How do you view your lawn care? (1 Viewer)

[McGarnicle]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

 

[Timmay]

I don't mind cutting the grass for the first 4 or so times of the season, after that it just gets old and annoying to keep up with. I wish my "yard" was all concrete or about 5x5. I used to have to cut 4 yards for my grandpa as a kid every week for about 10 years, maybe that is a factor in me hating it so much. I do cut my grass every week, but I don't use any weed killer, etc to bother with it too much.

 

[James Daulton]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

Curious how working from home gives you more time for maintenance? Do you work for yourself?

 

[whiskey7]

I'd actually be curious what the correlation is between guys who enjoy/take pride in lawn care, and those who had to take care of lawns as a kid.

I know when I was a kid, my Dad got me on the riding lawn mower REALLY young...I was cutting the grass on a rider at like 9 years old or so. We had a JD Hydrostatic, so all the speed/stop was via a lever, which was good b/c my feet didn't reach the brakes. I HATED doing it as a kid, but now it's just sort of part of summer. I'll have my kid out there mowing someday (but maybe not at 9).

I wonder if people who grew up taking care of lawns as a kid are more or less likely to enjoy it as they get older?

My stepdad put a lot of time/energy into keeping our lawn looking good. Guess I eventually learned to appreciate that and now enjoy working on my own yard.

 

[E-Z Glider]

Dont love it. Dont hate it. I basically just keep the naturally growing weeds well groomed. Cant imagine why anyone would let some lawn service dump poison all over their yard just to make it look nice. My kids play out there for crying out loud.

 

[hagmania]

Can't wait for a few years down the road when we have our own place. I'm "responsible" for yard work at our rental place, but I'm not going to pay to dig up and sod a collection of weeds for a place I don't own. Just buzz it down evenly with a trimmer to keep it from looking gross.

I do enjoy the manual labor.

I went stir crazy (and got fat) when we lived in an apartment. I had nothing I could do. I couldn't fix things around the apartment if they broke, I had no lawn...It was maddening.

I ended up growing a huge garden on our balcony just because I needed something to do.

I don't do gyms - The yard is my exercise. Great workout.

I've done a couple things that just absolutely had to be taken care of...

Two renters, maybe 10 years or so ago, they planted frikkin bamboo around the awesome deck the place has, completely obscuring a view of the river that runs around the city. Bamboo is kind of cool, granted, but do you know where it grows? EVERYWHERE. So, the previous renters, they got tired of managing the bamboo growth/spread... they poisoned it.

...



...

End result is a very pretty deck area surrounded by a bunch of dead sticks. Hideous. Cut that stuff down because it cost nothing but gas for a chainsaw and a Saturday's worth of work. Just not going to actually invest into anything though.

 

[Fat Nick]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

Curious how working from home gives you more time for maintenance? Do you work for yourself?

I've got a 2 hour commute (1 hour each way). If I worked from home, I'd probably spend at least an hour of that in the yard every evening...I can totally see the benefits.

 

[TheAristocrat]

We moved to NC this year and are renting for a couple years. The guy has a lawn service. He told me he would knock $50/mo off rent if I don't use lawn service. I considered it but then decided to just keep it because its a big place. Best decision I've ever made. Guys come out every week, cut the grass, blow everything clean. They fertilize, take away blown branches. I yell into my wife when they're here "Baby! Get me a drink I'm doing the lawn". Then I stand outside with my sweet tea watching the guys cut the grass. I think I'd rather give up my tv than my lawn guys now.

I like your style.

 

[NutterButter]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

I have the exact same feeling. That sense of accomplishment is very rewarding.

 

[NutterButter]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

Curious how working from home gives you more time for maintenance? Do you work for yourself?

I've got a 2 hour commute (1 hour each way). If I worked from home, I'd probably spend at least an hour of that in the yard every evening...I can totally see the benefits.

Not to mention, its the same way that we all seem to have so much time to be posting on a message board.

 

[lombardi]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

Curious how working from home gives you more time for maintenance? Do you work for yourself?

I work from home. So glad I do because if I didn't I wouldn't get to stand outside and watch my lawn being cut, drinking my sweet tea.

 

[McGarnicle]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

Curious how working from home gives you more time for maintenance? Do you work for yourself?

I've got a 2 hour commute (1 hour each way). If I worked from home, I'd probably spend at least an hour of that in the yard every evening...I can totally see the benefits.

