My husband is old school. At 70, we still mow our own lawn because he "can mow his own damn lawn." I like his spirit, and I like doing yard work alongside him. He mows. I edge.
We never "edged" a lawn before we moved here. We didn't need to up north, where actual lawn grass is grown. Here in Central Florida, that soft, lush northern grass won't grow. There are specific grasses passing for lawn grass here. St. Augustine grass comes to mind.
We don't care about the perfect lawn. In fact, we wish it would dry up and blow away. The grass in our lawn grows sideways, not straight up. The blades shoot up, but the plant has woody roots that grow to the side. That's why edging is required. If we didn't edge, our grass would creep over the sidewalks and into the street. The homeowners association and our neighbors would pitch a fit, for sure.
And then there is the hidden cost of "taking care of your own damn lawn" in Central Florida. While mowing today, my husband had a Cuban tree frog jump on him, mowed over a fire ant nest (getting numerous fire ant bites), and was stung by a yellow jacket.
Florida is not for the timid.
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| Never fear, the white stuff is sand blown up by the lawn mower. |
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| I pull this piece of grass out of the ground. They get really long. |
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| Grass and weeds growing over a square concrete slab. |
If it's not grass, what is it? Or what kind of grass is it? I don't think I would survive living in Florida. Too many dangerous bugs:)
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, alligators. There was one walking through my development just last month.
DeleteIt's a grass, just not the soft blades from up north that invite you to sit down. I think it is probably some cultivar of St. Augustine grass (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine_grass).
Florida (at least where I live near Orlando) is a very strange place, and it took me a long time to learn to love it. But love it I do, now. One adjusts over time. Still, I would not actively encourage anyone from the north to move here. Lots of bugs and the summers are hotter than Hell. However, the fall, winter, and spring are a lovely get away for otherwise snow bound visitors.
You do get some interesting grasses and critters there. The thought of alligators walking down the street scares me, but I do have to remember we get mountain lions here in California. Some have even been seen in our little suburban neighborhood. Oy!
ReplyDeleteWe've been here 8 years and the alligator walking only happened once. Still.
DeleteMountain lion!
DeleteSt. Augustine grass is terrible stuff, prone to drying out and being devoured by bugs. If I lived in Florida and had my way I'd plant an entirely xeriscaped yard with native plants. But I know homeowners' associations aren't likely to allow that.
ReplyDeleteThat's what we'd love to do! Slowly but surely we are reducing the amount of grass in the back yard, which is fenced in and private.
DeleteHoly Toledo, (or should I say Orlando)! Not for the faint at heart to be sure. I no longer care about perfection and here in Portland, most people let their lawns go dormant in the summer. I’m pretty much going with the flow.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see more and more of lawns being forsaken as climate issues force us to start thinking of lawns in a different way.
DeleteAnts, and frogs, and yellow jackets! Oh my!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the Florida grass sucks.
It does.
DeleteI do believe I would not mow my own damn grass. Hell's bells, it was one of the reasons I divorced my husband; he wouldn't mow the grass or hire a grass mower.
ReplyDeleteHa! Good reason.
DeleteWhen my daughter moved to Florida I was amazed that I couldn't walk in her backyard barefoot - the grass was like razor blades and the fire ants unbearable. She has since installed artificial turf just so her baby could play outside. Still, you get flowers all year long so I guess things even out.
ReplyDeleteThings definitely even out, and I'm happy here. But it was a long adjustment, and a bit of culture shock. Remember that the flowers we get are limited in variety - not like those gorgeous northern flowers you have. Still, there are beautiful flowering trees and bushes instead. And I try to grow any actual flowers that can survive drought for 9 months and the deluge for 3 months every year. Like canna, ornamental ginger, ixora, bird of paradise, firecracker plant, agapanthus. The best part is that there are two veggie planting seasons here. Starting seeds right now for the fall planting.
DeleteNot to mention how dehydrated you can get, if not careful, when "mowing your own damn lawn" and the sweat drenched clothes, because the HOA would have a conniption if you mowed in the altogether!
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! Geez, I really hate having an HOA.
DeleteLooks more like ground cover than grass. I am lucky that my oldest son lives with me and he loves to mow grass!
ReplyDeleteTree frogs, fire ants and yellow jackets, Oh MY! Stay safe in Florida, Colette!
Thanks, Ellen. I'm pretty safe because it's so damn hot and humid I don't leave the house between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm. But it's nice to be able to eat breakfast and dinner outside almost the entire year.
DeleteI have to edge our lawn regularly, as the grass gradually spreads over the paths, and so does the clover. Judging by your husband's experience, mowing your lawn looks like a hazardous enterprise!
ReplyDeleteHa, it isn't usually that hazardous.
DeleteI think grass lawns should be on the way out, all that work with mowing and watering and fertilising for what? I would go for a meadow any time. attract lots of wild life with it and maybe a couple of goats but a green lawn is for nothing but show.
ReplyDeleteDo you have to water this lawn? We have a friend living near Miami and she has to water her lawn every evening/morning per rule from the home owners association.
We don't water our lawn. It's not required, our neighborhood is not very posh, and our HOA is fairly lax. I hope you are right that the whole lawn mania is on its way out. It's absurd.
DeleteMost days I'm glad to not have a yard to tend. Some days I miss not having a yard to tend. I wish, more than anything, to have been able to have the tools required to tend the yard I had, properly.
ReplyDeleteOne sign of a tree frog though, I'm out. LOL
Having the right tools is essential. I lost one of my hand tools a few years ago. I know it is out there in the yard covered with pine straw, rusting nicely. But it is lost to me.
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