I'm a lawn snob. :)
And if you let the grass die before first frost kills it, the grass starts getting thin, let's in the weeds, and then you no longer have a gorgeous lawn. And if you let it dry out too much, the roots will dry up and it won't come back at all.
I'm on well water now but at my previous house, I didn't mind a $300 a month water bill to keep the lawn thick and green.
Am I a nut ? Yep !!! :) But hey, I'm not such a lawn snob that I look down upon the "I don't care" crowd. Just makes my lawn stand out more. :)
Yardening Midatlantic Late april 2015
Haha...true true, I don't look down upon the lawn snobs. I guess to each their own. Anyway, I have too much garden to worry about the lawn. I'd have to have a 1" line coming in the house if I were to water all that too. As it is, my 5/8" line is too small.
My mains to my hydrants and our main bib is 1", our distribution lines are 3/4" and supply lines are mostly 1/2". I hate getting scalded if someone flushes while I'm in the shower, like on most home wells. The only time you even notice a pressure reduction is when someone opens a hydrant sans hose. It's nice being your own plumber.
How large is your lawn ? Mine's about 1/3 an acre, not huge but way too much to water all at once... I just waters parts at a time, making sure to do a deep soaking so the roots grow deep. I water each area for about six hours, them move to the next. I love taking care of the lawn ALMOST as much as I love gardening. I kind of view it as all one undertaking.
Mine is a 1/4 acre and shrinking.
Nice Ric
Our's isn't much bigger. The back was the only area formally seeded. When I moved here it was a weed and dust bowl where the kids from the whole neighborhood would play. I tilled graded and seeded it with a fairway mix and it worked great. The kids couldn't wear it out under the swings. LOL The only problem was you started mowing at Easter and couldn't quit till Thanksgiving.
I'd love to have the areas of grass that I do have looking nice. It does take a lot of work though, and we never seem to be able to get to it all. I can look up the hill through the woods to my parents' place and catch a glimpse of the lush green of their patch of front lawn. It is so pretty, but I know my dad really works at it.
Funny story to share. My dad was a research physicist and even in home life he always makes scientific experiments out of things. Well, years ago he was curious to see if fertilizer really worked. One day when I was at work, he mixed up a batch of fertilizer, put it in a spray tank, and sprayed his name in huge letters on the slope of our pond dam. He didn't say a word, but just waited to see what would happen. I had to do a double take when I came up the driveway and saw a lush green color JOEPA surrounded by the not so lush yellow green of the rest of the grass. After several rains, the JOEPA was still visible, but at the bottom of each letter there were green streaks down the hill LOL.
Your Dad was Joe Paterno ?!?! And it was already a cool story before I knew that but now !!!
Sequoia, I thought you had a lawn care company putting down grub control and stuff; did you "fire" them?
Grass can indeed die. In Salt Lake City (where people are idiots to grow grass in the first place), landlords pay the water bills so people will water lawns and landscapes. My daughter and her boyfriend didn't, though, and once when I showed up their lawn was totally dead and a huge shade tree was dropping its leaves due to drought. The landlady had complained about the dead lawn, so I spent a few days raking the thatch out, watering everything, buying seed, etc. so they had a chance of getting their security deposit back (and because I wanted to save that poor tree).
I generally don't water my lawn for the sake of watering the grass, but because putting a sprinkler on max range is the easiest way to water the shrubs, trees and other plants. Watering trees is so important, and the roots can extend throughout the entire lawn so you can't just water at the base. 2 of my neighbors having dying maple trees because they refused to water during the droughts; mine are healthy.
I would love real grass. Had to laugh Ric mixed clover into the backyard mix. He said it was tough and would hold up to the kids playing which was true. What he didn't quite think about was how many times he would need to mow as soon as the clover heads pop up the honey bees would come out and the kids kept getting stung from stepping on the bees. So as soon as I spotted one clover head I was pushing him to get out there and get it cut. LOL
Yes, good point, Muddy. And one I meant to make earlier and it flew out of my head before I hit the send button. I set the sprinklers up so that the plants also get a good soaking during the dry spells.
And me... I think I well kept lawn goes so nicely with well maintained landscaping and vice versa. Of course, there are days in July and August when I briefly wish I had let the lawn go brown so I wouldn't have to mow so often. Hahaha... but when I see how nice it looks freshly mowed and dark green... it's worth it.
Hm, I don't think lawn makes much sense in Utah. It's so darn dry there! I feel like we can neglect our lawns here in the MidAt, because it rarely gets droughty enough here for the grass to die completely. I wish clover was more culturally accepted. I have some very pretty clover flowers right now. I'm sure my neighbors aren't happy about that. :)
Muddy has a thick, gorgeous lawn!
My favorite pathways are lawn and cushiony mulch. I love the look of very large flower beds connected by narrow strips of lawn or mulched walkways.
We got a little over an inch last night. Unfortunately, most of it came during a downpour. My street was a sheet of water, which thankfully it washed all of the pollen away!
I've seen a few summers around here hot and dry enough to kill grass, SSG. Not every year but even if it doesn't kill it, it thins it out so much the weeds take over. Just a matter of caring or not caring, no right or wrong.
Yehudith has started a new thread about her June garden party!
Sally, we've been a chatty bunch. We may need a new thread soon.
will do
Exactly, CAM! If people are happy with their lawns, that's great; it shouldn't be anyone else's (or an HOA's) business IMO.
Thanks, SSG. The only things I can take credit for are having it aerated and top-dressed every year to keep it thick, and spraying corn gluten meal to minimize weeds.