General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat is it about Americans and their lawns?
I dont get it.
As I sit here writing this, one of my neighbors is out mowing his lawn, for at least the second time this week. Like the rest of us in this area, he cant have much more than a quarter-acre plot, and yet to take his grass down maybe an eighth of an inch requires he use a four-wheeled self-propelled tractor with the horsepower of a Sopwith Camel, replete with headlights. Its like floating a cabin cruiser in a tiny pond: the thing is so outsized he has trouble making the turns. Its loud, its polluting, and its terrifically annoying, and I know hell be at it for the better part of an hour. So instead of sitting on my porch to do my work on this beautiful summer day, Im driven inside, where I have to close my doors and windows to cut down on the noise and the stench.
And he isnt alone. Hes part of a growing cohort of people in my neighborhood who seem to devote ever-increasing amounts of time, money, and natural resources to making sure their little plot of heaven looks just like a golf green. Riding mowers, weed whackers, leaf blowers, along with regular doses of fungicides, pesticides, and fertilzers, all used to produce an environment that looks to me as antiseptic as a mortuary. The overall impression is of something embalmed: lots of makeup and injected plastic, but whats underneath is mostly dead or dying.
This seems to be the new standard, not only for homes, but for parks, municipal grounds, cemeteries, banks, what have you. An escalation, if you will, in the war on grass, so that in my formerly tranquil little neighborhood, at least one in three households now have riding mowers and all the other carbon-spewing paraphernalia, and uses them religiously. We have a mix of people here: some young families, some single workers, some retired folks. The retired folks do their mowing and assorted nature-taming during the day, the working folks during the evening or weekends. Its getting so its a rarity to have a solid hour of summer daylight unaccompanied by the song of the two or four-stroke engine.
But theres more. This morning another of my neighbors was serviced by one of those lawn maintenance companies. This too is becoming more and more common. Three guys arrived in a four-by-four, dragging an extra-wide trailer. The equipment on this included an even more massive riding mower, along with the requisite weed whackers and leaf blowers, and a diesel powered block of hardware that is used, as best as I can tell, to punch little holes in the dirt. The noise generated by these machines (especially when theyre all being used together) is simply incredible, so much so that these folks are required to wear the sort of headphones you never used to see outside of a factory floor or airport runway.
Were talking about cutting the grass, for Chrissakes. Have you looked at a blade of grass lately? Really, its not that intimidating. And so the scale of the technology being used to cut the stuff seems ludicrous, absurd. And given whats happening to our climate, even obscene. I cant help but feel that a hundred years from now people are going to look back at this compulsive and bizarre use of petroleumthis terrific overkilland shake their heads with wonder. And disgust.
But right now its the noise thats getting to me.
Am I over-sensitive, a crazed eco-nut tree hugger?
Is it too much to want to hear the birds sing on a summer afternoon?
Help me out here DU. Tell me what you think.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)thucythucy
(8,086 posts)"Thou shalt not suffer a blade of grass to stand."
That's the King James version, I think.
CanonRay
(14,112 posts)Idiotocratus 16:6
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Also, most HOA's require you to keep your lawn tidy. I'm a condo dweller, I'll let someone else keep up the lawn.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)that wouldn't apply.
I can understand gardening, and even cutting the lawn when it gets shaggy, but like I say this seems almost compulsive. And it's definitely spreading.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Meaning, I have the time and money to devote to this golf course-like lawn. I always hated cutting the yard, even when I was a teen. I've seen a few subdivisions hand out awards to the homeowner with the "best yard".
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)about it to me.
I can understand working in a garden, and not wanting your lawn to get too shaggy. But I think you're on to something about it being a status symbol. It was like: now that Mr. Jones has his super duper shiny new riding mower (which are quite expensive, BTW), well, everyone on the block has to get one too.
I've tried talking to my neighbors about this, in as friendly and non-threatening and non-patronizing a way as I can. Some agree outright, and say, "That's exactly how I feel, but I never told anyone 'cause they'd think I was nuts." Others ponder for a while but keep on mowing.
Some--a significant minority--look at me like I'd suggested we crucify the baby Jesus on PBS. As if to say: "What--you're against mowing the grass? What are you, some kind of terrorist?"
Anyway, these responses I'm getting here are very helpful.
Best wishes.
Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)OMG my neighbors have leaf fetishes. The amount of letters we have had over our leaves blowing onto their nice lawns! The is on our side. How the hell can you prevent leaves blowing off our trees onto their lawn. The latest is they put a large ugly wire fence up to catch the leaves!
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Lawns are a major pain in the ass and money drain. If you're not willing to go outside once a week or so (or pay someone), then move into a condo, apartment, co-op or just move way out into the country.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)he gets a riding mower, so you have to. So, he has to raise the stakes and get a service to do his.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)and you don't have to fool with it or the lawn mower.
wandy
(3,539 posts)Last year my 30 year old Toro shredded it's self. Belts, berrings, blade clutch et all became a mass of shraptnel.
