I really hate mowing the grass. Anyone else out there whose NOT into "perfect" green grass?

[riderinthestorm]

For many reasons I'm not a big fan - I have a lot of grass to cut weekly, the fuel consumption irritates me, this chore doesn't "soothe" me, or allow me time to be contemplative, or whatever. I just want it DONE.

My neighbor has cut her grass already 9 times!! this year. I'm in Northern Illinois which means we haven't really revved up on spring until recently. I just finished my second mowing today.

What the hell?! Anyone else have a neighbor whose lawn crazy? Or are YOU lawn crazy? What explains this? (In her case, she has too much time on her hands imho. She desperately needs a volunteer gig or something else to do than obsess over her yard).

[Ptah]

1. Grazing herd.

[freshwest]

16. Yep. They'll even water and fertilize the lawn for you.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. our lawn is mostly weeds. they are green and look OK when mowed. 'nuff said!

needless to say we are in the minority in our chemical drenched, mostly perfect green lawned neighborhood. Most in the neighborhood have no regard about where that shit they spray on the lawn ends up -nearby Falls Lake - and what it does to its inhabitants.

[nolabear]

3. I used to live in a place where I made the lawn a gorgeous natural planting.

Woodsy area anyway, and I put in butterfly plantings, a little pool and a wooded pathway leading to it, borders of salmonberries and sallal, really peaceful. We sold the place and the last time I saw it, the s.o.b. had plowed the whole thing down and put in what looked like a golf course.

I'm still not over it.

[freshwest]

17. I've seen that too. I don't know why people don't love sallal. They might as well put in Astroturf©.

[fleur-de-lisa]

4. Got rid of all grass when I bought my house . . .

Replaced all lawn with shrubs and ground cover and don't miss it a bit. Grass uses more water than shrubs or gcs. Provides very little to the animal world in the way of cover (for critters to hide or nest in) and almost no food, unless you're a goat. Requires a lot of chemical intervention to keep it looking healthy. And, in my opinion, it's boring and unattractive. Unless you have little kids and you want to provide a place for them to run around, I don't see the need for grass on residential property.

But I own a small lot in New Orleans. Very temperate climate and fantastic soil, so it's pretty easy to grow plants. If I had a really large yard, I suppose I would have to keep some grass, but I would definitely keep it to a minimum.

[baldguy]

5. My dog likes to dig holes.

In the yard - in the garden - under the fence. I have chicken wire staked out along the base of the fence and about 2 doz 12x12 concrete tiles in strategic places (her favorite spots). And, of course I let the dandelions and the crabgrass grow free.

OTOH, my old neighbor used to trim her lawn every day (w/ a push reel), used a pair of scissors on her hands & knees to do the edging, then sweep the lawn with a broom to finish up. It looked like a putting green.

[femmocrat]

6. Our annoying neighbor rides his mower around ... and around.... and around....

Seems like he cuts his damn grass every night! We have cut ours twice. It looks fine. I think the dandelions look cheery!

[riderinthestorm]

34. I like dandelions too! Those cute fuzzy yellow tops... what's not to love right?! nt

[Populist_Prole]

37. Tell me about it!

It must be an ego thing as they play with their toys. It's so silly to see someone mowing a small ( half or quarter acre or less ) lawn with riding mowers. There's one a few houses down, and one behind me that do. Big honking riding mowers ( not the zero-turn or open "snapper" type ) but like 1/4 scale farm tractors with loud whining hydrostatic drives and deep droning exhaust notes with whirling blades that howl like a turboprop commuter plane on takeoff. Stupid lunkheads spend more time backing up and turning round than they do cutting grass because the damn thing's just too big to be maneuverable enough to reach places a regular mower can. They spend more time mowing than me with my push mower.

I once suggested to the one down the street to try a push mower ( which he does have ) and he motioned at his rather ample mid-section about how he couldn't push a mower around an hour; the obvious irony being completely oblivious to him.

[NJCher]

75. trucks transport these mowers around....

To mow postage-stamp yards?!

People hire these guys because they are so cheap. I talked to a couple neighbors about what they pay and its ridiculously low.

