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View Full Version : "lawn care" paradigm is just plain stupid



pinkytoe
1-11-13, 9:50am
My new next door neighbor (age 70) has a weekly "lawn service". Even in the dead of winter (today), there are four laborers blowing and mowing his yard once a week - the noise is horrendous so my Friday morning off peace is shattered. When they are done, every leaf has disappeared and the lawn looks like a sterile blanket of uniform blah. There is no life left or leaf litter for the birds. I imagine this goes on across the nation. I am just trying to understand what makes sense about this and when it will change. Since studying permaculture, I guess I see how vacuous (and dead) the whole notion of "lawn care" is, so now it really bothers me. Ignorance is bliss...

Mrs-M
1-11-13, 10:05am
The old 60's/70's mentality of, "I (we) must have the nicest lawn for miles around", is dwindling. People, today, are looking towards and practicing more environmentally sound choices/alternatives. Hardscaping, instead of softscaping, is definitely fast becoming the wave of the future.

Take comfort in the fact that neighbours such as yours are the exception.

Gregg
1-11-13, 10:10am
It's not done yet, but upon completion our new "lawn" (front and back) will not have a single blade of grass. It will have flower and vegetable gardens, a variety pack of trees, mulched areas, gravel paths and patios and a water feature and small pond. I am SO looking forward to putting the lawn mower on craigslist!!! It will be interesting to see the reaction from several neighbors who think the finely manicured, chemically supported carpet of green is the only way to go.

CathyA
1-11-13, 11:27am
Sounds WONDERFUL Gregg..........I just hope you aren't disappointed if you have neighbors who think its an eyesore!! Booooo!
You're not in a place that has restrictions about that, are you?

I even look at "weeds" now and feel good about them! (except when there's too many in the veggie garden).
Pinkytoe..........I wonder if your neighbor is required to have them out every week, whether he wants them or not? Some lawn services are like that.

I've convinced DH over the years, to let alot of our property grow up. But he struggles with that. He was raised to think its a good thing to mow the heck out of your yard.....which probably most people have had the same upbringing. Our property around the house is huge, but we've been planting trees, bushes, and just letting some grow up in weeds. I'm now thinking of those spreading yews (?) that will take up a big space, but be a great habitat for birds and other animals.

You'll have to post pictures when your yard is done Gregg. Its sounds wonderful! How big will your pond be? I only have inground 300 gallon stocktanks, but they are an endless source of pleasure for us.

Rosemary
1-11-13, 11:35am
Yes, it is! (topic)
Gregg - awesome! I am working steadily on reducing that most invasive of weeds in our yard, turf grass...

Gregg
1-11-13, 11:54am
You're not in a place that has restrictions about that, are you?


There are no official restrictions on anything, but around town there have been mixed feelings about a few folks who have done veggie gardens in the front yard. Its a moot point for us because the best space and the best sun are all in the back yard anyway.

Our front yard started off with a couple large trees, a maple and a spruce. From there we added some serviceberries near the house (good for us and the birds). After that came multiple flower beds with some herbs scattered among them. The area around the trees and bushes gets heavy mulch. Its not xeriscape, but we did design everything to have very minimal water and maintenance requirements. The yard is small so there isn't a lot of ground left after the plantings, but what is there will get gravel as a permiable hardscape. Strange as it sounds we can buy gravel that has been painted green and DW and I are actually considering it. Not so much to try to make the remaining space look like lawn, but just because the color would look great with the house and all the flower beds and other plantings in front.

The pond in back is free form with a little waterfall coming into it. The way its drawn out now it will be about 10' wide, 15' long and will have a small section that is up to 5' deep. We might make it a little smaller to help work out some issues with our seating area next to it. Always a work in progress.

CathyA
1-11-13, 12:48pm
Sounds great Gregg!
On the Gardenweb pond forum, I met "Cliff and Joanne". Here is their blog. Thought you might enjoy it.
They are on Long Island, and fortunately, escaped most of the damage from Hurricane Sandy. We (on the Gardenweb pond forum) always enjoyed hearing about and seeing their beautiful pond and back yard habitat. What zone are you in Gregg?
http://backyardpond.homestead.com/

SteveinMN
1-11-13, 12:54pm
We don't do anything in particular to our lawn -- aerate it when we remember, mulch the cut grass back in, and watch the creeping charlie take over (yeah, we're that neighbor, but, in this neighborhood, we're not alone). Maybe now that I'm home more and don't have to sandwich landscaping between 50-60 hours a week of work, the times I cannot make noise in the backyard, and raindrops (actual or impending), I'll pick up my plan of native planting again. OTOH one of the areas I was looking at for that would be great for a garden (that's where my next-door neighbor has most of his garden).

