(4/12/24). Still on Friday, still on the lawn ... Two days after a rain it is easy to stomp a shovel in the ground through the ryegrass roots, even without mowing it. Good news, because no spraying will be necessary where the new grass will be sprigged. Ryegrass will die on its own eventually. I think it will cut down on weeds and keep the ground from drying out in the sun between the sprigs this summer. If it's too dry when the sod arrives, I can always water the night before. Mowed the middle of the back lawn again. It grew another 18" in places. This is not the worst part. The mower deck got clogged with wet grass underneath again, so I tried the side discharge. That clogged too. It has serious design flaws---not only does the chute come out the back and take a right angle, the output end is smaller than the input. If you like a side discharge mower, which I don't, I wouldn't get this one. This is a rather steep bank on the side of the house. The soil keeps eroding away. I sowed ryegrass here, and it didn't come up until a couple months ago. There is some St. Augustine underneath, but it barely hangs on. Dead ryegrass will be good ground cover to stop erosion on the bank. I'll put some St. Augustine there also. Maybe some full rectangle pieces. There should be plenty.
Would sheep like ryegrass? In the old western movies, we were told that sheep graze too low and ruin the land.
That was the excuse of cattle barons to not share the grazing land. If there is not enough food anything will denude the land. My sheep pick and choose what they like. Nothing is well mowed. The tasty bits are eaten down and when that is gone, they start on the rest. They don't eat canadian thistles but love burdock leaves. I don't know what grasses I have in the pasture. But new rye grass is tender. Maybe take a handful to some sheep in the area and if they like it, ask if you can borrow a couple.` I always say, if my sheep ever get out, I will say to anyone who asks, "I don't know whose sheep those are."
That's the way our goats were. They prefer bushes. Start there, kill all the small trees, work their way down to grass. They don't like grass but will eat it if that's all there is. Eating plants low to the ground is how they get stomach worms. They wouldn't eat mullet, or thistle, but they'd eat dog fennel if they caught young, waist high. Maybe they are too lazy to bend over. I don't blame them. Hmmm... Mullet means 3 things---a plant, a fish, and a haircut.
There are definitely Bluebirds in the Bluebird house and Chickadees in the Chickadee house. The little Phoebes on the porch in the country should leave the nest by Sunday. If I knew which day, I'd go out and watch. March 31st I'm only guessing the bluebirds have been incubating eggs for at least a week. Last year's female would sit in the doorway to the birdhouse most of the time during incubation, so it was easy to tell. "I keep coming to this birdhouse, because I know I'm supposed to, but can't remember why. (I know that feeling.) You rarely see this female at all. Who knows about the chickadees. Just a lot of activity at that house yesterday.
The fencers said I should put wood preserver on the new fence after the treated wood dries out. I don't believe there has been even 3 days in a row without rain this spring, until this week. At least that's my excuse. It's something I could do while waiting for the sod. Maybe. So I string trimmed half the fence Saturday, about 150 feet. It was difficult because the grass was dense and 30" high in some places, and there are the 25 little planted cedar trees that had to be located and avoided. Sunday morning I could barely walk. Finished trimming the other half anyway, and managed to mow the weeds from the front yard Monday. I think treating the fence is out for now. The cat has been afraid of me because of walking funny around the house for 3 days. She thinks I'm trying to sneak up on her. This new handicap has to be over by the time the sod arrives, because I'll have to hit the ground running. Although it seems to get better with exercise. This afternoon, I will mark off at least 450 sq ft where the whole sod pieces will go and spray that area with Roundup. That is all that's left to be done, I think. Haven't heard back about delivery yet. Maybe the date will change.
You could let the rye go to seed and have someone harvest it. Or offer it to someone to make hay before you roundup anything.
The area to be sprayed will only be about 20 ft square. Not perfectly square, but you get the picture how small it is. I should have put the bagger on the lawn mower, tossed it all out on driveway to dry. Then I'd send it to you for your sheep.