To mow...or not to mow

[FlaMariner]

When we moved to our new home in 2018, one of the requirements was no grass......It's a small yard and all mulch.

After years of mowing grass (since age 13), I began to question the purpose of a green grass yard and will never mow again. Period.

 

[Montecfo]

Here in S.Fla suburbia almost everyone has lawn service, which includes a weekly mow in the summer. And everyone is on a different schedule. I can hear a big noisy commercial rider "next door" pretty much every day of the week. Behind, next door, across the street, etc., all different days! But it's fast with a crew, most of them take maybe 20 minutes each house and then they are done.

Being retired I spend a great deal of time outside on my deck. Our home is very private as we have heavy woods. So I can't see other houses but very aware of mowing/blowing schedules.

It can get loud in summer. Especially gas blowers.

When my Toro dies I will look seriously at a battery one. My other yard tools are all battery now.

Right now I just hear cicadas. Ah, the sounds of summer.

 

[misanman]

I hate the ones who mow so often that you can't even tell where they mowed and where they didn't.

The problem with waiting a week is that we would have a hayfield.

 

[Andre1969]

The problem with waiting a week is that we would have a hayfield.

Yeah, depending on where you live, sometimes you HAVE to mow it once a week or more, just to keep on top of it. Certain types of grass, like zoysia, also don't grow very fast, but they're so thick that if you wait too long, they're a pain to cut.

So, you end up with the choice of cutting it more often, but more quickly each time. Or less often, but more time consuming for each cut. More stress on the lawn equipment, too.

 

[Breedlove]

I used to mow ours ,had a nice riding mower about two acres . We have a small ranch lots of trees and trimmer work . One weekend the riding mower went kaput it was hot and I was mad . I went to the Dollar General ( only store for miles ) asked some of the people who mows . Got a few numbers called the first guys , came out in about 2 hours with 2 monster
ZTRs ..Went to work mowed ,edged and blew everything off 60.00 . I like to mow but these mowers break down and I no longer have a PU.
The guys that mow for me say they have to change the carbs on their ZTRs every couple years . Amazon 49.00 . Nope no longer mowing.

 

[old medic]

Glad i'm not your neighbor. .....Add in the noise of a gas powered rider and they belong in the bad neighbor thread...... I hate noise pollution and excessive mowing with a very loud mower is among the biggest offenders.

You mean this guy?

 

[Kings over Queens]

I am 73 and DW is 72. We still mow our 4628sq ft yard weekly. (

I give you credit. I stopped cutting our grass in 2020 (or 21). I have a large piece of property and the lawnmower was acting up. Said eff it. I used to tell myself I enjoyed the hour lost in my thoughts and the exercise walking behind the mower.

Now I come home on a Thursday to a manicured lawn that looks great and giggle to myself.

I'll never cut my own grass again. It's around $50 a cut, and is the best money I spend.

 

[38Chevy454]

Cut my grass today, 105 heat index. Not too bad sitting on mower, but pretty hot trimming and blowing. Shed shoes and shirt and jumped into my pool once finished! The main issue with heat today was dewpoint was 77F. Thats no fun to be outside in.

 

[Rocket Man]

I still mow our yard. I am 68. Push mow a quarter acre. Takes just over an hour and another hour to trim, edge, sweep, etc.. I will do it as long as I am physically able. Good exercise and I do a better job than the mowing services that some of my neighbors use. It is also a good no-brainer stress reliever!

 

[RetireAge50]

Texas house I hire it out at $60/mo for once a week mowing, edging and they also trim the bushes as needed.

Washington state house I do it myself with battery powered mower. I really like it as it is lightweight and I do not smell like gasoline afterward.

 

[aaronc879]

I still mow our yard. I am 68. Push mow a quarter acre. Takes just over an hour and another hour to trim, edge, sweep, etc.. I will do it as long as I am physically able. Good exercise and I do a better job than the mowing services that some of my neighbors use. It is also a good no-brainer stress reliever!

