Yard Work

My lot is around a fifth of an acre, and of course the house and driveway take reduce that. Mowing took about forty-five minutes. Weed trimming for probably 100’ of sidewalk, 150’ perimeter of the house, and 150’ of fence took another forty-five, but was killer on my back.

Total annual cost for mowing and shrub trimming is $2340 plus tax. Worth every penny!
 
5 acres of woods, grass, and shoreline. I spend about 4-5 hours most days April through October doing yard work. Mowing, mulching, felling trees, fertilizing, burn piles.

Yesterday rolled the lawn. Today was grub control, and burning a burn pile. Tomorrow firing up the sprinkler system. Then liquid fertilizer from my side by side when weather permits.

Just had a professional take out about 15 bigger trees last week to the tune of $11k.

Yard work never ends.
 
I retired last year and one of the first thing I did was fire the gardner. I bought a electric lawnmower, blower and hedge trimmer. Which have been paid for now with the savings in what I would have paid the gardner. I use my father's old hand edger to edge the lawn. I enjoy getting out and mowing the lawn and think to myself $25/ saved every time I do it. Also it gets done more often in the spring then the gardner did it but less often in the winter.
 
Kings over Queens said:
I haven't cut my grass in 5 years and its the best money I spend. I literally will stop what I'm doing to pay the bill when I get the email on the first of the month.
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Over the years I have purchased 3 lawn mowers and 2 weed whackers.
Over the years I have sold 3 lawn mowers and 2 weed whackers.
I stopped kidding myself a long time ago.
 
Roughly two of our five acres is mowable (with a riding mower). I do not cut it until the Spring wildflowers have gone to seed, usually in late May/early June.
 
DW decided to begin mowing the lawn. She had retired 2 years before I did and figured she owed it to me. She couldn't even start the B&S engine on the mower. So she bought a used electric mower (required a long cord/extension). W*rked great for 20 minutes - until she ran over the extension cord. It blew the brains out of the mower, blew the plug on the side of the house and blew out the circuit in the box.

From then on, I did the mowing. Since moving to Paradise, we've had the HOA do all the landscaping.
 
Takes me approximately two hours; to mow, edge, trim and blow off driveway, porch, patio and sidewalks. I enjoy the tasks and I know it helps keep me in shape.
 
Haven't mowed my lawn for the past 4 years. Way too hot here in Florid in the summer months. I pay a young guy who is very energetic, with a young family, and is willing to work to make an extra buck. I mowed for 28 years and I'm done!!!! :)
 
My back large is now largely pool, pavers, shrubs, and a small grass and paver area that I manage. The front yard is mowed/edged/whacked for less than $100 a month, which, in S.Fla, is the only reasonable way to go.
 
REWahoo said:
So you have a mower that will cut almost 5 acres an hour? Please post a photo of that beast!!
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It's a Rhino 172 (6') mower/shredder powered by a mid-sized Kubota tractor. Looks like the one below. When the grass isn't thick and tall, like in early Spring, you can move along at a pretty good clip. Next month I'll have to take it slower (grass will be much thicker and taller) and it will add a hour+ to my tractor seat time.


1745408618766.jpeg
 
I stopped mowing our grass around 2004. My company was building a brown-field plant in another state and I flew out Sunday afternoons and flew back Friday nights. No way was I going to spend some of what little time I had home taking care of the lawn. Once the plant was built, I decided that not having to do that particular task was worth it to me - haven't mowed since. And still have the same guy doing the mowing. He's great.

DW had given me a Christmas present of the M*A*S*H DVDs. Movie and complete TV series. We binge-watched it during those short weekends, starting with the movie and ending with the final TV episode.
 
I have a tiny yard that I can mow and weed-whack in about 30 min. I'll keep doing it as long as I'm able as I did it for a much larger yard as a kid and kind of enjoy it, at least until the temps get above 85. Of course, now that I'm retired I can better pick and choose the time of day to suit myself.