Exactly, no commute, and I typically take 2-3 hours for "lunch" so I can mow, water, run around with the dog, jump in the pool, etc.

 

[Fat Nick]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

Curious how working from home gives you more time for maintenance? Do you work for yourself?

I've got a 2 hour commute (1 hour each way). If I worked from home, I'd probably spend at least an hour of that in the yard every evening...I can totally see the benefits.

Not to mention, its the same way that we all seem to have so much time to be posting on a message board.

I was terrified that my work actually BLOCKED FBG yestereday. Turns out they just stopped supporting Internet Explorer. Thank god.

 

[Dentist]

Mowed lawns throughout middle school, high school and college to pay for things.

I have a relatively small yard now that I can get mowed and trimmed in about 40 minutes. It is somewhat therapeutic to just listen to headphones and cut the lawn without interruptions.

Having said that, I'd prefer to do something else with my time, but I'm not going to pay for it to get done... I don't dislike it that much.

I do value having a nice lawn, so i use some weed spray and fertilizer and stuff.

But I do see where it's a pretty dumb overall process... tons of wasted money for a non-cash bearing crop.

I null voted. I neither like nor dislike mowing the lawn. I choose to do it out of thrift and because I'm good at it not because i can't afford to have it done.

 

[lombardi]

I did rent a place that was 2 acres and had a riding mower once. I really enjoyed that. Headphones, a cold drink, and 2 hours to myself. Pretty nice.

Then mower broke. My boys sure did have a tough summer

 

[George Jefferson Airplane]

Somewhat like doing it, can afford to have someone else do it, but never would because that's a waste of money IMO.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

As a boy my parents had two homes. The winter home had a half acre yard, mostly flat, and the summer home had a two acre yard with extreme hills. Both had to be maintained by us three boys, along with the 3 acre yard of the grandparents. We had one push reel mower and two sets of hand clippers, along with several bushel baskets for hauling grass clippings. maintaining those lawns was a distasteful choir and time consuming. In addition to those non-paid, mandatory chores I had two paid lawn jobs, both under a half an acre. Each of those homeowners had power mowers, one a push Toro that you started by winding a crank which never worked well, and the other had a self-propelled Lawnboy. Those jobs were gravy after what we went through on our own yards. I learned to hate grass back in those days.

Currently my landscaping has very small patches of grass, somewhere around 1000 sq. feet. With such a small amount of grass the whole thing is done in a half an hour or so. Proper edging in the springtime is not a burden, and most of my trees are in the mulch and rock borders so trimming is minimal. My lawn area is so small that I still use a push reel mower. Its quiet so I can mow early in the morning without disturbing the neighbors and then I can get about my day. Its not bad exercise, takes up very little space, requires no gas or oil, and is more or less bullet-proof from an engineering standpoint, so no repairs.

 

[Hu-Tang Clan]

My wife handles doing the flower thing (watering, trimming, etc) and I cut the lawn. I don't really enjoy cutting it but I don't dread it either. I cut my lawn when it needs it but don't water it or fertilize it or anything like that. I do hire a company that comes out 4 times a year and dumps poison on it so I don't have 10,000 dandelions growing on it but that's about it.

 

[Jayrok]

I don't mind cutting grass but we have a guy who does a few in our neighborhood who appreciates the work.

 

[roadkill1292]

In fact, I don't even like visiting somebody with a super nice lawn. I'm always afraid that they'll want to show me their yard maintenance stuff and after I say "Nice color," I got nothin'.

 

[msommer]

My next lawnmower will be a robot.

 

[BobbyLayne]

No lawn. When I've had lawns in the past I outsourced it. Used to mow a lot of lawn growing up - mom had a horse farm, dad had a four acres of rolling landscape. About 5.5 acres of lawn care between the two of them, kept me pretty busy throughout high school (and 1-2 years after I graduated). I especially hated edge work. Riding was sorta fun but both yards required a lot of hand mowing around trees and shrubs. Trimming hedge rows is the suck. Handling chemicals is not my idea of fun. To each is own.

 

[snogger]

Just bought our first home last October and the lawn is a bit of a mess—lots of lumps in the ground, some brown patches, and plenty of weeds. Since I have about 10 home improvement projects on my plate, any tips on a first step here? I've dug up some of the low spots and filled them in to try to level the yard so I don't break my ankle back there, but beyond that, I don't know what to do aside from rake and aerate. Should I put some turf builder on there? Weed and feed? Not sure which product I should be going with, so any direction would be much appreciated.

