Lawns info for gardening muppet!
 

I'm not particularly green fingered, however I have a pretty large garden,
most of which is on a hill, and most of which is converted in grass.

Our main "lawn" (a bit which isn't on a steep hill) is really getting me
down. It will grow around 3 inches per week, and if left uncut will grown
to a height of, probably, around 4 or 5 feet tall. Cutting it is a pain
because I either leave it too long, and have to use a strimmer, or, if I cut
it weekly, it's so full of ant mounds, that it's difficult to cut (not to
mention that it's on a slope). Also, I only get time to cut it on the
weekend, so if we have a wet weekend, all I can do it look out of the window
and watch it grow :-)

My problem is that I don't know enough about grass to know if it usually
grows like this, or whether we've just got some type of wild grass. In my
dreams I have a lawn which doesn't need cutting every week, and even if I
don't cut it, won't grow more than a few inches.

If I'm being lazy, and all lawns grow like this, then fair enough, but if
I'm not, I'd really like to dig it all up, and re-seed it with "normal"
grass (whatever that is!).

Can anyone give me any advice? Am I just being lazy, or could I re-seed it
with "slow growing" grass?! - Will grass normally grow to several feet if
left alone, or do some types of grass only grow to a maximum of a few
inches?

Sorry about this being such a basic question! - But I'd really like to be
able to enjoy my garden without feeling that I should spend my time mowing
lawns whenever it's nice enough to sit out in it!

Thanks,
A.

In message , Adam
writes
I'm not particularly green fingered, however I have a pretty large garden,
most of which is on a hill, and most of which is converted in grass.

Our main "lawn" (a bit which isn't on a steep hill) is really getting me
down. It will grow around 3 inches per week, and if left uncut will grown
to a height of, probably, around 4 or 5 feet tall. Cutting it is a pain
because I either leave it too long, and have to use a strimmer, or, if I cut
it weekly, it's so full of ant mounds, that it's difficult to cut (not to
mention that it's on a slope). Also, I only get time to cut it on the
weekend, so if we have a wet weekend, all I can do it look out of the window
and watch it grow :-)

My problem is that I don't know enough about grass to know if it usually
grows like this, or whether we've just got some type of wild grass. In my
dreams I have a lawn which doesn't need cutting every week, and even if I
don't cut it, won't grow more than a few inches.

If I'm being lazy, and all lawns grow like this, then fair enough, but if
I'm not, I'd really like to dig it all up, and re-seed it with "normal"
grass (whatever that is!).

Can anyone give me any advice? Am I just being lazy, or could I re-seed it
with "slow growing" grass?! - Will grass normally grow to several feet if
left alone, or do some types of grass only grow to a maximum of a few
inches?

Sorry about this being such a basic question! - But I'd really like to be
able to enjoy my garden without feeling that I should spend my time mowing
lawns whenever it's nice enough to sit out in it!

Thanks,
A.





This time of the year I try to cut mine twice a week. Unfortunately the
weather does not always co-operate :-(

I have heard of 'miniature' grasses being advertised but have never
tried them or heard of anyone using them.
I understand that Camomile is supposed to stay fairly short but I think
that if you have grass then you are tied to cutting it.

Is it worth paying someone to give it a cut during the week if the
weather is right? It shouldn't cost a lot and would improve your
enjoyment of the garden.
--
Sue
Remove the puppies to reply

I have heard of 'miniature' grasses being advertised but have never tried
them or heard of anyone using them.
I understand that Camomile is supposed to stay fairly short but I think
that if you have grass then you are tied to cutting it.

Maybe I'll do a quick search and see if I can find out anything about that.
The problem is that re-seeding the lawns is such a huge job in itself, I
only want to do it if I know for sure it'll help!

Is it worth paying someone to give it a cut during the week if the weather
is right? It shouldn't cost a lot and would improve your enjoyment of the
garden.

Yes. I think that's the best plan. Problem at the moment is that we've got
a young baby, so are only just getting used to living on one wage! I'm not
sure we could stretch to paying someone to cut it (although I would dearly
love to!).

How old do children have to be before they can cut the lawn to earn their
keep? 9 months?! :-)

A.

In message , Adam
writes
I have heard of 'miniature' grasses being advertised but have never tried
them or heard of anyone using them.
I understand that Camomile is supposed to stay fairly short but I think
that if you have grass then you are tied to cutting it.

