Do you mow your lawn?

[Napoleon]

I have 100+ acres in the mountains, 99%+ of which is old growth Appalachian forest. I have a fairly small area of lawn around the house, plus flower gardens, vegetable gardens and butterfly gardens. I usually let the grass stay fairly high and relatively unmanaged, unless I am preparing for a family gathering.

Sounds beautiful. I wouldn’t mind a forest retreat in retirement.

 

[Maidenrules29]

. There were a few people who cut down some large beautiful trees in their verges because they were jacking up the sidewalk and the owners were tired of paying to fix it. They were eviscerated by the HOA within 48 hours and had to replace them.

That's just insane. Forced to keep trees that were damaging a sidewalk that they in turn had to pay to fix themselves? Talk about buyer beware.

 

[bongsaway]

I have two, an ego battery self propelled and a husgavarna? riding mower that I just bought because I deceived myself two years ago that I could mow the lawn by hand. Nope, the summer heat in Florida is brutal and this old fart just can't take it any longer, so my arse now rides. I have a front yard, two sides yards and a back yard and I refuse to let the heat kill me.

 

[tshade]

That is, for those of you that mow your lawn.

Remember the days of manicured lawns? Probably still exist in gated communities but since I don't live in one, I can't say for sure.

Two articles made me think of this............

Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze.

'Meadowscaping': The people turning their lawns into meadows

Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze.

www.bbc.com

Plea to gardeners after one of worst years ever for butterflies

Alarmed at declining numbers of the insects, conservationists are asking gardeners to keep grass long.

www.bbc.com

SO, do you still mow your lawn and if you do, how low or how high. Do you still insist on a golf green lawn?

yes----just enough to keep it from being a public nusiance

 

[dmpi]

I still mow. But now it take me two days to get it all mowed. And the weed eater makes my hand shake for hours after I use it.

 

[dseag2]

We have a small front lawn but the rest of our house is built around a courtyard. Hard to believe, but when we bought our house in 2006 the previous owner used a Hispanic man that charged $25 per week to mow the lawn and trim the trees. To this day, I leave him an envelope with $25 every week and if we're traveling I leave him several weeks' worth. He is the only one who has a key to our courtyard.

He texts me to let me know when he will be out of town. He doesn't do things like weeding, etc. but he is such a nice man I don't have the heart to move on to a full-service lawn care company.

 

[Bum]

We have a landscaper/lawn service.

We have been allowing the woods around us to reclaim some of our property that we do not utilize…and I also have gardens, etc - so probably 1/2 my property is either woods/greenery/gardens.

The back yard fenced in portion where my dogs and kiddo play is kept grass and kept mowed. Same with the front near the road (although there are numerous bushes - flowering and non-flowering varieties that run the property lines)

Same....it gets mowed every other week during dry summers, and weekly during wet summers.

 

[Napoleon]

That's just insane. Forced to keep trees that were damaging a sidewalk that they in turn had to pay to fix themselves? Talk about buyer beware.

Completely understand that point of view, but IMO it’s better than the alternative. Visited family not long ago and all of the neighborhood trees in the verges I remember as a child had been cut down. The neighborhood looked awful because of it (not a mature tree in sight) but I think they did it because their power lines are above ground. It was actually disorienting. If I want to live in a concrete jungle I’ll sell my house in the burbs and move to the city.

 

[BirdinHand]

There’s also a bylaw that trees greater than 6 inches in diameter cannot be cut down. I love that rule

Our township has similar rules.

If you want to take down a tree with a diameter more than 6”, you need to submit a request to the zoning board AND need to include how those trees will be replaced - meaning planting X” of other trees somewhere else OR getting an approval not to replant.

Don’t abide it and you get hit with actual fines.

 

[coyote505]

Eliminating lawns has been an attractive alternative in water stressed Los Angeles. Currently, no lawn at all, but plants to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and pollinators.

When I did have a house with a lawn, I mowed it myself with an old fashioned push lawnmower. Not a great expanse, and I found mowing a very soothing activity. Even then I was expanding flower beds and reducing the lawn size. (Darn adobe soil was a pain in the neck to amend.)

