.I don't need to take a picture of the current state of the lawn. Coz it's worse than the 1st picture. How long did it take for the beetles to kill off half the back lawn & 80% of the front lawn? Not very long at all. By the time I called the pest control company who did my wasps nest after the Christmas & Boxing Day holidays, it was already in this state.
I listed the things I did for the lawn. Namely the daily watering & fertiliser. Also, I told them I set the reticulation for the back lawn to come on every day. When the lawn is in a bad shape, it needs frequent watering you see. So I'll only have to water the dry areas manually that the reticulation missed. I also told them about the beetle problem & that it has been taken care of. I warned her that there're lots of dead beetles on the lawn. I sent her (I communicate with the wife only) both pictures showing the difference 2 months of care made. I told her it'll probably take me 2 months to green up the lawn again.
Knowing that they're coming, I went to trim the grass around the sprinklers after work yesterday. This tip I got from J who told me that when she was renting, the grass grew over the sprinklers & the landlord couldn't locate them & they had to forfeit part of their bond. The lawn had been mowed during the Christmas period in preparation for the pest control to come over.
The only comment she made was that I forgot to put her letters in the mailbox for her. I thought they accepted my explanation for the state of the lawn. I should have known. In the evening, the messages came. It was like everything I did was not appreciated. Not that I'm looking for appreciation. Just understanding that I'm doing the best I can. But not even that.
They'll be coming back in 2 weeks to check on the lawn. They wanted us to mow the lawn every 3 days so that instead of growing long, the grass will spread. Then they wanted us to trim the grass around the sprinklers (remember I already did yesterday which obviously wasn't good enough for them). Then said the plants in the garden bed outside the kitchen are not doing well coz "somebody" switched them off (which we've not even touched since we moved in). She wants the lawn to be watered by the reticulation only on watering days of Tuesdays & Saturdays. I can only turn on the reticulation on for the back an extra day on Thursday. If the lawn still isn't doing well, we are to increase the watering duration to 30 mins. Do you seriously think watering 30 mins on Tues & Thurs will keep the lawn alive? What happens when the temperature is consistently high on all other days? Again, it's their way or the highway just like it had been previously.
I'm trying my best to keep cool. But how can works of nature be our fault? It's not as though I neglected it & let it die. I get so stressed everytime they come (& they always give super short notice) that I can't sleep at night. Everytime after the comments they make to us, it strains us & our relationship. Every single time, we ended up in a shouting match where I'm the 1 getting shouted at.
I'm so tired. I don't want to think about it but that won't solve the problem. I really don't know what else to do. I did everything I could but the lawn refuses to survive. Many people suggested that I not do anything since they're being overly unreasonable. I just want to do whatever I can & if by the time we move it's still not green, then I can truly say I did my best. If I leave it alone now, I can't say that isn't it? Coz the lawn did green up with my efforts the 1st time round.
We thought of breaking lease but that will only benefit them at the expanse of our hard earned money & savings. Then came the news of a friend going to court becoz of their lawn problem with their previous rental. It's such a bad experience. I'm gonna say I'm definitely steering clear of lawns & gardens if I possibly can.
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