So, I ordered parts and set in the back yard, down in the ever growing too long grass and rebuilt the darned beast.
OK, some of the neighbors commented that the grass got too high.
BFHD!
Personally I do not like lawns that look like a golf course green.
Darn, I hate mowing the lawn.
It is good knowing that it works by my craft.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Where do you live?
leftstreet
(36,111 posts)JFK quote that seems kinda lawn-ish
sorta
KT2000
(20,586 posts)A nice day usually means listening to all the riding mowers and weed-whackers. I would rather have the peace and quiet. We are facing a water shortage but that has not stopped the lawn waterers - day and night. There will have to be rationing before any of them will stop.
A friend lives in a development that requires a green lawn. She is required to water on Tuesdays and Thursday.
have always thought that if Martians came to earth, they would never understand the whole lawn thing.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,829 posts)toward getting rid of lawns, either partly or altogether, and replacing them with gardens. I did that three years ago - tore up all of the grass and put in shrubs, flowers and fruit trees - and I don't miss that boring turf grass lawn at all. I'd estimate that about a fourth of the yards in my neighborhood have either reduced or eliminated their lawns. Many have also planted flowers on the boulevard area on the street side of the sidewalk (the city even sponsors a contest for the best boulevard garden). Of course, since these yards are smallish city lots it's fairly easy to do. Out in the 'burbs, however, they seem to be still cultivating those big golf course-style lawns, which IMO are a waste of space and water.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)"out in the country" which adds 10 miles or more to his commute, then proceeds to surround the house with 5 acres of pristine grass that are there only to be mowed. What's the point of a lawn that is never used?
I think we may have 5 acres right around the house, but at least half has been given over to gardens and two wooded areas. There's enough grass left for a picnic and/or volley ball game, and the chickens range over it eating plants and bugs.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)where they have to put out these little flags out saying kids and pets should keep off.
Within days though there are kids and dogs playing on that same lawn.
I dunno, but something about pouring poison into the ground on which I live seems a bit freakish.
Again, maybe that's just me.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)I'm lucky in that I'm in kind of a well balanced area for that sort of thing - if someone has a golf course yard they pretty much never need to water it as we get a decent amount of rain anytime it isn't snowing. About two thirds of the yards in my neighborhood are generic grass but the other third can get really elaborate.
That said, I'd still like to punt my neighbor into the sun sometimes; he's one of those "I am a Manly Suburban Man" types who'll occasionally mow his lawn three times a day just to be seen being Manly And Suburban...
KentuckyWoman
(6,690 posts)Manly Suburban Man.
You should trademark that before SNL gets it.
Butterbean
(1,014 posts)My neighbors have an electric lawn mower, and it is so quiet that I don't even know it's out there until it's practically right next to me. It's the most amazing thing.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)It really is quiet. It's also light as a toy, in fact I have to keep reminding myself that light and quiet as it is I could still lose some toes if I'm not careful. And our lots are small enough that I can do the whole lawn in just one charge.
Thanks for the feedback.
RC
(25,592 posts)The problem is finding a replacement blade. It is only 18 inches and the don't make them for that machine anymore. Universal replacements aren't.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)I don't care which - that would be free of the noise of all the lawnmowers! My husband mows when the lawn starts looking shaggy, and we don't apply fertilizer, herbicide or pesticides. The front "lawn" beneath the trees is all moss that looks like something out of a Zen garden. The side lots are full of mixed grass, clovers, broad leaf weeds and who knows what else! Our side lots never turn brown, even with the driest weather!
I am convinced that lawn owners are more responsible for excess use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer than farmers. Farmers have to measure the cost of each chemical against potential profit, so they have every incentive to apply as little as possible. A typical lawn owner can decide that if the 10# bag is good, why not splurge and go for the 25# bag instead!
Skittles
(153,182 posts)don't even get me STARTED on weed eaters
Enrique
(27,461 posts)our buildings were like in the interior of the city block, under a huge canopy of trees that didn't let any light in, so there wasn't much of a lawn, just tons of leaves and sticks, but my neighbor mowed anyway. It made a huge racket because of all the sticks.
Isoldeblue
(1,135 posts)when tract housing sprung up across the US, with front lawns, men have measured their worth by the quality of their lawns. Go figure........
My fil was freakish about his and so is my husband, taking after the old fart. It drives me nuts.
Even more so now, for the same reasons you pointed out, environmentally.
I am also an unabashed tree hugger and prefer perennials growing, with less lawn.
Link Speed
(650 posts)Turf lawns are a huge industry. All of the equipment, accessories, duel, fertilizers, insecticides, etc.
