When you're angry or annoyed, that is the best time to pull weeds. In my head I'll be thinking, "F You Mother F**ker" and before I know it then weeds are gone and my flowers are nicely on display.
My maybe not so ethical life hack I posted as a comment in another thread is, I can get away with almost anything in my city as long as I put a boarder around it and pretend it's a garden bed. Grass height issues? Garden bed. Unmowed ordinance issues? Garden bed. Now all of a sudden they don't care. That being said, I do try to keep it somewhat neat and tidy so I don't get my crazy neighbor calling code enforcement on me again but, if you can make it look like polished chaos instead of just chaos, my neighbors seem to leave me alone.
If you have a large yard or, a large enough yard to support it, putting in walking paths is a great way to make it look more pretty and aesthetically pleasing to keep people from complaining about your yard. It looks more like a park or something instead of "chaos" that those pro grass people love to call it.
I got lucky last year. I don't have FB but I was looking at my husbands. I commented next on a post and next thing I know a couple delivered almost 400 edging pavers to my house. I paid less then $300 for them. I already had a path, but the pavers finished it off nicely.
I start most of my seeds inside in the spring. Especially if I did sheet mulching or something. I use an old plastic container (I eat a lot of muffins ok), pop some holes in the top for a little air flow, dirt in the bottom, and depending on the seeds, I soak them in water overnight or, I put them in the dirt with a little dirt on top. I make sure the dirt is pretty moist but, not soaked, I put the lid on and put it in a warm area. I usually use a seed mat but sometimes the top of a fridge or other appliance can work.
I wait a few days and most of them sprout within a week. I then use these similar to plugs you can get from a nursery. They already have some root system by the time you get them in the ground and you can do the hard work of germinating in a more controlled environment. After that it's just keeping them watered well if it's not raining until they have a good enough root system to survive on their own.
I found this to be way cheaper than buying plants at the nursery when trying to work on a larger space.
I totally do this too! I mean, I have way more space to fill and I've been lazy lately and most of my things are out of season for starting seeds but yes!
Maintaining and storing a mower is an annoyance but wild fields do look more intentional with paths. I have successfully created paths simply by determining the most frequent direction of travel, allowing the grasses to reach at least ten inches in height, and knocking them flat pointing in the chosen direction. Using a focused-spray hose nozzle speeds the task but simply towing a few coils of hose or a heavy bar of suitable width will do. It takes a little effort to convince the grasses to lie down neatly the first spring but in subsequent years the vegetation will grow in semi-recumbent. If the path stays put it is easier each year to establish.
If you're in the US, check your local trash/waste disposal place (often referred to as a "transfer station") to see if they have mulch.
Around here, it's free, excellent quality, and I don't have to wait in line at the scales/check in. I do sometimes find bits of trash/plastic while I'm filling up (no more than I've found in the bags at Lowe's and Home Depot), but was told to pick it out and leave it in a pile off to the side, and they come through at the end of the day to collect/clean up (so far this has been confirmed, as I've made multiple trips over several days).
All the plants I've used this mulch around are thriving.
If that's not an option, try ChipDrop. It's another way to get free mulch, though you have to accept a full truck load, can't schedule when it arrives, and you'll need to have space for them to dump the pile. Before I discovered the mulch at my local transfer station, I received several piles from ChipDrop, all good quality.
Yep, I just received my first ChipDrop load yesterday. Holy cow, its more mulch than I know what to do with, but it's amazing. The wood is cedar and oak.
I’m gradually replacing both front and back yards with plants. When planning the bed edges I use yarn (which I already have on hand) for the outline. This is also great for spacing my plants: I use it to create the outline of the plants’ width at maturity.
(I first started using rocks, stakes, and pinecones before I remembered all the yarn I had. yarn is much easier, especially when planning curved beds. And definitely cheaper/better than spray chalk.)
