Lawn alternatives

[SevenSeasJim]

SSJ, I'm working on finding a rusty old '72 Impala to dump out front if anyone complains about what we do .

I've also seen the old fridge on the front lawn trick at many East Coast house's as well. :grin:

[Calamity Jane]

I think goats smell a wee too bit, for my nose!

I'm fine with keeping the front cut and looking 'presentable' as long as we can do as we please with the back (wild flowers, wild fences, you know.)

anyway, Kaidy, I'd love for you to bring some periwinkle (and knowledge about how to transplant it successfully.)

while my dad can piss me off to no end, he is a home-made wine master -- one of his specialties has been dandelion wine, in fact! I thnk I might suggest we both jump back on that bandwagon!!!

[popo weenie]

"[color:red]dwarf grass" on his lawn

oh i have to plant is it only for migets?

[popo weenie]

[color:red]I've also seen the old fridge on the front lawn trick at many East Coast house's as well

were you close to beaverbrook? as they put their stoves out on the front lawn to cook on in summer time ha ha and yes it is funny as if you drive in their drive ways they all run to the window

[Tooly]

I like the idea of a lawn you can also eat

like i said..... peat moss... some spores...some manure... neighbours will love that...

Edited September 22, 2005 by Guest

[Lazlo]

I'd love to watch your eyes melt when you eat that fucker.

[Freeker]

You want variety? Here's some variey, you'll have the headiest yard in Osgoode.

[Buffy420]

One of these on the lawn would be neat, or have moss instead of grass!

[Esau]

What you could (or would) put in it would be even better. :thumbup:

[popo weenie]

Ummmm... Might I suggest...

love your line at the bottom so true eh?

[popo weenie]

[color:red]It is not he who has too little who is poor, but he who craves more."

this is what i mean ,very true

do you know who said that as i have a book with a lot of sayings and are some nice never saw this one

would it be

helen steiner rice ?

thanks

[popo weenie]

I like the idea of a lawn you can also eat.

Well then go with the dandelions. Those suckers are good for you. And if you can stomach it' date=' you can even get one doozie of a bottle of wine out of it. [/quote']

dandelion wine is very powerfull i had a neighbour that drank it all the time and every night his wife had to get him off the high clothes closet, as he thought he was ontop of a box car, he worked on the rail road ,funny though ha ha now imagine every night ha ha go slowly i guess

[Steve from Cleveland]

[color:red]It is not he who has too little who is poor, but he who craves more."

this is what i mean ,very true

do you know who said that as i have a book with a lot of sayings and are some nice never saw this one

would it be

helen steiner rice ?

thanks

No, actually it is a quote attributed to Seneca. He was a Roman philosopher, and the philosophy he subscribed to was 'Stoicism.'

He was accused of plotting to kill NERO, among other notable things... Thought I'd throw that up here sine, NERO's a band and all...

Info on Stoicism can be found here

I didn't even realize I had a sig line

[SmoothedShredder]

I'd consider myself a Stoic... borderline Bhuddist... others might call me lazy... just don't call me late for dinner.

[Calamity Jane]

I'm callin' ya down to Osgoode!

[SmoothedShredder]

next time I'm out that way I promise... I can't wait to see your new place, unfortunately I can't make the fence painting. I have to make a trip out to Winnipeg this weekend.

Peace Daveb!

~W

[Snail]

Thanks for all these brilliant ideas. I like the idea of variety - bit of this, bit of that; we will have to figure out what works well with what (i.e. not to watch some Darwinian spectacle unfold between all the different species), and be circumspect, given that I haven't seen a single dandelion in the neighbourhood, but I look forward to breaking the consistency of the military-issue lawns around here.

SSJ, I'm working on finding a rusty old '72 Impala to dump out front if anyone complains about what we do .

Btw, does anyone (Snail?) know about mini-strawberries? I like the idea of a lawn you can also eat.

We've got mini-(wild)-strawberries at the Cabin and at my Dad's farm. I'm sure I can dig some up at some point and bring them over. I have no idea how long they take to grow or if they will spread over the whole lawn. You might have to eat the berries and then sh!t the seeds out all over the lawn to be really effective. This would also distract the neighbours from caring about the 72 impala!