But it's not really cheap. It just sounds that way because the cost per visit is low. What has to be factored in is that they come every. single. week. There are stretches in the summer where it's so dry there is no point in mowing the yard because the grass didn't grow due to lack of water. Doesn't stop them. They mow anyway because they want the money.

Same thing with their blowers. There may not be anything on the ground, but they use them because, as one told me, "I want my customer to think he's getting his money's worth."

A student in one of my classes told me he worked in a gas station and when these lawnmower guys drive in in with their trailers, it's a $300+ purchase.


Cher

[Turbineguy]

7. I live in a neighborhood of

exhibitionist lawns.

[one_voice]

8. I'm not lawn crazy..

I like it to look nice though. I like cutting the grass it's the best way to get a tan. I enjoy the outside too and the exercise is nice.

I cut once a week, in the spring occasionally twice a week, not for looks though easier to cut when it's not ass high.

[hibbing]

9. not a fan

Hey,
I don't look forward to it at all. My lawn is not very nice, but I do mow once a week. The only pleasure I get from it is tossing the neighbor's dog poop over the hedge and into his yard, and I also enjoy watching the birds poke through the freshly cut grass.

Peace

[love_katz]

10. Definitely not a fan of lawns.

I want to get rid of mine...bit by bit.

I want to replace it with raised beds so I can raise herbs, food, and some flowers.

I wish I could afford to do like Nola bear, upthread: replace the lawn in the shady parts of the yard with a little pool/waterfall (preferably solar powered on the waterfall), and huckleberries, Oregon Grape, salal, and other native plants. Sounds like paradise to me.

Lawns were originally established as status symbols by sheep farmers in Europe. It was the pasture you could afford to not have grazed.

And they are a stupid, wasteful concept and too often a burden on the environment as well. People plant, fertilize, spray poisons so no other plants will grow in their lawn, mow, edge, rake...and throw the 'crop' away!

I realize some folks with families might need the space to play in, and some folks are constrained by what their home owners association will let them have, but I think Food, Not Lawns, is a much better concept. If not used for raising food, then planting native plants seems like a better idea.

With that said, I let mine be invaded by other plants. It looks better, and seems to be healthier. Mine has a very healthy crop of dandelions, narrow-leaved plantain, wild geranium, several kinds of clover, and a very nice patch of naturalized greek oregano. And...I let it dry up in the summer. I can't afford to water it.

So...you are not alone it not liking lawns, nor their endless needy care.

[RILib]

23. katz

The local native plant society where I live has a plant sale every spring. A cheap way to get started.

[Paulie]

11. Lawn care for the cheap and lazy

http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp

It works!

[love_katz]

12. Cool page, Paulie.

Nice post. I like the link.

It seems like I do most of this...except fertilizing and applying compost. I am saving my compost for my hoped-for raised beds.

I also have an electric mower. I love it and would never trade it for a stinky gas-powered mower.

My only complaint is that the mower is old, and the bolts/fasteners which are supposed to allow me to adjust the height are frozen in place. I know the mower is adjusted too low, but I can't manage to turn the nuts to loosen them so I can raise it. Does anyone know how to get them loose without breaking the nuts or parts of the mower that they are fastened too?

I will admit, I tend to put off mowing until the lawn is pretty high. In order to mow the tallest patches, I have to tilt the mower up, then lower it down slowly on the taller patches of grass.

Well...it does work...it is just time consuming. And the lawn seems to do better, if it is not cut too often nor too short.

[snacker]

13. Lots of good information.

Thank you for the link.

[applegrove]

14. Get a goat!

[LWolf]

68. Goats

are escape artists, and they prefer bushes and bark to grass.

[2theleft]

15. I did some research last year...

trying to find something for my yard, good for the environment, no fertilizer needed, etc... Ended up going with clover. It has been awesome. There are low growing varieties, they flower, which help the bees, it's pretty resistant to my dogs and their romping, and it doesn't need to be mowed as often! Been the best thing I've done in order to still have a "lawn", but lessen the impact of it.

It does make my boxer's white paws green at times when she gets especially crazy, but it comes off and is a small price to pay for NO CHEMICALS!