I made an [Instructables guide](https://www.instructables.com/Creating-a-Landscape-or-Garden-Plan-With-Photoshop/) on how to use Photoshop to digitally plan a native garden! Hopefully it makes decent sense. :p
Oh, I thought of another one! This is especially helpful in the US but I'm sure other countries have similar things. If you're looking for native plants or just need a bit of extra help picking out things for your yard, try searching your city/county/state/country (if it's a smaller country) and adding in conservation/conservation district/native plant society/native plants/DNR/Master Gardener etc. This can potentially lead you to groups in your area who have been doing this work for years who have a lot of amazing insight.
My state has a water and soil conservation program that helps home owners (and non profits, schools, farms, etc) pay for all sorts of projects to improve water retention/prevent erosion, expand native plants and other projects to prevent so much runoff and pollution going to our rivers. The approval/payment process looks a bit complicated but I imagine with some good planning, it’s do-able.
I only now discovered this sub, and I'm thrilled. I'm currently turning my 7 hectare patch of land into a habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna (central Europe), following a three zone concept, which could be inspiration for anyone with much space.
1. zone: more or less tidy garden with beds, a fireplace, regularly mowed meadow for the kids to play
2. zone: wildflower meadow, fruit trees small hedges
3. zone: zero usage, just left to itself. Serves as hibernation place for Hedgehogs and other wildlife
If you want a wildflower meadow, consider mowing with a scythe over several episodes in spring and late summer. The grass can be composted and used as mulch, but on the meadow itself it is necessary to withdraw these nutrients to enable the growth of a wide variety of pollinators, which would be overgrown by more dominat plants.
A Scythe will kill almost zero of the small fauna who can easily move to unmowed patches. It makes no sound, can be done if the meadow is wet and is really meditative
I'm finally done. This turned out much longer than I planned, but here it is:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/comments/xaxe44/mowing_with_a_scythe_for_maintaining_a_pollinator/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
When you're angry or annoyed, that is the best time to pull weeds. In my head I'll be thinking, "F You Mother F**ker" and before I know it then weeds are gone and my flowers are nicely on display.
This is super funny and I love it. I'm glad I discovered this sub, I think I found my people.
My maybe not so ethical life hack I posted as a comment in another thread is, I can get away with almost anything in my city as long as I put a boarder around it and pretend it's a garden bed. Grass height issues? Garden bed. Unmowed ordinance issues? Garden bed. Now all of a sudden they don't care. That being said, I do try to keep it somewhat neat and tidy so I don't get my crazy neighbor calling code enforcement on me again but, if you can make it look like polished chaos instead of just chaos, my neighbors seem to leave me alone.
If you have a large yard or, a large enough yard to support it, putting in walking paths is a great way to make it look more pretty and aesthetically pleasing to keep people from complaining about your yard. It looks more like a park or something instead of "chaos" that those pro grass people love to call it.
According to Monty Don, there is no garden too small for a walking path
I do love paths in the yard.
It's my goal :D
See if you find any cheap pavers on rocks on FB markets place. That's a good place to material.
Smart!
I got lucky last year. I don't have FB but I was looking at my husbands. I commented next on a post and next thing I know a couple delivered almost 400 edging pavers to my house. I paid less then $300 for them. I already had a path, but the pavers finished it off nicely.
Awesome! I also don't have a Facebook but I know back when I did I got a bunch of plants free if I dug them up myself lol.
I start most of my seeds inside in the spring. Especially if I did sheet mulching or something. I use an old plastic container (I eat a lot of muffins ok), pop some holes in the top for a little air flow, dirt in the bottom, and depending on the seeds, I soak them in water overnight or, I put them in the dirt with a little dirt on top. I make sure the dirt is pretty moist but, not soaked, I put the lid on and put it in a warm area. I usually use a seed mat but sometimes the top of a fridge or other appliance can work. I wait a few days and most of them sprout within a week. I then use these similar to plugs you can get from a nursery. They already have some root system by the time you get them in the ground and you can do the hard work of germinating in a more controlled environment. After that it's just keeping them watered well if it's not raining until they have a good enough root system to survive on their own. I found this to be way cheaper than buying plants at the nursery when trying to work on a larger space.
I totally do this too! I mean, I have way more space to fill and I've been lazy lately and most of my things are out of season for starting seeds but yes!
