Grass Seed On Top Of Rocks!? WHAT THE HECK!?

[MICHELLE H.]

So I am out working in my yard today, and my 76 year old male neighbor comes outside, and he starts sprinkling grass seed all over his treebelt. The problem is, his treebelt is completely covered in rocks!!!!! He has what appears to be 1/2 to 3/4 inch rocks/stones across his entire treebelt, which is about 50 feet long, and 5 feet wide.

He had someone put the rocks there, on top of the topsoil, about 3 years ago when he had trouble keeping Green grass on his treebelt ( he always SCALPED the grass when mowing it! ). I like this old fart, and I TRY to help him out when he needs it, like shoveling his snow, bringing out his trash barrel for him, etc. etc.

Anyway, I offer to help him take the rocks off his treebelt for him, so that the grass can grow there, but he says no, he "wants the grass to grow through the rocks". HUH!? I tell him, even if some grass grows there, HOW the heck is he going to mow the grass with a treebelt full of rocks, without DESTROYING his lawnmower!! But he didn't understand what I was saying, and just kept saying that he wants to grow grass with the rocks still there??

I think the guy has lost it, and feel bad for him. I also feel like just going over there and taking the rocks off his treebelt for him, but don't want him to get mad when he sees that his precious rocks are gone!

He threw about a half bag of Kentucky Bluegrass seed all over his treebelt, and then tried to rake it in, and then he watered it!

WHAT THE HECK!?

What a mess it's going to look like, when in a few weeks, the treebelt is all rocks with new grass growing around them!!!!!

Here is some pics at the link below of what the rocks covering his treebelt look like:

Landscaping Rocks 1/2 - Google Search

[MICHELLE H.]

Also, there was plastic sheeting under the rocks to keep weeds from sprouting up, but he moved the rocks, and took the plastic out, then put the rocks back! He kept saying that he likes the rocks, but wants Green grass there, and wants the grass to grow up through the rocks. He seems to think the rocks are topsoil or something!? Also, they are not really the pea-size or gravel size. I would say that they are roughly 3/4" inch in diameter. Unfortunately, I don't really know any of is family, to try to tell them what he is attempting to do, and if this an early warning some of Alzheimers or something?

[Dave M.]

Michelle,

Does sound a bit loony. He can mow any grass that comes up with his weed whacker. Suggest you be pleasant and mind your own business

Dave M.

[WW]

That is nice that you want to help him. I help a neighbor like that. Tough when the mind goes. He still drives OK and safely but don.t remember how to get to the store. Wife goes along so he can get where going and find his way back home. She does not drive. WW

[MICHELLE H.]

Yes, I was and am pleasant to him, and did just mind my own business and let him do what he wanted to do. I did feel kinda bad, because I never heard or seen anyone throw grass seed on top of a 50 foot long treebelt of rocks before! I tried to help him out and offer to move the rocks for him, so that he can grow grass the right way, on topsoil, but he said no, he wanted grass to grow with the rocks!? Just hope he does use a weedwacker to cut whatever grows, and doesn't try to mow a treebelt of

3/4" inch rocks/stones with his push lawmower!!!!!

[Frank]

In my experience, when an elderly person starts losing it, it is best to humor them and not try to argue with them.

[Norminn]

How well do you know him? Medical history? It is entirely possible that he is ill, with anything from dementia to diabetes to medication reaction. Folks do strange things sometimes when there are serious health problems going on.

[dadiOH]

How thick is the layer of crushed rock? If not too thick, grass will grow perfectly well. Mowing it is another story but perhaps he doesn't *want* to mow it.

[MICHELLE H.]

Unfortunately, I don't really "know-him, know-him". Just know him in a neighborly kind of way like "Hi, how you doing" and occasionally talking to him about the weather or gas prices and stuff. I usually go over and help him shovel snow in the winter when I see him out there struggling to do it himself. I usually help him out by bringing out his 95 gallon trash barrel for him when it's full.

I know that he is still very active though for 76 years old. He drives to the store on a daily basis, and he likes working outside in his yard planting flowers, or pruning his Crabapple trees. He says that he has family ( a sister ), but I never see anyone visit the guy!?

