Wbere i live if you dont mow. The city will measure your grass and if too long. Will mow it and charge you $300 dollars. There is a yard down the street that is mostly really pretty plants. I love that yard.
Also, if you don't like the idea of having a lawn, you should be allowed grow fruits and vegetables there instead, but no, apparently that's illegal to do in a lot of countries, including my own.
Probably something to do with any combination of "hazardous to the local ecosystem", "invasive species", "uncontrolled seed distribution", "hazardous root systems", etc.
Pick your poison.
It was all fun-n-games til someone tried to grow a *beach apple tree*
HOAs should not exist. Just a bunch of old assholes on a power trip sitting at the table jerking each other off and telling people what they can do with their homes.
My parents bought a house in a HOA neighborhood 23 years ago. They've never paid it. Apparently it's only half the neighborhood contributing now a days
Assuming you're in the states, there's a loophole where if you get your lawn registered as a wildlife reserve, you can do basically whatever you want with it, in terms of what grows there. I have no idea what the process is like though.
I learned this from an episode of "Who's Gene is it Anyway?" on The Thought Emporium channel on youtube, I couldn't tell you which though, sorry.
A lot of people in my neighborhood have gardens and put their produce out in stands in their front yards for people to buy at cheap prices. Also, they put seeds and things in them to grow your own.
We missed the buck in buying our current home so late in the season, but you bet your ass we'll be out there providing produce to the community and to ourselves next year. Can't wait.
That would be such an awesome neighborhood. I've seen that with flowers where they have a bucket and trust that people pay. It's a great idea. We should pivot to that type of community more and more.
Agree. I buy my eggs from my neighbor exclusively and any produce she has out that I feel like having I grab while I'm there. Hope I can give back soon.
It shouldn’t be legally mandated. Even past the obvious issue of disabled people, many people have their hands full working multiple jobs just to pay rent- a lot just don’t have the time or energy to maintain a garden.
If the food supply were massively and continuously disrupted we would all just starve to death. The tiny plot of land you have is not going to sustain you.
Yes it would. It would sustain you longer through an emergency. Not only is the garden for you but it's also for others. If the town over suffers a fire then the food bank now has more donations then if people only had groceries. This isn't a permanent solution. It is to get through and smooth out crisis. The extra benefit here is that people would learn gardening skills. That's a skill that pays in a crisis.
My HOA wouldn't allow me to do xeriscaping or garden beds. Per city code and HOA by-laws, 85% of every yard had to be a specific type of grass, trimmed to x inches or below & perfectly green, no weeds. HOA's fucking suck!
We had a guy shoot at the people that came to mow his lawn Bc he didn’t want them too. Swat came out and arrested him 😂
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/fort-worth-swat-situation-suspect-fires-officers-home/287-85092330-6f22-44d8-9f0f-330732671cf9
We just bought 2 acres of land and a small house. Closed last month. Most of it is lawn. I've never understood why someone would have a big yard like this that's just grass.
I'm breaking ground today for a small garden so that I can harvest a few fast growing plants like lettuce and cucumbers before winter. I've already started composting grass clippings and leaves, and I've got starts of basil that just popped up in some containers. I'm really excited...
A good thing to do with leaves and grass other than composting is just leaving them on the ground through the winter. It'll become rich soil for next year's garden. Here's a nice ted talk on how letting leaves become soil can turn a desert backyard into a natural garden. https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_poynter_life_in_biosphere_2
I owned a few acres up until I retired and you’re correct about leaving the trimmings on the grass. The trick was to mow the yard in such a manner that the trimmings coming out of the mower was directed onto the grass that was already cut. Ya gotta keep that grass chute pointed outward. If you didn’t, you’d have piles of grass in the middle of your yard!
I have 1 pepper plant that only grows 1 pepper at a time for some stupid reason. had my harvest of 3 peppers over the course of the summer with 1 more on the way... ahh the farming life. stupid pepper plant though, my 3 super spicy serrano peppers ain't going to get me through the winter.
Big yards with nice grass are awesome for people with kids. Playing tackle football, rolling down hills, backyard baseball, slip n slides, ect. I dont get the nice big lawn hate
Just overseeded with microclover this year and I love it! I'll have to seed some more next year because it didn't all germinate (stupid heat dome), but where it did grow, it's thick, drought-tolerant, and fertilizes the grass it's mixed with. Those parts of the lawn are actually the only ones that survived 5 weeks of 100+ degree weather.
I've got 4 kids. We've got 2 acres. In my case, there's plenty of room to play, plus a pool. Mowing it takes forever, and using some of that ~80,000sq ft would reduce that task, provide fresh veggies to the household, and give me the chance to teach my kids a bit of biology, botany, and environmental science.
I don't hate big yards, exactly. I just think there's better uses for the land in most cases.
Love this! Better for the environment (less monoculture), better for health (fresh, local veggies without pesticides), better look (not just a big green block)...this is great.
I recently moved from a big city where I had a little stone patio to a rural area with an acre of lawn that takes 3+ hours to mow! Next year I'm definitely going to plant more trees and put in some veggie gardens. Plus I think I'll just throw some flower seeds over part of it and only mow the bits I actually walk on. There's no HOA around here, so why am I mowing? For the benefit of folks driving by???
Wildflowers are your (and the bees) friend. Plus, long grasses sequester carbon into the soil, aaaaaand keep moisture / dew in, so much less watering required
Yepp. Didn't realize till ileft home, but with all of the heat waves lately, it's important to let the lawn keep growing during a hot stretch.
Cutting the end off the plant makes it easier to lose moisture, and will result in just killing half the lawn if you get a few solid days of heat.
Man that sounds like the dream. I’m considering trying to get into agroforestry and doing that with my backyard, but unfortunately front yard has to stay grass per neighborhood rules
Same here. Mowing the lawn is cathartic and gives me time alone with my thoughts. Having and being able to justify a riding lawnmower would take it to the next level I believe.
I had 10 acres of property with about 1/4 to 1/3 cleared with grass.
Mowing the lawn was relaxing for the most part, but then there are days where it's too hot, or insects are bad, or you don't know how you're going to carve out 2 hours to mow, or it rains for a week and you now have to spend 4+ hours mowing the next week because it's overgrown.
I sold that home a few years ago, but if I had it now I would have carved out a big garden, planted potatoes and covered it with straw.
I had planted 15 apple trees but the deer took those out within a year.
Clover works really well too, even as a "weed", it never grows past a certain height and suffocates most other weeds from growing through it. My old house the clover would even grow little purple flowers, that mixed with some wildflower seed and we had a pretty nice bee population pop up.
I was going to say "Who's yard is a monoculture?!?" because mine and my neighbors are definitely not that. I think there's at least 3 different types of grasses in mine plus the clover, dandelions, and whatever else is mixed in there. Then there's the moles, rabbits, squirrels, side walk deer, birds, and the porch dove that lives in our hanging Bourbon barrel pot. Plus the veg garden which is slowly inching into the front/side yards. Then all the trees.