My "soil" is about 18" of sand and gravel road base, over 2" of caliche, over about 1,000 feet of sugar sand. Turf would be an unaffordable extravagance. I grow trees and bushes, as xeric as will survive Zone 7 winters, while also surviving 100F, 5% humidity summers. Hummingbirds have to make do with Russian sage, Purple Robe Locust, and Mimosas, along with a well patronized hummingbird feeder. Bees get scarcer each summer, as Albuquerque's annual rainfall has dropped from 10" to 6" over the last 25 years, and "dry" weather has gone from 10% humidity to 3% humidity. My monthly summer water bill is over $200.

 

[Fearandloathing]

That is, for those of you that mow your lawn.

Remember the days of manicured lawns? Probably still exist in gated communities but since I don't live in one, I can't say for sure.

Two articles made me think of this............

Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze.

'Meadowscaping': The people turning their lawns into meadows

Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze.

www.bbc.com

Plea to gardeners after one of worst years ever for butterflies

Alarmed at declining numbers of the insects, conservationists are asking gardeners to keep grass long.

www.bbc.com

SO, do you still mow your lawn and if you do, how low or how high. Do you still insist on a golf green lawn?

The last dozen years of my working life was running my own gardening company.

I worked nine months of the year, some days ten and 12 hours long and have never been healthier; something about being outside all day.

Lawns are tricky. A customer will know a bad cut but not know why, when it's all in the trimming and walking in a straight line. Using a Honda commercial I could cut lawns larger than a football field in industrial areas. Bu careful, they've heavy and leave wheel marks in wet.

I designed the garden at my building and three others on the street. It's cool living where you designed the garden. My place was a challenge, not really much nutrition in the soil, clay and in shade 75% of the time. Heather draped along the stone wall; Hydrangea & Yew as back drop and lots and lots of flowering shade perennials.

Tip - DO NOT cut your lawn too short. Never more than 20% off the tips, usually every ten days, less in a drought. DO edge your lawn, as that straight edge makes all the difference in the world.

BTW, tip your lawn service people at the end of the year or at Christmas

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

The last dozen years of my working life was running my own gardening company.

I worked nine months of the year, some days ten and 12 hours long and have never been healthier; something about being outside all day.

Lawns are tricky. A customer will know a bad cut but not know why, when it's all in the trimming and walking in a straight line. Using a Honda commercial I could cut lawns larger than a football field in industrial areas. Bu careful, they've heavy and leave wheel marks in wet.

I designed the garden at my building and three others on the street. It's cool living where you designed the garden. My place was a challenge, not really much nutrition in the soil, clay and in shade 75% of the time. Heather draped along the stone wall; Hydrangea & Yew as back drop and lots and lots of flowering shade perennials.

Tip - DO NOT cut your lawn too short. Never more than 20% off the tips, usually every ten days, less in a drought. DO edge your lawn, as that straight edge makes all the difference in the world.

BTW, tip your lawn service people at the end of the year or at Christmas

Why would I tip someone when I used to be a landscaper myself (before I retired).

 

[coyote505]

That's just insane. Forced to keep trees that were damaging a sidewalk that they in turn had to pay to fix themselves? Talk about buyer beware.

You don't have to destroy the whole tree, because of one badly behaved root. Saw off the root. Or if it is invading a sewer, flush copper sulphate down your toilet and let it sit overnight.

 

[MAGAnificent]

I mow my lawn regularly. I care more about how my property looks then I do butterflies. I do maintain feeders for hummingbirds (in season), as well as red cardinals, house finches, doves, etc, and two bird houses for bluebirds. The butterflies appear to be thriving, probably due to the forest just outside my property.

 

[Fearandloathing]

Why would I tip someone when I used to be a landscaper myself (before I retired).

That says more about you than you realize

Very American

 

[Napoleon]

Why would I tip someone when I used to be a landscaper myself (before I retired).

Context. I had a great guy from Guatemala for a few years who would always charge what I considered obscenely low prices for what I considered onerous tasks. There was one time when I wanted to get rid of a row of hiddeous and old fire bushes (?) I’d inherited from the previous owner. Uproot them, get every trace of them out of my sight, and clean up the beds. He wanted $10.

He was a proud and hard working man so it required a lot of convincing to get him to accept more but in the end I got him to take $30 and a few Gatorades. The real tip was for him not to undervalue his labor but I don’t think it ever took.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

That says more about you than you realize

Very American

Being a landscaper makes me American? Huh?

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

Context. I had a great guy from Guatemala for a few years who would always charge what I considered obscenely low prices for what I considered onerous tasks. There was one time when I wanted to get rid of a row of hiddeous and old fire bushes (?) I’d inherited from the previous owner. Uproot them, get every trace of them out of my sight, and clean up the beds. He wanted $10.

