Yard Day 1: Not much to see yet.

I began the much-anticipated yard renovation in earnest today, although the work had really started two weeks ago. Beginning the day before Earth Day, I applied a total of about two and a half coats of Roundup to the yard. Roundup is a glyphosate herbicide, which is 'non-selective'—meaning it's napalm for plants. Here's what my yard looked like after the damage was done:

More after the jump.

It definitely works. Here's one of my favorite pictures comparing my yard with my neighbor's healthy grass:

Today I spent about two hours mowing the dead yard, which I'm sure looked like an exercise in futility to the neighbors. Even though it doesn't look much different I bagged six bags of dead grass and thatch. It's OK for some of it to stay on the yard, since it acts like fertilizer—the Roundup somehow magically becomes inert after it does its handiwork.

If I didn't look like enough of an idiot mowing a completely dead yard, I really earned the reputation by watering a dead yard. (It's important to loosen the soil before tilling it tomorrow.) Plus, I got a cool tractor sprinkler thing that drives along the hose!

Tomorrow: My dad, in an unbelievable act of selflessness that he claims is just earning him brownie points for when the baby gets here, is driving up to help me till the yard. More pictures to come.