And frankly, it's really tough for me to shell out $50 for 30 min. of work...jeez - if I get too decrepit I can split it into multiple 10-15 minute increments!
 
ksr said:
I don’t really mind mowing, although my lot is only about 1/4 acre. But after years of weeding, edging, and mulching every spring I started paying someone to do that last year. It really is money well spent as hauling all those mulch bags around was hard on my back.

And an interesting (but meaningless) observation: I would guesstimate about 75% of the homes in my neighborhood pay a lawn service to mow. Of the remaining 25% or so, it appears that most of the homeowners doing the mowing are women (including me). I even have one neighbor who wears headphones and sings while she is mowing!
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Fair or not, I notice the same thing - lots of married couples with women doing the mowing. I'm divorced and mowing is fine with me but it does burn me a little when the guys can't do the mowing or even get the trash out on the street - and no, I'm pretty sure they aren't doing the vacuuming or laundry. :mad::trash:
 
reneeh63 said:
Fair or not, I notice the same thing - lots of married couples with women doing the mowing. I'm divorced and mowing is fine with me but it does burn me a little when the guys can't do the mowing or even get the trash out on the street - and no, I'm pretty sure they aren't doing the vacuuming or laundry. :mad::trash:
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I remember talking about this topic with the guys years ago - One of the guys claimed that any work that needed to be done within 100' of the house was the woman's responsibility.

I didn't share that bit of wisdom with DW. And DW has never mowed in our 43 years together.
 
I still mow my grass (1+ acre plot). With the riding mower it takes 75-90 minutes, not much time for the week. I sometimes use the push mower to do sections of the lawn for exercise. My time mowing is mental health/meditation/solve the problems of the world time, so it is very therapeutic 😂 .

I have looked into lawn service, which I have not ruled out having to go that route someday. But the cost around here is equivalent to buying a new riding mower every other year. For now I'll stick to mowing myself.

We have tree so minor tree tasks (trimming branches with chainsaw or reciprocating saw, fall leaf cleanup) I still do. It is good exercise. Since moving to the mid-Atlantic, DW has not set up a garden like we had in New England. Our soil is rockier, and for several years I rented a tiller but she never got around to do anything further. I will wait for her to line up and schedule her friends who she says are willing to help before I go further :).
 
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I'm only 64 and from trimming the trees to planting, weeding and spraying for bugs, I still do all the yardwork. Heck, two weeks ago we spread around 60 bags of mulch. Don't have a gym membership so I consider all of it a workout.
 
My lawn isn't that big, and I do all my own lawn work, except when I hired some tree trimmers. A recent evening during a storm, I had a large limb fall from a tree in my front lawn onto the street blocking traffic. I couldn't even move it alone, but a cop helped me drag it into my front yard after I cut off some branches.

The next day, a tree company stopped by and said they would cut it up and haul it away for $150. I said not for $150. He said "how about $100?" I said maybe $30. He didn't take my offer.

I cut it up myself with a chainsaw and dragged the parts to the woods behind my house.
 
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My lot is 1/3 acre and flat, so the mowing, raking, etc, is not that taxing for me. However, for the past 20-25 years, I have always hired one of the teen members of my church congregation to help me. As each one of them goes off to college, I get a new, younger helper. I don't really need the help, but I think it is good for them to earn some money on their own and become accustomed to actually doing physical work. Of course, since they are teenagers, I need to be working alongside them or they will get distracted. I have learned quite a bit about the lives of young people over the years, as we talk while we work.
 
I did the yard work until the late wife got sick and then hired it out for the next 12 years.

Kids are now gone, plenty of time to do it again. Downsized to a smaller house but bigger lot than I've ever had. Enjoying being behind a mower again. Taking care of the sprinkler maintenance and adjustments too. Glad that I still enjoy the sweat work, and that I can :)
 
When DW was alive, she had inside the house for chores and I had outside (grass, anything to do with dirt and paint) including maintaining the cars. When she got really I'll, I did most everything. Now I do everything.
 
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