On Mon, 09 May 2005 21:10:02 +0100, MM wrote:

My new lawn is really coming on now. Much of the grass is 2" high,
though patchy. When I do the first cut (I have a Qualcast Panther hand
cylinder mower), should I leave the trimmings on the surface to mulch
down or collect them?

Looking this morning, in the warm sunshine (at last!) at my virgin
forest of tall pines (my blades of grass), I see a whole new ecology
starting to thrive. To a very small insect, these 2" shoots must seem
like sequoias that have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. All the
while the surface was a barren wasteland that would give the moon a
run for his money, no activity was apparent. But now, if you take the
time to squat down and look carefully, you begin to notice the rushing
hither and thither of countless small beasties. I watched one dash
along a meandering, self-made cross-country field path, as it rushed
around one blade of grass, right, then left, then left, then right,
making it up as it went. This is more fun than a Hornby train set!
Will he go right at the junction, or left? Which way are the points
inside that little creature set? It emerged on to the patio, but
hurriedly scurried back into the undergrowth. Its carapace was the
jettest black, the shiniest imaginable, a Beetle in miniature, fresh
from the production line. Elsewhere, flies of various kinds flit just
above the greensward. When I'm not in the garden, birds have started
to arrive in one's and two's. The whole house has taken on a new
significance as the soil finally gives in and accepts its presence.

How can I possibly cut this wonderful growth already?

MM