Artificial Lawn

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by XYZ

Original post:

You have a big, beautiful house and a spacious, beautiful front lawn.

What's the problem?

Are we being played here?

I wish it still looked that nice! The picture might be 5 years old or more; from before I owned the house. Also, it looks larger from the angle the photo was taken. I estimate it's 500 ft^2.



I've used Scotts WeednFeed twice a year, every year, and I get more and more weeds and clover. Moss also invades the lawn, so I attack with moss killer. This leaves brown patches in the lawn for a while, until new moss can take its place. Since this is south-facing, it's just about completely brown this time of year.

The only way I'll be convinced that real grass is better is to see evidence of how it can look decent while costing less over 20 years to maintain.\

It's probably a moot point though. The fiance doesn't like the idea of artificial turf, but she did say it looked very convincing. I've probably got 10 days to get it put in, or loose my chance forever.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I wish it still looked that nice! The picture might be 5 years old or more; from before I owned the house. Also, it looks larger from the angle the photo was taken. I estimate it's 500 ft^2.



I've used Scotts WeednFeed twice a year, every year, and I get more and more weeds and clover.

Having a lawn is an expensive PITA. But maintaining it is cheaper than the alternatives.

Forget the granular weed killer and fertilizer combo. Buy weed killer in concentrated liquid form and use it according to directions in a sprayer. Don't use high nitrogen fertilizer. Use an organic, low nitro fertilizer like Milorganite instead. Spread peat moss and/or starter fertilizer all over the lawn to improve the soil.

Moss also invades the lawn, so I attack with moss killer.

This leaves brown patches in the lawn for a while, until new moss can take its place. Since this is south-facing, it's just about completely brown this time of year.

I'll bet that is in the area where the big fence is. Moss grows where there is no sunlight. Brown patches are usually related to insect damage if it is hot and dry, or fungal growth if the area is cool and wet.

The only way I'll be convinced that real grass is better is to see evidence of how it can look decent while costing less over 20 years to maintain.

It took me decades to finally realize that a lawn is a crop that needs to be "built up", slowly and it literally takes many years to do. I've described it as having to take care of "an unwanted child".

It's probably a moot point though. The fiance doesn't like the idea of artificial turf, but she did say it looked very convincing. I've probably got 10 days to get it put in, or loose my chance forever.

Learning to care for a lawn requires knowledge, and it is time consuming and is initially costly in $$$ spent in rehabilitation. I hate doing it. But it is still cheaper in the long run than the alternatives.

[Daekar]

Do what we do: embrace the chaos. Have weeds? Just mow them. Have clover? Congratulations, clover is a nitrogen fixer that is improving the quality of your soil even as it grows. The whole "perfect yard" thing is complete BS. We and all our neighbors mow and don't bag (why remove the clippings when nature will break them down into fertilizer?), nobody fertilizes, and nobody uses weed killer. Nobody waters either... watering is unnecessary if the grass mixture in your yard is suitable for your climate. If it's not the correct stuff, you ARE fighting nature.

I would contact your state extension agency (for those that don't know, Extension exists to disseminate agricultural research data gathered by public universities) and ask what they advise for a low maintenance well-adapted lawn. If they're worth the tax dollars they're paid, they should have a solution already, and even some scholarly papers they can point towards. Even if the information wasn't generated by your state agency, as long as it's from a state of similar climate it won't matter.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Daekar

Do what we do: embrace the chaos. Have weeds? Just mow them. Have clover? Congratulations, clover is a nitrogen fixer that is improving the quality of your soil even as it grows. The whole "perfect yard" thing is complete BS. We and all our neighbors mow and don't bag (why remove the clippings when nature will break them down into fertilizer?), nobody fertilizes, and nobody uses weed killer. Nobody waters either... watering is unnecessary if the grass mixture in your yard is suitable for your climate. If it's not the correct stuff, you ARE fighting nature.

I would contact your state extension agency (for those that don't know, Extension exists to disseminate agricultural research data gathered by public universities) and ask what they advise for a low maintenance well-adapted lawn. If they're worth the tax dollars they're paid, they should have a solution already, and even some scholarly papers they can point towards. Even if the information wasn't generated by your state agency, as long as it's from a state of similar climate it won't matter.