I guess it's different for everyone. Mowing greatly increases my stress because I know it is going to cause me extra pain in both my back and leg. There is nothing good about it for me but I can't reasonably afford to pay to have it done as the main local company charges $69 per visit. Multiply that by at least 20 visits per year and it gets expensive for someone with no income trying to live on $15K/yr.

 

[Walt34]

I still mow although there was a respite from it for a couple of years after I had two stents in my heart. When the doc gave the "all clear" to resume exercise I went back to doing it myself. Once in a blue moon DW gets a "bee in her bonnet" to mow and she'll do some or all of it, mostly when for some reason or another I haven't done it soon enough to her satisfaction. Like when I was painting rooms and kept putting off the mowing.

I'm thinking about a Milwaukee battery powered mower (I have a lot of their batteries for other tools) but the price puts me off, as does the fact that the gasoline Toro mower works just fine so I'm hard put to think of a good reason to replace it.

 

[pb4uski]

I just finished our mowing. We have 0.7 acres but I'd guess that only about 1/2 that is lawn. 100% rider. Mowing is easy. The hard part is moving lawn chairs, firepit, clothesline and other stuff out of the way and then putting it all back again. Takes about an hour soup to nuts.

I did make a big mistake today. I ran over the edge of a tarp on the ground that DW had put down near one of her garden beds and it got sucked up into the mower deck. I had to the drive the mower up on a pair of ramps that I have to extract it. Luckily no harm done other than little shreds of tarp all over the place but I raked those up as best I could.

My timing was good as it started sprinkling just as I finished putting things back in place and is raining steady now.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

When we moved to our new home in 2018, one of the requirements was no grass......It's a small yard and all mulch.

After years of mowing grass (since age 13), I began to question the purpose of a green grass yard and will never mow again. Period.

Our yard is also small. I've thought about going all mulch, but we have tons of leaves in the fall that I have to blow and pile them (mounds about 5 foot high) near the curb, and then the township comes around and sucks those up using their big vacuum truck. Mulch would just be too messy and I'd have to keep adding new mulch.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I can deal with mowers no problem - it's nothing compared to the ear shattering leaf blowers. I hate those things! I'm at wit's end in my neighborhood. Every single home around me has lawn services that come every single week - all on different days. So at least 4-5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, I have to hear those loud lawn blowers that come through loud and clear through closed, locked windows when I'm on the phone, trying to read, nap, etc.

No use trying to move - as urban environments aren't for me and I'd face this in any suburban neighborhood. I wish they'd outlaw lawn blowers.

We have a second, vacation home in a mobile home community. Every Saturday like clockwork at 8 am, my next door neighbor (a state police detective) used to get out his gas blower and spend 15 minutes blowing off his deck and tiny yard. The community quiet hours end at 8 am.

I swear he was doing it on purpose just to be a jack a**.

To this day I refuse to talk to him. I'm sure he thinks I'M the bad neighbor for ignoring him.

 

[Mark2024]

I continue to do the mowing myself due to financial necessity. Our yard is about 1/4 acre on a small hill. It is pretty hard to do it in this weather with the heat plus the mosquito bites.

Paid $220 for a one year old Honda GCV 190. The previous owner left gas in the engine over the winter and could not get it started. I rebuilt the carbonator after watching some YouTube videos.

I only use the self propel function about 10% of the time to save gas.

 

[aaronc879]

We have a second, vacation home in a mobile home community. Every Saturday like clockwork at 8 am, my next door neighbor (a state police detective) used to get out his gas blower and spend 15 minutes blowing off his deck and tiny yard. The community quiet hours end at 8 am.

I swear he was doing it on purpose just to be a jack a**.

To this day I refuse to talk to him. I'm sure he thinks I'M the bad neighbor for ignoring him.

8am is daytime, not sure what the problem is? If you are not awake by 8am then that means you likely went to bed after midnight and that is on you, not anyone else.

