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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.
I agree, and you are definitely not alone. We don't use chemicals at all, the yard gets mowed and weed whacked when it needs it. However, hubby mows around patches of wildflowers and lets them go to seed. Currently, we have patches of Maximilian sunflowers which we let go to seed and the goldfinches love to eat from, wild Asters, plus hedges of Mexican petunias and mounds of Lantana, and a few Spider Wort, daisies and Texas Bluebells. The strip of front yard between the picket fence and street is a color riot in spring. We've had neighbors stop by to compliment us on it.
We also have several branch piles at the back of the property, next to the compost. The birds love them because they attract lots of insects for them to eat. We lost a bunch of trees to the drought and had them trimmed back instead of cutting them down because they are far enough away from the house to not pose a danger. They are in constant use by woodpeckers and owls and other birds. We have resident barn swallows who nest in our entry for 6 months of the year (they return every year, have done for the past 20) and swoop on the property to catch insects.
Most of our neighbors only mow and weed whack (thankfully, no HOA) and the one elderly chemical lawn neighbor who was obsessive about his yard (spraying, trimming, poisoning, every.single.day) finally sold and moved, thank goodness. The people who bought his house don't use chemicals, they just mow/weed whack like the rest of us.
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.
Yes, but your topic title is why people don’t let their yards grow naturally. Working hard to keep invasive species under control still requires you not to allow you to let it grow naturally. I had to have everything in my beds pulled out last year when I moved in because it was taken over by bindweed and thistle. Apparently the prior owner kept it up until last year, so that was just a few months.
There is noting unkempt about my yard. I mow weekly.
Clearly we have a difference of opinion on “unkempt”. But glad you at least mow. I hope you mow enough to not let the seed heads develop and cause weeds to be distributed to your neighbors yards and landscaping that they have worked hard in.
Another reason why I like to live in a HOA community. Everyone's grass is cut on Thursday, it's all the same length and there's only one day of noise/air pollution as opposed to listening/smelling neighbors mowing nearly every day of the week. Plus cutting grass sucks. I mowed more than 5 acres for decades.
I agree, and you are definitely not alone. We don't use chemicals at all, the yard gets mowed and weed whacked when it needs it. However, hubby mows around patches of wildflowers and lets them go to seed. Currently, we have patches of Maximilian sunflowers which we let go to seed and the goldfinches love to eat from, wild Asters, plus hedges of Mexican petunias and mounds of Lantana, and a few Spider Wort, daisies and Texas Bluebells. The strip of front yard between the picket fence and street is a color riot in spring. We've had neighbors stop by to compliment us on it.
We also have several branch piles at the back of the property, next to the compost. The birds love them because they attract lots of insects for them to eat. We lost a bunch of trees to the drought and had them trimmed back instead of cutting them down because they are far enough away from the house to not pose a danger. They are in constant use by woodpeckers and owls and other birds. We have resident barn swallows who nest in our entry for 6 months of the year (they return every year, have done for the past 20) and swoop on the property to catch insects.
Most of our neighbors only mow and weed whack (thankfully, no HOA) and the one elderly chemical lawn neighbor who was obsessive about his yard (spraying, trimming, poisoning, every.single.day) finally sold and moved, thank goodness. The people who bought his house don't use chemicals, they just mow/weed whack like the rest of us.
I have branch piles at the back too! You're right, the doves are always pecking around back there!
I would ahve done the same thing with the dead trees tooo.
Clearly we have a difference of opinion on “unkempt”. But glad you at least mow. I hope you mow enough to not let the seed heads develop and cause weeds to be distributed to your neighbors yards and landscaping that they have worked hard in.
My neighbors' yards are exactly like mine, with the exception of the little wild patches in the middle of the back yard. I did let them go to seed, but the deer nipped all the seed heads off of the various grasses, I noticed that yesterday. I was sad.
The neighbor behind me has let a wide swath go completely wild between mine and theirs, that happened long before I bought this place. On the other side of the dead end street another neighbor has done the same between his property and the house in front.
There is no landscaping in this neighborhood. Just grass (and the wild flowers/weeds that grow in it) trees and a few bushes.
And incidentally I am a perfect neighbor. I have no interest in my neighbors' doings. I don't have barking dogs, my cats stay inside, I don't play loud music, I don't burn anything, I don't even leave my trash barrel outside. I don't smoke, I keep my lawn mowed and my sidewalks shoveled in winter.
And, I try to mow at the same time others are mowing, to cut down on the continuous noise of mowing.
I have branch piles at the back too! You're right, the doves are always pecking around back there!
I would ahve done the same thing with the dead trees tooo.