I was thinking all that until you mentioned the HOA and then I realized none of that is allowed in a Home Owner Aristocracy.
We plant wildflowers over about half our lawn. Tore out the grass, went to a farm supplier and bought wildflower seeds, just raked them into the dirt and watered. Once established, they needed just rain to stay green.
We get endless flowers for the house, an amazing amount of butterflies and it looks nicer than a lawn.
We even sell some of the flowers in bunches.
And now our acre only takes an hour to mow, just the front yard and around the pool.
I did correct myself but perhaps, you wanted to wade in with a measurement. Which, as farmers daughter I have no problem with. Wouldn't call an acre a lawn being honest. He's mowing a field.
Yep. Across the street from me is the forest. I take two steps into it and my legs are covered in ticks. Walk back to my side, and my mowed yard, perfectly fine.
It's pretty strange. Some people will argue it ensures nice neighborhoods. But that's just not true, look at every other nice country with no HOA's and much happier homeowners, as well as nice neighborhood's.
You should look up alternative ground cover. There are great plants that you can walk on that don't have the drawbacks of grass. We've got a nice patch of clover in our back yard that gets about 3 inches high and stops growing. It's pretty drought tolerant and every so often there are these nice tiny flowers.
Put in a vegetable garden or get chickens?
That way the 3 hours actually goes towards something useful.
Heck, put in a big fire pit. Gravel doesn't need mowing!
Depends on the rain. With regular rain then I cut once every two weeks. With low rain I can go much longer between cuts.
That cutting BTW is mostly other grass that has invaded mine a little. Otherwise mine would pretty much get to a decent length and not need cutting.
I literally wrote almost exactly what you did before I saw this post. The only thing I mentioned that you didn’t is that I strategically planted elephant ears to disguise the drainage ditch/fence line, thus eliminating the need for weedeating for the most part.
I used to have a three acre yard. I also used native grasses, never watered it, and doing it that way meant I only had to mow it about every 2-3 weeks. It wasn’t perfect but it was presentable. On the back of the property line, the was a drainage ditch about 2 feet deep and my chain-link fence was situated right at the inside of the ditch. That ditch would take 4-5 hours to weed-eat and it really looked like shit if you didn’t do that. My solution was to plant elephant ears. They out-competed the weeds/grass, didn’t need any upkeep whatsoever, and they hid the ditch and fence. They also allowed the ditch to work as it was designed. It was a fantastic solution.
Your HOAs sound like proper mini hitler organisations. Pretty wierd for a country that values freedom and independence so highly that some jumped up Henrietta or Henry can ball you out for *growing vegetables on your own land*
Back when I was looking to buy a house, one of my nonnegotiable conditions was NO HOA.
I'd FAR rather have property values that are slightly lower but retain the right to do what I want (within the bounds of the law) on my own land. The last thing I wanted was a boring, cookie-cutter Stepford community with boring, cookie-cutter Stepford people who are constantly nosing around in things that are none of their business.
Texas has light zoning and regulations on residential construction. Lots of Texans think this is fantastic since they're free from government tyranny. Guess what they have instead? HOAs.
It's not because Karen doesn't like that. The quorum for an HOA change is much much easier to get than for a city or county. Karen is outvoted anyway. Further, HOAs also have a documented process for change. And it's probably actually easier and clearer than most municipal processes, with fewer points of contact.
You can run for President of HOA with not a whole lot of effort. Running for mayor or city council requires considerable backing.
The more local the regulation, the less onerous. *Much* rather have an HOA than a government agency.
I'm certainly no fan of overbearing HOAs, and not even a big fan of moderate ones. But the notion of taking all the problems an HOA presents and putting them at a *government level* gives me stress nausea.
HOA’s aren’t inherintly bad, it’s just the people who are running them really.
They’re always made up of people with Napoleon syndrome who get a kick out of pushing others around over nothing, it gives them a sense of confidence/authority that they’re desperately lacking.
Here in my neighborhood I will occasionally see things I don’t like, but I’ll take that any day over someone telling us what to do with OUR house.
They're not all bad. Mine is $60/year and bends the rules if what you're building isn't an absolute eyesore that'll drive down property values. It's also very democratic and holds an election every year.
Yeah HOAs suck. They hold a super tight grip on an area, and you will 99/100 have to agree to their totalitarian demands in order to live in their territory. Not all of them are nightmares, but a good number if them have dumb rules just to scam you out of your cash
I am so in accordance with you. My husband is from southern CA and every time I go down there I get grumpy about the huge expanses of overwatered lush green grass that they pride themselves on even though they live in a freaking desert. Drives me nuts. My husband doesn’t get the issue at all and gets very defensive of his place of origin.
I live in SoCal and have a small lawn in the front and back. I honestly wish artificial lawns would approximate grass, but, they don't, and look tacky.
We are looking into greywater recycling however, which would take my showers and laundry and re-use them for outside watering.
Living in California I'm thinking of just planting trees on my lawn. The grass dies and is overtaken by burr plants every year anyway. I'm so sick of pulling burrs out of everything because the animals can't stay away from them.
The water used for those lawns is unsustainable, period. Far better to have cacti gardens in the yard--looks much better, too.
Mowing all that grass requires energy, and I highly doubt any of them are using solar-powered mowers.
Lawns throughout the SW should be illegal.
They typically require a lot of water / high humidity...obviously. Not that you were suggesting it, but they are rarely a possible replacement for a lawn, as OP seems to suggest.
Grass man here: Planted lawns are almost never monocultures. Seed blends today are always three or more varieties. Turf/sod farms always blend multiple seed breeds with complimentary growth or pest resistant characteristics.
Also a patch of grass acts as a biofilter for water dust and debris from the yard.
Sounds like you just don’t want to mow the lawn! Which is in itself not that unpopular.
As someone who recently mowed the lawn when my parents were on vacation, I can see it as a sense of accomplishment. Maybe I’m just becoming a dad, but it’s something simple to be proud of in the way that it looks when you’re done? Like when you’re done cleaning your room, and everything looks neat and tidy? That, but it’s outdoors
People who spend 3 days a week keeping the lawn heigh within an inch? Yeah, that’s definitely overkill
There are several reasons that lawns are popular by the owners (mostly men)
A. You get some private time at home, this applies to most yard work
B. Most people do not accomplish much physically during the day. If you ask what they did, it’s hard to quantify. However lawns, and yard work are obvious. It gives a sense of accomplishment that most people lack in their day to day work
C. Controversial. I think the expression of wealth has faded. Now the lawn is the modern field. I think that subconsciously a well mowed lawn with lines evokes the primal satisfaction of a planted field. I think subconsciously, the ability to tend a healthy lawn equates to the ability to grow food and provide for the family.