Maybe I'll do a quick search and see if I can find out anything about that.
The problem is that re-seeding the lawns is such a huge job in itself, I
only want to do it if I know for sure it'll help!

Is it worth paying someone to give it a cut during the week if the weather
is right? It shouldn't cost a lot and would improve your enjoyment of the
garden.

Yes. I think that's the best plan. Problem at the moment is that we've got
a young baby, so are only just getting used to living on one wage! I'm not
sure we could stretch to paying someone to cut it (although I would dearly
love to!).

How old do children have to be before they can cut the lawn to earn their
keep? 9 months?! :-)

A.


A push lawnmower could make a very good baby-walker :-))

I think the problem with anything other than grass could be bees coming
to the flowers - not a good thing to have around a crawling baby. The
only time my son got stung was a bee on the clover in the lawn.
--
Sue
Remove the puppies to reply

How old do children have to be before they can cut the lawn to earn their
keep? 9 months?! :-)

A push lawnmower could make a very good baby-walker :-))

:-)

I think the problem with anything other than grass could be bees coming to
the flowers - not a good thing to have around a crawling baby. The only
time my son got stung was a bee on the clover in the lawn.

On second thoughts, I think we've decided that it's worth the expense to get
someone in a couple of times a week to keep the lawn down. Hopefully that
should make quite a difference to our garden pleasure, and might even mean
we get time to do some of the other gardening jobs required!

A.

[quote=Sue Begg]In message , Adam
writes
It will grow around 3 inches per week, and if left uncut will grown
to a height of, probably, around 4 or 5 feet tall.




Im not an expert but it does sound like you have a lot of coarse "weed" grasses. I find the non-desirable grasses out grow the fine grasses easily, unless you regularly mow. Usually a mow once a week will keep a utlity grade lawn in check.
I suggest you investigate what type of grasses you have and what the general state is, The lawn expert by DG Hessayon is good starter.

Ed

"Adam" wrote in message
...
I'm not particularly green fingered, however I have a pretty large garden,
most of which is on a hill, and most of which is converted in grass.
-----------------------------
snip ------------------------------------------
Thanks,
A.

Get the appropriate *widest* self propelled power mower and cut it twice a
week, make sure it mulches so you don't have to keep tipping the cuttings;
it will cut down on the time it takes substantially. Fire it up and off you
go; you just walk behind.
If you can't afford new, hunt around for a second-hand one, or look on Ebay:
do your home work.
Roddy

Im not an expert but it does sound like you have a lot of coarse "weed"
grasses. I find the non-desirable grasses out grow the fine grasses
easily, unless you regularly mow. Usually a mow once a week will keep a
utlity grade lawn in check.
I suggest you investigate what type of grasses you have and what the
general state is, The lawn expert by DG Hessayon is good starter.

Thanks for the info. I've just had a look for The Lawn Expert on Amazon,
and will probably order it.

A.

In message , roddy
writes
Get the appropriate *widest* self propelled power mower and cut it
twice a week, make sure it mulches so you don't have to keep tipping
the cuttings; it will cut down on the time it takes substantially. Fire
it up and off you go; you just walk behind. If you can't afford new,
hunt around for a second-hand one, or look on Ebay:
do your home work.
Roddy

I can't second this enough. We have largish lawns front and back, and it
used to take, more or less, all day to mow. Once we got a wide mulching
mower with swivel wheels, the task shrank to three hours!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

Get the appropriate *widest* self propelled power mower and cut it twice a
week, make sure it mulches so you don't have to keep tipping the cuttings;
it will cut down on the time it takes substantially. Fire it up and off
you go; you just walk behind. If you can't afford new, hunt around for a
second-hand one, or look on Ebay:
do your home work.
Roddy

I can't second this enough. We have largish lawns front and back, and it
used to take, more or less, all day to mow. Once we got a wide mulching
mower with swivel wheels, the task shrank to three hours!

Thanks for this info. (thanks to Roddy too, although that post didn't make
it to my news server!).

The problem is that much of our garden is very steep, and the parts that
aren't are broken into several smaller lawns, with steps between, which
means that lugging a heavy mower between them is a problem (maybe it would
work with removable ramps though). It would be handy for our larger lawn
though, so it's certainly a possibility.

A.