Aaah springtime! The birds! The bees! The flowers! and (ugh) mowers

Lucille · #1 (**permalink**) 03-19-2008, 05:35 PM

I have taken out bits of yard year by year and turned it into rose gardens and veggie gardens. Almost the entire back lawn is gone.

But there is no way around some mowing. My neighbors who have boring green lawns mostly use lawn services, but due to the flower beds I need to mow myself. I've had nice mowers (the Honda was pretty good), cheap mowers (I had one of these new last year and accidentally mowed a rock and it died), and I'm currently using a reel mower which is good in theory but so far isn't giving the same kind of smooth finish a gas mower does.

I wonder who thought up the deal that houses have to be surrounded by all this needy grass that has to be mowed, trimmed, fertilized, watered, etc?

Brandon28 · #2 (**permalink**) 03-19-2008, 06:29 PM

I know exactly how you feel! I have been mowing the lawn since I was 7 years old and I will never agree with someone who claims to be more sick of it that I! However, I have developed a new outlook on lawns since I've lived in this house with my girlfriend. We live in a 2-bedroom house in an "older" part of town. I use the word "older" not because of the age of the neighborhood, but of the residents (minus a few exceptions, including the trashy druggies across the street). Old people have absolutely nothing better to do than yard-work. This automatically obligates me to keep a pristine yard to keep from being looked at like the weakest-link! Our yards are tiny, which is good in itself, but mine has a HUGE tree that sucks up every bit of sunlight and water. I can't keep my yard green and even. I installed a sprinkler system that now turns my yard to a mud-pit and have tried all types of fertilizers, to no avail.

You wondered "who thought up the deal that houses have to be surrounded by all this needy grass that has to be mowed, trimmed, fertilized, watered, etc"....let me know if you find him! He's made my life a living nightmare!

Arra · #3 (**permalink**) 03-19-2008, 06:32 PM

What is this springtime you speak of. WTB warm weather up North.

LukaTisus · #4 (**permalink**) 03-19-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arra

What is this springtime you speak of. WTB warm weather up North.

Ditto. Still a good foot and a half of snow in places up here.

poonstang90lx · #5 (**permalink**) 03-19-2008, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon27

I know exactly how you feel! I have been mowing the lawn since I was 7 years old and I will never agree with someone who claims to be more sick of it that I! However, I have developed a new outlook on lawns since I've lived in this house with my girlfriend. We live in a 2-bedroom house in an "older" part of town. I use the word "older" not because of the age of the neighborhood, but of the residents (minus a few exceptions, including the trashy druggies across the street). Old people have absolutely nothing better to do than yard-work. This automatically obligates me to keep a pristine yard to keep from being looked at like the weakest-link! Our yards are tiny, which is good in itself, but mine has a HUGE tree that sucks up every bit of sunlight and water. I can't keep my yard green and even. I installed a sprinkler system that now turns my yard to a mud-pit and have tried all types of fertilizers, to no avail.
You wondered "who thought up the deal that houses have to be surrounded by all this needy grass that has to be mowed, trimmed, fertilized, watered, etc"....let me know if you find him! He's made my life a living nightmare!

You can plant fescue around the tree it will grow in the shade, and can tolerate ph changes in the soil that alot of trees cause.

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