When we first bought our house the front yard Looked like :X

I ended up tilling it up and replanting and later that summer it looked like this

5 years later it is starting to show some "holes" that I need to patch, but otherwise looking better each year

 

[Mr. Ected]

Mowed lawns throughout middle school, high school and college to pay for things.

I have a relatively small yard now that I can get mowed and trimmed in about 40 minutes. It is somewhat therapeutic to just listen to headphones and cut the lawn without interruptions.

Having said that, I'd prefer to do something else with my time, but I'm not going to pay for it to get done... I don't dislike it that much.

I do value having a nice lawn, so i use some weed spray and fertilizer and stuff.

But I do see where it's a pretty dumb overall process... tons of wasted money for a non-cash bearing crop.

I null voted. I neither like nor dislike mowing the lawn. I choose to do it out of thrift and because I'm good at it not because i can't afford to have it done.

The part that I do pay for is having someone come thru and do that part of the process. They know what they're doing and do a much better job than I could. My back yard has looked tons better since I did that. The front never gets sun, so....

 

[pantagrapher]

Just bought our first home last October and the lawn is a bit of a mess—lots of lumps in the ground, some brown patches, and plenty of weeds. Since I have about 10 home improvement projects on my plate, any tips on a first step here? I've dug up some of the low spots and filled them in to try to level the yard so I don't break my ankle back there, but beyond that, I don't know what to do aside from rake and aerate. Should I put some turf builder on there? Weed and feed? Not sure which product I should be going with, so any direction would be much appreciated.

When we first bought our house the front yard Looked like :X

I ended up tilling it up and replanting and later that summer it looked like this

5 years later it is starting to show some "holes" that I need to patch, but otherwise looking better each year

Yeah, I was afraid I was going to have to go all in, rent a tiller, sift out weed roots, replant, etc. I might see if I can patch something together this summer (I really want to focus on the garden before the lawn), then revisit next spring.

 

[Mr. Ected]

I did rent a place that was 2 acres and had a riding mower once. I really enjoyed that. Headphones, a cold drink, and 2 hours to myself. Pretty nice.

Then mower broke. My boys sure did have a tough summer

I always thought it was curious that my dad finally got a self-propelled mower shortly after my brother and I moved out of the house!

My next lawnmower will be a robot.

Here you go! Not bad for a grand.

 

[brun]

Paid others off and on the last couple of years whenever I could. Got a bad back. Last time I mowed I think I took 4 5 minute breaks and the lawn only takes less than an hour total.

 

[spOOfy]

I didn't mind it too much in my 1st house. Had a decent-sized yard and it was all flat with not many obstacles and not much weed whacking. Then I moved into a house with a much bigger yard, couple trees, swing set and the worst part, a large hill. The hill was too steep for the riding mower, so I'd have to bust out this old push mower to do half the yard. I had a problem with the riding mower once and couldn't get it fixed quickly. My neighbor had a lawn service. I ask them for a quote and if they could come do it while I got my mower fixed. They said no problem. With their equipment, they're done in no time and did a better job than me. I never went back to doing it myself. Have had the service ever since. So, I vote don't enjoy it and pay someone to do it.

 

[James Daulton]

I'm obsessed, and the front of our house looks like a professional landscape. I did a scale diagram with graph paper, bought probably 5 grand worth of trees, shrubs and perennials and installed it all myself. I work from home, so I have a lot of time for the maintenance, and since it's my passion, I don't think of it as work. I love feeling exhausted after working out there all day.

Curious how working from home gives you more time for maintenance? Do you work for yourself?

I've got a 2 hour commute (1 hour each way). If I worked from home, I'd probably spend at least an hour of that in the yard every evening...I can totally see the benefits.

Exactly, no commute, and I typically take 2-3 hours for "lunch" so I can mow, water, run around with the dog, jump in the pool, etc.

Ah, I have a short commute so I don't typically think about that. Good on ya!

 

[KCitons]

My next lawnmower will be a robot.

My next robot will be a lawnmower .

 

[matttyl]

Neighbor's 12 year-old kid kid came up to me last spring and said, "Your yard looks really nice," and walked away. Made my day. Made the $1K+ investment I make in my yard every year seem worth it.

I'm a lawn nut. I cut it myself and fertilize regularly. I wish I could spend MORE time on it. Love my lawn.

