When I pulled into the driveway after work tonight (there was no cat to be seen, by the way), and noticed the landlord had been by to cut the grass.
I gave a leisurely thought to the cucumber vines that had trailed across the lawn this morning, winding their way into the grass, stretching longer and longer by the day. Ah, lovely cucumber vines. Certainly, I thought, the landlord will have lifted them up and run the lawnmower underneath them, then set them back down, gently, to their verdant home.
Fat chance of that.
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
OMG! Have you beaten him senseless yet?
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
No…honestly, I was sort of amused. It’s my own damn fault for leaving the vines trailing out across the grass like that. Seriously, I left them hanging out there by like two feet.
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
That is SO sad. What was he thinking? Seriously, a cucumber looks NOTHING like grass!!
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Well, I’m figuring he was hot and busy and didn’t have time to really deal.
Or…not to malign the teenage girls in his family, but it’s possible that he put one of them to work on the yard. And I remember being a teenage girl, and I know there’s no way I would have paid any attention to a cucumber vine. I would have been too pissed off that I was having to mow in the first place when there were boys who could be reached by phone!
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Ooohhh, poor cucumber, mowed down in the prime of life.
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
It was a brutal killing. Truly brutal. Sigh.
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
To some people a plant is just a plant. There are no fine distinctions. Just like some people can’t tell the difference between a dress from Wal-Mart and one from Prada.
I remember working in an art museum when I was younger and how I used to marvel at people commenting on the FRAMES.
Good grief.
Robin (Bumblebee)
on Jul 26th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Robin, it’s true. But I must not malign my landlord too badly. He’s a very nice guy, and, like I said, must have been in a hurry. Or something. Sigh.
on Jul 27th, 2007 at 1:18 am
And there is always the risk that if you complain, he’ll turn the lawn mower over to you and say “there you go, mow it yourself”. Which, come to think of it, for those of us who actually like to mow, might not be such a bad thing.
I’d say next year try the bush cucumber varities also known as “short vine” types.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
on Jul 27th, 2007 at 2:56 am
There is the school of thought that vining plants need to be ‘stopped’, as in the long vines cut back to encourage smaller offshoots to grow. I don’t think it’s meant to be done with a lawnmower, though.
Now, all that said, mon mari (who should know better and who shall be severely punished) did the same thing to my pumpkins!
on Jul 27th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Hey Carol, I have an acre here you can FEEL FREE to mow! I’ll fill the mower up with gas and everything! Do you also enjoy weed whacking? I have one of those too…
… free yard for those that like to mow and weed whack. Look out for doggie mines and woman eating lantana…
- Emma
ps. Sorry about the cukes. :-( To him, it was probably just a (eek!) weed!
on Jul 27th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
What a horror. I promise I’m not going to grumble so much when I have to get up early and get my arms all scratched up holding up the squash vines so my husband can mow next to the garden boxes.
This fall, he’s vowed to kill all the grass around the boxes and replace with non-mowable mulch.
on Aug 1st, 2007 at 8:38 am
Carol, you’re so right. I have very much thought about the repercussions of complaining…and have no interest in experiencing them!
Katiez, oops…to the pumpkins? How sad!
Emma, I’m guessing he didn’t even notice it. Sigh.
Shannon, nonmowable mulch would definitely solve the mowing problem!
on Aug 8th, 2007 at 10:31 am
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