It was considered pretty unusual when we did it a few years ago. A couple neighbors inquired and decided it was a good idea, so maybe others will do it. My favorite sighting was a huge great horned owl sitting atop the tallest tree at dusk, I ran inside to get the camera and he decided to take off before I returned. Wish I had been able to get a pic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by catsmom21
My neighbors' yards are exactly like mine, with the exception of the little wild patches in the middle of the back yard. Idid let them go to seed, but the deer nipped all the seed heads off of the various grasses, I noticed that yesterday. I was sad.
The neighbor behind me has let a wide swath go completely wild between mine and theirs, that happened long before I bought this place. On the other side of the dead end street another neighbor has done the same between his property and the house in front.
There is no landscaping in this neighborhood. Just grass (and the wild flowers/weeds that grow in it) trees and a few bushes.
And incidentally I am a perfect neighbor. I have no interest in my neighbors' doings. I don't have barking dogs, my cats stay inside, I don't play loud music, I don't burn anything, I don't even leave my trash barrel outside. I don't smoke, I keep my lawn mowed and my sidewalks shoveled in winter.
And, I try to mow at the same time others are mowing, to cut down on the continuous noise of mowing.
We get deer but we also have visiting Black Buck Antelope (escapees from hunting ranches) who stop by in early summer to eat some of the blackberries.
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.
Actually, sometimes it's necessary to remove the invasives that way if you have a terribly overgrown patch of yard and want to re-establish anything new, whether a garden bed or lawn. I had an area of my old yard that I had mulched between my fenced portion of the yard and my garage that I intended to be a large rose garden. All the bare root roses failed and it became overrun with invasive thistles and other really nasty weeds. The mulch began looking awful as well. I even planted a hedge to hide it from the street!
I finally had my yard helpers remove all the old mulch and I dug as many weeds as I could and sprayed everything else in that area with Round-up. Following that I seeded and covered it with hay and watered until I had a nice new lush lawn between the fence and the garage. You'd never have known that it had looked awful previously. The soil was still there and just as fertile as ever, since I later also planted several trees (Chinese rain tree and two crape myrtles) in the lawn to break up the expanse of green, and they did fine. I never used any fertilizer for the lawn or the trees either, so the soil provided all the nutrients.
My neighbors' yards are exactly like mine, with the exception of the little wild patches in the middle of the back yard. I did let them go to seed, but the deer nipped all the seed heads off of the various grasses, I noticed that yesterday. I was sad.
The neighbor behind me has let a wide swath go completely wild between mine and theirs, that happened long before I bought this place. On the other side of the dead end street another neighbor has done the same between his property and the house in front.
There is no landscaping in this neighborhood. Just grass (and the wild flowers/weeds that grow in it) trees and a few bushes.
And incidentally I am a perfect neighbor. I have no interest in my neighbors' doings. I don't have barking dogs, my cats stay inside, I don't play loud music, I don't burn anything, I don't even leave my trash barrel outside. I don't smoke, I keep my lawn mowed and my sidewalks shoveled in winter.
And, I try to mow at the same time others are mowing, to cut down on the continuous noise of mowing.
Glad you have no neighbors who have yards that are "in conflict". (And also glad you keep your animals inside LOL!!)
I live in a neighborhood where most (not all but most) of us really like our landscaping and our attractive (to us, maybe not to you) yards. We enjoy working out in the yard and enjoy the fruits of our labor. And no I don't live in an HOA (never would). My current issue is figuring out how to get rid of a damn feral cat that a neighbor is feeding. Cat is coming over and crapping in my yard - and I am not happy about that. Looks like I will have to figure out a trap for it.
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.
The two most common garden herbicides are glyphosate and 2,4D-...Do a little in depth research and I think you'll come to realize how safe those two are with essentially no unwanted effects on the environment. That's why they are used so much....I suppose there may be times when it is necessary to kill everything and start over in a garden application, but that's gotta be rare...OTOH- it's a technique used regularly in agriculture where the profit margins & time constraints make it the most efficient way to go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RamenAddict
Yes, but your topic title is why people don’t let their yards grow naturally. Working hard to keep invasive species under control still requires you not to allow you to let it grow naturally.
Invasive are not "natural." They were artificially introduced. Artificially removing them returns the area to "natural."
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A couple neighbors inquired and decided it was a good idea, so maybe others will do it. My favorite sighting was a huge great horned owl sitting atop the tallest tree at dusk, I ran inside to get the camera and he decided to take off before I returned. Wish I had been able to get a pic. 
Glad you have no neighbors who have yards that are "in conflict". (And also glad you keep your animals inside LOL!!) 
