April 11. Pineland regulations required we grow grass around our retention basin. We sowed the seeds, a mixture of perennial ryegrass, creeping red fescue, and kentucky bluegrass, with some other native grasses mixed in, then had to cover it with straw blankets to aid in germination and to prevent runoff in the event of hard rains.


This was a two or three-person job. Each blanket was 75 feet long had to be pinned down at intervals to keep it in place.


Since our only water tap is inside the lower level of the building, we had to run a series of hoses with individual shutoffs in order to water the extensive area we had seeded. The hoses were so long and the water pressure such that only two sprinklers could be run at any one time. Attached to the hoses is an instruction sheet explaining the process to our "Water Wizards" team of about a dozen people, who took turns spending two hours or more per day watering.


April 30. It took about 2 weeks for the seeds to germinate, but soon a fine green peachfuzz was visible all around the retention basin.


Here you can see the seedlings poking through the blue-green netting that binds the straw blankets together. Grow little grasses, grow!