Occasionally I get asked about the use of the yard for games. We think that the yard is a great feature of the house and want to encourage it’s use. Unfortunately the use of the yard can rise above what one might consider normal wear and tear. A bunch of 5 year olds running around will never harm the lawn. 10 teenagers playing Wiffle Ball over several days will wear a huge hole into the lawn at home plate. Lawn wear, in this case, was exacerbated by playing during a rainy period.
Here is some background on our particular issues.
Our lawn was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain due to the shade provided by the surrounding trees. Increasing use of the home by vacationing groups add to the wear and can exceed the ability of the lawn to come back. This also makes repairs difficult as well. We obviously want to provide a nice lawn for each group that uses the house so your cooperation in minimizing hard use of the lawn is appreciated. Running and stopping style games are probably more than the yard can handle. Playing anything when the lawn is wet is also probably not a good idea.
In May of 2016 we had to re-sod the entire lawn as we could not bring the lawn back to condition for the season. The total cost was around $15,000. In July we had a group play Wiffle Ball on the lawn. They were pretty enthusiastic, played during inclement weather and wore right through the lawn at home plate. This caused bald spot that took months to reseed and repair.
In October of 2016 I took out two large Dog Wood trees to open up the yard to more sunlight.
Spring of 2017 I bought a brand new Bocce and Croquet set for the house. These types of games are fine.
No kiddy pools, water slides or water toys of any kind should be used on the lawn.
Please enjoy our yard but try to leave it in good condition for the other future tenants as well.