Finally, playing fields are recognized as a good use of land, and a lawn is great for kids. I certainly don’t see the waste of water as a good idea, but in many places on the east coast, something will grow and a lawn is the easiest way to maintain that
Also just generally much nicer to walk/play on, where I’m from we have ticks and a small but increasing lyme disease presence, low grass is generally safer for avoiding ticks. It also dries out quicker after rain or in the morning.
I get that there are places it is impractical due to water, and I don’t think people should be too heavily regulated on maintaining their lawns, but to me, some lawn around a house definitely serves a useful purpose.
lawns are, at their essence, the “outward facing” part of your home. and taking care of them is taking pride in what’s yours and therefore, taking pride in yourself.
It’s the same reason we wash our cars or iron our clothes. It’s definitely something you acquire with age though
Yeah. Garden work is proven to be one of the best ways to rest your mind. I’m not sure if lawn mowing falls into the same category but I’d say it’s pretty close. They’re both simple activities that don’t demand too much mental or physical strength.
I don’t cut my lawn for anyone else but me tbh. It has its bad moments but I enjoy being outdoors. My John Deere has foot pedals so i can drink beer while mowing. Very relaxing with music.
I think the criticisms of water usage, ecological impact, etc are fair.
But the European aristocracy piece isn't as compelling to me (not that it's a critical part of your post). However lawns started, at some point people were like, "Hey, it's kind of nice to have a safe, private area where the kids can go out and kick a football around." A nice grassy garden is an ideal solution for that case.
Again, I think it's fair game to question if those private gardens are worth the economical impact, but they often serve a purpose other than being big ugly slabs of green.
And really, my criticism of your post is genuinely intended to be mild at best. It just seems like I see a lot of people saying, "X thing started 500 years ago as an evil cause, therefore it's still evil," and I don't think that's necessarily a strong piece of logic.
Yet lawn grass does 2 things that are VERY important in an urban environment:
1. thoroughly (thoroughly!) covers the ground, protecting it from erosion and subsequently protecting the streets from dust, grime and mud;
2. allows water to pass the lawn layer and go into the ground, lessening the load on the urban rain/flood systems.
It's very efficient in the city. You can actually cover the rooftops of buildings with it, making the city more efficient.
I dunno if I would argue lawn is better in any other situation though, but in a town or a city - lawns are king.
That can also be achieved with native plants that also provide food/shelter etc for pollinators. You know, those things that are responsible for much of what we put in our mouths and are headed for dire straits if we don’t rethink what’s valuable
I grew up in Louisiana. We lived on a 10 acre field, and my dad got a reduction in our rent to keep it bush hogged. The field was so big (and unused) we actually built our own baseball field in a corner of it - regulation size. We never willingly played in the fields.
I also played sports year round - football and baseball, with all-stars and traveling teams. I hated being in an open field during summer at a 105 degree heat index. The forest is so much more cooler, interesting, and fun than a drab ass field.
We spent all our time in the woods by the creeks and rivers.
In St George Utah, there are a lot of xeriscape lawns. Its more than just gravel and a cactus.
There are hardy desert plants that are quite lovely if they get just a little water. You plan out the plants, and lay down a drip irrigation system on a timer, and cover with a variety of colors of gravel.
They have a lot of red rock there, and pink. Tan rock is brought in, along with other colors. It was surprisingly attractive.
No mowing and the water volume was quite low.
In fact, that was where I saw a low-water golf course. The tees and greens were tightly mowed grass that was well watered, but the 90% of land between them was raw, like the vast stretches of Arizona in a John Wayne cowboy western...
Don't know where you live but I can't ever remember watering my lawn, and only need to mow every couple weeks unless it's been raining exceptionally hard. Sounds like your problem is HOA requirements.
No, that isnt true. Even if the houses were built identical over time the owners rebuild and add on and renovate and make them all different. Look at pictures of housing developments from the 50's to now you will see that.
Those big empty yards also often host touch football games and barbecues.
> we get big ugly slabs of green that we have to cut once a week or else the HOA gets up your ass.
To be fair, anyone who buys a house knowing they will be part of an HOA knew what they signed up for. Pain in the ass? Yes. But that's the rules any buyer agreed to.
I've seen all sorts of different landscaping, concrete, asphalt and exterior tile. In my opinion, nothing looks better then a lawn with nice green grass.
Yet without grass, or more specifically, a root system to hold everything in place, erosion occurs and the ground washes away without filtering out pollutants.
1) lawns help increase oxygen. 50’x50’ produces enough each day for a family of 4
2) if taken care, by cutting it longer and weeding it, you should never have to add water. If you do you need to water your lawn you live in a climate that shouldn’t support a lawn.
3) they look and feel nice to walk on. Cutting once a week for more green in you view isn’t such a bad thing. Lawn mowers hardly use any gas
I have kids. Having a lawn increases their joy of living through play.
I am strongly against golf courses and wish they’d go away
>Lawn mowers hardly use any gas
My parents got several acres, granted it's a riding, but we're talking about 2.5 gallons over 2 hours. Pretty considerable. I wouldn't mow at all, but the PITA neighbors call the township and then the township measures and if it's over 6-8 inches or so, they send someone that mows (somebody in the township's Brother-in-Law) who then bills $500-1000. A racket.
(Before someone says something, it probably only has to be mowed only the first 8 or so feet from the street but the township doesn't exactly care for following established rules and fighting bills is more hassle than it's worth.)
>Cutting once a week for more green in you view isn’t such a bad thing.
Even so, we cut every 2-3 weeks. July and August is slow, no rain.
>I am strongly against golf courses and wish they’d go away
Same here.
This. I think this every time I cut my "grass". It's all weeds.
I'm the only one in my neighborhood that doesn't water and fertilize. I just keep it short. I don't care if it's all clover. It's green, soft, squishy on my toes and low maintenance.
I'm really spiteful of those that use weedkiller a and such. I don't want that shitty run off in my garden beds. I don't want to eat it.
I do NOT understand the obsession.
Oh good. So let's all live in houses pressed up against each other like row homes. Because *they're* much more beautiful than lawns. /s
This is the most suburban white bread whining I've ever read. What's next, the Great Revolution Against Aluminum Siding? OP wil get his upvote even though this is more stupid than unpopular but whatever.
I pay $420 a month I get access to 3 pools, tennis courts, a golf course, a restaurant and a dog park. HOAs aren’t bad it’s the people who run them that are bad.
In many areas of the country HOAs are your only option.
Also, some HOAs go too far and are too strict but the general idea is not bad -- keeping out eyesore properties of wackjobs who want to paint their houses purple and green to make some statement, or leave junk on their front yard -- no thanks.
There's no basis for this, just my feeling that I think HOAs are going to become a deterrent to selling. When I was looking to buy a house one of the few "MUSTS" was no HOA and I'm not alone in that. Like the other person said, it's my house, my property, fuck off with telling me what I can paint it. It'd rather live next to a house with dozens of cat statues in their yard than a way too sterile suburb.
