A very different kind of yard art

The "news" story and photo made my mouth fall open. No words came out. Not even, "Can you believe that?"

Then I giggled and motioned to a co-worker, "Hey, look at this."

As anyone who knows me well can tell you, I'm not struck speechless -- even momentarily -- very often. So what caused my atypical behavior? An article from England about a woman who had the Mona Lisa mowed into her grass.

Or, as the Worthing Herald called it "Mowna Lisa." The Glasgow Daily Record tried "I have mown a Lisa," which punsters ought to appreciate. (Gotta love those headline writers!)

Re-creating Leonardo's masterpiece in grass took two days, and it will last a few weeks at most. No estimates were given on the cost.

As unusual as it may seem for an ordinary person's lawn, it is an example of a trend that we've seen increasingly in the US -- artistic patterns mowed into the grass, mostly of sports fields.

Here's how the groundskeeper for the Milwaukee Brewers does it. And advice to make your lawn resemble Fenway Park's. David Mellor, director of grounds for the Red Sox, even wrote a book on the subject.

And his isn't the only one. David Parfitt's is titled "Lawnscapes: Mowing Patterns to Make Your Yard a Work of Art." He may not have had the Mona Lisa in mind when he wrote that, but you gotta admit that having the world's most famous painting replicated in your grass certainly fits.

Let's just call it a different kind of lawn art.