Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm planning to buy a house in the mountains (7500' - 8000') and was wondering how people maintain their "yards". A lot of the places I look at are 1-3 acres and basically have no yard, just wild grass. How do you maintain the area near the house? Just a regular mower, riding mower, some kind of brush clearing thing? Or is it easier just to put in a regular lawn close to the house and leave the rest alone?
I'm planning to buy a house in the mountains (7500' - 8000') and was wondering how people maintain their "yards". A lot of the places I look at are 1-3 acres and basically have no yard, just wild grass. How do you maintain the area near the house? Just a regular mower, riding mower, some kind of brush clearing thing? Or is it easier just to put in a regular lawn close to the house and leave the rest alone?
Too many unanswered questions here. Is your "yard" rocky, steep, etc.? Is it flat around the house? I personally like a "natural" yard but some residential areas will not permit that. If you are out in an area which has no regulations on that subject, if it was me, I would do what is pleasing to me.
All that leads to another question. Are you in an area where there is potential danger from forest fires? If you are, you need to keep your "plot" as clean as possible. If not, I would have a lawn around the house and mow with a regular mower, and let the rest grow natural. However, if you choose to keep the rest "under control" you should be able to do that with a string trimmer.
So, with that long answer to a short question; did I add to the confusion?
My parents have a small grass area, then the rest of their property is mainly flower beds and dirt. They have several large decks for outdoor living spaces. They cut down all the scrub brush to help prevent fires. My parents have been planting native grasses and flowers. Its working out really well.
My dad has a riding lawn mower with attachments so he can haul things, plow up areas, etc. It really saves him alot of time and labor. My dad is constantly raking up the pine needles and pine cones. He burns them in the fall and again in the spring.
I have friends who live up in the Sierras. Their "yard" is nothing but the pine trees and shrubs provided by Mother Nature. Because of the fire danger they rake up the pine needles around the house.
We have 90 acres which is slashed bi-annually. A fenced area around the cabin is included in that but needs more regular maintenance than the slashing. We need a mower of some sort to keep the grass down, but we don't have too much leaf litter. If we lived there full-time we'd probably keep goats or something as lawn-mowers and milk/wool providers.
If you haven't already, you might post on the Colorado Thread and see if any "locals" have any suggestions for you.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
