A year ago my wife and I bought a house on a back road with 6 acres of wooded land and no yard to speak of. Well I fired up the saws and took down all the trees I could ( there were 3 to close to the house and were leaning that way I hired a tree removal service to take them down) and now a nice little lawn but the best part is I got about 10 cord of good hardwood fire wood and about 2 cord of pine.
Making a yard
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I think I read it here, someone wrote, there's no more waste of time than cutting grass and maintaining a yard. He has a point. At my cabin I did a bark mulch yard. Really has held up well for a lot of years. Not much maintenance. Good luck with your patch of green.
I have to agree with the above statement. Ive got 3 tractors dedicated to grass mowing. And every imaginable form of cutting impliment. But considering it took centuries with stone boats and draft horses to clear all the land Im sitting on, its a small price.
Probably depends on exactly what you do with it . . . both in terms of maintaining it and in using it.
Me . . . I rake it in the Fall and just mow it the rest of the time . . . no fertilizer, no weed killer . . . it's mostly grass with a sprinkling of clover, dandelions and who knows what else . . . I figure I spend 1 to 1 1/2 hours on it each week . . . and since I'm on a riding tractor it's kinda easy "work."
As for use . . . we do use most of the yard . . . the foster dog enjoys it (or rather he enjoys peeing on it -- I have relegated him to only do so in the back yard though where the dead spots will not be so bad looking) . . . we have folks down each year to camp there and oftentimes we'll set up the volleyball net.
I suspect some folks may spend a lot of time maintaining a yard that they rarely step foot on . . . that's not me.
grass is not natural in nature, man made industry. 2 acres here to cut, 1.5 hours per week. minimal weed and feed. stays green, looks good.
Lawn - just put enough time into to keep it presentable to the neighbors and the city enforcement clown. Likely going to sell the place in a couple years so don't want things to get to far out of hand - its all about presentation- good ole marketing 101
Grasses or graminoids are quite natural. It's a very adaptable plant that has been here long before man. They cover the planet in savannas, prairies and meadows. Mowing grass and lawns are what is man-made. Originally it's thought that lawns were enclosures where sheep, rabbits and horses kept the grasses at a low height.
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should I of said Scotts lawn??? unless I read bad information on the internet but we all know if it is on the internet it is true. Wee Wee I am a French model.
Plus, probably 75% of the worlds caloric intake is from grasses.
Rice
Corn
Wheat
Millet
Sorghum
Barley
Oats
Rye
So yea, grass is pretty important.
I'd cut down anything tall close enough to the house that could fall on the house and cause damage and then plant trees that only grow 20-30 feet tall like dogwood, crabapple, etc to re-fill that space and still help keep the temps down in the Summer and not have (much) lawn to cut .Shade the roof from the sun with solar panels. 
I've been planting trees, hostas, ground cover and natural flowers that crowd out lawn and weeds so that I have less and less lawn to cut. All low or no maintenance stuff. Vegetable Gardens on the front lawn where my perfect manicured lawn used to be where the most southern sun is and fruit trees in select places (they're a bit of work though, too).
I've been planting trees, hostas, ground cover and natural flowers that crowd out lawn and weeds so that I have less and less lawn to cut. All low or no maintenance stuff. Vegetable Gardens on the front lawn where my perfect manicured lawn used to be where the most southern sun is and fruit trees in select places (they're a bit of work though, too).
I had 2 lawns that were there when I bought the place. I have basically changed the yard to accommodate my lawn tractor, with no trimmer use. Areas close to driveway walls, mulch and planting beds; areas around deck and under eaves, pea gravel/slow growing bushes. I've eliminated any tree or other obstacles that grass can grow around. Never water the lawn, I let it fend for itself.
Exactly the way most of the world feels about burning wood for heat. You may tell yourself it's about saving money, but unless your wages are atrociously low, you could find more profitable ways to spend your time. Whoever wrote that quote was probably just seeking justification for their own laziness, and sloppy property. [emoji12]
I kind of doubt that is the way folks feel about burning wood for heat. That isn't really comparable to having a manor lawn. Folks well may think of wood burning as too much work, messy, etc.. However a lot of people use the process as their exercise and outdoor period. That makes it a better use of time than pedaling to nowhere or health club and paying for the privilege. But ask those folks during an extended power outage if it is a waste of time. You won't see many hands raised.
Or maybe someone who spent countless hours creating and maintaining a trophy lawn having an epiphany and digging it all up to spend the same amount of effort feeding the poor.
My experience is that those high-functioning people who have nice lawns and well-kept houses are the same doing the most real good for the less fortunate. Those too lazy to do the same, rarely seem to get to much else, either.
The wealthiest 1% do more to feed the other 99%, than your best intentions will ever allow you to do. Most of that is by creating the companies that employ you, and more charitable giving than you could ever hope to match. My charitable giving in 2014 exceeded the average American salary, and yes... I have a superb lawn, too.
Yep, that labor and material would be much better spend on a fruit and vegetable garden than a lawn. In the end healthy food is much more important than a showpiece. I think it is rather superficial judging others by the look of their yard. Plus, growing your food yourself will save of lot of fossil fuels so you not only generate a real asset but you also preserve another one.
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A lot of that charitable giving would be unnecessary if those 1% would pay the other 99% a fair wage to begin with...
Most of America's poor have jobs, study finds: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150625161435.htm
Well, one thing I never understood is why SS tax caps out at 7.2k, ~115k. So if you make up to 115k, you pay tax on 100% of your income; but if you make 10 million, you pay the same 7.2k, that's not progressive.
This thread derailed in an interesting way.
Interesting to hear what men have say on the "green" topic.
Interesting to hear what men have say on the "green" topic.
It's not just about keeping up with the Jones' appearances. It's about resources. Using as few as possible. Not for fiscal purposes, Just to walk on the planet lightly. Probably tough for those to do who are constantly compensating for phallic deficiencies. With big things.
Which green topic are you referring to?
If it is green lawns, I consider them a total waste of time but will maintain a lawn well enough to fit into my neighborhood. A "manicured" lawn is a pure display of waste in my mind. They get heavily fertilized so that they can be cut more often, wasting both fuel and time.
If you are talking about conserving resources, Grisu has a good point. If you can grow your own food, the resources are better spent and even shipping resources are saved since you need not ship your food. That is all about local production of food, a direction recently taken by some people trying to live more "green".
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