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Prior to my current desk job, I worked for a large telephone company burying service lines. In sodded lawns, I was blown away when I saw how most grass never grew roots and anchored to the underlying soil. Months (if not a full year) later, you could still see the seams Ditch Witch (410SX, look it up)[/url] would curl and lift each piece as we buried the line. We'd only be able to run the machine in a straight line, right on a seam, and have to hand dig the corners with one of these: Ditch Witch
Complete lack of soil preparation. You can't just throw sod on nasty, poor, hard dirt and expect it to do well.
If you live in an area with plenty of rain, something grows on that dirt. If you live near other people in a neighborhood, it should probably be grass. It's a lot less work than establishing ground cover. Ask me how how I know that.
When I had a 3bd/2ba house on 1/2 acre to myself, I HATED my lawn. Always getting fined by the township because I didn't want to waste my weekends spending 4 hours cutting my grass. I was very close to having the entire acre paved with concrete.
It was one of the things that made me never want a house again and a big proponent of why I hate suburban/rural style living.
What did you get fined for?
I hate the idea of the monthly fee, but I do attest that in every unmanaged housing development, there's always the one household with the overgrown grass, 6 broken down cars, and neglected dog chained up outside.
You say lawns are a waste of time and money, but you also said xeriscaping costs too much. I'll ask again: what landscaping method do you advocate for? This isn't a "gotcha" question, I'm actually asking you what you think should be done with all of the American lawns out there.
Costs too much as in never ending maintenance.
What is the cost of the southwest’s rock lawns and a couple cacti?
What is the cost of the southwest’s rock lawns and a couple cacti?
Didn’t mean to be snippy.
It definitely depends on location and what you mean by "lawn". I've lived in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and you can get away with the initial purchase of a mower and weed whacker (maybe $300 combined) and one jug of weed spray a year for the especially bad weeds (and just mow over the run of the mill weeds). No watering is really needed. You might occasionally have to re-seed an area that sees a lot of foot traffic or a dog peed on it or something. The gas for the small yards I've had has run like 2-3 gallons a year.
I can't speak to southwest xeriscaping, but the parts of the lawn that I transformed into garden beds definitely cost me more at least in regard to time, but probably money also. Keeping a garden bed looking acceptable is a lot more work than just mowing everything down.
It definitely depends on location and what you mean by "lawn". I've lived in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and you can get away with the initial purchase of a mower and weed whacker (maybe $300 combined) and one jug of weed spray a year for the especially bad weeds (and just mow over the run of the mill weeds). No watering is really needed. You might occasionally have to re-seed an area that sees a lot of foot traffic or a dog peed on it or something. The gas for the small yards I've had has run like 2-3 gallons a year.
If you're willing to water it, the lush green is a beautiful color and makes a house look more attractive. It's relaxing and peaceful to see the colors of nature. It looks better than someone who put rocks in that space or cemented the whole space.
I live in California, and we're always in a drought every few years, and I don't want to use water when it's unnecessary anyway, so that's why my lawn is dead, brown, and full of weeds. We mow over the weeds so it's not as noticeable. Until someone complains, I'm not willing to spend the money to replace it with something else (not another lawn).
It definitely depends on location and what you mean by "lawn". I've lived in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and you can get away with the initial purchase of a mower and weed whacker (maybe $300 combined) and one jug of weed spray a year for the especially bad weeds (and just mow over the run of the mill weeds). No watering is really needed. You might occasionally have to re-seed an area that sees a lot of foot traffic or a dog peed on it or something. The gas for the small yards I've had has run like 2-3 gallons a year.
I can't speak to southwest xeriscaping, but the parts of the lawn that I transformed into garden beds definitely cost me more at least in regard to time, but probably money also. Keeping a garden bed looking acceptable is a lot more work than just mowing everything down.
Well I don’t know what the problem is. Maybe the builder put a thin layer of dirt down
Well I don’t know what the problem is. Maybe the builder put a thin layer of dirt down
But still. Voles moles grubs weeds.
If no rain for 5 weeks then watering is $$$
No argument there. We simply don't have "no rain for 5 weeks" situations here in Ohio and Pennsylvania. And even if we do get a dry spell, it's not accompanied by the sort of blistering heat you get in the southwest.
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