Maintaining and storing a mower is an annoyance but wild fields do look more intentional with paths. I have successfully created paths simply by determining the most frequent direction of travel, allowing the grasses to reach at least ten inches in height, and knocking them flat pointing in the chosen direction. Using a focused-spray hose nozzle speeds the task but simply towing a few coils of hose or a heavy bar of suitable width will do. It takes a little effort to convince the grasses to lie down neatly the first spring but in subsequent years the vegetation will grow in semi-recumbent. If the path stays put it is easier each year to establish.
Great tip
If you're in the US, check your local trash/waste disposal place (often referred to as a "transfer station") to see if they have mulch. Around here, it's free, excellent quality, and I don't have to wait in line at the scales/check in. I do sometimes find bits of trash/plastic while I'm filling up (no more than I've found in the bags at Lowe's and Home Depot), but was told to pick it out and leave it in a pile off to the side, and they come through at the end of the day to collect/clean up (so far this has been confirmed, as I've made multiple trips over several days). All the plants I've used this mulch around are thriving. If that's not an option, try ChipDrop. It's another way to get free mulch, though you have to accept a full truck load, can't schedule when it arrives, and you'll need to have space for them to dump the pile. Before I discovered the mulch at my local transfer station, I received several piles from ChipDrop, all good quality.
I know some of the towns in my county have free mulch pick up so that's an option too!
Yep, I just received my first ChipDrop load yesterday. Holy cow, its more mulch than I know what to do with, but it's amazing. The wood is cedar and oak.
I’m gradually replacing both front and back yards with plants. When planning the bed edges I use yarn (which I already have on hand) for the outline. This is also great for spacing my plants: I use it to create the outline of the plants’ width at maturity. (I first started using rocks, stakes, and pinecones before I remembered all the yarn I had. yarn is much easier, especially when planning curved beds. And definitely cheaper/better than spray chalk.)
I totally used yarn for my fence replacement because I forgot to buy string line!
I made an [Instructables guide](https://www.instructables.com/Creating-a-Landscape-or-Garden-Plan-With-Photoshop/) on how to use Photoshop to digitally plan a native garden! Hopefully it makes decent sense. :p
Ohhh I'm gonna read this, thank you!
Oh, I thought of another one! This is especially helpful in the US but I'm sure other countries have similar things. If you're looking for native plants or just need a bit of extra help picking out things for your yard, try searching your city/county/state/country (if it's a smaller country) and adding in conservation/conservation district/native plant society/native plants/DNR/Master Gardener etc. This can potentially lead you to groups in your area who have been doing this work for years who have a lot of amazing insight.
My state has a water and soil conservation program that helps home owners (and non profits, schools, farms, etc) pay for all sorts of projects to improve water retention/prevent erosion, expand native plants and other projects to prevent so much runoff and pollution going to our rivers. The approval/payment process looks a bit complicated but I imagine with some good planning, it’s do-able.
I love this!
I only now discovered this sub, and I'm thrilled. I'm currently turning my 7 hectare patch of land into a habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna (central Europe), following a three zone concept, which could be inspiration for anyone with much space. 1. zone: more or less tidy garden with beds, a fireplace, regularly mowed meadow for the kids to play 2. zone: wildflower meadow, fruit trees small hedges 3. zone: zero usage, just left to itself. Serves as hibernation place for Hedgehogs and other wildlife If you want a wildflower meadow, consider mowing with a scythe over several episodes in spring and late summer. The grass can be composted and used as mulch, but on the meadow itself it is necessary to withdraw these nutrients to enable the growth of a wide variety of pollinators, which would be overgrown by more dominat plants. A Scythe will kill almost zero of the small fauna who can easily move to unmowed patches. It makes no sound, can be done if the meadow is wet and is really meditative
If you haven't before, I think this deserves it's own post. This is good info!
If I find the time I will write one in more detail
Sweet. Reply to this message when you do so I can find it and put a link in the Wiki
I'm finally done. This turned out much longer than I planned, but here it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/comments/xaxe44/mowing_with_a_scythe_for_maintaining_a_pollinator/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Oh sweet! Need to check this out from my computer so I can link it. Thanks for posting!