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Why some people mow a lawn better than others

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Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#151

Post by ourmandave »

cortesoft wrote: post #3

This is a very different problem than actual efficiency when mowing a lawn or vacuuming a rub. Turning takes more work and time, and you miss a part of the 'square' when you are turning (the arc of the curve is not a straight line). In addition, vacuums especially have an area at the edge of the machine that is not cleaned as well, which is why you want a bit of overlap in your lines. Plus, when mowing a lawn, you of…

Plus, when mowing a lawn, you often want to leave a nice pattern, so you cant just go for pure efficiency.

I just want shorter grass asap. Not going to lie on my death bed bemoaning not mowing enough.

If it were up to me, my yard would be a prairie restoration tax deduction, but alas, neighbors.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#152

Post by [deleted] »

paradox460 wrote: post #20
cortesoft wrote: post #3

This is a very different problem than actual efficiency when mowing a lawn or vacuuming a rub. Turning takes more work and time, and you miss a part of the 'square' when you are turning (the arc of the curve is not a straight line). In addition, vacuums especially have an area at the edge of the machine that is not cleaned as well, which is why you want a bit of overlap in your lines. Plus, when mowing a lawn, you of…

Plus mowing a lawn is meditative Copying another comment I made earlier When I was laid off a couple months ago, the first thing I did was go out and mow my lawn. One hour of simple, clean labor, with clear progress, goals, and solitude. It helped me stay out of a bad mental frame, and when I finished I went inside and sent out a few hundred applications Over the next several weeks, I spent a lot of time that wasn't…

[deleted]

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#154

Post by taberiand »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #130
gavinray wrote: post #9

Semi-related: Worked as a landscaper during my youth, one of my first jobs I used to think that the line patterns mowed into grass were a purely aesthetic thing. It turns out, the lines are mowed in a rotation to prevent wearing out the grass and causing damage. First you mow length-wise, then width-wise, then diagonally, finally diagonally in the opposite direction, before cycling through again. Useless information…

What if your yard is only crabgrass

Then you mow side to side

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#155

Post by altairprime »

antisthenes wrote: post #122
altairprime wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s rather cruel. Optimizing lawn mowing conserves human and machine fuel/battery, especially on large plots or as professionals or in hot climates. Misapplying optimizations to one’s free time is absolutely in line with your stereotype, but that’s much more a widespread defect of judgment in computer engineers than in mowers.

Then the most optimal solution of all is to have a lawn that doesn't need mowing at all.

The same skills used to mow lawns are also used in more complex settings to e.g. tend to farm fields, where you have to account for product wastage versus turning radius versus machinery operating hours. (Thanks, Farming Simulator!)

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#156

Post by ohyoutravel »

hapticmonkey wrote: post #144
paradox460 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus mowing a lawn is meditative Copying another comment I made earlier When I was laid off a couple months ago, the first thing I did was go out and mow my lawn. One hour of simple, clean labor, with clear progress, goals, and solitude. It helped me stay out of a bad mental frame, and when I finished I went inside and sent out a few hundred applications Over the next several weeks, I spent a lot of time that wasn't…

Reminds me of this Kurt Vonnegut quote: > “(talking about when he tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope) Oh, she says well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of peopl…

So funny. I need to make a monthly HOA payment. The bank is about a half mile away. I write a check every month at home, I walk to the bank, see random things in the neighborhood on the way, see a fire truck, see the little toddlers from the Montessori school on a leash with safety vests (always makes me smile), fill out a deposit slip, chat with the teller at the bank during the deposit, get a coffee and sit outside, walk home. What a fun little adventure!

My wife finally convinced me to just do the online, recurring payment every month. I definitely miss the physical act of walking the check to the tiny town bank every month.

Vonnegut definitely resonates.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#157

Post by 8note »

vel0city wrote: post #95
paradox460 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus mowing a lawn is meditative Copying another comment I made earlier When I was laid off a couple months ago, the first thing I did was go out and mow my lawn. One hour of simple, clean labor, with clear progress, goals, and solitude. It helped me stay out of a bad mental frame, and when I finished I went inside and sent out a few hundred applications Over the next several weeks, I spent a lot of time that wasn't…

> Plus mowing a lawn is meditative Not when its >100F and >30%RH and a bright sun in the sky.

should you really have a grass lawn at that point?

you might want something more native to those conditions that doesnt take much upkeep

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#158

Post by 8note »

ourmandave wrote: post #151
cortesoft wrote: post #3

This is a very different problem than actual efficiency when mowing a lawn or vacuuming a rub. Turning takes more work and time, and you miss a part of the 'square' when you are turning (the arc of the curve is not a straight line). In addition, vacuums especially have an area at the edge of the machine that is not cleaned as well, which is why you want a bit of overlap in your lines. Plus, when mowing a lawn, you of…

Plus, when mowing a lawn, you often want to leave a nice pattern, so you cant just go for pure efficiency. I just want shorter grass asap. Not going to lie on my death bed bemoaning not mowing enough. If it were up to me, my yard would be a prairie restoration tax deduction, but alas, neighbors.

swap out to a native plants and polinators garden?

chances are that the grass is bot native for you

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#159

Post by elzbardico »

contubernio wrote: post #21

There are a number of bad premises in this article. For example, most people in the world (outside the USA in particular) have never mowed a lawn. I live in a city of 3.5 million and essentially no one has a lawn. When you really mow a lawn terrain matters. Most lawns are not flat. One goes on lines of equal height not up and down a hill. Edges are different than the interior part of the lawn, particularly if they ab…

Lawns are absurdly common in South American homes, at least on the more affluent areas of the cities.

The difference is that usually homes in latin america have big fences and gates at front, so lawns are private spaces, and not the private as property but not in the privacy sense as in America.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#160

Post by teeray »

ourmandave wrote: post #151
cortesoft wrote: post #3

This is a very different problem than actual efficiency when mowing a lawn or vacuuming a rub. Turning takes more work and time, and you miss a part of the 'square' when you are turning (the arc of the curve is not a straight line). In addition, vacuums especially have an area at the edge of the machine that is not cleaned as well, which is why you want a bit of overlap in your lines. Plus, when mowing a lawn, you of…

Plus, when mowing a lawn, you often want to leave a nice pattern, so you cant just go for pure efficiency. I just want shorter grass asap. Not going to lie on my death bed bemoaning not mowing enough. If it were up to me, my yard would be a prairie restoration tax deduction, but alas, neighbors.

My mower wants me to mow counter clockwise when mulching, clockwise when bagging. It gives a better distribution of mulch that way, thus better thatch distribution in the lawn (and less shading), thus a happier lawn overall than when I did stripes.
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