Before I started to live in apartments, all the houses I lived got lawn in both yards. Me and my dad usually just mowed everything, but we had to remove the clippings or my mom would be complaining (that's all she does anyways). I don't remember to have ever watered lawn, neither when I lived in Manaus (in the Amazon jungle) or in Florianópolis (in the shore), both cities with a humid climate.

I would just not be so sure about contacting the state extension agency, unless there are some folks who crop grass commercially back there.

[Daekar]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Before I started to live in apartments, all the houses I lived got lawn in both yards. Me and my dad usually just mowed everything, but we had to remove the clippings or my mom would be complaining (that's all she does anyways). I don't remember to have ever watered lawn, neither when I lived in Manaus (in the Amazon jungle) or in Florianópolis (in the shore), both cities with a humid climate.

I would just not be so sure about contacting the state extension agency, unless there are some folks who crop grass commercially back there.

Well I can't promise anything about your particular extension agency or your local Ag school, but turf research is done at Virginia Tech precisely because of the environmental impact that the pursuit of perfect lawns has on water quality, among other consequences. They do experiments with new grass varieties and test low maintenance or alternative strategies for managing invasive plant growth and lawn health, and then the results are (eventually) added to the literature available through the extension agency of the state. Not all agencies are created equal though. If you do a Google search, you'll usually find documents created by several of the more prolific and organized states on topics related to land care agriculture rather than a document from every agency. Not all states take the "dissemination" part of the typical land grand university charter seriously, but technically those grants were given on the premise that the people would directly benefit from the scholarly agricultural research performed there. I've found extension to offer helpful data on occasion, but your local mileage my vary.

[redpoint5]

Here is the current state of my lawn.



When I do get time to mow, I just use the side discharge of the mower. Mulching sounds like a better option, but my mower is crappy and doesn't have that feature. I don't see why people would take the time to bag and then pay to dispose of the clippings.

It's so small that I don't feel that having grass or anything else is worth the trouble.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

I would just not be so sure about contacting the state extension agency, unless there are some folks who crop grass commercially back there.

I have found the local extension to be very helpful. My parents received a grant that paid for all of the materials needed to plant 400 various trees on the property, and install a quarter mile fence to keep livestock away from a creek. They even have some tools available that may be borrowed whenever a person wants. I've used their Weed Wrench several times to yank Scotch Broom out.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Daekar

Well I can't promise anything about your particular extension agency or your local Ag school, but turf research is done at Virginia Tech precisely because of the environmental impact that the pursuit of perfect lawns has on water quality, among other consequences.

Back here, the pursuit for a "perfect" lawn is more usual in soccer stadiums, altough some random weeds can be found there too

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Here is the current state of my lawn.




It's so small that I don't feel that having grass or anything else is worth the trouble.

So pave it over. It will require no maintenance until the concrete cracks.

Besides, having more pavement available provides additional parking area...

[Xist]

When I left Germany, I had a Stateside girlfriend that liked to tell me how things would be when we were married, and I think the first part is a large contributer to why the second part never happened.

She told me that we would not have grass and I asked "You want our kids to run around and play on gravel?"

Yes.

As I mentioned in http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post339539, we also had this conversation:

Originally Posted by Xist

I once found myself walking a mile to the bus and told my girlfriend that I wished that I had a Segway.

"Why, are your legs broken?"

"Would you ride a Segway with broken legs?"

"No, I am not lazy."

"So, you would walk with broken legs?"

She said that she would.

Now, she did not want grass because she had allergies, although she could have just said "We cannot have grass because I am allergic" instead of creating law. I looked into artificial lawns, was surprised how expensive they were, and read that they only lasted 8-10 years, but hey, that is way longer than that relationship lasted!

Or any of my relationships...

[jray3]

Odds are it's not too late in the summer to do what I did, and pick up free high -quality astroturf from a high school football field renovation. Fields all over the northwest are changing over to the longer-staple turf with swept-in rubber granules. My side yard (with two trailers and two project cars) has been carpeted this way for three years now, and I love it! For your front lawn, you might not want hash marks and 10 yard lines, but a good referral to an installer could locate a surplus roll of virgin turf on the cheap.

I also managed to get a piece of the new turf large enough to park my car on top of at shows- really sets off the display!