Second Year of Gardening -- A Joy

It's been about two years since we began gardening. The first year we were pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps, and it was a backbreaking effort. There was so much to do, and we had so far to go. Now we can see the results of two years of hard work, and it is truly rewarding.  Flowers, vines, trees, vegetables -- we are blessed. Maybe next year we will be able to pick our first orange.

GRASS
Much of the second year was spent on two onerous tasks -- redoing what we did wrong the first year, and putting down grass. Both of these things minimized the time we had to spend on what we love the best -- growing flowers and vegetables -- but they had to be done. I know grass is frequently pooh-poohed in gardening circles, but we wanted to create a backdrop for our beautiful plants, and we wanted to preserve our spectacular view. Expansive lawns do have their place.

Two kinds of grass were planted, using two different methods. We started by planting native pasture grass -- called jenjibrillo -- put down as rectangles of sod. We'd had good luck with a local sod merchant and had him put down a second batch for us. This time, unfortunately, it did not turn out as well as the first. Within a month or so it was taken over by white clover. Also, over time the first batch devoloped kikuyo grass, which must have come with the jenjibrillo grass in the first place. It is an invasive exotic species. The best thing about the jenjibrillo is that it thrives on average soil. The worst thing is that it grows quickly during the wet season and has to be mowed every week.

After our unfortunate experience with the native grass, we switched to St. Augustine. Some of it was planted as sod, some as runners. I purchased the sod from EPA, a Venezuelan-owned chain similar to Lowe's or Home Depot back in the States. It cost about $2 a square meter (about 10 square feet). I installed it myself.
One large area I had planted in St. Augustine runners in order to save money. The total cost for runners for about 400 square feet came to only $5. It took the runners about five months to spread and cover the surface and, unfortunately, there was considerable soil erosion due to the slope. If I had to do it again, I think I would have bought sod, even though it is much more expensive. The St. Augustine does not look as lush as the native pasture grass. I think it requires more topsoil. So far I have only had to cut it twice.

Happy Gardening!