In Texas, one third of the water used is poured onto lawns.
My front yard is a meadow, a thing of beauty. I watered it for a total of five hours last year, mostly because I had a bit to drink and just wanted to stand in thigh-high grasses with a hose and a glass of wine. It is also on the local limo wine tours. I wish I knew how to post a picture of it.
My back yard is decomposed granite with raised beds where we utilize clay pot irrigation. But we do have a 25metre pool, which I have been in exactly once in five years.
Our town is on the brink of banning leaf blowers, too.
Mother Nature bats last.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)get a Focker Triplane and park it out front. He might get the message.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)I always loved those triplanes!
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)madrchsod
(58,162 posts)smoke good dope and make peace
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Love that stuff - Loving Spoonful too.
burnodo
(2,017 posts)I'm not talking about small plots around rows of tract houses. I'm talking major "lawns" outside farm house and others that are 15, 20, 20 acre lawns! It's ridiculous that so much time and energy are spent trimming those "lawns". They're never used by the homeowner or kids. It's a total waste.
Agony
(2,605 posts)The US infatuation with lawns causes serious environmental problems.
Lawn and Garden Equipment
Emit 5% of ozone-forming VOCs in large
urban areas1
1 hour of lawn mowing = 100 miles car driving2
VOCs linked to adverse health effects, global
warming
Why GreenScape? Noise Pollution
Health hazard to equipment operator
Quiet our noisy neighborhoods
Many homeowners overuse and misuse pesticides
67 million lbs applied on lawns each year
2/3 dispose of excess in trash, remainder down drains
Detectable limits found in 5-10% of wells
40-60% of nitrogen applied ends up in surface and
groundwater
Nitrogen, phosphorus main pollutants
in Chesapeake Bay, other estuaries
etc ---> PDF presentation at link http://www.epa.gov/reg3esd1/garden/pdf/donahue.pdf
Cheers,
Agony
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)and the link.
I knew DU would come through for me!
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,191 posts)You little punk.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)I just want my ball back!
Skeeter Barnes
(994 posts)money in that business. It's not like they get to do it year 'round in most places so they have to cut as much as they can while they can.
And not everybody is able to cut their own lawn due to health reasons or demands on their time so the pros are a big help to many.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Just so happens that this service puts food on the table for my family and keeps the lights in.
Thanks for your eloquant monologue on the disturbances caused on your ability to ' work from home'
Must be nice...
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)have a disability. I'd make more money, with better benefits, if I could do a regular day job.
Another poster here is a night worker. So your line of work may cut into his ability to put food on the table and keep his lights on, if it keeps him from sleeping in his own home. Just saying.
Other than that, I don't have much of an answer for you. I mean, what can I say? It's always complicated when someone's line of work causes problems for someone else, or when environmental concerns conflict with someone's ability to make a living. I imagine folks in the fracking industry aren't too happy with environmentalists bitching about ruined acquifers and such. And certainly these days people can't usually pick and choose their line of work.
Anyway, I hope you're able to work in safe conditions.
Best wishes.
Triana
(22,666 posts)Replaced with garden, a few trees, some mulch, flowering perennials. Still have some "grass" but very little. I HATE mowing.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Its my best attempt by next fall to eliminate 60% of my current mowing situation on our property.
I've seen stunning no-mow properties in ny days in the landscape industry...
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)and let some of it go back to woods. We don't seed, fertilize, or use weed killer. If it's green it gets mowed when needed. The deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc. love our yard and so do we, but it's as natural as possible.
JustAnotherGen
(31,869 posts)He left the military, bought a house in the country - and immediately went to back to war with the lawn. But - he never used pesticides. Our neighbors were doing chemlawn in the 80's - and he noticed they never had birds or bunnies. He would go out with a small hand rake and shovel and gloves. Our house had underground streams so even nw - my mom doesn't water the lawn. They ony watered flowers and te garden.
NCarolinawoman
(2,825 posts)A lot of men seem to really get into tending their lawns. But why they like the monochromatic green poison lawns baffles me. Your Dad had it right.
JustAnotherGen
(31,869 posts)Their children are playing on that. Show me a little kid that washes their hands after touching the grass before putting their hand in their mouth and . . . We can't find one NCarolina. That creature does not exist.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)I have fond memories of playing tag, frisbee, badminton, doing cartwheels, etc. on lawns. Oh, and lawn darts. Those were awesome.
We have a tiny bit of "lawn" (which we do basically nothing to except cut with a push mower once in a great while), but the rest of our lot is natural. Our kids liked having the bit of grass, even though it is uneven and on a slope.
Beyond that -- these giant lawns are sort of a ridiculous waste of resources, and the chemicals people use on them are disgusting.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)That is simply HORRIBLE that your neighbor mowed his lawn, and that the noise annoyed you. And a whole quarter acre? That must have taken several excruciating hours.
