The Grass is Greener

Liz (The Cheshire Cat) of Visual Counterpoint paraphrased this maxim in connection with my previous dog-oriented entry. Here I'm invoking it again, but literally. Over at Miko's Corner Playground, Reid Park, Tucson, the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.

Here's how Miko's Corner looked as of November 19th, shortly after the Parks & Rec folks fenced off the south half of the park and started flooding it. By November 25th, grass seed have been put down, and doves were trying to eat it all.

To keep the extra water seeping across the fence from making the open half too muddy, the groundskeepers put down dirt or sand near the fence. Inevitably, this got tracked into large areas of the enclosure, further hindering survival of the already-dying grass.

Close up, the remaining grass looks like wisps of hay. Still, the dogs don't seem to mind - except that I notice there's a lot more doggy digging going on now.

At the north end of the park, the grass is holding its ground, barely.

It's all worth it. See how much better the south end looks now? By late January the north end will look like that, too. That's the plan, anyway.

But it's not perfect. A low-lying section of ground to the southeast is collecting water instead of grass. I wonder whether they'll try again to grade or seed this before starting on the other half of the park. I suspect the decision will be that it's not worth the time and expense. Still, the dogs and their people will have a much nicer park by the time the subdividing fence is gone.

Karen