[Alexis]

ok guys, i know your pain...ooooh how i know your pain.

my house is on just under an acre of property.

i have an electric mower (booooo) and it takes me 1.5 hours just to do the front lawn, i have never attempted to do the back lawn, which is just about double the size. it's about a foot tall now. hasn't been mowed in about 6 weeks i think.

and on top of that i have a macintosh apple tree that has dropped about 2000 lbs of unconsumable apples onto my lawn. (anyone know what to do with apples that have what looks to be a worm hole in them?) and once they hit the ground they have a nice big bruise on them that's about half the size of the apple. EVEN when they land in the nice pillow top grass i have out there. (anyone know if i can get a compost thingy to hold that much stuff?)

what i'm going to do next year is not take away my lawn entirely, but rather get rid of at least 40-50% of it. i'm going to extend gardens out and dig up a 6 or 7 foot radius around the tree in the middle of the yard out front and plant flowers. i can stand with a hose a lot easier than i can struggle with that biznatch mower. also, it's fun to write special messages in your grass, like penis, or vag, or even your name! (hey kids, whoever does the most chores this week gets their name in the lawn!!! (for a whole summer)) I'm also going to remove a 10x20 patch of grass along the side of my house for a vegetable garden. (somehow i think i can deal with that, while hating mowing my lawn. we'll see how i do) but that is 200 square feet less of grass. and you get something in return besides less bitching from the neighbours and a sore back.

since you have the backyard to deal with too, you may want to consider getting a riding lawn mower. now see, there are approx 30 houses on my street all with the same property size. and about 15 of those people have riding lawn mowers. since they're so expensive and get so little use, i really don't understand why neighbours don't get together and buy 1 communal mower. you may want to form a co-op or something like that with some neighbours to get one. and get one with a cup holder so daddy evil mouse can have his dandelion wine while he's mowin. taking turns between parents can help too (don't hit me janey!) at least then you only have to do it once every 2 weeks. and maybe stretching out the mows...to say once every 10 days. that means each person does it once every 3 weeks. that means if you mow from april to oct. each person mows 8 or 9 times.

while the dandelion idea may be a good one, you'll have enough of those naturally, believe me. and if you have an entire huge lawn of them, your naighbours would come together and kill you, cause all those fluffy seeds would go all over their lawns, and not everyone is as loving of them as you may be.

[Cully]

Ha Ha Alexis,

Go and trim your BUSH(es)!!

Edited September 23, 2005 by Guest

[Snail]

and on top of that i have a macintosh apple tree that has dropped about 2000 lbs of unconsumable apples onto my lawn. (anyone know what to do with apples that have what looks to be a worm hole in them?) and once they hit the ground they have a nice big bruise on them that's about half the size of the apple.

You can take these apples to a cider press(er) and have them juiced up for you. My dad has been doing this for years and its the best cider I've ever tasted. I believe the people who press it take a percentage of the juice and give you these rest nicely packaged in 1.3 litre milk type bags.

[Kaidy Mae]

Ooooh, that's a great idea, Neil. My evil neighbour has tonnes of apple trees. I've been sneaking over the fence under the cover of night to smuggle them back to my place. Hehehe. They are mighty tiny, but they're super sweet and I hate to see all that good food go to waste. We've already enjoyed a few tasty pies from the apples, but homemade cider would be extra tasty when I have my skating rink this year. Sweet!

Alexis, I LOVE the name in the grass idea. Because it is so brilliant, and you shared it with us, I will write YOUR name in the grass the next time I cut the lawn.

[Calamity Jane]

....I'm also going to remove a 10x20 patch of grass along the side of my house for a vegetable garden. (somehow i think i can deal with that, while hating mowing my lawn. we'll see how i do) but that is 200 square feet less of grass. and you get something in return besides less bitching from the neighbours and a sore back.

....at least then you only have to do it once every 2 weeks. and maybe stretching out the mows...to say once every 10 days. that means each person does it once every 3 weeks. that means if you mow from april to oct. each person mows 8 or 9 times.

I want to give you Kaidy's button which says:

I did GREAT in math today!

LOL, that's a lot of figgurin' in yer spare time, gal!

we'll definitely be planting gardens (in fact, we're doing a big garlic patch this weekend), but I'm still looking to have walkable & snoggable ground cover that doesn't require mowing!

[Snail]

So I just finished mowing my first lawn in over twenty years, and while it was fun and everything (took well over an hour, and my arms are still shaking), I've never been quite sold on the stuff (especially having to be conscious of BS local bylaws around proper lawn maintenance). I'm wondering what options there are to grass. Clover seems to be a popular one; any others?

Dave, do you remember across the street from the Kitchener Public Library, there was this biiggg house that had its from lawn totally grown over with Bluebells. Looked really nice, seemed like they flowered first thing in the spring and kept flowering for quite a while....then the "lawn" would just be a leafy green mosaic until the snow fell.

I have no idea if that can stand up to foot-traffic but it sure looked good.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Mmmm... I do like that idea. Way I figure, the back lawn will take all the abuse, and the front will be more for lookin'. And eatin'. .

I also remember the place in Kitchener that fought in court over their right to let it go feral, and lost. There have probably been a few of those places. What is it with this human obsession over control over nature? You'd think the last century would have buried that one.

[Alexis]

aww thanks kaidy mae!

i love to write "cully is gay" in my lawn. i'm thinking of having my big huge BUSH in the front of my house done into a sculpture of him sucking cack.