Mower height
- Thread starter dmclone
- Start date
Exactly...which is why I live in a townhome. I actually like doing lawn work, but have better things to do with my time. You don't need to move to AZ to not have to maintain a lawn.
Mulching trees...
I have the mind-numbing job of going out to look at trees thanks to trouble-calls from people who think they have EAB, etc.. Over 50% of the trees I end up inspecting, are dying from home owner stupidity. Mulch volcanos, planting depth issues and weed whippers are prevalent.
Mulch volcano - people think that a little much is a good thing, so a huge pile must be a great thing. Don't pile mulch up the trunk of the tree!
Planting depth - When you plant a tree, you should see the flare at the base of the trunk. Don't bury it! Sure, the tree my grow for a few year but it will become distressed and then you'll have a half-grown tree that is really close to being the nice shade tree you wanted, annnnnd then it will croak.
Topping - At least once a year I will see a truck from a tree care company, that has a big advertisement on it about topping - "Call us for your topping needs!" And, each time I nearly black out.
'Lead poisoning', or at least that's what I call it. Don't weed whip around the trunk of your trees, or ram your lawnmower into them. I live by a park that has a bunch of half grown trees and they've all dying from the lawn guy whipping the living daylights out of the base of every one of them. It makes me sad.
And of course, I run into things like trees planted years ago but the wire basket around the roots was not removed (rood girdling), or severe lighting damage that the owner though would just 'heal over', trenching or some other activity that cut many roots, and of course, the deadly flower bed. Staking up bricks, filling with soil and planting flowers/hostas/whatever around the base of a tree. It's the same as planting a tree too deep.
If you don't know what you're doing, or the tree is very large, I highly recommend a certified arborist. Just because someone hangs out a shingle that proclaims they know what they're doing ... doesn't mean they really know what they're doing. Make sure they're bonded/insured.
And, personally, I never used rock mulch around plants, ever. Rocks hold a lot of heat and the plants literally fry. I invest too much $$ and time in my yard to intentionally kill them.
I have the mind-numbing job of going out to look at trees thanks to trouble-calls from people who think they have EAB, etc.. Over 50% of the trees I end up inspecting, are dying from home owner stupidity. Mulch volcanos, planting depth issues and weed whippers are prevalent.
Mulch volcano - people think that a little much is a good thing, so a huge pile must be a great thing. Don't pile mulch up the trunk of the tree!
Planting depth - When you plant a tree, you should see the flare at the base of the trunk. Don't bury it! Sure, the tree my grow for a few year but it will become distressed and then you'll have a half-grown tree that is really close to being the nice shade tree you wanted, annnnnd then it will croak.
Topping - At least once a year I will see a truck from a tree care company, that has a big advertisement on it about topping - "Call us for your topping needs!" And, each time I nearly black out.
'Lead poisoning', or at least that's what I call it. Don't weed whip around the trunk of your trees, or ram your lawnmower into them. I live by a park that has a bunch of half grown trees and they've all dying from the lawn guy whipping the living daylights out of the base of every one of them. It makes me sad.
And of course, I run into things like trees planted years ago but the wire basket around the roots was not removed (rood girdling), or severe lighting damage that the owner though would just 'heal over', trenching or some other activity that cut many roots, and of course, the deadly flower bed. Staking up bricks, filling with soil and planting flowers/hostas/whatever around the base of a tree. It's the same as planting a tree too deep.
If you don't know what you're doing, or the tree is very large, I highly recommend a certified arborist. Just because someone hangs out a shingle that proclaims they know what they're doing ... doesn't mean they really know what they're doing. Make sure they're bonded/insured.
And, personally, I never used rock mulch around plants, ever. Rocks hold a lot of heat and the plants literally fry. I invest too much $$ and time in my yard to intentionally kill them.
Go take a divot out of your neighbors lawn and see if she still thinks it looks better than your thick green lawn.
The horticulture books I read say:
1. "The most common mistake most people make is to mow too short"
2. "Only cut 1/3 of the blade length at any one time."
A good healthy turf is your best defense against weed invasion, longer grass is healthier. The more of the leaf blade you cut off... the more photosynthetic sugars you are denying the plant.
i bag my yard because i have a vegetable garden that needs mulched or else it gets completely submersed in weeds. i realize it would be better to mulch, but it would eat up way too much time to have to pull all the weeds from my garden.
I bag because my yard is 80% covered by trees and the sunlight doesn't break down the thatch layer much at all.
Between that, the tiny leaves and stems for the locust tree, the seed-copters from the maple, and everything else - every year I power rake and have bags and bags of thatch. Hate to think if I didn't bag.
Needless to say, I think my yard is getting plenty of organic matter returned to it. And I also use the grass clippings in our garden.
Buy the house next door to me and you can mow at any height you like. The new owner hasn't mowed yet this year and it looks like crap. And, no, it isn't a prairie planting, just grass and weeds over a foot tall.
:sad:
Is it too late this year to power rake to remove thatch? I would assume that it's getting too hot to do this, as it would distress the lawn too much after. Should I do it in the fall, or wait until next spring?
Agree with much of what you posted. Sometimes you get root girdling in spite of the tree planted at the right level. The growers are pretty careless (lazy) when moving young trees into container and the roots can get twisted. Red maples just seem to want to girdle no matter what we do.
Big thumbs up on your rock mulch diss. I hate the damn stuff and the new rubber crap they are pushing. If it isn’t something that will naturally decompose over time it doesn’t have any business being used as mulch.
Good points. I would also add another pet peeve of mine: staking left on the trees until the wire, rope, or whatever was used starts to strangle the trunk.
Man you would hate me. I have both river rock and that rubber mulch. I understand the hate for rock but why the rubber mulch. What does it hurt? I keep it around the trees and I like that it always looks good and you don't have to change it out every year.
Nah, I would hate your rubber not you! At least kids can't throw the rubber through your window.
:smile:
Turf guy told me how long you mow is also root length. #" grass + 3" roots. This is supposed to be optimum for midwest. Haven't change mower height in 14 years at this house
Leave the grass at least 3". We are heading into hot weather and it needs to be longer to hold what little moisture we get. Cut 1/3 of blade at a time. Cutting it too short allows weeds to flourish also as grass will crowd out many weeds. Water as often as you can afford.
I don't go below 3.25 at this house. It looks better when it has some length to it.
My neighbor mows every 3 days. She checkers her lawn beautifully, but it seems excessive. Her snow removal was just as methodical.
My neighbor mows every 3 days. She checkers her lawn beautifully, but it seems excessive. Her snow removal was just as methodical.
Sorry, I wasn't on the site for a few days, but I will answer your question. There is a difference between buying necessary product to achieve a result and over buying. You can somewhat over fertilize without damaging your lawn. The extra treatment for the most part ends up in your storm sewer.
Take laundry detergent for example. The recommended amount for your average washer is about 2-3 times what it actually takes to get your clothes clean for most detergents under most conditions. Is the outcome bad results? No, but you are overbuying by 100-200%. They line their pockets and you get good results. You can get the same good results by not blindly taking their advice.
That is what I mean.
I have a neighbor who over fertilizes by my estimation. His lawn looks great! I have another neighbor (directly across the street from the first) who by the book under fertilizes. His lawn is for all practical purposes indistinguishable from the first. If he blindly took the manufacturer's advice, like his neighbor, he would be paying more for no better result.
Your interest is to hang on to your money as much as possible and have a great looking lawn; Scott's interest is to have you buy as much of their product as possible and you have a great looking lawn.
Thi$ is where Scott's interest and your interest can differ.
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