How much lawn care do you do?

[SDWildflower]

Also natural lawn !

My "lawn" is completely natural, consisting of wildflowers in the spring and weeds thereafter. I mow the wildflowers after they've gone to seed in May and I will mow again a couple of times a year, maybe more if we get above average rainfall.

Same here ! better for the environment - robins and other birds take care of the non-poisoned bugs. I did not plant them but the absence of pesticides has allowed Shasta daisies to grow early on , then primarily milkweed and sunflowers. Great for the bees, which also enjoy the clover and catnip. I do have grass, which does well enough - the yard is mostly shaded by trees.

 

[ERhoosier]

I cut my own grass for exercise and a bit of 'Zen' time. Some fertilizer, a bit of weed killer, and H2O when it gets too dry. I live in a suburban subdivision, so reasonable lawn upkeep is expected not only by the HOA but by the city as well.

 

[zippy2020]

We took out the lawn in front; the ivy/weeds/blackberry on the sides and back; and converted the entire garden to a very low water cottage garden in a series of beds. The beds and hardscape help handle a 20% hillside slope (front to back).

The lot is small (large by urban CA standards, LOL) but the gardening area itself is about 2100 sq. ft. The slope makes it hard work, and I find I'm turning more of the "heavy" stuff over to pros these days.

Not big on native plants. Many go dormant in our CA summers and are a fire hazard. Others that stay evergreen are either not true natives or are invasive. Drought tolerance has to fight icky adobe clay soil alternating with caliche out here.

Since we go 6-8 months without rain - absolutely NONE - I designed half my garden beds to live on runoff from others higher up the hill. Depending on the heat and fog weather, I usually soak 5-6 of the beds every 4-6 weeks. Each bed will get 1-2 hours of soaker hose action. The other 11 beds go unwatered except by winter rains.

As a modified Mediterranean-climate 'cottage garden', the 17 beds each have about 50-80% of their plantings evergreen year-round. There are always at least half a dozen plants in bloom - roses, hydrangeas, aptenia, cestrum, Meyer lemon, agapanthus, lavatera.

Spring is spectacular in CA, albeit it comes a lot earlier than when I grew up in the Midwest. Here it starts in early Feb and is over by mid-May!

Putting in the garden gave us hummers and bees year round. Not so fond of the ants and wasps, however (

We would never go back to a lawn. The garden is more interesting to look at and live in.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

We are doing more with our landscape now that we are prepping the house to be listed than we have for years. DS used to mow the lawn. For the last few years, we have had a lawn service.

 

[RE2Boys]

I do all the mowing with a push mower for the exercise. Local firm takes care of the weed & feed. Will water the landscaping but seldom needed in our area,never the lawn.

 

[ckelly78z]

I mow our 5 acres with my JD 855 with a 72" belly mower, so it gets done quickly. I don't own a push mower, or weed wacker, I do all of my trimming with Roundup. My lawn is more of a barn yard that gets heavily traveled by backhoes, tractors, trucks, and trailers without any worries.

My Dad is now 79 years old, and still mows his 1 acre suburban lawn with his Cub Cadet 782, I don't think either one of us have ever hired lawn work to be done.

 

[brett]

Zero. Just how we want it. Other than 2 planters on each of our front and back verandahs.

I had thirty five years of home mtce, renovations, lawn care...you name it. We sold and downsized into a great HOA. Lawn care and snow removal is taken care of. It allows us to travel extensively. Almost lock and go.

 

[grasshopper]

My lawn crew at work.

 

[target2019]

No lawn to care for. For 25 years or so it's just about figuring out what to do with leaves, and cut down a few trees now and then.

 

[shafer9]

Great idea. Good for you. The idea of a “lawn” is so antiquated that I’m sure it will become obsolete soon enough.

 

[WestUniversity]

All of it. Hah!

 

[Dtail]

I manage all the gardening of plants and watering of the lawn.
We have a service to cut the grass and apply fertilizer and weed killer to the lawn.

 

[Sunset]

I will try to fix that....


I live in the woods but I keep my yard meticulous. It's a hobby I find relaxing. My lawn is impeccable. This is a side yard. Background left is my wife's she shed, an English Tudor Cottage I built her last summer. On the right is the playground for my grand kids.


Here's a closer photo of DW's shed. Built out of all recycled materials and timbers are salvaged from bark beetle killed pines I had milled. Tin roof from an old dairy barn in Oregon. Windows from a sanitarium out of California. Bricks from old San Francisco building 1800's. Tiny pot belly stove handed down from my grandfather who used it when working for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Looks very nice and green.

 

[Nick12]

I pay a team to cut my grass weekly. I do my own fertizilation . TruGreen and Lawn Doctor were pricing $55 per month. I can it 4-5x a year at approx $20 per bag of Scotts fertilizer.

 

[badatmath]

I do have an HOA and no lawn but I live in the desert where it is common not to have one.

 

[Walt34]

I stumbled across this on youtube the other day, it's an interesting short video on the history of lawns. BTW, if you have even the faintest interest in history, this guy's channel is worth a look. He is an excellent teacher, he loves the subject and his enthusiasm both shows and carries to whatever segment of history he's addressing.