The thing about grass, though, especially if you're not obsessive about having a monocultured carpet of green or hire it out, is that it's way easier to take care of than most gardens -- no deadheading, no hand pruning, no non-native mulching, no picking junk out of the mulch, no adjusting feed or soil for particular species, ... Get behind the mower, walk back and forth for 30 minutes, do a little trimming every 2-3 weeks, done. Hard to beat that.

pinkytoe
1-11-13, 1:23pm
There is definitely a trend around here to go more native but it just moves SO slowly. Even new subdivisions seem to stick to the old paradigm of dig up native plants, flatten, put in turf and a few trees and bushes. Luckily, I live in an older neighborhood with no restrictions so we are all tolerant of one another.I have dug up several large swaths of lawn but the drought is making me very nervous about trying to put in too many new plants even if native since they need water to establish. Both yards on either side of me have weekly lawn service and nary a leaf or stray limb, so I am sure they have contracts. Seems silly to mow every week in the middle of winter while the grass is dormant though. I am certain they think my yard looks messy. I am watching the lovely wind blow my leaves right back into their yards :) I would love to see pics of Greggs projects too.

Tussiemussies
1-11-13, 1:42pm
We always treat our lawn with nothing, just when the dandelions come in the spring we have learned to cut the lawn down short for a few weeks and it does get rid of them. At the last house the lawn was untouched by anything pesticide or feeding and it was fine. Most of the neighbors around us did have a lawn service so pinkie-toe I can relate to how frustrating that noise is etc.

Tussiemussies
1-11-13, 1:43pm
Gregg your property sounds really great. How about posting some pictures?:)

Rogar
1-11-13, 1:57pm
I think Mrs. M. is right. Things are changing. I live in an older established neighborhood with plenty of elderly folks. There are still what I refer to as lawn Nazis who send every fallen leaf to concentration camps. When I moved in about 8 years ago it was all traditional lawns. Now there is about everything imaginable. Front yard gardens, rockscapes, all mulch and bark, and xeriscape. There is even a guy who has several rows of grapes. There are plenty of traditional yards left, but what is acceptable or desirable has changed.

I've converted part of my yard to native low water plants. At least as I've done it, it is not a cheap or easy process. Buying and getting perennials or native grasses established is beyond my budget and time to do in one whack and have had to do a little each year.

befree
1-11-13, 10:01pm
During these last couple of years, the worst drought we've had in 50 years, I learned that outdoor watering uses about 50% of our total household water consumption. Our water resevoirs here were down to only about 10% of normal. What a wake-up call! Almost universally, everybody now says "if it's a choice between a yard vs. water to drink and take a shower and wash our clothes, we'll give up the lawn." Some of the solutions are hideous, like pouring gravel and concrete over the yard, or even painting the dead brown grass green (yes, there's a few businesses that have started up doing that). Others are...interesting: artificial turf grass actually looks pretty good. My solution is some hardscape in the form of flagstone paths and patios and some boulders, mixed with native/naturalized plants which will require no fertilizer or water at all, once established. And fallen leaves on the lawn? I think it looks pretty, and it's such good mulch. I'm grateful for neighbors who still rake and bag leaves, though, since I drive around and toss the bags into my trunk to take home and use in my beds.

Wildflower
1-12-13, 12:48am
I like my frontyard to look tidy and neat, but a perfectly manicured, overly fertilized green lawn I dislike alot.

My backyard is a total wildlife refuge. I keep it very rustic and a little wild back there - the doggies love it, along with the birds, rabbits, frogs, toads, squirrels, possums, and the occasional raccoon that wanders by.... I can do what I want back there since no one can see it with the tall wood privacy fence around it. I have birdhouses galore, a water pond, birdbaths, lots of different types of tall grasses for critters to hide in, loads of plants and flowers for the bees and hummingbirds, throw in some metal artwork, a clothesline, rain barrels, and a veggie garden that is fenced in itself with a rustic white picket fence to keep the critters out of it - it is a pretty cool place to be. We have a small pool too. We live in our backyard all summer long...

My frontyard and backyard are like Jekyll and Hyde. :)

iris lily
1-12-13, 1:30am
oh I don't know. I like a little strip of green grass to set off the flower gardens. It doesn't have to be much.

CathyA
1-12-13, 6:25am
There is something (in my mind), very soothing about a manicured lawn..........which is maybe why so many people have it. But since I've learned how important so many things are (trees, weeds, etc.) in the "circle of life" to other organisms, the soil, the air, the water, I've learned to appreciate a "messier" property now. Plus, think of all the chemicals, fossil fuels, energy it takes to make a sterile yard look sterile. I like Sara Stein's idea about everyone (in the suburbs), letting 10-20' of their back yards grow up wild.
I realize not everyone has alot of acres like I do........but it gives me such a great feeling to look at our "messy", wild property and think about many different species of many animals/plants/insects are living out their lives here. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.......you can have a part of your yard "sterile", but leave a part wild too.

