REDUCING THE LAWN SIZE OVER THE YEARS

It's a case of the incredible shrinking lawn. Much as I love a nice lawn and green is a favourite colour, I like to grow flowering plants and my lawn is getting just too problematic for me. It's not the occasional weed that manages to bury it'self amid the turf as soon as my back is turned because I soon obliterate them with a squirt of Tumbleweed. No, it's the fact that all that is beneath my lawn is one inch of not too brilliant soil and then rock. Lack of depth, although I appreciate that grass roots are not particularly deep, is taking it's toll on the lawn because, I think, I cannot aerate it. Anyway, gradually it is being reduced in size and today I have given myself a lovely headache, neck ache and back ache, cutting about 8 inches away all the way around. It's not the cutting that's a killer but the turning and the chopping in; and then, of course, there is the rock. There must be a worm for every ounce of soil in my garden. So, I am trying to dig the grass without falling over (I have permanent vertigo for those who don't know), trying to deal with rock, trying to turn the sods (you can interpret that word anyone you choose), and trying not to chop worms. I hate to hurt the slimy little things as they do more good than harm, I think, aerating and improving the soil. Thinking back about 3 1/2 years ago when I first moved into my home, I realise just how much the lawn has changed... click on the photos to enlarge, if you wish.