Welcome to the first installment of “Out, Out Brown Spot!” an online showcase of mysterious brown patches of ground.
The purpose of this feature? To first gawk and then act! Urban Land Armies can turn these spots around in no time.
The following is an excerpt from “How to Improve Upon a Brown Area,” a feature in the forthcoming Urban Land Army Field Manual: Volume I – Breaking Ground. Available for sale soon over at the Supply Shop.
It’s just sitting there. The grass is dead and the dirt is gasping. A mangy cat croaks a dry throated howl and glares your way. A thorn scratches your ankle. You swat a buzzing fly from your ear and watch a tumbleweed roll past. A train whistles in the distance. Something smells funky.
You’ve stumbled upon a brown spot.
Brown spots (or “areas”) are typically found alongside stretches of sidewalk on blocks that are too long, deep within lonely summer school grounds, and in the unclaimed, disputed, or abandoned pockets of ground that fall between houses and driveways.
Brown spots are not only found in the wilds of your neighbourhood, though. Most everyone has a brown spot right on their own property. The spot where nothing grows. Where plants start off cheerfully enough, then gradually sink into a withered depression and ultimately yield to defeat. It’s the spot where Wayne used to change the oil on the El Camino. Where a fed up middle aged father finally ground that blasted cottonwood tree into bits. Brown spots are a mysterious beast, and for that reason are an enjoyable and worthy challenge for any gardener.
In general, there are two approaches to improving upon a brown area.
1. Screw it. Hang a hammock over it. Set some pots on it. Park a picnic table. Put up a clothesline. Avert your eyes. Honestly, sometimes it’s just not worth it. You have bigger fish to fry.
2. Screw it. If you are confident that you can outwit dirt, then you can turn this situation around. The first thing to come to grips with is that this brown area is brown for a reason. Something is not quite right with this piece of ground. It might be innocent: years of neglect have produced compacted soil, a glut of weeds, and thirsty, starved grass. Fair enough. If, however, this area stands brown and alone among thriving green plants, there is a good chance that you have a situation on your hands.
A “situation” on the property of Urban Land Army Headquarters.
For detailed instructions on improving upon a brown area, stay tuned for forthcoming posts on “Land Conversion” and “Working With What You’ve Got.”
To report an unsightly brown spot in your neighbourhood, send us a photo along with the location, and we will publicize this spot. Maybe, just maybe, an Urban Land Army will converge on the spot and give it new life.
But wait! How about you get an Army together and do it yourself? It’s your brown spot after all.
To show a patch of ground who’s boss, join the Urban Land Army.