[freshwest]

18. Plant the whole thing with trees. Mother Nature will love you. Mulch all over to kill the grass.

[Aristus]

19. My lawn always looks like hell.

Hate, hate, HATE mowing the lawn...

[In_The_Wind]

28. I enjoy cutting the grass.

I got tired of moving the teak table and chairs so (this year) I put an outdoor carpet under the table. I really do enjoy being outside in the shade. I trimmed most of the low hanging branches to avoid poking my eye out. The transplanted Weeping Redbud Tree is doing well. Jonquils are still blooming. I'll add some annuals in the black horse trough that is now a planter. Some of the local little old ladies were quick to point out that we don't own the land we are making beautiful. I'll be adding flowers each year for all to enjoy. I do hope they will come to appreciate all of the interesting statues. Oddly enough ... not one nude graces my lawn, porch or deck.

[BlueJazz]

20. My neighbors are grass-nuts. Their lawns look like those "little Miss" beauty pageants.

Mine looks like a mow-every-ten-day lawn.

[agracie]

21. Not a fan of lawn enforcement... We live in an eco-friendly "development" and my "yard" is ...

presently filled with violets - blue, yellow, white. Also spring beauties... Soon coneflowers, daisies, and black-eyed Susans will take their place. We seldom mow.

[bluedigger]

22. My landlord isn't.

He doesn't like the water bill, which I can appreciate. Not to mention the massive water shortage we're about to experience. But he needs to xeriscape it. I'm tired of blowing dirt in the yard.

[Demo_Chris]

24. Me. I generally mow it when the city sends me a warning letter. nt

[sarge43]

25. Grass is a waste of good dirt.

Our turf was originally pasture land, so the grass came with it. We've been putting in wild flower, daffodil, day lily, veggie and herb patches along with bushes and trees. We keep bees, so as much as possible we go organic and natural. Hubby mows what little grass is left once a week. He likes the exercise. Further, if turf isn't mowed, the ever vigilant forest will march in and take over.

[In_The_Wind]

26. My neighbors insist in cutting the grass at 8 AM.

Almost everyone is retired. An extra hour of listening to the birds sing instead of gas engines and leaf blowers (blowing away the cut grass) would be appreciated.

[Populist_Prole]

35. I hate that too

It can also spoil a nice pre-sunset evening as well.

[In_The_Wind]

66. It's so peaceful when I forget to turn on my hearing aids.

Did I really forget.

[Hoyt]

27. Hate it too, but have turned it into part of exercise routine. Plus, gotta keep the weeds short.

[KG]

30. i like the weeds / ground cover to be a uniform height. there is some grass out there too.

[walkerbait41]

31. When I no longer can see the elephant

I cut the grass I hate so very much

[BillStein]

32. I used to live on a lake

in the Jersey Pines. The only way to have a lawn was to fertilize heavily. Then every year, they had to put tons of algicide in the lake! If only people could have been satisfied with the natural ground covers- moss, ivy etc all grew wild. Amazing

[datasuspect]

33. would not want to own property

that had other people within about 3 miles of my location.

or a lawn.

[Populist_Prole]

36. I HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT in hot/muggy weather. Pleasant exercise on cooler days

But it's still just another chore that keeps me from doing what I want.

I don't use a bag, I just let the clippings fly. I don't fertilize but every other year I reseed after paying someone 40 bucks to core aerate it. I never water it unless to help get newly seeded bare areas established.

For all my relative lack of fuss compared to many neighbors my lawn looks just as good, especially in the spring and fall months.

A bold statement if I may: Anyone who cuts their lawn in a criss-cross pattern should be flogged and locked in a port-o-san for 3 days.

[riderinthestorm]

57. Oh. My. Gawd! Yes, she DOES actually change up her mowing pattern to "help" the grass grow better

I could not believe it.

Really. Could not believe it.

I'm so damned irritated by it all, I also simply run shit over. "Oh look! A beer can on the parkway! Shhhrrrreeeddddd!" and spit that fucker out. Let the remnants compost over the next 50 years....

