A large part of my yard is full of creeping charlie and I hate it because it took over areas where I now have gardens.
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What's your "lawn philosophy"?
- Thread starter Jem
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My lot in town was about that big too. Let me say, buy a small riding mower now, it'll be the best thing you ever did for yourself. I lived there 10 years and tortured myself by using a push mower the entire time, and once I bought the acreage I got a rider and then I was like "welp, sure was dumb of me not to have bought this thing 10 years ago". You can get a 30" for under $1500, and trust me, it's worth every penny. Or look around for a used one if you have to go cheaper.
Oh, now that I look it up, the spicy-smelling stuff was creeping charlie. I kinda liked it because it was the only thing that would grow in the shady areas, but I can see how it would be annoying if it grew over your garden.
There are only certain weed killers that will kill it. Look for tricolpyr or dicambra on the chemical list. Digging it out does help with control but you need the weed killer and have to use it multiple times to get it all.A large part of my yard is full of creeping charlie and I hate it because it took over areas where I now have gardens.
Be careful with dicamba. I'm not even sure it's legal anymore. They found out it gathers itself up and goes somewhere else when it's done killing what it was sprayed on; lots of trees have died because of that. Idk if lawn use has the same risks, but farm use has definitely been a disaster.
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Where I live, if you don't keep your grass cut, they will do it for you, then send you a bill- at government pay rates, of course. For dandelions, I have a tool that severs the taproot below ground level. Aside from that, I don't really do much; in fact, I may put in more raised beds so there will be that much less grass to mow.
yeah i would say its getting to that point technically california is a desert. i mean if home owners would just cut back the shrubs etc in those rich hillside homes the fires wouldnt be so bad really nothing dry to burn then or homes being burned upgame misconduct - quick question for you....Is wild fire season basically year round? I just saw a video online about the wild fires starting...but it seems like they really haven't ended from last year....or at least is hasn't been that long....IDK my sense of time is horrible though...six months could have gone by and I'd think it was "just last week"! LOL!
I'm on the lazy side of lawn care. Having a perfectly manicured weed free lawn has never been a dream of mine, I find lawns to be a waste. I have a neighbor across the street that has planted all sorts of flowers and grasses in hers and I love it. The grass hardly grows in the front, not enough sun so it looks good enough anyways. The back yard is full of dead spots from the dogs and shaded areas. Dandelions and overgrown plants all over. We mow when it looks long. I told my SO about no mow May and he looked at me like I was crazy lol, he's mowed 2x so far I think. I don't add any pesticides or weed killers, I dig out the spiky weeds and keep meaning to try to grow clover or moss or something more natural and low maintenance that I don't have to mow at all. My one next door neighbor is the perfectionist so I'm sure he hates my yard haha.
I’ve only been focused on my lawn this year because its new. I don’t generally care about what’s growing in it except that we do get some gnarly looking weeds. I would love to get rid of the crab grass though. It spreads into everything so easily! It even covered the rubber tiles I have around one raised garden bed. Clover, dandylions and everything else can stay and be green. Right now its been dry so a lot isn’t green. Its kinda sad looking.
If we waited the month of May it would be a sight here!! DH is often mowing by mid April at the latest. The grass gets a tougher texture too. It was getting high so DH mowed last night while it was cool. The grass was getting all pokey and making everyone itch.
I am concious about mosquitoes and ticks though. I won’t give them a welcoming environment. We spend a lot of time in our yard and I’ve pulled ticks off DD twice when she was just a tot and the grass needed mowing. My vets office often posts warnings about mosquito and tick borne illnesses that are affecting local pets and horses.
I also try to keep planting flowering annuals for all seasons. Those should help our pollinators.
If we waited the month of May it would be a sight here!! DH is often mowing by mid April at the latest. The grass gets a tougher texture too. It was getting high so DH mowed last night while it was cool. The grass was getting all pokey and making everyone itch.
I am concious about mosquitoes and ticks though. I won’t give them a welcoming environment. We spend a lot of time in our yard and I’ve pulled ticks off DD twice when she was just a tot and the grass needed mowing. My vets office often posts warnings about mosquito and tick borne illnesses that are affecting local pets and horses.
I also try to keep planting flowering annuals for all seasons. Those should help our pollinators.
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That's the best part of living in a climate that gets winter 6 months out of the year, i.e. you don't have to worry about lawn care. No wonder I like winter.