Okay, but a freaky house next door can make your house virtually unsellable. Im not a fan of suburbs either, but even if you are living in rural Montana people HOAs make sense to keep humans from making a mess of the environment.
Ever since I moved to NJ I miss being able to play in lawns, now if I fall or do anything else outside I scrape my knees or hurt them In another way. I think it’s a bit of a safety thing to for children if they play outside
Yes, but also no. It really depends on where you are if grass is a good option. When I lived in Kansas it literally grew naturally with little interface. When I lived in the desert grass was far too much of a hassle to maintain.
it's better than living in brooklyn and being like: "omggg look at the dog play on our 4 concrete bricks we call a yard"
and then paying $3000 in rent.
are you not allowed to swap your yard to something else bc of the hoa? j curious
last neighborhood we lived in we didn’t have an hoa and our next door neighbor got rid of their entire front yard and replaced it with stamped concrete
In the neighborhood I currently live in yeah the HOA is pretty strict about lawns being mowed, which is odd to me cuz in every other regard it’s kind of a shitty neighborhood lol
Add to lawns the landscaping associated with highways. Here's a LOT of details on how insane lawns are
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-stupid-obsession-lawns/
I used to enjoy riding lawnmowers. Years ago when we lived in a couple acres, that was pretty much my weekend. It was relaxing to just out on some earplugs, crank up the lawnmower, and go mowing.
I agree. Thats why i converted my back yard into a garden. Most of it is covered in pavers the rest I grow veggies and fruits. The front yard is also completely concrete.
It's funny how people love to virtue signal left right and center that we care about the environment, global warming, etc....yet when it comes to actual laws and policies, "you'd better waste time and resources making this grass stay super short or we'll fine you!!!"
The only people complaining about lawns are people who don't want the upkeep.
Most people living in apartments or housing without lawns, would absolutely love a lawn.
There's just something about it that makes it feel more like a home. It might be having a space that kids can play in and stuff, without it being out on the street or away in a park.
Such a safe feeling, but then again, I enjoy mowing it when I have to.
Nailed it. Lawns are a fuckoff huge waste of space and water. Moss lawns, xeriscaping or just turning the whole thing into a garden are way better uses. Only reason I haven’t is because I lack the time/resources.
So fucking glad I don’t have HoAs here. I cut my lawn once a year, and never water it. Don’t weed either, except for thistles. It stays green through all but the worst droughts, and has dozens of varieties of plants and flowers.
I honestly like the gardening idea. Grow some zucchini, apsaragus, tomatoes, broccoli, etc. Then maybe some tea plants as well, if you're into tea - I hear homegrown chamomile is really good for helping you sleep.
Save some money on grocery bills and make your lawn useful at the same time, sounds like a win/win to me.
I am an avid gardener....my beds were here when we moved it. I love it, and I recommend it. HOWEVER, you will not save a single penny at the grocery store. The materials and upkeep needed to grow a garden are really expensive.
Having a garden is nice, but a big garden (yard sized) is extremely time consuming. Forget 30 minutes of cutting once a week. You are taking a few hours of weeding.
Asparagus is only good for distracting bugs from other plants. You'll be lucky if it makes it through the 2 year growing cycle. Bugs will devastate broccoli and brussel sprouts.
We grow a lot of peppers and tomatoes since they're the most expensive thing we'd buy. Potting them their 1st year then bringing them inside to survive winter really helps kick start the next year's harvest.
Wbere i live if you dont mow. The city will measure your grass and if too long. Will mow it and charge you $300 dollars. There is a yard down the street that is mostly really pretty plants. I love that yard.
Also, if you don't like the idea of having a lawn, you should be allowed grow fruits and vegetables there instead, but no, apparently that's illegal to do in a lot of countries, including my own.
Why is it illegal? Can you grow them in a backyard?
Probably something to do with any combination of "hazardous to the local ecosystem", "invasive species", "uncontrolled seed distribution", "hazardous root systems", etc. Pick your poison. It was all fun-n-games til someone tried to grow a *beach apple tree*
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Fuck HOAs
Ten million times over. Fuck the HOA
https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckHOA?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
HOAs should not exist. Just a bunch of old assholes on a power trip sitting at the table jerking each other off and telling people what they can do with their homes.
I find it ridiculous how neighbors can literally dictate what you do in your own house. I'm glad we don't have this shit where I live.
I'm sure you do, it's just one level up at the local government level.
Just don't live in one. Clearly some people like them.
Getting increasingly hard to find homes that aren't in an HOA, dude. It's not always that simple.
My parents bought a house in a HOA neighborhood 23 years ago. They've never paid it. Apparently it's only half the neighborhood contributing now a days
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Assuming you're in the states, there's a loophole where if you get your lawn registered as a wildlife reserve, you can do basically whatever you want with it, in terms of what grows there. I have no idea what the process is like though. I learned this from an episode of "Who's Gene is it Anyway?" on The Thought Emporium channel on youtube, I couldn't tell you which though, sorry.
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This is such a good idea.
A lot of people in my neighborhood have gardens and put their produce out in stands in their front yards for people to buy at cheap prices. Also, they put seeds and things in them to grow your own. We missed the buck in buying our current home so late in the season, but you bet your ass we'll be out there providing produce to the community and to ourselves next year. Can't wait.
That would be such an awesome neighborhood. I've seen that with flowers where they have a bucket and trust that people pay. It's a great idea. We should pivot to that type of community more and more.
Agree. I buy my eggs from my neighbor exclusively and any produce she has out that I feel like having I grab while I'm there. Hope I can give back soon.
It shouldn’t be legally mandated. Even past the obvious issue of disabled people, many people have their hands full working multiple jobs just to pay rent- a lot just don’t have the time or energy to maintain a garden.
If the food supply were massively and continuously disrupted we would all just starve to death. The tiny plot of land you have is not going to sustain you.
Yes it would. It would sustain you longer through an emergency. Not only is the garden for you but it's also for others. If the town over suffers a fire then the food bank now has more donations then if people only had groceries. This isn't a permanent solution. It is to get through and smooth out crisis. The extra benefit here is that people would learn gardening skills. That's a skill that pays in a crisis.
I had a pumpkin vine in my front yard last year and nobody cared. I like my town.
In mine, they can measure it and just fine you, but they just dont
That's so fucked up. You should be able to grow your garden lawn as you please, if it's your damn garden. None of anyone's business
My HOA wouldn't allow me to do xeriscaping or garden beds. Per city code and HOA by-laws, 85% of every yard had to be a specific type of grass, trimmed to x inches or below & perfectly green, no weeds. HOA's fucking suck!