[dr.strangelove]

38. My neighbor is LAWN CRAZY but I do enjoy it

I have cut my lawn twice, once each of the past two weekends. I will probably cut it once a week until October, on Saturday morning after I take my daughter to her INSANELY early soccer game. I enjoy mowing the lawn. It takes me about an hour, but I like the exercise and the music I listen to. It gives me a chance to zone out.

My neighbor is insane. He has already put down two types of fertilizer and sparyed his lawn twice. He puts down stuff in February and again in mid-April. He will do it at least 3-4 more times during the summer and fall. He sprays for weeds whenever they show up, which is rare on his lawn. He mows twice a week now, and 3 times during the summer. This is his passion. He always tells me what I am doign wrong and how I can have a better lawn. I like mine just fine.

[jakeXT]

39. Last week I tried to get the engine running, nothing worked.

Changed the petrol and air filter, nothing changed.
Maybe after fumbling for 3 hours with all those coil springs and levers under the hood, the engine started working without going out after some seconds.

How can a new mower not work after one winter ? Instead of Briggs & Stratton I should've bought Honda.

[hopemountain]

60. did you drain all of the fuel before winter?

also, read your manual. if you don't have one, manuals online probably has it in pdf - free download.

[jakeXT]

65. No, I did it after the winter

I took all the fuel out of the tank, the fuel in the carburetor remained.
I know that the manual says you have to remove it, but previous machines never had that problem.
One older lawnmower even stood outside without a cover and never had problems with starting.

[fizzgig]

40. i alwasy hated yard work

i've been an apartment dweller for four years and don't miss having to mow the grass.

[sinkingfeeling]

41. I hate to mow because it takes 3 hours or so. I let my green weeds grow and try not to

mow more than every 2 weeks.

[riderinthestorm]

58. 14.5 hours of mowing every week for me. Like you I refuse to mow more frequently. I LIKE dandelions!

[hobbit709]

42. My yard gets mowed by my neighbor about once a month.

I never water it, feed it or do anything else to it.
I figure that whatever can survive the TX climate will be my yard.

Funny thing is my yard usually looks greener in Aug. than any of my neighbors' yards that do get watered.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

43. That is why I like Tucson

Yard of sand and rocks and cactus is GREAT! We don't need no stinking grass!

[riderinthestorm]

56. Lol!! Yup, that's definitely a grass free zone... great pic nt

[GoCubsGo]

74. It's far more pleasant to look at, too.

Especially in the spring, when the desert is in bloom.

[benld74]

44. Back in '93 during the flood, I regularly saw people in the neighborhood watering their yards!

I thought, oh CMON!

[harmonicon]

45. Manicured green lawns fill me with hate.

Unless you're a professional farmer facing a draught, or you're talking about a few (I mean a really small number) of decorate flowers or some vegetables for personal use, you shouldn't have to water it. When I see a watered lawn, I see the death of the world.

I said this to a friend of mine who has a not especially beautiful lawn, but a lawn none-the-less in southern California. His response was basically, "it's good for my kid to run around in, and it's what's expected." I couldn't really argue with him, but I still think he's destroying the planet.

[Flaxbee]

46. I don't understand why more people don't xeriscape -- would really do amazing things

for the planet, the water table, etc.

I grew up about 40 miles from Palm Springs, Ca., in Redlands -- green lawns everywhere. Green lawns in PS and Palm Desert. Idiotic.

[mimi85]

50. I agree and let's not forget the golf courses

We live in SoCal also and I've been trying to get my husband to xeriscape, but he's so friggen stubborn. At least he uses a manual push mower - good exercise and non-polluting. The backyard is pretty much weeds as he didn't like wasting the water where no one ever saw it anyway. We have some real anal folks on the Homeowner's Board and they're ridiculous about the rules for yards.
What really annoys me are the golf courses out here. If you gotta have golf courses, keep them in Florida or places that aren't desperate for rain. My husband worked at two different golf courses and has some great stories. We live not far from a hospital and surgeons would actually take time between surgeries and golf in their scrubs. Idiots. As Twain once said "golf is a good walk spoiled."

[Flaxbee]

54. I know - don't get me started on golf courses. Not only the water, but the pesticides / herbicides

they use. Enough to make me crazy.