If I may ask, what's the best $200 a year you spend on your lawn? I'd like to improve my lawn, but $1k is a bit steep.

 

[Jackstraw]

I've loved it ever since my son came of lawn mowing age. Drink a beer and watch him out the kitchen window.

I personally have a problem with dumping chemicals and precious water on a lawn so mine looks like crap.

I'd gravel the damn thing over if city code would let me.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Yeah, moleculo and Brony pretty much summed up my feelings on lawns. If it were socially acceptable, I would just let whatever grows naturally do its thing out there. But I don't want to be like the guy in Fat Nick's neighborhood, so I pay somebody to come by and cut it every once in a while so it isn't a total eyesore. Having a really nice lawn isn't something I have any interest in, would rather spend that time and money on other stuff.

how do you impress 12-year-olds then?

 

[Long Ball Larry]

I'd actually be curious what the correlation is between guys who enjoy/take pride in lawn care, and those who had to take care of lawns as a kid.

I know when I was a kid, my Dad got me on the riding lawn mower REALLY young...I was cutting the grass on a rider at like 9 years old or so. We had a JD Hydrostatic, so all the speed/stop was via a lever, which was good b/c my feet didn't reach the brakes. I HATED doing it as a kid, but now it's just sort of part of summer. I'll have my kid out there mowing someday (but maybe not at 9).

I wonder if people who grew up taking care of lawns as a kid are more or less likely to enjoy it as they get older?

had to mow the lawn as a kid. not too much in landscaping but a little bit.

i loathe it.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

I want my lawn to look good and it has for a long time. But my wife fired the lawn guy that did mowing, weeding, spraying, etc. about 6 years ago and it has gone downhill. We still have someone to spray, but we now have some drainage problems and the grass is thinning out and dying from lack of proper thatching, plugging, trees getting bigger (more shade), etc.

I am not going to do it myself, but going to have to pay to get all of it fixed.

 

[comfortably numb]

But my wife fired the lawn guy that did mowing

So they broke up?

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

Yeah, moleculo and Brony pretty much summed up my feelings on lawns. If it were socially acceptable, I would just let whatever grows naturally do its thing out there. But I don't want to be like the guy in Fat Nick's neighborhood, so I pay somebody to come by and cut it every once in a while so it isn't a total eyesore. Having a really nice lawn isn't something I have any interest in, would rather spend that time and money on other stuff.

This.

 

[shuke]

Just bought our first home last October and the lawn is a bit of a mess—lots of lumps in the ground, some brown patches, and plenty of weeds. Since I have about 10 home improvement projects on my plate, any tips on a first step here? I've dug up some of the low spots and filled them in to try to level the yard so I don't break my ankle back there, but beyond that, I don't know what to do aside from rake and aerate. Should I put some turf builder on there? Weed and feed? Not sure which product I should be going with, so any direction would be much appreciated.

There's like a 50 page lawn care thread here.

 

[Courtjester]

Rocking in the majority of my front yard and xeriscaping the rest was the best decision I have ever made.

For my family (and I am not saying anything negative about other poster's families so I hope no one takes it that way) we work hard during the week. My kids have so much going on it is ridiculous and a lot of that spills over into the weekend. My wife is a special ed teacher and she spend countless nights staying up past midnight to write IEPs and so forth. The last thing I want to spend any time doing over the weekend is yard work. When we get down time during the weekend, it is family time and we are out doing family fun things.

Plus the water rates in my subdivision have drastically increased over the years, so my pocketbook likes the savings not having grass gives.

I enjoy taking care of the flowers and plants we have growing in the yard, but I do not missing mowing one bit.

 

[FUBAR]

I don't mind doing it though I wouldn't say I like doing it.

We could afford to pay someone else if we chose to, but so far I've opted to not pay the $40 going rate around here. It's not a bad rate for someone to do a good job but I'd rather save the money at this point.

We just bought a riding mower for our new house this summer so I suspect I'll enjoy it more but also hope my 12 year old son is motivated to do a good job with it.

The thing I don't like about our lawn is it's just not a good lawn. the soil is sand and it's very time consuming to keep a good looking lawn without weeds and patches. As we rent, I'll keep the front looking B level but the back I've let go a bit. Most people here do let their lawn go somewhat due to the time and cost in keeping it full and looking good. They do cut theirs regularly but there's more to lawn maintenance especially with our soil.