 

[cyber888]

I still mow using a Push mower. I love it as my weekly exercise. Been doing it for 20+ years.
Almost all my neighbors have a Riding mower, but they do not use it anymore. They hire people now, and probably pay $200 per month for professional mowers.

 

[badatmath]

I have never once mowed. (Granted there is no yard now that I live in AZ). My family hired it out growing up as well. It was almost like a competition - who had the best lawn on the block. Most of the neighbors also used a service IIRC.

I was considering that whole mowing/shoveling thing if I relocate. . . I'd hate to pay to have it done but no desire to start now either.
And I'm allergic to grass. . . .

 

[ncbill]

Yeah, depending on where you live, sometimes you HAVE to mow it once a week or more, just to keep on top of it. Certain types of grass, like zoysia, also don't grow very fast, but they're so thick that if you wait too long, they're a pain to cut.

So, you end up with the choice of cutting it more often, but more quickly each time. Or less often, but more time consuming for each cut. More stress on the lawn equipment, too.

Twice a week here when I was a kid, with a walk-behind mower.

Front yard was easy, but we also had a side yard large enough that we used it as a soccer pitch...house there now.

Mower would run out of fuel & I'd have to wait to refuel it since it wouldn't restart hot.

Also had terrible grass/pollen allergies & even shots didn't work very well.

Happy to have moved into a townhouse development 20+ years ago where I don't have to do anything outside if I don't want.

I'm now watching my in-laws (mid-80s) try to keep up with their large yard.

 

[Sunset]

I mow with our self propelled mower in the Spring, until we take a trip, then I hire it out and pay $30/wk to it done. Same price as last year !!

Right now I'm thinking do I call to cancel them, or let them do it for another month. It's not like I enjoy mowing and it takes me 1 hour to do our large lawn.

When I mow myself, I get to see/inspect my yard in detail, and usually mow the grass to a 2.5->3 inch height which is better for the grass.

The mowers cut it shorter, but they edge the driveway and walkway, something I don't do as I gave up on trimmers because they kept failing to work after a year or two.

 

[dadu007]

I started converting my front lawn over to native plants (Minnesota). It doesn't rain as much as it used to and I'm not going to waste water on a mono-culture lawn. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nutty.

 

[razztazz]

I am 73 and DW is 72. We still mow our 4628sq ft yard weekly. We have a walkout so there are steep sides. We try do it on relatively cool days but this time of year in the mid west it is not always possible. It is not enjoyable for me but DW doesn't seem to mind. Tried several lawn services over the years but not really satisfied with results. I know we will have to give it up some day and just be satisfied with whatever lawn service we land on.

Wondering if you still mow or just concrete over it.

I was mowing mine right up till the day I almost dropped dead. I miss doing it. Now I have a guy who comes and does it. Not totally satisfied with his results but I don't live in Martha Stewart's neighborhood either so close is good enough. I still do the weed-wacker edging stuff sometimes.

 

[reneeh63]

4628 sq ft is just 1/10th of an acre. -ERD50

My yard is about that size and I use a batteried walk-behind - takes just around 30 minutes and another 10-15 with the weed whacker. I actually enjoy it in the spring and fall - not so much when it's hot and humid. Luckily the growth slows down around then for a month or so.

I've always mowed my own and I'm too cheap at the moment to pay someone else. I'm not quite retired and it almost seems like with more time to do everything I'll be even less inclined to hire it out - at least until I hit 70-75 - I suppose that could change if something happens to my health g0d forbid!

What I will need is somebody to mow every once in awhile when out of town since until now I'm rarely gone for more than a week at a time. It's harder to get someone to mow if you can't guarantee them a weekly job for the whole summer.

 

[meleana]

We are now in an HOA community and they mow our little lot, fertilize it and apply weed killer and mulch. I don’t care about perfection as long as we are not doing it. Have better things to do than worry about sone grass.

We also have a ranch with a walkout basement with steep sides. I hate that so I don’t walk it.

Just hire someone and go out and enjoy life.