Lawn care

[Krystal Shay]

It takes a skilled cat to catch them. They usually stay under the grass or vegetation since they eat the roots. If a cat waits at one of their mounds, they will probably never catch one. I watched one skilled cat in my neighborhood patrol, and he watches for movement under the vegetation, gets close, and then pounces. He has a very high kill rate. The voles never see him. They haven't left a mound in my yard or flower bed, since I smoked them out, but they come from the neighbors and eat roots in my flower bed that is along the fence. Old Orange keeps them under control.

I had one cat like that too. She had some serious skills in catching voles, moles, mice, birds and more. She always left a dead mouse laying at my utility door in the garage. "It's for you mom". I would leave it there because I knew when I would look 5 minutes later, she would have ate it all except the intestines. I would scoop up the remains to get rid of it after she finished her meal. But every single time, she always offered it to me first.

 

[Mary Robi]

I had St. Augustine grass at the last house I owned. I never watered it, I never "fed" it, I just mowed it when it needed it.

The soil in our neighborhood consisted of a combination of dirt, dust, sand and fire ants that reached half-way to the center of the earth.

My yard looked almost as good as those in the neighborhood who worked hard on theirs.

 

[Von Jones]

I had one cat like that too. She had some serious skills in catching voles, moles, mice, birds and more. She always left a dead mouse laying at my utility door in the garage. "It's for you mom". I would leave it there because I knew when I would look 5 minutes later, she would have ate it all except the intestines. I would scoop up the remains to get rid of it after she finished her meal. But every single time, she always offered it to me first.

 

[Marie Miller]

We all know that grass is the gateway to needing a lawn.

If something has not worked for years it may be time for a different approach. Soil testing, discussing this with the County Extension Office. There are alternatives to traditional grass.

 

[Mary Stetler]

After spending a crapload of money buying different types of grass seed, looking for something that would grow well here only to find it being replaced by the stuff that really wanted to be here, I've decided to let nature figure my lawn out and I'll just focus on keeping it from getting too high. So, my lawn is a mixture of several types of grasses, wild strawberry plants, broadleaf plantain, dandelions, a couple of kinds of clover, and moss in one part of it, as well as other stuff that I haven't identified. In the end, my lawn wanted to be a meadow.

Being a wild foodie, I just let my lawn be what it is too. I would probably sprinkle some sulfer around for fungus. But mushrooms are fungus so maybe not. I go out in the morning to cut dandelions for my new guinea pig and violets which started flowering now. Was thinking of putting up some violet flower ice cubes for wild food dinner drinks. I made candied violets once but we don't eat sugar any more.

 

[Marie Mallory]

After spending a crapload of money buying different types of grass seed, looking for something that would grow well here only to find it being replaced by the stuff that really wanted to be here, I've decided to let nature figure my lawn out and I'll just focus on keeping it from getting too high. So, my lawn is a mixture of several types of grasses, wild strawberry plants, broadleaf plantain, dandelions, a couple of kinds of clover, and moss in one part of it, as well as other stuff that I haven't identified. In the end, my lawn wanted to be a meadow.

So is ours, of course we now have two more large dogs who like to tear it up when they relieve themselves.
The worst is no rain for over 3 years. We do not water our lawns inly gardens.

 

[Mary Stetler]

We have 'no mow May' and 'low mow June' scheduled in Wisconsin, supposedly. It is supposed to help pollinators. I think it helps people who needed to get their mowers fixed and tuned up.
I stopped hubby from mowing because I have daisies growing wild in one area and damsel's rockets growing almost everywhere this spring. They are supposed to be horribly invasive but they are soooooo pretty I want them. And after the blooming we can just mow them down.
Always use your weeds wisely.

 

[Von Jones]

It's been almost a month since the application of the fungus control treatment. Unfortunately, it hasn't been effective. I could continue but have decided to go another route.

I am going to remove a designated area of the soil and get some new soil for it; then spread grass seed and cover it with hay/straw to keep birds away as much as possible. My oldest son plans to help me with this project.

 

[Faye Fox]

Well now, I may not be the smartest amateur mechanic to ever wear a bra, but I do know about jackrabbits. Turtles, I know but don't identify with as much as I do the jackrabbit.

My walk behind power drive mower is clearly marked with with the speed (clutch) arrows pointing up toward jackrabbit for fast and down for turtle and slow or disengaged. The power drive has been weak for a couple of years and adjusting the cable tightening screw up toward jackrabbit, changed nothing or made it worse.

Well, yesterday was a sunny and fairly warm day, so I mowed a couple of rounds and my sore shoulders and back just couldn't hack the extra push needed to get that big 8HP mower to go forward. The speed was slower than a three legged turtle taking a nap, so I decided time to change the belt.

I turned the mower on its side and cleaned the clutch idler wheels again. Still no improvement. I checked the cable tension adjustment and it was all the way toward jackrabbit. I came inside, got on my laptop, and brought up the manual on how to replace the belt. What? They show the arrow to tighten the clutch cable, downward toward turtle.

As I said, I am no old girl master mechanic, but I do know a thing or two about twisting a wrench. Also, I have been in West Texas and do know three or four things about jackrabbits, rattlesnakes, prickly pears, and horny toads. Apparently, the arrows pointing the direction of the need for speed, applied only to the clutch levers, not the clutch cable tightener. The separate arrows on the clutch screw clearly point up toward jackrabbit and down toward turtle.

Be that as it may, I was still pleased to find this info, although buried like Jimmy Hoffa, among fine print, confusing diagrams, and in a repair section, instead of maintenance. Whoever designed this adjustment, was dyslexic. It would have been simple to put the jackrabbit and turtle on those separate clutch adjustment arrows, just backassward. Also to repeat, the manual could have shown this under setup and maintenance. It did not!

Since yesterday was the first real warm day with no wind, I twisted that screw using a crescent wrench, since I wasn't in a mood to try and guess what size of a box end it would take, and kept going in the downward turtle direction until I felt tension building on the levers. I gave it a few more turns until it felt strong.

I fired up the mower engaged the clutch and found myself walking at a fast pace to keep up. If I was to stumble, it would have drug me unless of course, I released the clutch lever. These last two or three years of having to push to assist the drive were over although damage to my back and shoulders isn't healing as fast as I hoped. I was sorry I had taken my 3 mile rural walk earlier. I estimate, I do about 3 or more miles walking behind the mower. Needless to say, I am sore this morning, but relieved and pleased, I finally decided to consult the manual on replacing the belt, the only place it shows the direction being opposite for loosening the clutch cable screw, the first step in replacing the belt.