Dhiana
1-13-13, 6:06pm
If I remember correctly one of the questions in Trivial Pursuit is something like, "What is the largest cultivated crop in America?"
Grass was the answer =0

Thankful I do not have a yard I need to mow, weed-wack or water. Just slowly learning about growing vegetables from my high-rise balcony.

redfox
1-13-13, 11:10pm
We un-lawned several years ago, and have ornamentals in front, and a mix of food & ornamentals in back. I have always surmised that lawns are a cultural vestige of the days of animal gazing on the vast lands of the lord's manor...

CathyA
1-14-13, 6:53am
In the older shows like Little House on the Prairie, Dr. Quinn, and the various westerns...........they never seemed to have lawn problems. I mean you never saw tall grass around houses, buildings. Its always bare dirt. I guess that's how the movie makers decided to deal with it.

Gregg
1-14-13, 9:25am
What zone are you in Gregg?


Thanks for the blog link Cathy, that is similar to what we're hoping to end up with in a few years. We're officially Zone 5, but since they shifted the zones north a while back the southern half of our county is now Zone 6 while the northern half (me) is still 5!



Gregg your property sounds really great. How about posting some pictures?:)

Thanks Christine, we have a LONG way to go, but its off to a good start. My kids gave me "Blogging for Dummies" this Christmas. I want to set up a blog that shows all the changes to the house itself and to the property so I can use that for some sustainable promotions I have in mind. I will definitely be asking this group for some feedback when I get that going, probably late spring/early summer. Pics right now would be pretty boring...all white!

catherine
1-14-13, 9:47am
The pond in back is free form with a little waterfall coming into it. The way its drawn out now it will be about 10' wide, 15' long and will have a small section that is up to 5' deep. We might make it a little smaller to help work out some issues with our seating area next to it. Always a work in progress.

I have a spot for a pond in my back yard, and I've been dying to learn the "permaculture" way of creating one! Can you let me know if/how you are circulating the water? My pond sounds like it will be similar in size--maybe a bit narrower. I have two conifers about 10 ft apart with a depression between them where water collects, so I just want to take advantage of the natural area. However, I don't want it to be a hassle, which is what DH is complaining about already.. Not sure if I'm willing to have electrical work for waterfall/fountain (I have one of those little Japanese bamboo fountains in mind). All the books about backyard ponds I see are not really permaculture-oriented, so if you have a good one to recommend, I'd love to hear about it.

Gregg
1-14-13, 10:07am
Permaculture is our goal as well. The pond won't be an entirely natural element because it will have a pond liner. Our soil is sandy loam so without the liner the water would disappear pretty quickly. Even if it isn't natural in that sense it will still support fish that we add and all manner of water bugs, frogs and other aquatic critters that find their way to it. I'm planning to have a large, flat rock extending out a few feet just and inch or less below the surface so birds can bathe on it. Since we're in the middle of a full on construction project running the power for a waterfall pump is easy. We definitely want that for the sound of the water and to keep the pond aerated. Without it I'd be worried that mosquitoes would breed in stagnant water.

Alan
1-14-13, 10:27am
Even if it isn't natural in that sense it will still support fish that we add and all manner of water bugs, frogs and other aquatic critters that find their way to it.
And they will find their way! I have a pool just outside my bedroom windows and when it's open, the treefrogs which gather there for their moonlight serenades is maddening at 2am. Who would have thought such small creatures could put out such a booming croak? Horny little toads!!

Spartana
1-14-13, 5:14pm
My city requires us to keep our front lawn (which is preety big) grass and nothing else. I would love to just take it all up and hardscape it or do something else (heck even fake grass isn't allowed or permaculture, etc...) - just greass. It requires a lot of work (for the paid gardener :-)) and expense - not to mention the liberal use of water (sunny and hot SoCal), fertilizer, weed killer, etc... I really hate it but that's the rules (and that's in the city codes not a HOA). The back yard - also large - is a dog mecca of many many trees, some hardscape and patios, and scraggily grass that I actually mow and edge myself (She does work? Oh the horrors!!!). In my next housing reincarnation I want either a tiny lot - and that almost all hardscaped - or a condo/apt that has shared greenbelt areas that I don't have to care for.

rose
1-14-13, 10:25pm
The noise is very annoying. At the Condos I was renting they came on Tuesday at 8 a.m. and they mowed and blew leaves and trimmed things. Almost all day long there was noise. And those young men running that equipment usually were not wearing ear protection.

I've never understood grass. We use precious water it to make it green, then we use gas to power mowers to mow it down and chemicals to make it green. I like Gregg's idea.

JaneV2.0
1-15-13, 12:58pm
As previously noted, I hate the noise that comes with lawn care. In the plus column for condo living, it all comes at once and you can flee for the duration--unlike in a neighborhood where individuals spend four hours mowing and blowing in turn throughout the week.