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.
There are a lot of things in the lawn that are invasive. I think that is the main issue. If you let them get out of control, they will crowd out/kill other plants in the garden. When I moved into the house, I had tons of bindweed and Canadian thistle. The latter is considered a noxious invasive by the state government and bindweed strangles other plants. I know other people who have great native gardens, but they work hard to keep the invasives out.
I used to get Canada thistle at my old house - horrible invasive plant! I could pull them by hand when they were young and tender but when they got a little size on them I had to wear leather gloves because the thorns were so bad. They were very difficult to eradicate and the seeds can even spread by water - of course they loved the very high water table we had and grew with abandon.
I used to get Canada thistle at my old house - horrible invasive plant! I could pull them by hand when they were young and tender but when they got a little size on them I had to wear leather gloves because the thorns were so bad. They were very difficult to eradicate and the seeds can even spread by water - of course they loved the very high water table we had and grew with abandon.
My guess is that the people with “natural” yards actually put a lot of work into them. There are a lot of incredible natural yards near me, but I see people out working in them regularly to pull out invasive and put in natives.
My guess is that the people with “natural” yards actually put a lot of work into them. There are a lot of incredible natural yards near me, but I see people out working in them regularly to pull out invasive and put in natives.
Correct, wooded yards are often just as much work to keep them looking nice as those that have excessive amounts of unproductive lawn. I pull out invasive weeds and vines all the time to keep the woods from being taken over by undesirable items, and to allow younger trees to grow. I have to battle a neighbor that does the absolute minimum on their wooded lot, causing me to continually do far more work on my property as a result.
Last edited by GraniteStater; 09-20-2021 at 07:22 AM..
I try to maintain a balance between lawn and lots of garden beds. Both require work, the latter much more.
Before the pandemic, I was down in Florida for a few days. I am always surprised. Florida is a place where you can grow things most of us can only dream about. Exotic fruits, Live Oaks with Spanish Moss, Palms, etc.
Yet the vast majority favor the perfect albeit bland lawn with a couple of specimen shrubs or palms. The end result strikes me as a mini-savannah blasted with sunshine.
I was shocked the other day when I was reading a thread where someone was complaining about the "weeds" in their grass. Shocked at the advice and what people do to their yards, all in the name of perfect grass. All that poison and stripping and killing!
I embrace all the various types of clover, thyme, selfheal, and so many other things that grow in my yard. I am hoping the thyme will take over the tiny front yard completely eventually. I want a purple yard in front!
In the larger back yard I left little patches unmowed all summer to see what would grow in them. Some grew ground bumble bees, which I discovered when I mowed one patch and they objected lol. But it's amazing what has come up over the season, and still getting some new things. I even have some asters!
I've planned all along to have an aster garden at some point, but two types have come up in one of my wild patches, all on their own!
I keep it mowed because codes would be after me if I didn't, but no one has complained about my little wild patches in back.
Hell no. Those unkempt yards look like the home could be vacant, or that the homeowner is disabled. I have no desire to have a yard of weeds. It's fine if you do, but I am very glad you are not my next door neighbor LOL!!!
I probably have as much landscaping now, as I do grass. I prefer to have "managed" areas that take little maintenance, than to just have wide open grass. But I despise weeds (any plant that I don't plant myself and don't want) in my areas as the can take over and destroy the look that I have worked for. I spend a lot of time in my yard, and I have the right to enjoy it.
There are a lot of things in the lawn that are invasive. I think that is the main issue. If you let them get out of control, they will crowd out/kill other plants in the garden. When I moved into the house, I had tons of bindweed and Canadian thistle. The latter is considered a noxious invasive by the state government and bindweed strangles other plants. I know other people who have great native gardens, but they work hard to keep the invasives out.
Nothing wrong with working hard to keep invasive species under control. Plenty wrong with killing eveything in sight down to bare dirt with poisons then "starting over".And notice I didn't say down to bare soil. Once you get done with those poisons there is no soil there. It's just dirt.
My guess is that the people with “natural” yards actually put a lot of work into them. There are a lot of incredible natural yards near me, but I see people out working in them regularly to pull out invasive and put in natives.
Of course. Far more work than something stripped with poison then re-sodded or whatever.
Hell no. Those unkempt yards look like the home could be vacant, or that the homeowner is disabled. I have no desire to have a yard of weeds. It's fine if you do, but I am very glad you are not my next door neighbor LOL!!!
I probably have as much landscaping now, as I do grass. I prefer to have "managed" areas that take little maintenance, than to just have wide open grass. But I despise weeds (any plant that I don't plant myself and don't want) in my areas as the can take over and destroy the look that I have worked for. I spend a lot of time in my yard, and I have the right to enjoy it.
There is noting unkempt about my yard. I mow weekly.
Those who think letting their lawn grow "naturally" with weeds in them obviously doesn't know they are reducing the value of their property and those around them. Just the fact. Weeds are an eye sore. Even though you aren't selling now, its harder to get an established lawn quick vs maintaining one.
From every realtor I've spoken with, like most things, there's a point of diminishing ROI. A dirt-bare yard isn't desirable. An overgrown one is undesirable. By and large, a mowed space covered in vegetation is all one typically needs. That the grass has dock plantain and Po Annua and clover isn't as important as making sure that it isn't a mudpit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xPlorer48
We do but have rural acreage set back from the dead end road. Our decision to allow the grass and weeds to do their own thing was made due to the endless chore of mowing the lawn and weed whacking the edging. Our southern, western and eastern boundaries are woods and what grassy areas were mowed at one time have been planted with trees. The northern edge has an ugly fence, courtesy of a former neighbor, so we have trees planted along that edge also except for wooded areas.
Our neighbors, rather than embracing a rural lifestyle, are forever mowing, edge, sawing to beat back the wild. We embrace it. I can be out on our deck looking at the woods, enjoying the quiet and the birds when, suddenly, the annoying sounds of machines fill the air. One has even put lights up and down his driveway, on his mailbox and has highlighted his trees and shrubs. I enjoy the dark at night and the owls’ calls.
I understand especially with acreage your perspective. But what do you have for a barrier immediately surrounding the house? If I'd still need to Mow 1/2 an acre or so around the house, mostly to keep down mice that want in the house and snakes that want to eat the mice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by catsmom21
Again, I am not talking about letting the lawn grow wild. I am talking about letting the things that grow in the yard grow there, as opposed to stripping and killing everything and growing only grass. Mowing, yes, but not stripping and killing everything that isn't some special type of grass.
HOAs don't apply obviously, everyone knows they are some crazy alternate universe where individuality is not allowed.
I like the clover in my yard. Bees seem to like it. I could do without the dock plantains but I just mow and ignore them. Mostly I don't want lots of dirt being tracked in. Any vegetative crop that can be mowed is fine with me.
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.