While it was harrowing to read about your terrible ordeal, thank you for sharing.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)reading and replying to my post. How bravely you have endured!
geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)But if people like and want lawns thats fine by me.
Its just that I am sick of the maintenance. Love the green and gardens though. Will miss them.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,869 posts)I use hand clippers to keep it down to a dull roar.
My neighbors hate me. I don't care. I have two huge trees in my front yard and nothing will grow under them. So I just let the natural ivy grow there. I like it.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)with this,once a week.I don't like mowing and have no neighbors close by.I missed a week a couple months ago and 2 people stopped to check if I was alright because the grass was high.
ChazII
(6,205 posts)in my neighborhood. All we need is a rake.
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)I hate really noisy things----lawn mowers, weed eaters, leaf blowers, motorcycles, cars rigged to make lots of noise. I enjoy the peace and quiet of a nice summer day, sitting outside, with birds singing.
I have a lawn, I mow when it is needed (or shortly thereafter) using a cordless electric. I don't edge often and use a weed eater once a year. I have no leaf blower. I use no chemicals. My neighbors probably bitch about me too.
Iggo
(47,564 posts)OutNow
(866 posts)I lived in Texas for 20 years with Raleigh-St. Augustine grass. It is a nightmare. You have to give it lots of water in the summer or it will die and turn brown. But it you water it it grows like crazy, both up and out. You have to cut it at least once a week. If you miss a week while on vacation you will return to a 6 inch high jungle. Since it grows via runners, you also have to edge it with an edging tool or it will take over your sidewalk. It is almost impossible to cut without a good Briggs and Straton push mower, but a riding mower makes the job much easier.
I now live in Oregon. My grass stays green all year. I mow it once a week in the summer with a push mower. I water it occasionally. It doesn't grow over sidewalks. I believe this is the way grass is supposed to behave. I believe Raleigh-St. Augustine is an evil invention to make people in Texas suffer.
If I ever live in Texas in the future my front yard will be lava rock and yucca plants.
REP
(21,691 posts)I need to plant something in parts of it, but it sure as hell won't be boring, water-wasting grass. I might plant a tiny section of it for my chickens (5' x 5' plot over my septic field - maybe).
hunter
(38,325 posts)Neck ties, high heels, uncomfortable clothes in general.
Automobiles. Don't get me started on automobiles.
Soft drinks.
I've actually got quite a long list of things.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)and I think I agree with every single item.
I'm curious to see some more.
MattBaggins
(7,904 posts)Why not just bake them right the first time?
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)Seriously though, I think people years from now will be astounded at all the crap we put up with, and do, in our attempts to "tame" or "harness" nature.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)bklyncowgirl
(7,960 posts)The less I have to mow the better. My husband gets freaked out, I have a feeling that loving the lawn is very much a guy thing. He is the hero in his own personal battle against dandelion kind. Problem is because he had a hernia he can't do any serious lifting so guess who gets to mow. That's one of the reasons why, as soon as I can get the job done, that lawn is history.
Texasgal
(17,047 posts)that my yard will die in the summer. I am in Texas and with no rain and severe water shortages we have no yard. It's mainly dirt may-sept.
I think I cut it twice this year. I rake leaves when needed to make sure my french drains don't get clogged, otherwise you could live next door to me and enjoy many birds and wildlife! We are quiet!
Chuuku Davis
(565 posts)I cut when it is 6" down to 4"
Last two yrs only had to mow 10 times
Due to the rain and cooler temps I am having to mow every 3 days
4.5 acres
I should be letting it grow and selling hay
But hay is cheap as shit now thanks to all this rain
Fuck global warming
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)At least winter is quiet.
MattBaggins
(7,904 posts)Snowblowers waking you up at 6am
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Maybe we should move to a desert island somewhere! But then we would complain about the coconuts falling out of the trees.
Purrfessor
(1,188 posts)about such a thing. And how dare those darn howler monkeys starting up before dawn, and the birds, and the....well, you get the idea.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)We don't understand why anybody chooses to live there.
We live in the rural woods of the Ouachita Mountains of west/central Arkansas.
However, we do regularly mow with a 42" Craftsman Riding Lawn Mower,
and keep the grass mowed short around our cabin and veggie gardens.
There are several reasons:
Reason#1) This area of rural Arkansas had an unfair number of ticks (Lyme & Rocky Mountain Spotted fever). Keeping the grass mowed under 4" around your home or in areas that are frequented will greatly reduce the number of ticks, and make it easier for the Free Range Chickens to find those that try to migrate out of the brush.
