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No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

beecityusa.org

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Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#41

Post by simonsarris »

I mow just a few times a year, mostly just cutting paths and leaving big sections of taller grasses. Some examples:

https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1629638819954786305

https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1651949172931674112

The fields naturally have lots of clover, black eyed susans, milkweed, and daisies. I've also planted a lot of my own flowers.

You can still have parts cut low, and if you leave the rest taller even the low part seems to resist drought better.

I used to mow ~3 acres with just a gas push (self-propelled) mower. Now I have the "modest" X330. You don't need a big machine to do this. Though you do have to go slow when you cut at the end of the year around October.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#42

Post by hgsgm »

adriand wrote: post #33
kelnos wrote: post #5

> residents of Appleton, Wisconsin [...] convinced their City Council to suspend their weed ordinance for the month of May. This reminds me that there are many municipalities and homeowners' associations that essentially require you to mow your lawn weekly or bi-weekly, lest your grass gets too long and they fine you, because... reasons. It's really gross that we allow people to be such busybodies.

I think having property standards is an important part of ensuring that people keep up their properties and by extension, maintain (and ideally beautify) their neighbourhoods. I can see how someone who puts the time and effort into creating an alternative to a lawn (such as a garden featuring wild species) may take issue with an ordnance that doesn't take into account alternatives to a traditional lawn, but when peop…

Why would trash and dog feces go together with a meadow?

The trash is obviously a problem, which can be addressed directly.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#43

Post by mattnewton »

adriand wrote: post #33
kelnos wrote: post #5

> residents of Appleton, Wisconsin [...] convinced their City Council to suspend their weed ordinance for the month of May. This reminds me that there are many municipalities and homeowners' associations that essentially require you to mow your lawn weekly or bi-weekly, lest your grass gets too long and they fine you, because... reasons. It's really gross that we allow people to be such busybodies.

I think having property standards is an important part of ensuring that people keep up their properties and by extension, maintain (and ideally beautify) their neighbourhoods. I can see how someone who puts the time and effort into creating an alternative to a lawn (such as a garden featuring wild species) may take issue with an ordnance that doesn't take into account alternatives to a traditional lawn, but when peop…

> it's unsightly.

Personally I think the burden of unsightly-ness is usually far overblown. I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal if my neighbors don’t maintain their lawn as long as it doesn’t spill into mine.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#44

Post by TheBigSalad »

sokoloff wrote: post #29

> Lawns cover 40 million acres, or 2%, of land in the US, making them the single largest irrigated crop we grow. That's comparing (an estimate of the) total lawn area to only the irrigated portion of corn (around 17% of the 91 million acres of corn in the US). If less than 40% of lawns are irrigated (which seems entirely plausible), then turfgrass is not the largest irrigated crop by any measure. Total for total, cor…

You'd have to think 90% or more of lawns are not irrigated or only occasionally watered by residents. I don't have actual numbers, but irrigation systems are an expensive luxury and not really needed in many parts of the country.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#45

Post by hgsgm »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #23
kelnos wrote: post #5

> residents of Appleton, Wisconsin [...] convinced their City Council to suspend their weed ordinance for the month of May. This reminds me that there are many municipalities and homeowners' associations that essentially require you to mow your lawn weekly or bi-weekly, lest your grass gets too long and they fine you, because... reasons. It's really gross that we allow people to be such busybodies.

Freedom of choice and mutual consent. Everyone owning a house in a HOA signed on the dotted line. Not for me, but some people hate long grass and are willing to waive their property rights so they don't have to see it. I'm glad there is an outlet where they can do their own thing without involving me. The fact that this sometimes becomes a municipality issue is a major failing.

HOA doesn't have an opt-out, and does have a monopoly on homes within a geographical area. And often nearby areas have HOAs also. And HOAs can be kept secret from home buyers until after they sign a purchase contract. So meaningful consent is often absent.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#46

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

kelnos wrote: post #5

> residents of Appleton, Wisconsin [...] convinced their City Council to suspend their weed ordinance for the month of May. This reminds me that there are many municipalities and homeowners' associations that essentially require you to mow your lawn weekly or bi-weekly, lest your grass gets too long and they fine you, because... reasons. It's really gross that we allow people to be such busybodies.

Long grass encourages insects which encourages rodents which encourages snakes.

Also, grassses tend not to survive the summers here, so there's an increased fire risk which is probably not then covered by my insurance policy as it would arguably be negligence.

I left my back yard go one spring, my partner wouldn't go out there sue to snake risk, grass was over 5ft. It's now back to something approximating the standards implied by the surrounding houses.

Launceston, Tasmania.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#48

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

adriand wrote: post #33
kelnos wrote: post #5

> residents of Appleton, Wisconsin [...] convinced their City Council to suspend their weed ordinance for the month of May. This reminds me that there are many municipalities and homeowners' associations that essentially require you to mow your lawn weekly or bi-weekly, lest your grass gets too long and they fine you, because... reasons. It's really gross that we allow people to be such busybodies.

I think having property standards is an important part of ensuring that people keep up their properties and by extension, maintain (and ideally beautify) their neighbourhoods. I can see how someone who puts the time and effort into creating an alternative to a lawn (such as a garden featuring wild species) may take issue with an ordnance that doesn't take into account alternatives to a traditional lawn, but when peop…

I would definitely take issue with ordnance on my lawn. I wouldn't want my children blown to bits by accident.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#49

Post by TheBigSalad »

simonsarris wrote: post #41

I mow just a few times a year, mostly just cutting paths and leaving big sections of taller grasses. Some examples: https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1629638819954786305 https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1651949172931674112 The fields naturally have lots of clover, black eyed susans, milkweed, and daisies. I've also planted a lot of my own flowers. You can still have parts cut low, and if you leave the rest…

It almost sounds like you are bragging about being environmentally friendly. I think most people with a yard that big would just mow a lawn for their needs and let most it ]grow in with trees or whatever comes up. For the record, I have no problem with what you are doing and I think it looks cool.

Re: No Mow May, Low Mow Spring

#50

Post by cmrdporcupine »

jonnycomputer wrote: post #40
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you live in an arid area... if it's not grass ... something else is growing there. Something usually far more labour-intensive to maintain. If humans displace natural grazing animals, something has to replace them. A lawnmower. I live on 6 acres. Half of it I leave wooded. I have a small hobby vineyard. And the house and garage. The rest, well, it has to be mowed. Because I don't have sheep or goats to do it f…

It absolutely is more labor intensive. Partly because its a regularly disturbed area without a buffer zone to protect it from new weed intrusions. I get weeds I've never seen before each year on my lawn. It's not just grazing animals btw. It's fire. Large parts of the US Southeast, for example, used to be savanna, basically grasslands interspersed by trees. Fire is necessary to maintain that, to beat back woody growt…

There's good evidence that indigenous people along the whole east all the way up from the SE to the NE were managing forests with deliberate fire, too. For the purpose of maize agriculture, but also by keeping underbrush at bay they encouraged open grazing areas for the deer they hunted.

Also long before that, there were now-extinct species like mastodon that cleared forest floor, etc.

Anyways, all that is side-ramble. The reality is that in humid temperate areas the things you replace a lawn with end up being just as much or more work.

Nature is not the self-maintaining self-balancing paradise that it is often sold as. It is a world of constant intense competition (Say this in a Werner Herzog tone). If you leave ground bare, and there's water, something will grow there. That's fine in the woods. In the city, it's usually something you don't want that takes root.

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