My Brown Grass Saga, CC&R's, Broken Sprinklers and "Frank"

First off just recently moving here, I have noticed ya'll love to water your grass - a lot.

Back in Cali you didn’t see lawns watered like this. Mostly because Cali is less established than Washington and most there have some sort of sprinkler system. So to see many of you watering you lawns is normal for you, but is something I have noticed.

When we moved to Yakima, we were lucky enough to find "Wysteria Lane" which had a full sprinkler system. Great! One less thing I have o take care of. Over time, I noticed some brown spots starting to pop up. One early afternoon, I saw our lawn guy and mentioned the brown spots. Lets call him "Frank". I explained my concerns about the browning of my lawn. He said "Yeah, we had some complications with our gravity feed system our water pressure is lowered so the sprinklers don't work right. Don't worry about it, I will fix it."

Now, maybe it's just me, but when someone says they are gonna take care of it, I trust them.

My bad.

After a week, I noticed sprinklers were coming on, but the brown spots were growing.

Trusting our guy "Frank", I considered it was being addressed.

That's when the phone call came. Our HOA (Home Owners Association) was on the other line. For the record, when the HOA calls you, something is wrong.

"My Pearson, I am calling to tell you that you are in violation of the CC&R's due to breaching the 20% threshold of your browned lawn."

Ugh. Here we go.

"Yeah, I noticed it. I just talked to Frank about this last week. He mentioned the sprinkler system was not working and he said he would be taking care of it" I explained.

The friendly voice on the other end replied, "Well according to the CC&R's, it is your responsibility to ensure a green lawn."

She was right. Even though "Frank" was "talking care of it", I was still responsible.

“I will take care of it, but when Frank was supposed to be fixing it. I thought it was being addressed.”

“Yes, Frank does over see this, but the responsibility falls on you.”

She was right.

“I will start watering tonight.”

After the call, the first thing I was reminded of is my favorite quote from the epic TV Series 'Yellowstone'. Thomas Rainwater, a prominent Native American chief in the series who is fighting to get what he claims is his land, (owned by Kevin Costner's character) said this and it was the first thing I thought of...

"... Your concrete world with stick houses and grass that can't survive without fertilizer and sprinklers."

Some deep stuff there. And very true.

Getty Images/Yellowstones Thomas Rainwater

Yep, I signed it - now it's my responsibility. So, now I am watering those brown spots like a madman trying to turn brown, green. Morning and night - just like you.

In the meantime, in true fashion our backyard sprinklers are working great. And no one, including the HOA can see it. Ugh.

Of course my backyard sprinklers work great!

I am dealing with Kentucky Rye grass from what I am told. This weekend I will seed and fertilize to get back in compliance here on Wysteria Lane ASAP.

Any tips on turning my lawn from brown to green? Lemme know. I am committed - you know cause - fines. The great motivator.