Reason #2: By close mowing and leaving the cuttings,
it is possible over a few years to build topsoil,
and rehabilitate a mostly barren, eroded, and unproductive red clay field from something that will only support thistle, briars, and long weeds to a fertile field that will hold the rainfall, and grow short grasses and clover.
Our Honey Bees LOVE the clover.
Reason #3)
We like to be able to see these little guys before we step on them.
All non naturally occurring pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides are
forever banned from our little hill top,
along with any and all Genetically Modified plants and seeds.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)Especially numbers one and three. Especially number three.
Thanks for the feedback.
Lars39
(26,110 posts)grass gets too high and they get even more unbearable.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)because they are nasty little bugs that can make life miserable,
and we have noticed that mowing reduces or eliminates them,
but I wasn't sure whether the mowing was doing that,
or the chickens were eating them.
I know that ticks crawl up weeds about a foot tall to the tip,
hang on with their back legs, lean over the edge, and wait for something to walk by to grab on to.
Blanks
(4,835 posts)They can be confined to an area with electric fence and you get all of the benefits of mowing without the use of fossil fuels.
The chickens scratch through the manure for bugs so that the mound of manure doesn't kill the grass, and they naturally spread the 'natural fertilizer'. All of the benefits of mowing without any of the downside.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)...but there might be a couple of yearling cows when we are ready.
Blanks
(4,835 posts)Or goats (although they are a lot more difficult to confine).
That's why I say borrow. Maybe you have a neighbor that owns a horse. It takes longer for horses to 'mow' and they won't always eat everything, but looking out into the yard at horses eating is a joy. Compare that to standing behind a mower and dragging a gas can around and all the other burdens that come with mowing.
The gasoline isn't locally produced, the mower isn't locally manufactured, the CO2 exhaust is heated so it is more likely leave the property. If you let a neighbor graze his horse, he might be able to save on hay.
Treant
(1,968 posts)Get off my lawn.
Yeah, it's annoying. I personally fertilize organically and avoid any Creative Chemistry whenever possible. The mower is electric and nearly silent (you can talk while using it in a normal voice).
Warranted, the place is full of flower gardens and healthy, rich green lawn. But I work at it because I enjoy doing so and endeavor to do so in harmony with nature instead of fighting it.
However, don't smell the compost bin when I over-do the greens. Just a warning.
Elmergantry
(884 posts)Keeps things quite for the neighbors, doesn't pollute the air, and keeps the grass under control:
Roundup
NCarolinawoman
(2,825 posts)Bad bad stuff, in so many ways!
Elmergantry
(884 posts)if you think Roundup is bad, look into the stuff it replaces in Ag: Atrazine, 2-4D
elfin
(6,262 posts)With all sorts of volunteer plants making it their own. Mowed when getting irritating to neighbors.
Drought? Something will find a place to thrive eventually.
As long as the newcomers are not on the official noxious weeds list per local ordinance, they can habitate. If noxious, they are pulled.
Still green, but raggedly so.
Still enough rain in my region to sustain it.
Maeve
(42,287 posts)After a rain, it is full of birds--something our "lawn" neighbors don't get many of. The only time we water it is when we have to plant a bit of grass to fill in bare spots (like after re-doing the drainage). Once it gets established, it's on its own!
Kingofalldems
(38,469 posts)leftstreet
(36,111 posts)Chico Man
(3,001 posts)When it comes to lawn care, timing is everything- and move the mower as high as it will go. Looks great without much else needing to be done.
llmart
(15,552 posts)Let's face it. Mostly it's a male obsession. I've read a theory that says it's mostly about control. In these ratrace times where everyone is running around like a chicken with his head cut off and getting nowhere, people have lost a sense of control over their lives and at least they feel they can control the weeds in their lawns, how green it is, how neat it is, etc.
I have a brother who spends most of his free time mowing two places. He's obsessive about it. He's the kind of person who can't just sit and enjoy a nice summer day or read a book in a lawn chair. He has a summer place which has state park property (woods) behind his place and he has spent the last 8 years "cleaning up the woods". It's freaky. He has a couple acres and it's not enough that he tries to control that, he has to go into the woods behind his property and rake the woods, take out all the little saplings that don't line up with the other tress so that when you look at the woods behind his place the trees are all in a row with a cleanly raked ground. It's so obvious because the neighbors on either side of him don't do that. I think he was actually warned by park rangers. I also think it's called OCD
I see people with leaf blowers (I hate those things) blowing a total of 15 leaves off their lawns. Whatever happened to using a rake?
I'm with you. The obsession with lawns is crazy.
Tiredofthesame
(62 posts)I have 2.5 acres with lots of wooded areas and a pond(which I hate). I hate cutting the grass. It takes me 4.5 hours. I do it when needed. No fert or pesticides. The only reason I put up with it is because I am a private person and out here in the country I can't see anyone and they can't see me.
