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I think it's generational hangover from people having farm animals in a fenced in grazing pasture in the past, and that aesthetic got carried down through generations. I don't have firm data on this, but my personal anecdotes are that old people are much more concerned about a lawn than gen Zers, it seems to be a fading trend, though it is quite sticky indeed.
It is generational / ancestral but not related to livestock grazing. It comes from the royalty of England. Peasants had to work the land to survive while royalty could let their land stay idle as a lawn. Over the years the lawn became a sign of affluence, prestige and power. That is why it is hard for people to let go of it. The lawn is just another lingering example of toxic culture from the European monarchies of the past.
A friend in Bend, Oregon says it's required in his neighborhood. That is, a green lawn at your property.
That's right, it's in the CCR apparently. So, he must spend 90% of his monthly water use during summer on sprinkling his lawn in this high desert community. Insane!
There were stories out of California about HOAs enforcing the green lawn provisions during a heavy drought with water use restrictions. Then the California legislature passed a law that prohibits HOAs from fining homeowners for not watering lawns and prohibits HOAs from forcing owners to change from low water landscaping back to traditional landscaping. That's the way it should be.
In our current home we always mulch cut. No raking nor bagging. Walking on the lawn feels like a thick spongy carpet. I know this means it needs to be dethatched but the yard is too big for me to do it myself and I don’t feel it’s worth paying a professional to come do our yard dethatch. I inherited the home when my mom passed away and am paying a mortgage for roughly half the estimated value to pay out my sister’s share of the home. I would have chosen a home with a smaller yard. Our previous home, we cut with side discharge because the yard was practically a marsh, always wet and never dry, due to poor drainage.
If the grass growth is thick & luxuriant, then it doesn't need to be dethatched. If growth was erratic & spotty, then the grass is being shut out by thatch build-up.....You can get a blade for your mower that has metal spikes on either end that dethatches-- requires you to change from the cutting blade to the dethatching blade and back-- one nut (besides the owner) to do the swap....or, there is a little rake to be pulled behind a lawn tractor.
I am intrigued by that Vinca Minor. I would like to use that in my flower beds. I have 5 linear ft on one side and about 20 linear ft. on the other. I have some bushes in there but wanted something more to make the bed pop. I live in the Poconos so would it thrive there?
It would likely thrive in there but it's very invasive and tenacious, it must be controlled. And it will NOT make your flower beds pop, it generally only flowers in the spring and the flowers are fairly small and inconspicuous. If you already have bushes growing there or want to put additional plants in the flower beds the vinca minor will strangle and choke them out and kill them - it will grow up stems and trunks into your bushes and strangle the bushes too. It will also grow up concrete or stone walls and under side-panelling and roof tiles of outdoor sheds if given half a chance.
If your vinca minor escapes from your property through underground runners and manages to spread its runners and vines into your neighbour's properties your neighbours will not be happy campers about it and will be annoyed with you. They might demand that you pay for damages to their properties. Once the plant's roots get well established anywhere in the ground it's next to impossible and costly to get rid of it. So I really don't recommend it for your flower beds or anywhere close to the house or outdoor sheds, workshops, greenhouses, childrens' playground areas, or near foot-paths because of the vines being a tripping hazard, etc.
However, vinca minor does have its good points as a ground cover in areas that need dense ground cover though or places where nothing else will grow and it does help prevent erosion in hilly area. It can tolerate a lot of shade so what most people use vinca minor for is as a creeping ground cover under deep shade trees where other decorative plants won't grow under dense shade. In such cases you may end up with bare, dry, sterile ground under the trees as a consequence. Then the vinca minor serves a good purpose as a protective ground cover on its own under big trees and it prevents soil erosion on slopes and helps retain moisture in the soil. It also helps to prevent the growth of weedy or thorny plants under trees.
There are many other plants that would be far more suitable for your flower beds. You can go start up a thread asking for suggestions in the Garden Forum.https://www.city-data.com/forum/garden/
If the grass growth is thick & luxuriant, then it doesn't need to be dethatched. If growth was erratic & spotty, then the grass is being shut out by thatch build-up.....You can get a blade for your mower that has metal spikes on either end that dethatches-- requires you to change from the cutting blade to the dethatching blade and back-- one nut (besides the owner) to do the swap....or, there is a little rake to be pulled behind a lawn tractor.
Front is getting patches. A tow behind would be the better choice. Have a 30” rear engine riding mower. Yard is big enough that a 42 inch cut would work but the ground isn’t flat and level. Had a 42” riding mower and the blades would chop into the soil on low spots. Went with 30” cut riding mower. Can make tighter turns, can get in between certain items in the yard, and since the engine is in the rear I don’t have the engine heat blasting in my face like with front engine mowers.
We planted a bumpy grass we knew as "Korean Grass" but I think it has another name. Our front lawn area was tiny (SoCal) so it was perfect for that. I planted it from flats, each clump a few inches from the next, and over a few years it all grew in and was so fun to look at. The neighbor kids called it "Smurf Grass". Sort of Hobbit-like with the humps and bumps. Over the years, I planted the whole hill in back too which most people left in native sagebrush.
It didn't take much water and obviously, no cutting, no chemicals. Just stayed a couple inches tall. Lots of weeding though, until it grew in all the way. I never saw it anywhere else, but have seen it a couple times down here.
At our condo complex, native vegetation carpets the 1/2 acre that borders the beach sand. Egrets hunt in there, and I'm sure it's full of amphibians, lizards and what-not. Looks great too. No maintenance.
IMO, there shouldn't be any lawns in desert areas. Such a waste! (or alfalfa farming, for that matter)
[QUOTE/] Front is getting patches. A tow behind would be the better choice. Have a 30” rear engine riding mower. Yard is big enough that a 42 inch cut would work but the ground isn’t flat and level. Had a 42” riding mower and the blades would chop into the soil on low spots. Went with 30” cut riding mower. Can make tighter turns, can get in between certain items in the yard, and since the engine is in the rear I don’t have the engine heat blasting in my face like with front engine mowers. [/quote]
The mower blade is a lot cheaper, but it's real easy to wind up essentially rototilling your lawn to smitheereens with it....The rake, amortized over 20 yrs, is less than $20/yr. You can use it multiple times per year as you do the mowing. No extra work involved....I had one in the past, similar to the one sitned. It needed some bricks to weight it down so it didn't just bounce & skid along without accomplishig anything.
Thanks for the reminder - I need to mow my lawn tomorrow.
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