Ice Rink and the Giant Balls of Plastic

This yard's backyard rink was a gamble due to el Nino.  A gamble that we should not have taken.  We only got a single day of skating in.  It really was no one thing that destroyed the season, but the weather sure did not help.  The first issue was injuries and time.  My son took a crosscheck to the back in early fall that tore up his shoulder.  It took awhile to heal so the rink went up late.  Since he has grown we went really big this year.  80 feed by 40 feet.  That was one large (and expensive) piece of 6mm plastic!  We got it put up no problem and got it filled but the cold weather did not come.  Then hockey season started in full force and he was on a league that traveled to Michigan (we live in Illinois) virtually every weekend.  So time was limited; not that the ice was really that skatable.  Too soft and thin because it was too warm.  Things started looking up in mid-January the day after he finally got a skate in, we lost all the water under the ice.  MOLES.  The ground never really froze very hard and they chewed through the liner in multiple places to get at the water.  I hope the little shits drowned in the resulting tsunami. In one day they completely destroyed a $300 liner.  In the end, it didn't matter that much though because that weekend he took another illegal hit and broke his fingers so skating with stick was off the table again.  Plus it never really got cold enough after that to give us good ice.  We had more than one wading in waders session, cleaning leaves out of the pond. 

So yesterday was clean up the carnage day.  I would have liked to use the liner again for at least another year but it was a total loss, too many mole holes.  People think that leaving plastic on the yard over winter kills the grass.  It does not.  The grass under the liner actually greens up faster than the rest of the lawn.  If you leave the boards on the lawn too long you will get some grass kill but not enough to be able to see it a few weeks later.  This year we did have some actually damage though.  Mole tunnels.  The paved them under the boards and they were very busy.  Ice rink put away is the only think I really don't like about backyard rinks.  The boards are no big deal but man handling that ginormous piece of plastic that gets kind of slimy over the winter is not so much fun.  So this year I decided the kiddo was big enough to do it solo!  And he did.  He is 80% done.  Observe and admire.  On other blogs you get lovely tulips and daffodils.  At Mutiny in the Garden you get a yard full of giant plastic balls!
Oh well, at least the grass is getting green.  

Do Backyard Ice Rinks Kill the Grass? Nope

 This year's backyard ice rink project was proceeded by what I call marital moments.  These moments are sometimes precipitated by one spouse starting a discussion with the words, "I have the coolest idea ever!"  If the other spousal unit has concerns about the scope and/or side effects of said idea, you can end up having a marital moment. or moments.  Heh.

The marital moment surrounding the ice rink issue, was primarily related to the lawn.  My spouse had concerns that putting a 6mm of black plastic on the lawn, filling it with water and then allowing it to freeze into three to ten inches of ice to skate on, might be detrimental to the lawn.  If I'm being honest, I'll admit that I had a twinge of worry about that as well.  However I also had internet research!  My internet research told me the lawn would be fine and in the end, that research allowed me to convince my spouse to give it a shot.  It was such a success that he wants to triple the size of it next year.  He decided that before we even knew the status of the lawn.

I really want to have a rink again next year, so I really should have been more aggressive about getting the two layers of plastic drained and off the lawn.  Afterall, it was mostly melted five weeks ago and the snow has been gone for a good three weeks.  We've had some sun.  No doubt it was heating up the black plastic giving the final blows of death to the poor little blades underneath it, right?  Nope.

 I got my lazy behind out there finally yesterday.  I finished draining it all and pulled the black plastic back to finish drying so that I can fold it up for next year.  Here's the yard.  It is not lovely since its still mostly dormant and the soil is still ice cold.  What is also is not is dead!  There is a bit of yellowing in the one area.  This was the wettest, deepest area.  I'm not worried about it.  There are still tons of green shoots in there.  I fully expect it all to be looking lush within the next three weeks.

 So there you have it.  You lovers of skating should feel free to use my images as evidence, should you experience your own marital moments surround the issue of ice rinks and lawns.  My example shows that even with a far amount of laziness, the lawn can still be just fine!