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my guy charges $35 per cut, it takes 15 mins of mowing time, on a 5,000 SQ property. Last year, I took over and saved money at the same time, do some exercise since I sit at a desk all day. I actually like to cut the lawn, it feels better than getting a haircut.
We bought an electric mower when we moved in and the wife puts a few hundred into flower variants every year. We should probably do more fertilizing and the like but just can't get too bothered to do so.
I do highly recommend the electric mower though. Battery powered, so no cable to drag around, not having to yank on the cord to start it every time is magical.
We bought an electric mower when we moved in and the wife puts a few hundred into flower variants every year. We should probably do more fertilizing and the like but just can't get too bothered to do so.
I do highly recommend the electric mower though. Battery powered, so no cable to drag around, not having to yank on the cord to start it every time is magical.
I'll second the cordless electric mower idea. The best one on the market is the EGO Model LM2102SP. It's expensive at $550, but it's the only self-propelled cordless electric on the market that exactly matches the performance of gas. It'll run 45 minutes on a charge - more than enough for the 8000 Sq Ft or less lot typical in most North Jersey towns.
As an aside, I am actually kinda curious to hear thoughts on why people spend so much time manicuring their lawns. No offense intended, but I have honestly never understood this.
All the chemicals involved in fertilization are horrible on the runoff that feeds into the local water supply and if you're not careful you can easily introduce invasive (or even poisonous) plant species into the local area. All of that can have some seriously negative trickle down effects on the plants and animals which rely on the local environment to survive.
Now I'm all for keeping a relatively neat yard and do the mowing, weeding, raking, etc. myself. But just don't get why people will drop thousands of dollars on professional landscaping for their personal residence.
Do you think it actually adds significantly to your property value, or do you do it for another reason? i.e. as a hobby, to "keep up appearances", etc.
The truth is to maintain what we think of as a lawn you need to put chemicals on it OR you need to hand weed it. I don't see many people getting excited about hand-weeding although I guess it's an option
Around here, if you aren't putting crabgrass and other preventatives on your lawn, you probably have more "weeds" than lawn grass. Which is fine.
The truth is to maintain what we think of as a lawn you need to put chemicals on it OR you need to hand weed it. I don't see many people getting excited about hand-weeding although I guess it's an option
Around here, if you aren't putting crabgrass and other preventatives on your lawn, you probably have more "weeds" than lawn grass. Which is fine.
Actually the best way to to ensure a weed free lawn is to make sure you have a dense healthy lawn and mow it high. You also annually overseed the lawn with new grass seed. This will starve out most weeds that need to compete for resources. While it's true chemical use can't be completely eliminated, I've never needed to use weed and feed products on my entire lawn. I only have to spot treat the occasional weed that pops up with weed-b-gone. That, and anti-grub preventative are the only chemicals ever used on my lawn.
Ours wasn't that much by a long shot, but we also have a lot less lawn. Probably half that. I think it's 36V, but the removable rechargeable battery is great because I just bring it inside anytime and charge as needed.
We initially spent around $10K on our landscaping. The prior owner had totally ignored all aspects of front and back yard for 30 years. We have a very small lot, about .16 acre which had become a jungle of weed trees, hornet nests in the ground and a dying lawn.
Had a professional landscaper pull out nearly everything except a lovely ancient Hydrangea tree and some overgrown yews. We considered sod, but frankly adding that cost was out of question 8 years ago. Those guys really worked their butts off cleaning everything up.
Since then, the lawn with good care looks relatively nice now and I'm not obsessed with it so a few weeds and bare patches here and there doesn't bother me. We have added extra flowering trees and bushes as time has gone by which added maybe another $1k to that cost and, another $2500 to finally pull out another strip of overgrown brush between our driveway and our neighbors home, and replaced that with new landscaping.
So about $13-14k all in NOT including hardscaping which needed work also. Money well spent for us, since we aren't capable of that kind of hard work ourselves. We have the lawn mowed by the landscaper weekly in season and hire a professional arborist to trim and keep everything healthy (the landscaper is good at visualizing but turned out not so good knowing how to prune correctly).
Honesty that costs a bundle yearly but again, for us it's worth the cost not to have to do it ourselves.
As an aside, I am actually kinda curious to hear thoughts on why people spend so much time manicuring their lawns. No offense intended, but I have honestly never understood this.
All the chemicals involved in fertilization are horrible on the runoff that feeds into the local water supply and if you're not careful you can easily introduce invasive (or even poisonous) plant species into the local area. All of that can have some seriously negative trickle down effects on the plants and animals which rely on the local environment to survive.
Now I'm all for keeping a relatively neat yard and do the mowing, weeding, raking, etc. myself. But just don't get why people will drop thousands of dollars on professional landscaping for their personal residence.
Do you think it actually adds significantly to your property value, or do you do it for another reason? i.e. as a hobby, to "keep up appearances", etc.
Well said.....keeping your lawn/property maintained so it doesn't look like an overgrown vacant lot is one thing....however, I think people who spend extravagantly on such things are a little nuts. There's even a term for those who preach to others about what kind of shape they should keep their property in: "lawn nazis" (or yard nazis). These same people will complain loudly if their property tax goes up $100 or $200 but think nothing of spending hundreds if not thousands on manicuring a weed crop (grass).
Well said.....keeping your lawn/property maintained so it doesn't look like an overgrown vacant lot is one thing....however, I think people who spend extravagantly on such things are a little nuts. There's even a term for those who preach to others about what kind of shape they should keep their property in: "lawn nazis" (or yard nazis). These same people will complain loudly if their property tax goes up $100 or $200 but think nothing of spending hundreds if not thousands on manicuring a weed crop (grass).
Mostly, I agree.
I don't care to have the best-looking lawn in the neighborhood, and my actual goal is simply to never have the worst-looking lawn in the neighborhood. Because several neighbors failed to use grub treatment and lost much of their grass as a result, I don't have to worry about having the worst-looking one.
As long as the lawn is green, I don't obsess over the presence of a few weeds here and there. By contrast, one of my neighbors does obsess over that issue, and he dumps incredible quantities of chemicals on his lawn each year. So far, two of his dogs have died from cancer, and his wife had to have cancer surgery--yet I don't think that he perceives the possible correlation.
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