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I like a wild looking lawn. I have hundreds of dandelions, lots of clover and other natural wildflowers. I feed birds, and I have read that birds do not like a well manicured yard. No place to hide from predators! I do mow it to keep down ticks and other insects.
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Yeah, but then it's all about shoveling the driveway! Are you one who keeps it down to the pavement all winter?That's the best part of living in a climate that gets winter 6 months out of the year, i.e. you don't have to worry about lawn care. No wonder I like winter.
We don't...our driveway is full of ruts, so in the winter, our driveway is actually flat when we let the snow get packed.
We have a very lovely front lawn which is mostly St. Augustine grass and well maintained with the gardener coming weekly. Sadly, out here lawns are still popular despite the drought. A number of neighbors have put in very nice drought tolerant plants though in place of lawns, or rock gardens, or succulents and I really like that. We water carefully and much of the time water is rationed so you have to make the most of it. The property is all walled in and we have let the back lawn die off. There are plants and vines and flowers, but we just stopped watering the back lawn in exchange for saving the front one.
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Since we have been known to get blizzards we try to shovel well enough to get our cars out. But we have great neighbors and everyone comes together and pitches in to help one another. Plus when you have a dog you have to be able to let them out to do their business.
I didn't snowblow the driveway all winter! Just drove on it until it was packed,and shoveled around the door. But we didn't have any big snows last winter; if we get over 8-10 inches I usually do have to snowblow.
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Our snowblower was definitely a useful purchase! Our driveway would take forever with shovels because we have a detached garage behind the house.
Hubby does the mowing. Now that we don't have a dog I think he lets it go longer now. When we did, I would break off all the dandylion heads and we had fewer weeds in the back yard....Until it got infested with a kind of vetch (stringy vine weed). It kind of took over the back yard 
Mainly we don't water so the yard is only green for part of the yard. We put water bags at the base of our two trees so they won't die.
j
Mainly we don't water so the yard is only green for part of the yard. We put water bags at the base of our two trees so they won't die.
j
Snowblowing after every snow is a must here. If it is a heavy snow and we get quite a few of those in a winter the snow blowing off the roof and garage can easily be a couple feet deep. Even with lesser snowfalls if it gets packed down it turns into ice ruts that will stay all winter and make walking down the driveway dangerous.
I love dandelions and I hate grass. If it were affordable enough, I would completely cover the yard with moss and creeping red thyme. My husband hates to mow, and I cannot mow, so a no-grass yard would be perfect. My neighbors actually mow our lawn--excluding the hill--with their riding mower. I make them dinner and/or dessert for their efforts. They also get to use the yard and the pool when we put it up. It is a win-win. She knows I love dandelions, so they wait until the seed pods are mostly gone. We have 3/4 an acre.
My son and his fiancee love dandelions, too, so they let their lawn go until the dandelion seed heads were mostly gone. He has 2 acres. Thankfully, he has a big lawnmower.
My son and his fiancee love dandelions, too, so they let their lawn go until the dandelion seed heads were mostly gone. He has 2 acres. Thankfully, he has a big lawnmower.
I feel the same way about ticks. Don't want to give any sense of them being welcome here.
I'm as obsessed with having my driveway shoveled down to pavement, as I am in having a perfect lawn. I'm lucky my house faces the south, so the same sun that scorches my lawn in summer, melts snow and ice in winter.
My neighbors all have the manicured green, perfect lawn because they use a lawn service that applies all those nasty chemicals. The pollinators are more important to me than green grass, which isn't natural anyway. The concept of an expanse of lawn is fairly recent. Our 'lawn' is neat and mowed but is comprised of whatever will grow. I do not use chemicals due to our dogs and the wildlife that frequent the area. I do try to mow the dandelions before they set seeds though to keep my next door neighbor from having a heart attack!
When we first moved in it was new construction - nothing in the yard. I set about making an English cottage style garden rather than the typical suburban type landscaping. My neighbors wives loved it and wanted their husbands to do the same. The guys told me I was a trouble maker because it made more work for them. I told them sorry, but I do my own work and don't ask my husband to do it. 29 year later I still have the cottage garden and they still have their manicured evergreens.
When we first moved in it was new construction - nothing in the yard. I set about making an English cottage style garden rather than the typical suburban type landscaping. My neighbors wives loved it and wanted their husbands to do the same. The guys told me I was a trouble maker because it made more work for them. I told them sorry, but I do my own work and don't ask my husband to do it. 29 year later I still have the cottage garden and they still have their manicured evergreens.