Golf courses in non-arid climates are OK with me so long as they don't use hideous chemicals. But most of them do...

[Kali]

47. ...

[Flaxbee]

48. lol

purty horsie!

[riderinthestorm]

55. Okay now that's funny. A few years ago my daughter's old pony would do this.

She was totally herd-bound so I'd let her out of the mare barn lot where she'd happily free-graze the perimeter of the mare barn completely un-contained. Caused MANY panic attacks as the old girl would trundle around grazing (always within sight of her group of friends of course!). Everyone thought she was loose by accident. Nope. Just helping graze down some of the damn lawn!!

[LWolf]

69. If I had any grass,

that's exactly how it would be trimmed.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

49. A few years ago I got rid of my lawn altogether.

Now my whole yard is a garden - flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruit trees. No grass. Grass is a waste of resources; I decided to grow stuff that I could either eat or enjoy looking at - or both.

[Newest Reality]

51. Petro-carpet

That's what I call them. Such a waste of time and fuel for something that only produces a look and prevents erosion.

There are other ways and green petro-carpets may become a luxury for many depending on droughts and other factors.

Goats are great lawn mowers, though.

[d_r]

52. yep.

I once heard a botonist say that the entire history of life on earth was a great war between the trees and the grasses, and we are just unwitting pawns in this epic struggle.

I think about all that energy from the sun being soaked up by the grass, and then not only do we just waste that energy, but we use more energy to get rid of the grass. Think about a yard, then the next yard, all the way across town across the country across the world. That's a lot of wasted energy.

I really think we ought to have community goats or sheep. I know that sounds crazy. But we could take that energy from the sun that the grass is storing up and convert it into meat that we could eat rather than just cutting it down.

But I live on the side of a hill in Tn. that is really, really hard to mow.

[riderinthestorm]

59. I confess I have a riding mower. Anyone else with a riding mower 'fess up to just running shit over?

I'm so lackadaisical, I can't even be bothered to get off the machine and pick it up. I just grind it to pieces with my bad-ass machine and laugh maniacally. I philosophize that beer cans on the parkway will decompose someday. Twigs and sticks are a no brainer.

I REALLY wish this whole place was in prairie grass or some other "green" solution, or we had goats who wouldn't wander into the road and get hit, or some other damn solution.

While I will fess up to be a bit obsessive over the paddocks, the rest of this place gets NO extra lawn care attention but a completely shitty mowing job weekly....

[ellisonz]

64. I confess.

I don't have riding mower or a lawn anymore. But in college I worked for the ground department and would mow the sports fields with a big old John Deere riding mower. I enjoyed it - space out a little bit and listen to some Bob Marley. I've also been a "professional" gardener and rather enjoyed mowing, although edging with a weedwacker always drove me batty.

Have you considered listening to some music while you mow?

It's not that I think everyone should have grass yards, but grass does have it's place in our society.

[Major Nikon]

79. I try not to run over shit

Literally.

[olddots]

61. are you zoned for goats ?

You can't milk a lawn mower .

[LWolf]

70. You can milk a goat,

but goats prefer shrubs and trees (bark) to grass. They'll eat the grass if there isn't anything else growing.

[rurallib]

62. can't believe I missed this thread - Goddamn I hate mowing grass

I am sort of in your area

I hate hate hate cutting grass - but it was so beat into me as kid I can't look at it too long before I "have" to cut it.

I used to have a neighbor like yours who would constantly be cutting the grass. I live @ the same latitude as you (Iowa City) - never forget the time she cut her grass on Dec. 6th right before a HUGE blizzard. I hadn't been anywhere near mine since Labor Day.

[love_katz]

63. I think you have started an epic thread, riderinthestorm.

I just LOVE the growing number of posts from us haters of lawns/lawn-mowing.

Maybe we can start an anti-lawns movement?

I especially love the posts from those of us who hate the lousy noise lawn mowers/leaf blowers make. Just hilarious.

It is nice to know that rebellion against lawn conformity is smoldering happily amongst DUers.

[hibbing]

82. loving it

Hey,
I love how a rather simple and innocuous question can turn into such a long and fun thread.