Oh well, if he is able to grow grass on his treebelt, I guess I will offer to let him use either my handheld grass clippers or a weedwacker to trim the grass, that way he doesn't use his push lawnmower and send rocks flying out like missiles all over the neighborhood!!!!!!

[MICHELLE H.]

While I didn't actually measure how deep the 3/4" rock was, I did see it when he was moving it around, to take the plastic sheeting out from under it, and then putting the rock/stones back. I would say it is ROUGHLY 1 and 1/2, to 2 inches deep rock/stones that are roughly 3/4" inch in diameter sitting on top of the topsoil.

[tangerine3]

You might do him a favor by speaking with his sister if you can locate her, or another relative. There are also social service people who can help, you'd have to inquire who to contact, maybe look up something like the county human services dept. (They're there to help with things like food stamps, electric outages, the elderly, and so on.....).

What he's doing is harmless (unless he tries to mow it), but it sounds like he is getting alzheimers and it never hurts to speak with someone. A relative would be the best, but a social worker can be helpful too. There was an old handicapped guy in my area who could no longer drive and was unable to get around on his own. He was very skinny when someone contacted the county. A social worker went to his home and found he had not eaten in weeks because he had no way to get groceries. They also found a darn near starved dog in the house, which was temporarily taken to the humane society for care.

He was given a motorized wheel chair to help him get around and somehow food is delivered to him each week. Now I see this guy buzzing around town in that electric wheelchair, and his dog running alongside. He looks good and seems happy.

Maybe your neighbor is just a bit eccentric, but it never hurts to check on elderly people who act oddly.

[Marina]

[e-mail] (MICHELLE H.) wrote in news:26851-4FA7B978- [e-mail]:

Is he trying to grow grass pets, kinda like chia pets? (no joke).

[Marina]

"WW" wrote in news:VuWdncZHOo7YVDrSnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

That's great you are watching out for him. In the last couple of years I have health problems. I'm getting better. I always do my own yard work, but being out of work for a long time I don't have the money to hire people. A neighbor turned me in to the town hall for having a broken fence. It's only 2 wood panels that the winter wind blew down. They are next to the back of my house. Around the entire yard I have a chain link fence. This "wonderful" anonymous person just couldn't even wait for the winter to be over with to turn me in.

[MICHELLE H.]

If your house has a "treebelt", then you most likely know, that this is where lazy dog owners let their dogs poop all over them, and don't pick it up!! Also, people park their cars/trucks on them, and leave tiremarks and ruts all across them as well.

Someone e-mailed me, and told me that they would rather have all concrete between the sidewalk and street, then a strip/island full of grass. My city DPW would never make it all concrete, because the water lines and natural gas lines are underneath peoples treebelts in my area.

[IGot2P]

....and he should have suggested that you concern yourself with you own property and stop bugging him. Is this really all you have to do?

[krw]

Zoysia sends out runners, sideways, to propagate. Trust me, it grows up, too. ;-) If he plants Zoysia, I hope you like it too! (I do, for Southern lawns).

I don't know why people are so hung up on Kentucky Blue. I like the Fescues (creeping red is really nice), if you're not worried about drought.

If you have enough water, watermelon is easy. It just grows.

[tangerine3]

Is there a reason you keep posting the same topic as a new message rather than a followup in the same thread?

Just asking??? Maybe you must do that when using webtv???? I've never used it, so I dont know.

Anyhow, if you can keep to the same thread it would be appreciated. It's hard to follow when a new message is created each time.

[MICHELLE H.]

Re:

"krw" wrote:

"Zoysia sends out runners, sideways, to propagate. Trust me, it grows up, too. ;-) If he plants Zoysia, I hope you like it too! ( I do, for Southern lawns )".

END

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Yes, I know what you mean. I just read about Zoysia grass, and people say that it's VERY invasive, and that it will grow into neighboring yards, and take over your neighbors lawn!!!!!

[krw]

I wish my neighbors would plant it, though they're about 1/4 mile from me, so it'll be a while. ;-)

[micky]

I agree with be pleasant and don't argue, but when/if you see someone come to visit, you should pull hir aside, see if it's family or friend, and tell hir what he's done and said.

You might also ask the neighbor on the other side of him if they know where to find his family, or even several doors away or across the street.

This stuff is harmless, but in the future he might get really bad and you can call the police if you think he may hurt himself.

P&M