Spring is finally here, and our gardens and lawns are calling us

I see the daffodils and tulips and many other blooming plants. I hear the birds chirping, making our cats go wild expecting some delicious dinner — wishful thinking. I hear the lawnmowers of a few neighbors. These machines break the gleeful sounds of nature. The creatures and critters come back to our gardens to forage and pillage.

And the extravagant show of the cherry blossoms has almost come to an end.

After a few showers and blustery wind, cherry blossoms lose their blooms. The cherry blossoms adorn the grounds intead of the cherry tree.

The recent rainfall and the blustery breeze have been very unkind to the cloud of pink and white frothy blankets of the cherry trees. Now, there are more cherry blossoms on the ground than on the tree.

The sun gets to start its blazing magic over vegetation. Yes, spring has truly come full swing.

Lenten season has come to a close with Easter. For many adults, the practices of religion are reduced to Sunday church services, if at all. For the children, the last of the Easter eggs has been devoured. Yes, Spring is really here to stay.

For the students, Spring break is over. Sad for them.

With schools now back, it’s a reprieve for parents from all the child-minding. We thought parenting is a life-long role.

Naah, the Spring break has opened the eyes of many a parents. As a retired teacher, I now have a better appreciation of the role of teachers. They’re underpaid and under-appreciated daycare workers. That, on top of teaching students something about learning and having fun while learning. Yup, Spring time is definitely here.

Spring brings lots of positive things, too.

Longer daylight hours. Warmer weather. And more time for the outdoors.

Spring induces an intense urge to freshen up the house with a good spring cleaning. My wife already has a long list of things for me to do in our house. Indoors and outdoors. I am already resigned to the idea that I can only cross off a small section of her list. I am retired, and I have all the free time to do one chore at a time. And to repeat, I’m retired, so should I continue to work hard still?

We have new neighbors. The original owners of the old houses on our street, except us, have all transferred to seniors’ homes. Others have even passed on right after Covid, though not because of Covid.

The new neighbors are all young families, maybe in their early 30s to early 40s.

Spring brings in a frenzy of activities in the neighborhood’s yards and gardens.

Our new neighbor Dattar has moved into our neighborhood last year apparently with extra cash. He has renovated his house nicely, inside and outside. New roof, new sidings, new brick walkway, new wooden deck in the back. He has the basement converted into couple of rental suites. He has done a complete makeover of his front and back lawns, too.

He and his young wife still have the gusto to complete a well-appointed landscape. It features mature shrubs spruced up by hundreds of flowering annuals. Dattar digs up the holes. His wife fills the dug holes with trays of already-blooming daffodils. Then they add marigolds in an array of colors: gold, orange, and red. More trays of pretty pink petunias add to the gaiety of colors.

Interestingly, they make their backyard look colorful but leave their front yard with various greeneries only.

Dattar keeps the newly laid out turf grass low by regularly mowing the lawn. He also clips some grass with scissors. Yes, scissors. I’ve caught him on his knees clipping grass with scissors. Who cuts grass with scissors? Dattar must be a neat freak.

Just now, I see him pushing his electric lawnmower back and forth on his lush lawn. He manicures the grass along his new driveway and around the potted ornamental palms with a weedeater. Then the scissor-cutting completes the treatment.

Dattar’s front lawn is a thing of beauty. Or an object of my envy. Or an object of shame, I think, of our other young new neighbor Franco.

Dattar and Franco live beside each other. They share lawns. And I can tell where their boundary is: Dattar has lush lawns, Franco has tired-looking turf.

After his work, Franco, right across from our house, wheels out loads of sand on his soggy lawn. Then he scatters premium topsoil. Weeks earlier, the crows ruthlessly turned his lawn into a feeding ground as they feed on chafer beetles that have infested Franco’s lawn. This has been a problem year after year, even with the former owners.

The crows love to scratch bald patches on his lawn. Then, the black birds fly out south for their night spots. The next afternoon, the crows are at it again.

I quietly muse, better Franco’s lawn instead of ours.

Good thing that Franco is a young man, maybe in his early 30s. He has all the energy. He also has the patience to keep laboring on his front lawn despite the daily attacks of the crows. Over time, Franco should be winning over those pesky crows. Maybe, the chafer beetles would have run out.

Dattar’s and the other neighbors’ turfs have remained undisturbed by crows. They have embedded their lawns with plastic netting so the crows can not scratch the grass. Smart and proactive protection.

I am hoping our lawn does not have chafer beetles. Chafer beetles, particularly the invasive European chafer (Rhizotrogus majalis), primarily live in turf grasses, lawns, and grassy areas. The chafer beetle larvae (grubs) live underground. They feed on the roots of grass. Adults reside in trees and shrubs during their brief summer mating season.

To discourage those crazy crows from landing on our turf, I often garden during the time the crows do their late-afternoon attack on Franco’s lawn. I also bring our cats out to the front lawn to scare off the crows. Yet I see a few crows try to nosedive on our cats. But our cats are always ready for those swooping crows.

Our lawn is a mix of turf grass and moss. The moss has invaded places where grass has difficulty surviving. In our city, we have water restrictions. We can only water our lawn once a week, from May 1 to October 15.

I am a conservationalist by choice. Conserving water is important to me. So I haven’t watered my lawns for years. I instead use the water for my berms, gardens, and vegetable patches. I feel guilty using so much water for my ornamental plants and vegetables, so I no longer water my lawn.

But, yes, European chafer beetle larvae (grubs), looking much like shrimps, can also be found residing and feeding under moss. But their primary food source is grass roots. 

I prefer a mossy yard to a turfed yard. With the water restriction and no watering, grass turns brown by early summer. Moss, in contrast, can remain green longer.

During our visits to Japan, I discovered that Japanese gardens purposely grow moss. I long to have a Japanese-style yard.

And later, in mid April to May, we will be vacationing in Japan. So our lawn at home will not be watered. The grass will turn brown, but the moss will still be green.

Besides, grass needs periodic mowing, whereas moss is very low-maintenance.

Spring is the busiest time in our garden. We clean up dead branches and diebacks from winter. We also prepare the garden beds and vegetable patches mostly during Spring. We also have to replant to get a bountiful and beautiful summer garden.

It’s no wonder that springtime is associated with reawakening, renewal, and new beginnings!

Be sure to set aside some time to experience and celebrate the swinging in of another season.

Spring outside and please enjoy Spring.

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Click on the link to read my similar blog story: https://sansenleevendiola.wordpress.com/2026/04/05/spring-is-in-full-swing-alright/