Peace

[LWolf]

67. Me.

The only thing worse is the 6 acres of rocks and weeds that can't be mowed or weed-eated because of the rocks.

[eppur_se_muova]

71. Hire a shepherd and his flock ...

http://www.france24.com/en/20130407-paris-hires-munching-sheep-france-lawnmowers-environment

And the Chicago airport has now hired a herd of goats.

[texanwitch]

72. I hate cutting grass.

I am getting rid of as much grass as possible.

Back to nature.

I have been working on this for two years now.

I will have some grass but not nearly as much.

[GoCubsGo]

73. Raises her hand...

What little lawn I have looks like shit, and I don't care. I have a wooded lot. The idiots who built this place planted Bermuda grass, which does not do well in shade. The grass in my back yard is long gone, and has been replaced completely by pine straw. The front and sides are headed in that direction, too. My neighbor's centipede grass has been slowly encroaching, and I have been trying half-heartedly to encourage it to completely take over the yard. I'll probably fertilize it today or tomorrow, which I should have done weeks ago. It will also get its second mowing of the spring. It's been a cooler than average spring, and normally, I've mowed it four or five times already by this point.

My lot is small enough that I have an electric mower, so no need to worry about fuel consumption. Or, the other hazards of dealing with gasoline. When it goes, I'll get a manual reel mower.

[cantbeserious]

76. Reseeding With Low Mow Grass

eom

[Neoma]

77. If you really hate the gas-mower.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=pd_sl_3a9cdxc7lp_b?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Areel+push+mower&keywords=reel+push+mower&ie=UTF8&hvnetw=g&tag=hydsma-20&hvadid=23222273634&hvptwo=&hvpone=&hvpos=1t2&hvrand=13563432871484166056&hvdev=m&hvexid=&hvqmt=b

[Trajan]

78. There has been a movement towards natural front yards

in certain towns and cities ...

Boulder CO has some neighborhoods that have maybe 75% natural yards, which are either allowed to revert to native species growth, or might be planned and planted specifically to provide a desired mix of natural flora ...

Once you have a natural yard, you merely have to keep watch to remove undesirable interlopers ... no more energy unnecessarily wasted ...

Mowing is OVER!

Go to Google images and search for: Natural Front Yards ...I can't post a link from my phone

[texanwitch]

80. I am removing grass in my yard one section at a time.

I am replacing with native, low water plants.

It is so much easier to take care of.

The birds really seem to like it better.

[Blue_In_AK]

81. We have a very small yard

since the duplex takes up most of the lot, but what yard I do have is mostly vegetables and flowers. May as well make it functional. Grass is boring.

[JCMach1]

83. Composite lawns for different areas

and I now have geese... geese are nature's lawnmower and organic fertilizer built-in.

[jakeXT]

84. I once used aerator shoes...lol,but I've never used a dethatcher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dethatcher

[magical thyme]

85. I hate mowing the wildflowers, clover, dandelions, violets, plantain, etc.

more than I hate mowing the grass. But mostly I hate mowing. I had a plan at one point in time to turn the entire area into various and sundry low-growth ground cover with patches of bushy plantings. But too many things went wrong here and now I just want to sell.

I enjoyed mowing when I had my rider mower, since I have a large yard area plus need to mow the pasture fence line every so often. But I sold it long ago to pay for re-schooling me.

Now I just have a push mower, so at least it's quiet, but I already get more than enough exercise without having to shove that thing around 2x/week.

[a la izquierda]

86. I hate mowing.

My husband has a love for it, but we have a small patch of weeds, and he has a battery-powered mower. When we get some acreage, will will adopt some goats and sheep.

[LiberalEsto]

87. I hate mowing almost 1/3 of an acre with a crummy little electric mower

all by myself, with no help from other able-bodied adults living here.

I finally decided to give myself a break and got a lawn service to do the front. Can't have them do the back because 1) we're kind of broke at the moment and 2) I have to re-do some dog fencing to a big mower can get into the back yard.

At the moment the grass in back is almost a foot high, in the places I haven't gotten to yet because of the rain. The fucking mower charger isn't working. Can't afford a decent mower; this one's from a garage sale.

I hate mowing.