Truth be told. Most of my buddies LOVE spending as long as they can cutting the grass and trimming and fertilizing. And you want to know why? To get away from their wife and kids. No shit.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)the Mother Country, you know that horrid tyranny that we fought against all odds to get away from.
The Lords created vast lawns on their estates over hundreds of years with an inexhaustible supply of serf labor, it was a symbol of Empire, and no sooner did we (nominally) escape from the trappings of classism, but the Gatekeeper class adopted every every aspect of it that they could for themselves.
One of the few remaining aspects of the Western American culture is our (disappearing) rejection of all that shit. It was "those goddamn easterners" that insisted on aping the fancies. We have (had) desert, sun bleached cattle skulls, rusted mining tools, a horse out back, and wagon wheels adorning our homes.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)thucythucy
(8,086 posts)and I've never even come close to owning a boat.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)I think it conjures-up the illusion of actually making some kind
of difference to avert disaster.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)I want nothing to do with it. We have several acres so we do use a riding lawn mower and my father does enjoy growing fruit and vegetables, but our lawn is defintely not the perfect 50's family lawn.
eilen
(4,950 posts)My neighbor, who moved up here from a walkup in Queens, NY.. has a ride on mower for no good reason and I can't figure out how it doesn't get stuck in mud as our clay soil has not been able to harden this summer d/t all the rain. Anyway, for some reason he felt compelled to use it this evening, which was a perfect cool sunny summer time afternoon, perfect for sitting on our deck (for which we cannot step on without his Rott barking at us). NOT.
So we are indoors with doors closed (we can still hear it). I am trapped inside all day, most of the year too with the cold winters. Is it too much to ask to sit outside in the warm weather without hearing nasty machinery and motors?
I am also in suburbia with compulsive grass trimmers. I think they have no other excuse to be outside so feel compelled to do lawn care. Why they can't just sit on their stoop and drink a beer or iced tea is beyond me.
Our yard is ahem... growing wildly with benign neglect. We mow maybe once a week or less and barely trim the crazy vegetation. No fertilizers, no pesticides, no seeding. Rabbits love my yard with all the clover.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)how far that sound carries, and how it penetrates just about everywhere. Even cranking up my music won't cancel it out.
I've lived next to some noisy places in my time. I spent decades living in cities. Somehow the noise of traffic, sirens, people on the street, even loud drunks in the bar I used to live next to, wasn't nearly as noxious as your average weed whacker or riding mower. It's ironic, but I was never bothered by noise like this until I moved to the "quiet" suburbs.
Thanks for the feedback. Best wishes.
eilen
(4,950 posts)Tigerram
(13 posts)Lets go back to the days of Victory Gardens. Gardens instead of lawns.. Hmmm Well I guess maybe we need a Victory to go back to those days..Hmmm I got an idea..Lets vote out all RepUGLYcans in 2014..That would be a great Victory..Hell im going to start my Victory Garden now.Maybe the neighbors will get the idea..
oneshooter
(8,614 posts)and a 25 acre back"yard". 40 angora goats, 4 horses, 8 cows. Recycle the weeds, grass and hay.
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)desert. we have a few desert plants in the front and back even though we're on 2-1/2 acres. the rest is natural.
when we lived in our last house which was on 1/2 acre we had a small amount of grass around the pool. it looked nice, but was a pain. when it died off in the cooler weather we planted the winter grass. some of our neighbors had grass both front and back.
i was shocked when we moved here almost 24 years ago at the amount of grass i saw. such a waste of water.
Niceguy1
(2,467 posts)eallen
(2,954 posts)Xeriscape.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)You had me with you on the Sopwith Camel reference. The rest was just pure entertainment.
You're might effective with your verbal images, my hat's off to you.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)I appreciate that.
Best wishes.
1awake
(1,494 posts)cigsandcoffee
(2,300 posts)Why shouldn't everyday people also enjoy cultivating a garden as a form of expression? Not a damn thing wrong with it, IMO.
Gardens of Versailles:
http://www.bestourism.com/items/di/1293?title=Gardens-of-Versailles
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)they're lawns.
I have no problem with people raising flowers or vegetables or trees. Or chickens, goats, horses, lamas, whatever. I haven't until recently even minded lawns--except recently I've learned stuff about water consumption, mono-cultures, fertilizer run-off, etc. that make the whole idea of a lawn seem pretty dubious.
What bothers me is the noise of all this machinery, and the concomitant pollution. Particularly since, unlike at Versailles, we're talking pretty small (1/4 acre) lots that hardly need this amount of technology to be "maintained." I could be wrong, but I don't think people fifty years ago suffered intense physical pain and horrific psychological trauma because they didn't have gas-powered leaf blowers. Nobody ever died or starved as a result of fallen leaves. Kids actually used to play in them. Now, during the fall, I have neighbors out there every third day with their leaf blowers, blowing ten or fifteen leaves off their driveways or lawns. It's ridiculous. Multiply what I see ten thousand times over--think of all the leaf blowers being used just today--and I think it adds up to a significant environmental problem.