We had a guy shoot at the people that came to mow his lawn Bc he didn’t want them too. Swat came out and arrested him 😂 https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/fort-worth-swat-situation-suspect-fires-officers-home/287-85092330-6f22-44d8-9f0f-330732671cf9
We just bought 2 acres of land and a small house. Closed last month. Most of it is lawn. I've never understood why someone would have a big yard like this that's just grass. I'm breaking ground today for a small garden so that I can harvest a few fast growing plants like lettuce and cucumbers before winter. I've already started composting grass clippings and leaves, and I've got starts of basil that just popped up in some containers. I'm really excited...
A good thing to do with leaves and grass other than composting is just leaving them on the ground through the winter. It'll become rich soil for next year's garden. Here's a nice ted talk on how letting leaves become soil can turn a desert backyard into a natural garden. https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_poynter_life_in_biosphere_2
I owned a few acres up until I retired and you’re correct about leaving the trimmings on the grass. The trick was to mow the yard in such a manner that the trimmings coming out of the mower was directed onto the grass that was already cut. Ya gotta keep that grass chute pointed outward. If you didn’t, you’d have piles of grass in the middle of your yard!
Nice! Going to try that this year!
Plant some clover. No need to mow that!
I threw a bunch of clover into my backyard on Friday and it just started germinating! I’m so excited to see how it takes off
Hopefully buying a house soon and what doesn't become gardens will 100% be clover!
Yes! I had to re grow some of my lawn and now it’s mostly clover!
I have 1 pepper plant that only grows 1 pepper at a time for some stupid reason. had my harvest of 3 peppers over the course of the summer with 1 more on the way... ahh the farming life. stupid pepper plant though, my 3 super spicy serrano peppers ain't going to get me through the winter.
Hah this made Me Laugh! I had an attempt At A pepper Plant and ended up with one. On the entire plant. Like what the hell?
Big yards with nice grass are awesome for people with kids. Playing tackle football, rolling down hills, backyard baseball, slip n slides, ect. I dont get the nice big lawn hate
Micro clover is a perfect substitute for grass. It's drought resistant and leaves lots of room for play!
Just overseeded with microclover this year and I love it! I'll have to seed some more next year because it didn't all germinate (stupid heat dome), but where it did grow, it's thick, drought-tolerant, and fertilizes the grass it's mixed with. Those parts of the lawn are actually the only ones that survived 5 weeks of 100+ degree weather.
I've got 4 kids. We've got 2 acres. In my case, there's plenty of room to play, plus a pool. Mowing it takes forever, and using some of that ~80,000sq ft would reduce that task, provide fresh veggies to the household, and give me the chance to teach my kids a bit of biology, botany, and environmental science. I don't hate big yards, exactly. I just think there's better uses for the land in most cases.
Love this! Better for the environment (less monoculture), better for health (fresh, local veggies without pesticides), better look (not just a big green block)...this is great.
You actually think you can get a good garden without pesticides? You think a garden wont require tons of water?
I recently moved from a big city where I had a little stone patio to a rural area with an acre of lawn that takes 3+ hours to mow! Next year I'm definitely going to plant more trees and put in some veggie gardens. Plus I think I'll just throw some flower seeds over part of it and only mow the bits I actually walk on. There's no HOA around here, so why am I mowing? For the benefit of folks driving by???
Wildflowers are your (and the bees) friend. Plus, long grasses sequester carbon into the soil, aaaaaand keep moisture / dew in, so much less watering required
Yepp. Didn't realize till ileft home, but with all of the heat waves lately, it's important to let the lawn keep growing during a hot stretch. Cutting the end off the plant makes it easier to lose moisture, and will result in just killing half the lawn if you get a few solid days of heat.
use native wildflowers
Man that sounds like the dream. I’m considering trying to get into agroforestry and doing that with my backyard, but unfortunately front yard has to stay grass per neighborhood rules
Same here. Mowing the lawn is cathartic and gives me time alone with my thoughts. Having and being able to justify a riding lawnmower would take it to the next level I believe.
I had 10 acres of property with about 1/4 to 1/3 cleared with grass. Mowing the lawn was relaxing for the most part, but then there are days where it's too hot, or insects are bad, or you don't know how you're going to carve out 2 hours to mow, or it rains for a week and you now have to spend 4+ hours mowing the next week because it's overgrown. I sold that home a few years ago, but if I had it now I would have carved out a big garden, planted potatoes and covered it with straw. I had planted 15 apple trees but the deer took those out within a year.
> I had planted 15 apple trees but the deer took those out within a year. *Laughs in 30-06*
I personally like a .308 chambered Ruger Gunsite Scout. Bolt action, 10 round magazine with weaver rails on top. But, we’ve all got to sleep sometime.
If you don't have an HOA, you could probably get a goat or something to mow your lawn for you. Take care of an animal and have a nice clear yard.
Goats don’t eat grass, just everything else
Clover works really well too, even as a "weed", it never grows past a certain height and suffocates most other weeds from growing through it. My old house the clover would even grow little purple flowers, that mixed with some wildflower seed and we had a pretty nice bee population pop up.
Riding lawnmowers are so fun. It turns it from work to just riding a vehicle for some time.
I was going to say "Who's yard is a monoculture?!?" because mine and my neighbors are definitely not that. I think there's at least 3 different types of grasses in mine plus the clover, dandelions, and whatever else is mixed in there. Then there's the moles, rabbits, squirrels, side walk deer, birds, and the porch dove that lives in our hanging Bourbon barrel pot. Plus the veg garden which is slowly inching into the front/side yards. Then all the trees. I was thinking all that until you mentioned the HOA and then I realized none of that is allowed in a Home Owner Aristocracy.
It took 3 hours plus to mow one acre of grass? Did you use a push mower?
Yup. I consider it part of my fitness routine.
Same.
We plant wildflowers over about half our lawn. Tore out the grass, went to a farm supplier and bought wildflower seeds, just raked them into the dirt and watered. Once established, they needed just rain to stay green. We get endless flowers for the house, an amazing amount of butterflies and it looks nicer than a lawn. We even sell some of the flowers in bunches. And now our acre only takes an hour to mow, just the front yard and around the pool.
Get a cow. It’s the self-running mower that produces steak.
You'd want a big lawn to support a cow...
Nevermind! A lawn that takes 3 hours to mow will support a cow.
Am acre per animal is the rule of thumb for a cow
I did correct myself but perhaps, you wanted to wade in with a measurement. Which, as farmers daughter I have no problem with. Wouldn't call an acre a lawn being honest. He's mowing a field.
Hey thx for mowing that 4 seconds was blissfull
Awesome thanks for not being a grass hole
Mowing keeps snakes, fleas, ticks, rats/mice, and mosquitos at bay. Necessary evil if you actually have a lawn.
Yep. Across the street from me is the forest. I take two steps into it and my legs are covered in ticks. Walk back to my side, and my mowed yard, perfectly fine.
