42 replies to this topic

[mongo_jones]

gg, i like how you assume that we have not tried to weed the yard ourselves or that we don't know how to weed, or that we are driven by the desire to achieve a perfect putting green of a lawn. you must be an egullet member or something.

no, we don't really care about a perfect lawn. what we have in the back yard, however, is quite a long way from that: a thick carpet of 3 or 4 different weeds that we just don't have time to pull out (none of them are dandelions)--one of them, in particular, is tiny and there's a few thousand square feet of it. and huge patches of dead grass. the time that wasn't there to prevent this from happening is also not there to take care of it ourselves now that it has. the front lawn, strangely enough, is fine, though again far from a perfect lawn.

there must be a place between learning to live with a very ugly yard and a perfect bourgeois ideal lawn. i'd like to get there, but i don't have the time to do it myself. i can just about keep the baby weeded. so, the choice really is between professionals spraying herbicides or our doing it ourselves.

[ghostrider]

Surely there must be an organic sustainable-type lawn care outfit out there somewhere? Paritcularly in a college town? Isn't there a colony of hippies who never moved away & supporrt themselves by working the soil in a manner that respects Mother Earth?

Curiously, we have the same front yard-back yard dichotomy here in Jersey, though since we're dealing with a 60 x 140 lot, it's not as burdensome. Though in spite of that I still manage to avoid yard work for weeks at a time.

[GG Mora]

you must be an egullet member or something.

That hurt.

[Anthony Bonner]

Surely there must be an organic sustainable-type lawn care outfit out there somewhere? Paritcularly in a college town? Isn't there a colony of hippies who never moved away & supporrt themselves by working the soil in a manner that respects Mother Earth?

Curiously, we have the same front yard-back yard dichotomy here in Jersey, though since we're dealing with a 60 x 140 lot, it's not as burdensome.

organic-sustainble lawn care is an oxymoron. Mongo's current lawn is what's organic and sustainable.

[mongo_jones]

Isn't there a colony of hippies

this is southern minnesota we're talking about. hippies aren't hardy enough to survive the winters.

actually, that's not a bad idea. the problem with small liberal arts colleges is that there are very few students around in the summer, but perhaps i can try and scout out a few to overpay for a few hours of weeding each day for a week.

[mongo_jones]

Surely there must be an organic sustainable-type lawn care outfit out there somewhere? Paritcularly in a college town? Isn't there a colony of hippies who never moved away & supporrt themselves by working the soil in a manner that respects Mother Earth?

Curiously, we have the same front yard-back yard dichotomy here in Jersey, though since we're dealing with a 60 x 140 lot, it's not as burdensome.

organic-sustainble lawn care is an oxymoron. Mongo's current lawn is what's organic and sustainable.

yeah, if only these were pretty weeds. our front lawn is dandelion central in the spring, but those aren't ugly so it doesn't bother us.

[ghostrider]

Surely there must be an organic sustainable-type lawn care outfit out there somewhere? Paritcularly in a college town? Isn't there a colony of hippies who never moved away & supporrt themselves by working the soil in a manner that respects Mother Earth?

Curiously, we have the same front yard-back yard dichotomy here in Jersey, though since we're dealing with a 60 x 140 lot, it's not as burdensome.

organic-sustainble lawn care is an oxymoron. Mongo's current lawn is what's organic and sustainable.

I agree. This is where we suffer from the lack of a sarcasticon on MF.

[Anthony Bonner]

Isn't there a colony of hippies

this is southern minnesota we're talking about. hippies aren't hardy enough to survive the winters.

actually, that's not a bad idea. the problem with small liberal arts colleges is that there are very few students around in the summer, but perhaps i can try and scout out a few to overpay for a few hours of weeding each day for a week.

I would just mow the weeds put some compost down and overseed the bare spots if you just want a reasonable piece of greenery. If you plan on staying there a while I'd start slowly chipping away at the lawn with new beds for perennials and annuals. Lawns are pointless.

aerating most lawns is a waste of money.

[mongo_jones]

If you plan on staying there a while I'd start slowly chipping away at the lawn with new beds for perennials and annuals. Lawns are pointless.

we have two dogs who have the run of the yard. therefore, flowers are pointless.

[Deb Van D]

If you plan on staying there a while I'd start slowly chipping away at the lawn with new beds for perennials and annuals. Lawns are pointless.

we have two dogs who have the run of the yard. therefore, flowers are pointless.

The thing is, those perennial beds have to be maintained. They have to be weeded out and mulched every year and that mulch will really get on your nerves (after it breaks your back). I have been making my perennial beds smaller and smaller every year so that the rest will become lawn and the lawn mower guys will handle it.

This year I really gave up. Combination of a long, wet Spring and a terrible bout of sciatica had me waving the white flag. I reluctantly hired somebody to come in and pull out the weeds, and roto-till the last big perennial bed and put in grass seed. What a relief! I don't know if I'll need him to come back, but at $150 for the day's work, it wouldn't be so bad. At least he has given me a fighting chance.

I hate spending 30 bucks a week to have the grass cut, but not as much as I hate cutting that damn grass.

[Anthony Bonner]

If you plan on staying there a while I'd start slowly chipping away at the lawn with new beds for perennials and annuals. Lawns are pointless.

we have two dogs who have the run of the yard. therefore, flowers are pointless.

I have no idea if you are saying that because you don't care for them or if you legitmately think the dogs would destroy what every you put out there. If its the former that's cool. If its the latter you can def garden with dogs if you put some thought into it.

The dogs will also prevent you from having a great lawn.

The thing is, those perennial beds have to be maintained. They have to be weeded out and mulched every year and that mulch will really get on your nerves (after it breaks your back). I have been making my perennial beds smaller and smaller every year so that the rest will become lawn and the lawn mower guys will handle it.

I guess. I'd rather weed and deadhead then mow. Beds are a few days of tons of work, then lots of days of a tiny bit of work. Lawns are lots of days of a reasonable amount of work.

[mongo_jones]

i actually enjoy mowing. it's the extensive weeding campaign that i cannot undertake.

[backstory]

[/quote]
I would just mow the weeds put some compost down and overseed the bare spots if you just want a reasonable piece of greenery. If you plan on staying there a while I'd start slowly chipping away at the lawn with new beds for perennials and annuals. Lawns are pointless.

aerating most lawns is a waste of money.
[/quote]

lawns are pointless until you have no lawn and instead mud. then you realize that a healthy turf of perennial grass keeps the soil from eroding and causing mud slush when the snow melts, and it rains, and that's why you need lawn.

but i agree with most of your solution - keep the lawn mowed and green, weed and all. except of course the weeds can grow faster and choke off the grass. maybe try a variety of grass that is sturdy. how about a lawn of crab grass? they are sturdy buggers.

perenial beds are very nice but they take a lot of time and effort to put in, and they too grow weeds. you can lay down ground cover, but you can still get weeds. you can mulch but that is also an annual chore, and still there will be weeds. you can landscape with lots of bushes and shrubs. but then you have to prune and shape and trim them, and there will be weeds.

there is no escape. get a condo and cough up the fees for upkeep.

[Anthony Bonner]

i actually enjoy mowing. it's the extensive weeding campaign that i cannot undertake.

[mongo_jones]

but then goering goebbels mora will yell at me.

i think i'll rip the whole thing up and plant mint.