And it just seems obscene to me that all this petroleum is being used for such a frivolous purpose.
Someday we'll run out of the stuff, or at any rate it'll be far more expensive than it is now. And I think people will look back with amazement at how profligate we've been with our natural resources, and how destructive we've been to the planet, and all in the name of cutting the stupid grass.
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)BTW, aeration is good for the soil. It helps water penetrate better, and lets the roots breathe. I need to have someone come and aerate here. The alleged front lawn needs it.
hunter
(38,325 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Add to that, idiots laying down pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, and it ALL goes into the ground water. We got rid of our back yard lawn YEARS ago and put down paving stones. The front, at the moment, is brown, dead grass because our water rates went up AGAIN and I refuse to pay for watering grass. Sometime next year the lawn is going bye-bye and I've got a completely different plan that is more sane water-wise and maintenance-wise.
MerryBlooms
(11,771 posts)we invested in an electric/battery powered mower and weed eater- super quiet. However, every other mower/eater on the block are gas powered and when you have 5 or 6 going at the same time, it does get to be a bit much.
We are reducing our lawn over time and replacing with native plantings and veggies. We'll always have some lawn though- we love playing croquet summer evenings.
Omnith
(171 posts)titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)Are we out of topics here on DU? How absurd for a neighbor to have a nice lawn. Good lord. REALLY?
Moses2SandyKoufax
(1,290 posts)If certain topics bother you so much don't click on the fucking link.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)as long as it is neat and tidy. The extreme monoculture in suburban tracts, combined with all the chemicals used, is an environmental desert as far as birds, snakes, frogs etc. are concerned. There is no food and no cover. Ironically, people are now selecting plants in their garden that promise to attract butterflies.
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)In the back, it's a riot.
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)But I live in my yard. I mow, weed eat, plant new bushes and flowers each year, grow veggies, etc. So what? I'd rather have a tidy yard than a weed infested pasture in my front yard. I have a 2 acre woods that is mostly grown up and completely natural. I also have snakes, frogs, alligators and about a million dragonflies around.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)huge putting green. I have some yard devoted to grass/clover/weeds etc that we keep mowed so we can use it. It sounds like you leave room on the edges, and certainly on the 2 acres, for small animals and insects to thrive. What I hate to see is someone who moves to a rural/semi-rural area and mow edge to edge on a huge front lawn that never gets used.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)water
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)It was there when we bought our house in 2004. So, I have a lawnmower. I mow it when it gets too long. I work at home, so I usually mow after about 10 AM, so as not to wake my neighbors.
I do not dig up dandelions. I mow them. I do not spray the plantains. I mow them. I don't kill the wild violets. I mow them. When it rains, the "lawn" grows. When it doesn't, the "lawn" goes dormant. Everyone on my block has a lawn. Everyone has a mower. They mow their lawns when they need mowing, but there aren't any "manicured" lawns around in my neighborhood.
Mostly, people are good about mowing at reasonable hours. Snow removal, though, not so much. The snowblowers get fired up very early in the morning. People have to get to work and it's dark when they get home, so the 5-12 hp gasoline engines are heard on my street, starting as early as 5 AM. So be it. I usually get out there around 10 AM and clear my driveway, my neighbor's driveway, and about four houses worth of front sidewalks. After the snowplow comes by, I clear four driveways of the mound of nasty snow the snowplow leaves behind.
It's a city. People have lawns and it snows here. I'm 68 years old, so I'm not much into hand-shoveling of snow off a driveway, nor do I wish to use an old-fashioned lawnmower.
Noise. Yes. Oh, well...
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)MineralMan
(146,325 posts)like the yellow flowers in my yard. We only had them for about a month this year, though.
eppur_se_muova
(36,281 posts)whereas ... grass ?
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)They eat it.
onethatcares
(16,178 posts)about how much water they use. Be it reclaimed water, city refined water or just plain damn water all for a never ending quest for a "green" lawn.
I'm working toward xeriscaping but have a hard time convincing my wife we should pull out the sand spurs, crab grass and other weeds that pass for our front yard. The back is mostly mulch and bird/bee/butterfly attractors with some veggie beds as a bonus.(watered from rain collection barrels)
you're not over sensitive.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)If I had the resources to set it up, I'd probably grow a no-mow drought resistant grass around the house as a weed and fire deterrent.