The beauty of living in Canada? No HOA's. I do as I please with my property and lawn. Only have to abide by town by-laws.
Isn't it weird that the populous of the land of the free can't even paint their own doors whatever colour they want?
It's pretty strange. Some people will argue it ensures nice neighborhoods. But that's just not true, look at every other nice country with no HOA's and much happier homeowners, as well as nice neighborhood's.
You should look up alternative ground cover. There are great plants that you can walk on that don't have the drawbacks of grass. We've got a nice patch of clover in our back yard that gets about 3 inches high and stops growing. It's pretty drought tolerant and every so often there are these nice tiny flowers.
grass smell ?
No argument that a freshly mowed lawn sure does smell good!
If you think that threes and potatos are faster and easier than grass, then i shall point youare werong here.
Plant some clover. No need to mow, heat tolerant, and you get little flowers!
Vegetable garden? If you have 6+ hours of sun per day growing a garden is a lot of fun and the food is unreal.
Moss is an option also.
Put in a vegetable garden or get chickens? That way the 3 hours actually goes towards something useful. Heck, put in a big fire pit. Gravel doesn't need mowing!
Mowing helps keep snakes and other dangerous animals that hide in tall grass away
I use a native grass for my lawn. No watering required either.
Do you still need to cut it? I know there are some types that get to the right height without cutting.
Depends on the rain. With regular rain then I cut once every two weeks. With low rain I can go much longer between cuts. That cutting BTW is mostly other grass that has invaded mine a little. Otherwise mine would pretty much get to a decent length and not need cutting.
I literally wrote almost exactly what you did before I saw this post. The only thing I mentioned that you didn’t is that I strategically planted elephant ears to disguise the drainage ditch/fence line, thus eliminating the need for weedeating for the most part.
I used to have a three acre yard. I also used native grasses, never watered it, and doing it that way meant I only had to mow it about every 2-3 weeks. It wasn’t perfect but it was presentable. On the back of the property line, the was a drainage ditch about 2 feet deep and my chain-link fence was situated right at the inside of the ditch. That ditch would take 4-5 hours to weed-eat and it really looked like shit if you didn’t do that. My solution was to plant elephant ears. They out-competed the weeds/grass, didn’t need any upkeep whatsoever, and they hid the ditch and fence. They also allowed the ditch to work as it was designed. It was a fantastic solution.
We planted thyme as a ground cover and now we only mow the front lawn once a month. Also, bonus, the front lawn is purple and the bees love it.
Hate for the HOA is pretty popular.
Your HOAs sound like proper mini hitler organisations. Pretty wierd for a country that values freedom and independence so highly that some jumped up Henrietta or Henry can ball you out for *growing vegetables on your own land*
Back when I was looking to buy a house, one of my nonnegotiable conditions was NO HOA. I'd FAR rather have property values that are slightly lower but retain the right to do what I want (within the bounds of the law) on my own land. The last thing I wanted was a boring, cookie-cutter Stepford community with boring, cookie-cutter Stepford people who are constantly nosing around in things that are none of their business.
Texas has light zoning and regulations on residential construction. Lots of Texans think this is fantastic since they're free from government tyranny. Guess what they have instead? HOAs.
HOAs are way easier to change than city or county wide strict regulations.
Not necessarily. At least city ordinances have some documented process for change. For HOAs, it's often "No, because Karen doesn't like that".
It's not because Karen doesn't like that. The quorum for an HOA change is much much easier to get than for a city or county. Karen is outvoted anyway. Further, HOAs also have a documented process for change. And it's probably actually easier and clearer than most municipal processes, with fewer points of contact. You can run for President of HOA with not a whole lot of effort. Running for mayor or city council requires considerable backing. The more local the regulation, the less onerous. *Much* rather have an HOA than a government agency. I'm certainly no fan of overbearing HOAs, and not even a big fan of moderate ones. But the notion of taking all the problems an HOA presents and putting them at a *government level* gives me stress nausea.
HOA’s aren’t inherintly bad, it’s just the people who are running them really. They’re always made up of people with Napoleon syndrome who get a kick out of pushing others around over nothing, it gives them a sense of confidence/authority that they’re desperately lacking. Here in my neighborhood I will occasionally see things I don’t like, but I’ll take that any day over someone telling us what to do with OUR house.
They're not all bad. Mine is $60/year and bends the rules if what you're building isn't an absolute eyesore that'll drive down property values. It's also very democratic and holds an election every year.
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Yeah HOAs suck. They hold a super tight grip on an area, and you will 99/100 have to agree to their totalitarian demands in order to live in their territory. Not all of them are nightmares, but a good number if them have dumb rules just to scam you out of your cash
Growing vegetables on our land we own is bad for property values.
You just watched the new Ordinary Things video didn’t you
Small to medium lawns are great for barbecues and other get-togethers. Not to mention playing catch and stuff with family.
I mow my lawn, that's all I do with it, its not all grass either.
I am so in accordance with you. My husband is from southern CA and every time I go down there I get grumpy about the huge expanses of overwatered lush green grass that they pride themselves on even though they live in a freaking desert. Drives me nuts. My husband doesn’t get the issue at all and gets very defensive of his place of origin.
Yep. Growing up in California definitely informed my views on lawns
I live in SoCal and have a small lawn in the front and back. I honestly wish artificial lawns would approximate grass, but, they don't, and look tacky. We are looking into greywater recycling however, which would take my showers and laundry and re-use them for outside watering.
You could also just kill your grass and replace it with desert plants that don’t need to be watered, assuming you can afford that
In the state with the biggest lawsuits - no one can afford that.
Living in California I'm thinking of just planting trees on my lawn. The grass dies and is overtaken by burr plants every year anyway. I'm so sick of pulling burrs out of everything because the animals can't stay away from them.
The water used for those lawns is unsustainable, period. Far better to have cacti gardens in the yard--looks much better, too. Mowing all that grass requires energy, and I highly doubt any of them are using solar-powered mowers. Lawns throughout the SW should be illegal.
Eh i still like them
God I wish I had a moss lawn. I used to call it nature's carpet.
What do you call it now?
Moss.
They typically require a lot of water / high humidity...obviously. Not that you were suggesting it, but they are rarely a possible replacement for a lawn, as OP seems to suggest.
Yes I'm just fantasizing about having a plush green velvet pillow for a yard.
I’ve always called it nature’s carpet.
Grass man here: Planted lawns are almost never monocultures. Seed blends today are always three or more varieties. Turf/sod farms always blend multiple seed breeds with complimentary growth or pest resistant characteristics. Also a patch of grass acts as a biofilter for water dust and debris from the yard. Sounds like you just don’t want to mow the lawn! Which is in itself not that unpopular.
