Forget the gym: grass cutting is cheaper and doesn't require lycra

Following on from my recent post about irritations, one of mine has been the state of the nature strip* at chez O.

It is the only grass on our property. As we used to live in an apartment, so we don't have a lawnmower. We've dithered about whether (or not) to buy one. It seemed extravagant to buy a lawnmower to mow a strip of ground 3ft x 30ft. Local lawnmowing services have a minimum call-out fee of $25, even more extravagant. During the drought all nature strips looked parched and bare. But with the lavish amounts of both sunshine and rain in Melbourne recently, the 'grass' is about 4ft tall. Not so much a lawn as a hodge-podge of broad leaf weeds, a number of grass types that are considered weeds in Victoria, and a lot of kikuyu, which I don't like. The state of indecision has been even more irritating than the issue of our socially undesirable jungle. Besides, it was becoming difficult to put the rubbish bins out.

I've - jokingly - threatened to attack it with kitchen scissors. Not being quite that irritated, I instead bought some pruning shears with a nice easy action and set to work. An hour's work got about half the 35ft strip down to under 10cms in height. I suspect I might be a bit mad (I prefer 'eccentric').

As I huffed and puffed, and clipped and raked, I got a similar sense of virtue that I get when I do a gym workout. With a bonus of aesthetic horticultural accomplishment. Contemplating the weeds beats contemplating lycra. Sure, clipping grass isn't exactly fun, but then the gym isn't either. I've saved money on the lawnmower, I've saved money on the gardener (who didn't want to do it anyway), I've saved money on a gym membership without sacrificing my health, and I've done something about my irritation. See, it was a rational decision.

*If you are not Australian: this is a strip of grass (and often weeds) punctuated by occasional trees, which separates the footpath (or sidewalk) from the road.