He was a proud and hard working man so it required a lot of convincing to get him to accept more but in the end I got him to take $30 and a few Gatorades. The real tip was for him not to undervalue his labor but I don’t think it ever took.

Yikes, even $30 is a low ball number. He may have been working without claiming the money as income tax, it happens here too. I kept it legit. I charged a hefty fee for the work I did, and paid my taxes.

 

[Safiel]

My "soil" is about 18" of sand and gravel road base, over 2" of caliche, over about 1,000 feet of sugar sand. Turf would be an unaffordable extravagance. I grow trees and bushes, as xeric as will survive Zone 7 winters, while also surviving 100F, 5% humidity summers. Hummingbirds have to make do with Russian sage, Purple Robe Locust, and Mimosas, along with a well patronized hummingbird feeder. Bees get scarcer each summer, as Albuquerque's annual rainfall has dropped from 10" to 6" over the last 25 years, and "dry" weather has gone from 10% humidity to 3% humidity. My monthly summer water bill is over $200.

Thankfully my property is up in the North Carolina mountains and I get water from two reliable springs year round. I don't use a terrible lot of water, though I could if I wished.

 

[Safiel]

Sounds beautiful. I wouldn’t mind a forest retreat in retirement.

I absolutely love it up here. Mount Airy is less than half an hour to the east and Winston-Salem is less than an hour away. Galax, Virginia is about 15 minutes away. But absolutely no neighbors in sight so I can do pretty much as I like.

A downside is that I have to haul my own trash, yard trash and recycling to the local transfer center, no trash pickup here. But I personally don't mind that. And it is easy enough to make a financial arrangement with a neighbor to haul your garbage if you don't want to do it yourself.

And on a clear night on or near the new moon, it can get absolutely pitch black and dead silent here, no road noises and little light pollution.

And abundant wildlife, pretty much anything Appalachia has to offer.

Perfect for me, though the isolation could freak other people out.

 

[Rexedgar]

Bought a small parcel with an old farmhouse 36 years ago. The previous owner had let the place go to seed. He installed fencing to keep his dog in and the dog had blazed a trail around the perimeter of the fenced area The interior was waist high wild grass. After a bunch of work I got the place manageable. I has a box store mower to begin and I can’t complain, I abused the mower, I replaced the deck once. A few year later I got a John Deere from a local dealer. That was a serious upgrade from the MTD mower that I had been using. Fast forward to 2018, I got a Massey Ferguson diesel with a snow plow and belly mower. After less than 300 hours, the fan belt broke. I thought no worries, that can’t be a big deal. Oops, the motor is mounted rear to front and the drive shaft is connected to the crankshaft pulley. Gotta drop the shaft to get the belt on. It’s been a week down waiting on parts…….The property is about 1 2/3 acre.

 

[Allan]

husgavarna

Indestructible bit of equipment. Mine can sit in freezing temperatures all winter and still starts on the first pull.

 

[gman]

We’re in a rural area and sit on an acre and a third with one third left untouched. Since building and moving here we’ve added some conifers, bird houses and feeders. The rest is grass and we have no intentions of changing it. We’ve got enough wildlife around and we all peacefully coexist. Well, except when we had a garden and the groundhogs wanted to share in it.

 

[RF667799]

That is, for those of you that mow your lawn.

Remember the days of manicured lawns? Probably still exist in gated communities but since I don't live in one, I can't say for sure.

Two articles made me think of this............

Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze.

'Meadowscaping': The people turning their lawns into meadows

Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze.

www.bbc.com

Plea to gardeners after one of worst years ever for butterflies

Alarmed at declining numbers of the insects, conservationists are asking gardeners to keep grass long.

www.bbc.com

SO, do you still mow your lawn and if you do, how low or how high. Do you still insist on a golf green lawn?

We mow to keep the wilderness from encroaching too close to the house, and to provide a clear area for our own use.

 

[RF667799]

Indestructible bit of equipment. Mine can sit in freezing temperatures all winter and still starts on the first pull.

Husqvarna are good. I prefer Stihl myself, for no good reason at all other than the one you used for Husqvarna. I've taken to running that pre-mixed, non-ethanol fuel in all my weed eaters, brush cutters, chainsaws, etc. It's fairly expensive, but it doesn't have the aggravation that comes along with mixing fuel and using 10% ethanol in small engines.