Would you believe it? I’m 39 years old, and today is the very first time that I ever mowed my own lawn.
A lawn I own, with a lawnmower I own.
Would you believe it? I’m 39 years old, and today is the very first time that I ever mowed my own lawn.
A lawn I own, with a lawnmower I own.
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If Jann reads this, I’m gonna get an angry phone call, but hey — I paid for it. My mattress, I mean. A year or so ago, I bought a new bedroom set, a really nice Craftsman set, through Jann’s boyfriend [more...]
I’m sorry.
I’m 50 and have never done it, and hope to make it to the end without ever doing it.
I did own a lawn mower once but never used it.
I even owned a lawn once but never mowed it.
But never had both at the same time and the thought of that, well…It just makes me smile.
Thank God my husband loves gardening and will roll around in the dirt all day, and pull weeds till the sun goes down because I never have the intention of ever doing either of those things.
As usual in these circumstances, I had no idea of the complexities when I went into it.
Do I rake up the clippings or leave them to mulch in? Do I cut it short or long?
My shoes escaped without any damage other than the little present some neighborhood dog left on my lawn; but next time I’ll know better than the wear a white shirt. I sincerely hope that grass has no feelings or nerves, because my house was the scene of The Killing Fields of San Jose. The yard ran with a river of green blood. And it was all over my shirt.
Have you figured out the “Don’t dare wear nice shoes” lesson yet?
Lest you want them green, I wouldn’t suggest it.
I LOVE mowing the lawn. And, it’s a great smell.
I must say that I do love the smell of a freshly mowed lawn.
Being allergic to to almost every (man-made) scented thing in the world. I take great joy in natural scents.
After spending my day avoiding all the scented things in life (almost everything) To be able to breath in deeply the aroma of clippings without fear of a reaction, the scent means more to me than most people.
Mind you, I still don’t want to mow the lawn but I do enjoy it when others do. (manual or electric only please, no gasoline mowers)
Leaving it long or short really depends on the kind of turfgrass you have, which I’m sure you’re clueless about (as are most people).
Cut it long at first, to avoid the shock. Then you can go a little shorter during the early summer. When it gets really hot and dry, keep it kinda medium to avoid stressing it out (it won’t grow much anyway).
You can leave the clippings in the yard to mulch in. Just make sure it wans’t too long when you cut it, otherwise the clippings will be to heavy and will suffocate the turf underneath.
So, in summation- cut it about once every week to week an a half, about medium, and try to do it early or late, when the temps. are cooler.
Oh, and enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass, it’s under-rated.
A scene no doubt soon to be followed by one in which you are yelling, “You kids get off my lawn!” and shaking your cane in a menacing fashion.
Unless your mower has an incredibly sharp blade and is designed to do the mulching thing, it probably best to just rake. The mulching mowers are a bit of a myth and most folks wind up just choking their grass in clippings. If you rake, you’ll still be leaving plenty of detritus to work back in… and you can make a compost pile with the clippings.
See if you can identify the species of grass you have growing, and then you can find recommendations on the optimal length for cutting, what to feed it, etc. And don’t forget edging, trimming, and mulching around trees etc… Cutting the grass is just the start.
Gah! I’m getting the twitches from remembering my youth as the neighborhood slave-labor lawn mower…