The Seeder and the Sodder

There once was an owner who patiently and persistently worked at making the lawn green,
Each year planting and watering, liming and fertilizing, trimming and weeding.
After some years, the lawn was most healthy and almost self-sustaining.
A near by owner, seeing the neighboring lawn's greenness, was sure that it must be magic.
This hasty owner searched for the mystical secrets that make lawns startlingly green.
A rich sod grower, who had exceptionally green sod, spoke to the hasty owner
Of the ways in which such premium sod will cure the most desperate and neglected lawns.
Feeling quite bold, informed and proud, the hasty owner spent all of the year's lawn budget
To dig up the old lawn and install the prize-winning sod.
As recommended by the grower, the new lawn was watered and fertilized immediately.
Each year that followed, healthy roots reached for moisture and nutrients in the arid soil below.
The hasty owner had become intrigued with other magical solutions and failed to notice
That the grass had become parched and infested until the last blade and root had withered,
And greater were the weeds and patches of naked earth than had ever been before.