Summer Mowing Etiquette in Phoenix? (exemption, ordinances, gas)

[Xica_da_Silva]

Thanks all for the replies...I'm going to do it at 10am today, just to be on the safe side, in case anyone is really hung over from a Saturday night of debauchery! I've already been out there this morning pulling weeds and creating a shade structure for my garden...sorry to be blunt but I'm sweating like a pig already...but I will get-r-done; I am determined! Lots of sunscreen is good!

Loco, I don't think it's fair to get judgmental about this, without knowing the whole 'picture'. I am in many ways more 'green' than most (I use no pesticides, no herbicides, and am stingy as possible w/ water usage, although I know maintaining grass is bad in this regard); in fact, I purposely decided to put rocks in my backyard for the purpose of saving water. And if the quality of fake grass improves I'd def consider installing that, although my understanding is it's quite expensive right now. But having my less than 1,000 sq ft front yard of grass is a guilty pleasure that I allow myself for the time being. Someday I'm sure my 40-something body will absolutely rebel against mowing the lawn during the height of summer, and then I will relish getting the desert landscape installed. But the whole owning a house thing to me is relatively new so I am enjoying it right now, even though it requires some extra effort.

[1999corvette]

I never mow in the morning, always do it when the backyard is getting shady a bit before dark, a habit I had from mowing in California, where in the morning, the grass would be moist and clump up, and sometimes clog the mower.

I doubt that would happen here, but I usually drink a couple of beers when mowing, and take a break after mowing, drink a beer, then use the trimmer/weed eater, then take another break and use the blower, then water it after I'm done.

My wife insist on me taking my clothes off on the back porch to keep grass from coming in the house, lucky no 2 story houses around, or they would see me in my underwear, go straight for the shower!

[themudpuppy]

Xica, I just wanted to say thanks for being a considerate neighbor. Too many people do what they want, when they want, no matter who they bother, so it's nice to see someone who cares about not disturbing others.

[DewDropInn]

We don't mow, since we have desert landscaping, but we do trim a few bushes with an electric hedge trimmer. As do the neighbors. (And most of them use leaf blowers as well.) In the summer, none of us complain if this starts at dawn. We're a neighborly bunch and no one wants to see the ambulance carting away a heat stroke victm.

But come winter you darn well better wait until at least 8:30.

[BabsJohnson]

I think my green lawn is greener than putting water into a swimming pool to evaporate. It's recharging the water table. Rock yards are out of place in the historic areas of Phoenix. I have some houses with flood irrigation (SRP) and some without. The summer outdoor air temps are sometimes ten degrees lower in the irrigated neighborhoods. I am a 63 year old Phoenix native, so I don't see why I should have to move "back" to the east. My dog likes the grass, too.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by Stokes172

Even quieter is a reel mower.

Actually, reel mowers in Arizona are often the powered kind, recommended for hybrid bermuda, like this: http://www.mclanemower.com/reelmowers.asp (broken link)

But I get your point.

[simplym]

It's awesome that you asked and are going to wait until a little later. Most people say "screw it, it's too hot to wait" and then wake their neighbors up. That is why you are considerate, and they are not. They are thinking of themselves, and you are thinking of your neighbors! Way to go!!

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by Stokes172

I would wait until 9 on the weekends. 7 is fair game on a weekday.

Better yet,.....get rid of your lawn. I have a lawn up here in Canuckistan and none in Phoenix..I will be ripping this one out next summer.

it's just a make work item.

It's too hot by 9 in the morning, doing yardwork at the crack of dawn would be the way to go to avoid the heat and sunburn.

Lawns and trees may require more work but they promote cooling and are easier on the eyes than rock landscape or none at all.

[Xica_da_Silva]

Hi all...just an update. I did it at 10:30am, and it wasn't really that bad at all, heat-wise. I had to do both mowing and edging/trimming, and it looks so much better now that those Bermuda runners are no longer encroaching on the sidewalk! My mower and edger are electric so probably not as noisy as it could be.

Corvette, I know what you mean about tracking dirt into the house! It's a constant battle...unfortunately, I do have some 2-stories around me, so no struttin' around 'nekkid' into the shower for me. I also totally relate to having a beer after yardwork...it just seems sooo extra cold and delicious that way! I know it's dehydrating but the illusion of cold yumminess is good enough for me!

Thanks to those who had kind words for me; I've never considered moving into a neighborhood or house as an investment. Rather, I had a yearning to be part of something larger, to be part of a community. Perhaps it's a nostalgia for my childhood when we had neighbors who all knew and cared for each other. There's comfort and security in that, when it's right. I didn't realize how rare that is until I grew up and spent much time living in apartments, feeling very isolated from my surroundings. We may not have that much power to change things at the macro level, but it seems there are little things that can be done individually to make a neighborhood feel friendly and comfortable.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by Xica_da_Silva

Thanks to those who had kind words for me; I've never considered moving into a neighborhood or house as an investment. Rather, I had a yearning to be part of something larger, to be part of a community. Perhaps it's a nostalgia for my childhood when we had neighbors who all knew and cared for each other. There's comfort and security in that, when it's right..

I hope you get what you've been looking for. We've got a street that's pretty much Mayberry. Kids outside playing with each other. Neighbors chatting when they're out walking the dog. It's nice.