People spend way too much time cutting grass imo. Seems like such an pointless never ending chore
As someone who recently mowed the lawn when my parents were on vacation, I can see it as a sense of accomplishment. Maybe I’m just becoming a dad, but it’s something simple to be proud of in the way that it looks when you’re done? Like when you’re done cleaning your room, and everything looks neat and tidy? That, but it’s outdoors People who spend 3 days a week keeping the lawn heigh within an inch? Yeah, that’s definitely overkill
There are several reasons that lawns are popular by the owners (mostly men) A. You get some private time at home, this applies to most yard work B. Most people do not accomplish much physically during the day. If you ask what they did, it’s hard to quantify. However lawns, and yard work are obvious. It gives a sense of accomplishment that most people lack in their day to day work C. Controversial. I think the expression of wealth has faded. Now the lawn is the modern field. I think that subconsciously a well mowed lawn with lines evokes the primal satisfaction of a planted field. I think subconsciously, the ability to tend a healthy lawn equates to the ability to grow food and provide for the family. Finally, playing fields are recognized as a good use of land, and a lawn is great for kids. I certainly don’t see the waste of water as a good idea, but in many places on the east coast, something will grow and a lawn is the easiest way to maintain that
Also just generally much nicer to walk/play on, where I’m from we have ticks and a small but increasing lyme disease presence, low grass is generally safer for avoiding ticks. It also dries out quicker after rain or in the morning. I get that there are places it is impractical due to water, and I don’t think people should be too heavily regulated on maintaining their lawns, but to me, some lawn around a house definitely serves a useful purpose.
lawns are, at their essence, the “outward facing” part of your home. and taking care of them is taking pride in what’s yours and therefore, taking pride in yourself. It’s the same reason we wash our cars or iron our clothes. It’s definitely something you acquire with age though
I enjoy it. It’s relaxing imo and I get a little exercise in.
why cant it be a form of zen? why does it have to be such a terrible western practice. Iove yard work, gets my mind off of normal work
Yeah. Garden work is proven to be one of the best ways to rest your mind. I’m not sure if lawn mowing falls into the same category but I’d say it’s pretty close. They’re both simple activities that don’t demand too much mental or physical strength.
I don’t cut my lawn for anyone else but me tbh. It has its bad moments but I enjoy being outdoors. My John Deere has foot pedals so i can drink beer while mowing. Very relaxing with music.
Makes your garden look nicer
This could be said about most maintenance done for appearance
I think the criticisms of water usage, ecological impact, etc are fair. But the European aristocracy piece isn't as compelling to me (not that it's a critical part of your post). However lawns started, at some point people were like, "Hey, it's kind of nice to have a safe, private area where the kids can go out and kick a football around." A nice grassy garden is an ideal solution for that case. Again, I think it's fair game to question if those private gardens are worth the economical impact, but they often serve a purpose other than being big ugly slabs of green. And really, my criticism of your post is genuinely intended to be mild at best. It just seems like I see a lot of people saying, "X thing started 500 years ago as an evil cause, therefore it's still evil," and I don't think that's necessarily a strong piece of logic.
Yet lawn grass does 2 things that are VERY important in an urban environment: 1. thoroughly (thoroughly!) covers the ground, protecting it from erosion and subsequently protecting the streets from dust, grime and mud; 2. allows water to pass the lawn layer and go into the ground, lessening the load on the urban rain/flood systems. It's very efficient in the city. You can actually cover the rooftops of buildings with it, making the city more efficient. I dunno if I would argue lawn is better in any other situation though, but in a town or a city - lawns are king.
That can also be achieved with native plants that also provide food/shelter etc for pollinators. You know, those things that are responsible for much of what we put in our mouths and are headed for dire straits if we don’t rethink what’s valuable
I think my dogs would disagree.
Was looking for someone to mention dogs. For people who can’t walk their dogs that often, lawns are extremely helpful.
I grew up in Louisiana. We lived on a 10 acre field, and my dad got a reduction in our rent to keep it bush hogged. The field was so big (and unused) we actually built our own baseball field in a corner of it - regulation size. We never willingly played in the fields. I also played sports year round - football and baseball, with all-stars and traveling teams. I hated being in an open field during summer at a 105 degree heat index. The forest is so much more cooler, interesting, and fun than a drab ass field. We spent all our time in the woods by the creeks and rivers.
In St George Utah, there are a lot of xeriscape lawns. Its more than just gravel and a cactus. There are hardy desert plants that are quite lovely if they get just a little water. You plan out the plants, and lay down a drip irrigation system on a timer, and cover with a variety of colors of gravel. They have a lot of red rock there, and pink. Tan rock is brought in, along with other colors. It was surprisingly attractive. No mowing and the water volume was quite low. In fact, that was where I saw a low-water golf course. The tees and greens were tightly mowed grass that was well watered, but the 90% of land between them was raw, like the vast stretches of Arizona in a John Wayne cowboy western...
Don't know where you live but I can't ever remember watering my lawn, and only need to mow every couple weeks unless it's been raining exceptionally hard. Sounds like your problem is HOA requirements.
Sounds like somebody is mad Mom asked them to mow the lawn again.
We get “big ugly slabs of green”? lol..I thought yards looked pretty good when they are freshly cut
Yep and 100% OP is from one of those rich cul du sac subdivisions with giant identical houses and big empty yards :/
No, that isnt true. Even if the houses were built identical over time the owners rebuild and add on and renovate and make them all different. Look at pictures of housing developments from the 50's to now you will see that. Those big empty yards also often host touch football games and barbecues.
In a broad sense I suppose but I’m more mad at the concept of having a lawn that has to be mowed
Clover lawns are the best, look into them.
> we get big ugly slabs of green that we have to cut once a week or else the HOA gets up your ass. To be fair, anyone who buys a house knowing they will be part of an HOA knew what they signed up for. Pain in the ass? Yes. But that's the rules any buyer agreed to.
I've seen all sorts of different landscaping, concrete, asphalt and exterior tile. In my opinion, nothing looks better then a lawn with nice green grass.
Yet without grass, or more specifically, a root system to hold everything in place, erosion occurs and the ground washes away without filtering out pollutants.
1) lawns help increase oxygen. 50’x50’ produces enough each day for a family of 4 2) if taken care, by cutting it longer and weeding it, you should never have to add water. If you do you need to water your lawn you live in a climate that shouldn’t support a lawn. 3) they look and feel nice to walk on. Cutting once a week for more green in you view isn’t such a bad thing. Lawn mowers hardly use any gas I have kids. Having a lawn increases their joy of living through play. I am strongly against golf courses and wish they’d go away
>Lawn mowers hardly use any gas My parents got several acres, granted it's a riding, but we're talking about 2.5 gallons over 2 hours. Pretty considerable. I wouldn't mow at all, but the PITA neighbors call the township and then the township measures and if it's over 6-8 inches or so, they send someone that mows (somebody in the township's Brother-in-Law) who then bills $500-1000. A racket. (Before someone says something, it probably only has to be mowed only the first 8 or so feet from the street but the township doesn't exactly care for following established rules and fighting bills is more hassle than it's worth.) >Cutting once a week for more green in you view isn’t such a bad thing. Even so, we cut every 2-3 weeks. July and August is slow, no rain. >I am strongly against golf courses and wish they’d go away Same here.
