Okay, so check this out. I had this weird situation going on in my backyard – a freakin’ hole in my lawn. Not like a small divot, but a legit HOLE. Big enough to twist an ankle, you know?
First thing I did? Played detective. I circled the darn thing, looking for clues. Animal tracks? Nope. Obvious signs of digging? Nada. Just a hole. Super frustrating.
My initial thought was some kind of animal. Maybe a groundhog? Or a freakin’ mole on steroids? But I hadn’t seen any of those guys around. So, I went down a rabbit hole (pun intended, sorry!) of internet research. Groundhogs, moles, voles… you name it, I read about it.
The more I read, the more I realized I needed to get my hands dirty. So, I grabbed a shovel and started digging… carefully. I wanted to see if there were any tunnels or anything that would give me a clue.
Digging down, I didn’t find any tunnels, but I did find…nothing. Just dirt. Regular, uninteresting dirt. What the heck?! At this point, I’m getting seriously confused.
Then, it hit me. We had some crazy rain a few weeks back. Maybe, just maybe, it was erosion. I started poking around the surrounding area, and I noticed some slight dips and unevenness in the lawn. Bingo!
So, the solution? Fill ‘er up! I grabbed a wheelbarrow and some topsoil from the local hardware store. Then, I started layering the soil into the hole, packing it down as I went.
Next up, grass seed. I sprinkled a bunch of grass seed over the filled-in area and gave it a good watering. Now comes the waiting game.
I kept the area watered for the next couple of weeks, and slowly but surely, the grass started to grow back. It’s not perfect – you can still see a slight difference in the color of the grass – but the hole is GONE. No more ankle-twisting hazard!
My takeaways from this whole ordeal:
- Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one (erosion!).
- Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and investigate.
- A little topsoil and grass seed can go a long way.
It wasn’t the most exciting project, but damn it felt good to fix that hole. Now I can walk around my backyard without fear of falling into the abyss.