As it is, it's bare dirt, shrubs, bushes, and the ever-present weeds that I work on continually without ever conquering all of them.
madokie
(51,076 posts)I've mowed more than the last two years combined. We have a tad over an acre yard that requires a lot of yard work. I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't mow when the neighbors are sleeping or entertaining. That leaves me out in the heat of the day but I don't mind because I like to think I'm being courteous. 6 summers ago we bought a 50 inch zero turn Cub Cadet to help me in that endeavor. When I trim around the many things that we have in our yard I never run the weedeater at full throttle, mostly just off idle, just fast enough for the string to cut the grass, so I'm no making much noise there.
I even slide over and mow my neighbors back yard for him as he only has a push mower and I hate to see him out there in the heat pushing that thing sweating his ass off after a hard day of work. We don't have a fence between us so its no big deal for me. Might take me 10 maybe 15 minutes to do that with my big ass mower where when he does it it takes him close to an hour or so. From time to time he brings me a good mess of catfish all cleaned and frozen ready for a thawing and frying that he's caught. Plus during the day there is no one home there so I can mow where they park their cars in the yard without them having to go out and move them . Makes for a much better looking corner of our street when our yards are all mowed together.
I believe in living and let live and helping those who are appreciative of the help. Even if its just a smile and a wave.
Anyways just a blowin' and a goin'
Purrfessor
(1,188 posts)Our property is a combination of lawn, flower beds and trees. It was fully landscaped when we bought the property and I have maintained it the same as the previous owner. Our subdivision is comprised of 5 and 6 acre parcels and we all maintain nice looking lawns and property. We take pride in how our yards looks and it shows throughout the neighborhood.
It takes me 4 hours to mow which I divide into two days, one for the upper yard and one for the lower. Personally, I enjoy my time on the mower. I like the look of a freshly mowed lawn and the feeling of accomplishment. I like to end my work in the yard with a couple of ice-cold beers and a swim in the pool.
Also, we all mow in the afternoons, sometimes late afternoons, for various reasons, one of which is that it is not a good idea to mow wet grass.
Some folks have gardens and grow their own produce. While I don't care to garden, I'm not about to complain of those who do. If that is what they enjoy then good for them. We are all different in our likes and dislikes. Let's not presume we know what is in the best interests of others simply because enjoy different pleasures in life.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)and into our groundwater, which is our drinking supply, so their laws are perfect. It's a bit swampy here and it takes a lot of work to make grass grow well. But they're willing to spend tons of money to have lawn companies put as many toxic chemicals into our earth as they can.
So their grass looks perfect. How can it be worth it?
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)How do grow the perfect English lawn?
"Oh, it's quite straightforward sir. You just cut it, roll it and water it for about 400 years."
The whole craze started there in the 17th century, to have a manicured lawn was a great sign of wealth, an obvious display of consumption.....
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)WANT
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)so he can't signal when he's making a turn.
Also, it doesn't make that beeping noise when he backs up. I imagine that'll be the next great innovation that everybody will have to have.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Fuckin' A, Bubba.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)You mean, no one's produced one of those yet?
For Chrissakes, that's what's wrong with this country! Not enough R&D on the important stuff!
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Hell, stick a set of "truck nutz" on there and you've got a billion dollar idea.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)I will.
brewens
(13,617 posts)river. This is quite a ways up-river where they usually don't have the range to be up there. They have had to use a primitive boat launch up there to ride that part. One bunch even pulled up and asked if they could leave their gas cans on our beach. F#*k No! We said. Sheesh! We told them we'd appreciate it if the didn't keep buzzing by right in front of us as well.
It's exactly what I told my friends there. We might as well just be at home watching our neighbors mow with these idiots around. Down river they have miles of open water where everyone is skiing and playing. They come up there on our stretch for what? The tranquility of a more natural setting, to ruin it?
As a kid, we had a big lawn. Probably 3/4 of a football field anyway. By the time I was in high school I was the only kid left there with just my mother. I had to mow that with a push or self propelled mower. The two nearest neighbors were in the same boat but the were men with no boys at home. We had a standing agreement. All summer long, Saturday at 7 am, it was "gentlemen, start your engines"! In between the houses we took turns with the next door neighbor mowing that. These guys were a really successful dentist and a lineman for our local power company. I bet most guys like that these days use a lawn service.
For about three years, starting 13 years ago I worked for a guy doing hydro seeding and decorative concrete curbing. Usually I was out on federal and state jobs with the big truck hydro seeding but I did my share of lawn renovations and new yards with the landscape guys. I know how to put in a yard. After that, and the yard I had growing up, I could happily live the rest of my life without ever starting a mower again!
mnhtnbb
(31,401 posts)We live on a hillside and it is naturalized with trees, shrubs and mulched.
When we lived in Missouri and Nebraska we had horrendously huge lawns--and yes,
a riding mower. Very glad to be rid of the expense of maintaining all that grass.