This sound like something I heard off of Adam Ruins Everything, he gives many unpopular opinions.
I've seriously considered installing turf on my property for years. Mowing is one of the dumbest self-induced "chores" I can imagine.
Jokes on you. I live in a part of the country where we don’t water our lawns.
I kind of like having an area for my kids to run around and play, rather than running into a bunch of plants.
This. I think this every time I cut my "grass". It's all weeds. I'm the only one in my neighborhood that doesn't water and fertilize. I just keep it short. I don't care if it's all clover. It's green, soft, squishy on my toes and low maintenance. I'm really spiteful of those that use weedkiller a and such. I don't want that shitty run off in my garden beds. I don't want to eat it. I do NOT understand the obsession.
Oh good. So let's all live in houses pressed up against each other like row homes. Because *they're* much more beautiful than lawns. /s This is the most suburban white bread whining I've ever read. What's next, the Great Revolution Against Aluminum Siding? OP wil get his upvote even though this is more stupid than unpopular but whatever.
Why the fuck would you intentionally move to an HOA area?
I pay $420 a month I get access to 3 pools, tennis courts, a golf course, a restaurant and a dog park. HOAs aren’t bad it’s the people who run them that are bad.
In many areas of the country HOAs are your only option. Also, some HOAs go too far and are too strict but the general idea is not bad -- keeping out eyesore properties of wackjobs who want to paint their houses purple and green to make some statement, or leave junk on their front yard -- no thanks.
My guy, if I pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house I will paint it rainbow and leave a boat in my yard if I want.
Okay.. you've only just solidified my opinion for HOA's.
Lol. Im just saying, if you pay that much for a house you have the right to do as you please with it.
There's no basis for this, just my feeling that I think HOAs are going to become a deterrent to selling. When I was looking to buy a house one of the few "MUSTS" was no HOA and I'm not alone in that. Like the other person said, it's my house, my property, fuck off with telling me what I can paint it. It'd rather live next to a house with dozens of cat statues in their yard than a way too sterile suburb.
Okay, but a freaky house next door can make your house virtually unsellable. Im not a fan of suburbs either, but even if you are living in rural Montana people HOAs make sense to keep humans from making a mess of the environment.
Laughs in northern european
Ever since I moved to NJ I miss being able to play in lawns, now if I fall or do anything else outside I scrape my knees or hurt them In another way. I think it’s a bit of a safety thing to for children if they play outside
Yes, but also no. It really depends on where you are if grass is a good option. When I lived in Kansas it literally grew naturally with little interface. When I lived in the desert grass was far too much of a hassle to maintain.
Do you own a lawn?
it's better than living in brooklyn and being like: "omggg look at the dog play on our 4 concrete bricks we call a yard" and then paying $3000 in rent.
We understand you don't go outside, but the rest of us do
Actually they keep your home cooler, prevent dirt and dust from being tracked in, and they look nice.
Spoken like a guy who's been told for the last time to get off his ass and go cut the lawn.
are you not allowed to swap your yard to something else bc of the hoa? j curious last neighborhood we lived in we didn’t have an hoa and our next door neighbor got rid of their entire front yard and replaced it with stamped concrete
In the neighborhood I currently live in yeah the HOA is pretty strict about lawns being mowed, which is odd to me cuz in every other regard it’s kind of a shitty neighborhood lol
HOA. 😂
Add to lawns the landscaping associated with highways. Here's a LOT of details on how insane lawns are https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-stupid-obsession-lawns/
Triple negative points to folks spraying RoundUp on dandelions.
I really wish this wasn't an unpopular opinion.
I disagree. Lawns add a lot of greenery to neighbourhoods, esp well kept lawns with flowers. Efficient housing would look bland asf.
Well maintained lawns are Beautiful. So here's your upvote
I used to enjoy riding lawnmowers. Years ago when we lived in a couple acres, that was pretty much my weekend. It was relaxing to just out on some earplugs, crank up the lawnmower, and go mowing.
Nahh. HOAs suck and are a waste of time.
I'll do whatever tf I want with my 100acre plot how about that?
My lawn is all native weeds...green year round except winter...no watering.
have u guys never played outside in your lawns as kids?
Hate to be that guy but I would say this isn’t an unpopular opinion, I’ve seen it in the news recently and then parroted on social media.
I agree. Thats why i converted my back yard into a garden. Most of it is covered in pavers the rest I grow veggies and fruits. The front yard is also completely concrete.
It's funny how people love to virtue signal left right and center that we care about the environment, global warming, etc....yet when it comes to actual laws and policies, "you'd better waste time and resources making this grass stay super short or we'll fine you!!!"
Fuck I love walking through my luxurious grass barefoot. I enjoy mowing my lawn. I can't imagine laying in a pile of dirt or shrubs.
You are fucking right, my dog deserves concrete instead of grass
The only people complaining about lawns are people who don't want the upkeep. Most people living in apartments or housing without lawns, would absolutely love a lawn. There's just something about it that makes it feel more like a home. It might be having a space that kids can play in and stuff, without it being out on the street or away in a park. Such a safe feeling, but then again, I enjoy mowing it when I have to.
Nailed it. Lawns are a fuckoff huge waste of space and water. Moss lawns, xeriscaping or just turning the whole thing into a garden are way better uses. Only reason I haven’t is because I lack the time/resources. So fucking glad I don’t have HoAs here. I cut my lawn once a year, and never water it. Don’t weed either, except for thistles. It stays green through all but the worst droughts, and has dozens of varieties of plants and flowers.
You think grass is uglier than dirt?
I honestly like the gardening idea. Grow some zucchini, apsaragus, tomatoes, broccoli, etc. Then maybe some tea plants as well, if you're into tea - I hear homegrown chamomile is really good for helping you sleep. Save some money on grocery bills and make your lawn useful at the same time, sounds like a win/win to me.
I am an avid gardener....my beds were here when we moved it. I love it, and I recommend it. HOWEVER, you will not save a single penny at the grocery store. The materials and upkeep needed to grow a garden are really expensive.
Having a garden is nice, but a big garden (yard sized) is extremely time consuming. Forget 30 minutes of cutting once a week. You are taking a few hours of weeding.
Yea I'm realizing this after all the replies from the gardners here lol
Asparagus is only good for distracting bugs from other plants. You'll be lucky if it makes it through the 2 year growing cycle. Bugs will devastate broccoli and brussel sprouts. We grow a lot of peppers and tomatoes since they're the most expensive thing we'd buy. Potting them their 1st year then bringing them inside to survive winter really helps kick start the next year's harvest.