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Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

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Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#201

Post by nsxwolf »

gordaco wrote: post #116
nsxwolf wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider clover to be a weed and go to great lengths to eradicate it. People underestimate how many people just want lawns of perfect, green, undifferentiated grass.

I'm going to be that guy and point out that clover wasn't considered a weed until a chemical that killed clover, but not grass, was developed by Dow Chemical and the company wanted to sell it as a weed killer, so they ran a campaign about it. https://laidbackgardener.blog/2020/11/04/clover-in-the-lawn-... The secret was to turn clover from a friend into an enemy. Pesticide companies decided to launch an intensive adv…

That’s great but, I independently came to the conclusion that clover looks horrible on a nice lawn.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#202

Post by nemo44x »

oblak wrote: post #17
nemo44x wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bad approach to life. My advice is to either learn to love things that have to be done (and frequently like mowing) or pay someone to do it. Life’s too short. Lawn is really fascinating when you get into it.

OK, but can't you learn to love bees, too? I am not even half joking. The fascination with lawns, and everything that comes with it, is something I could never get. Flowers might not be manly enough but why not grow trees and/or produce? Not talking commercial efforts. Just a hobby. One that doesn't involve horrible motorized mowers, water waster, and what have you.

Growing produce is super hard. It also requires more water than a lawn for similar area. But you can also do both. We have a pretty big vegetable patch too.

But I love a lawn. They’re beautiful and it’s a fun hobby. They also make a great ecosystem for lots of bugs and worms which love organically fertilized earth. Lawns are also a carbon sink depending on how you maintain it. Not to mention they’re great for erosion issues. Not to mention the kids love playing on it.

As for water I live in an area where you can’t really “waste” water. Mowers can be electric as well.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#203

Post by nemo44x »

worik wrote: post #132
oblak wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, but can't you learn to love bees, too? I am not even half joking. The fascination with lawns, and everything that comes with it, is something I could never get. Flowers might not be manly enough but why not grow trees and/or produce? Not talking commercial efforts. Just a hobby. One that doesn't involve horrible motorized mowers, water waster, and what have you.

Bees love a good lawn (as in not a monoculture but a mosaic of flowering "weeds") Also having a space around your house means it can be more easily defended from file Gardens with flowers and vegetables have the same benefits, but are more work and make the ground unusable for the dogs and their children

Also erosion control. Lawns are great for controlling that.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#204

Post by rdedev »

hanniabu wrote: post #53
cinntaile wrote: post #11

I don't understand why a lot of people have a lawn in the first place, most don't even use the lawn (besides mowing it on a regular basis hahaha)!

What would you have instead? Seeing greenery is good for mental health.

For me it's the diversity of plants that count. A porch with just plain grass is too boring after sometime.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#205

Post by nsxwolf »

pfdietz wrote: post #167
sokoloff wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the point of a manicured English garden? What's the point of a fine suit or dress? What's the point of a nice oil painting? What's the point of a Porsche 911 or Ferrari 488? People have different preferences and that used to be OK.

Veblen goods. They display that you can afford them.

In the Midwest you don’t even need a 6 figure salary to have a lawn.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#206

Post by nemo44x »

joshu wrote: post #9
nemo44x wrote: post #4

My lawn would be so long if I mowed every other week. It would also be extremely bad for my lawn (fescue with KBG and rye). I mow about twice a week and keep my lawn at 3” - 4”. I like it a bit longer. If I let it grow for 2 weeks I’d be chopping off 50% or more of its length which puts the lawn under so much stress. It would be wide open for disease and it would actually be wasting water.

this attitude, generally, is why we're never going to solve climate change

My lawn has no to very little effect on that. If anything it’s probably a carbon sink. Mower is electric and I use organics.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#208

Post by tharkun__ »

kansface wrote: post #185
chris_va wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bunnies can keep the grass quite short.

Rabbits don’t mow the lawn, they chew holes into it.

I move the guinea pig run across our lawn. Once they've cut it down "enough" I move it, so that it overlaps slightly. The wild bunnies do help. It's funny when they look at each other. Cavies inside the run, bunny outside, all of them chewing.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#209

Post by jsnodlin »

joshu wrote: post #9
nemo44x wrote: post #4

My lawn would be so long if I mowed every other week. It would also be extremely bad for my lawn (fescue with KBG and rye). I mow about twice a week and keep my lawn at 3” - 4”. I like it a bit longer. If I let it grow for 2 weeks I’d be chopping off 50% or more of its length which puts the lawn under so much stress. It would be wide open for disease and it would actually be wasting water.

this attitude, generally, is why we're never going to solve climate change

No post body was provided.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#210

Post by dbrgn »

silisili wrote: post #195
dbrgn wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have any clover here, but lots of flowers. We usually wait with the first cut in spring until the flowers are mostly gone. They displace grass unfortunately, but look very nice, and insects love them. https://i.imgur.com/sbqhEYt.jpeg

That is really nice, thanks for sharing. Currently in the process of finding a house, and specifically avoiding HOAs. They'd never let something like this fly, which IMO should be illegal(not your yard, rules banning something like your yard).

I rent, but the homeowner doesn't care. We're three parties in the house, one neighbour doesn't care either, and the other neighbour's wife is sad if we cut the flowers :)
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