Ah, the joys of homeownership.

About 2 weeks ago I noticed an awful stench coming from the bushes next to the house. I assumed some poor lizard or frog had croaked (haha frog - croaked) and was stinking up the place. After about a week I noticed what was causing the smell. Not a dead animal, oh no. It was a columned stinkhorn, Linderia columnata. We've had smaller ones pop up in the grass, but I guess they weren't big enough to put off a nociceable stench. This one seemed quite happy in the wood chip mulch under the shrubs and put off quite a smell. They attract flies which pick up their spores and spread them around to start new foci of ickiness. Last night as I was watering, I noticed the beginnings of a half dozen or so new stinkhorns. I kicked them up in hopes they'll dry out.

We've also been having water pressure issues. Our area of town is booming with new development which seems to be putting a strain on the water supply. We can't even properly water our lawn on watering days because the pressure is too low for our sprinklers to work. Our dipshit neighbors now water EVERY day as a solution to the problem. Gee, thanks, it's not enough that our pressure is horribly low on watering days, but now it's low every day. Hubby is going to call the county utilities to see what's up and to see if we can tie into the reclaimed water without an irrigation system (will they just let us hook up a hose and sprinkler or do we have to shell out the big bucks and have a proper system installed?)

Last night as I was walking the dog, the every-day waterers asked about our pressure. I wanted so much to yell at them since last night was a watering night for even numbers (us) and not for odd numbers (them). It's not necessary to water a lawn every day. In fact, it's better for plants to receive a less-frequent heavy watering (this promotes deeper root growth) than daily light waterings (which promote shallow roots more prone to drying). A properly maintained Bahia lawn, which most of our neighboorhood has, only needs watering once a week to 1o days. Bahia is fairly drought tolerant and has an amazing ability to green up after a good rain.

Friends of mine upgraded to St. Augustinegrass when they moved to their new house. They bragged and bragged about their upgrade to fancy grass. It looks about the same as Bahia to me (same ugly thick blades) and is not drought tolerant and also is susceptible to several bug pests and fungi. Now everytime they complain how much water it needs, and how it has dead patches, hubby and I secretly gloat. Our lawn may look like crap when it's dry, but as soon as the rain starts, we'll have a lush, thick lawn again. Yeah, I'm a snob.