|
Grex > Nature > #22: The Lawn Care Diary of "Doctor Straight" |  |
|
| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 172 responses total. |
mwarner
|
|
response 50 of 172:
| 
Jun 10 04:51 UTC 1994 |
Scuze me, very politely I ask: Bag it? As in: not mow? Or as in: put the
grass in a bag? I can relate to the former!
|
srw
|
|
response 51 of 172:
|
Jun 10 05:39 UTC 1994 |
The ambiguity didn't occur to me. She meant bag the grass as opposed to
mulching it. She did not mean bag the mowing. If the grass gets too long,
mulching becomes out of the question also. Eventually (at about 2 feet)
the grass police give you a ticket, at least in the city.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 52 of 172:
|
Jun 10 06:26 UTC 1994 |
I bagged the mowing. We hired it out to a contractor. (I did not find that
mowing served my muse.) They do in 20 minutes what took me a half day
(they use a BIG mower).
|
srw
|
|
response 53 of 172:
|
Jun 10 21:59 UTC 1994 |
You must have a BIG lawn.
|
remmers
|
|
response 54 of 172:
|
Jun 20 23:06 UTC 1994 |
Last week I gave the lawn a second dose of Grandma Putt's Spring
Lawn Tonic. It seemed to appreciate it. Next month I'll switch to
the summer lawn tonic.
|
remmers
|
|
response 55 of 172:
|
Jul 25 00:27 UTC 1994 |
Well, here I am again. Today I gave the front lawn a dose of Putt's
Summer Lawn Tonic. Same ingredients as the spring tonic, but the
proportion of beer is increased. Sure hope my grass enjoyed its
drink of Molson Light.
|
remmers
|
|
response 56 of 172:
|
Dec 9 17:24 UTC 1994 |
This autumn, when the leaves were falling, I adopted the practice
of continuing to mow the lawn well into November. This was to
chop up the leaves so that they would serve as fertilizer for the
grass but not smother it.
I had planned to do one last mowing to take care of the last of the
leaves, but the snowfall this week has pretty much scotched that
idea, unless somebody can suggest a practical method for chopping
up leaves that are under a couple of inches of snow.
|
n8nxf
|
|
response 57 of 172:
|
Dec 9 20:15 UTC 1994 |
Just wait a few days ;-.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 58 of 172:
|
Dec 9 22:43 UTC 1994 |
Leaves don't smother lawns. I almost wish they did. Leaves are a
nice change from grass, just like snow is a nice change from leaves.
And grass is a nice change from snow, too....
|
remmers
|
|
response 59 of 172:
|
Dec 10 12:28 UTC 1994 |
Well, perhaps not "smother" in the literal sense -- but leaves do
block the sunlight that grass needs. Of course, snow does a pretty
good job of that too, so I probably needn't worry about it at this
time of year.
|
remmers
|
|
response 60 of 172:
|
Mar 24 12:09 UTC 1995 |
Spring is here, and accordingly, "Dr. Straight's" thought lightly
turn to lawn care. Having had a wee bit o' crabgrass last year,
perhaps pre-emergent crabgrass control is indicated. Stay tuned.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 61 of 172:
|
Mar 24 19:14 UTC 1995 |
Yuch.
|
remmers
|
|
response 62 of 172:
|
Mar 30 15:42 UTC 1995 |
Well, I did it. Now tell me why I shouldn't have.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 63 of 172:
|
Mar 30 15:52 UTC 1995 |
Perhaps because the runoff introduces toxic chemicals of uncertain
environmental impact into surface and ground water?
|
remmers
|
|
response 64 of 172:
|
Apr 16 17:37 UTC 1995 |
Wow, the grass is greening up and shows signs of growing. A couple of
days ago I carted the mower over to Larry's Mower Shop (an excellent
place to do business) for its spring tuneup, and to have the flat
blade replaced by a vaguely X-shaped thing called a "Ninja blade"
that's supposed to be better for mulching.
In a couple of weeks it'll be time for a first application of Grandma
Putt's Spring Lawn Tonic. (See above for recipe.)
|
n8nxf
|
|
response 65 of 172:
|
Apr 17 13:26 UTC 1995 |
Larry's is good if there is something really wrong with your mower/blower
or whatever. Forget the tuneup thing though. If it runs fine, change
the oil, clean the air filter, sharpen the blade and go. You don't need
a new head-gasket or sparkplug. My mower is 23 years old and was used to
cut the grass on a 1/2 acer lot for 13 of those years. 20" Toro. Original
plug and headgasket. New valve guides and blade. A tuneup for a simple
mower that was working fine last season shouldn't cost $120+. (This from
two friends who took their mowers there fo a "tunup". Neither required
any major work and worked no better after than before. Snapper and a
Craftsman. [The real problem was a poorly designed B&S engine that can't
be made to start easy when cold. Lesson: Get something with a Honda
engine, or maybe Lawnboy-Same folks who make Evenrude and Jhonson out-
baord motors.]) Woops! Back to the subject at hand: Lawn tonic.
The stuff dogs produce makes great lawn tonic! Every place they put their
tonic on our lawn is encircled by nice, tall, green grass this time of year!
;-)
|
remmers
|
|
response 66 of 172:
|
Apr 18 09:39 UTC 1995 |
$120??? I take the mower in to Larry's once a year, and it's never
cost me anything near that.
|
n8nxf
|
|
response 67 of 172:
|
Apr 18 13:21 UTC 1995 |
Odd. One of my friends was female and the other Asian. I hope it wasn't
related.
|
srw
|
|
response 68 of 172:
|
Apr 22 18:30 UTC 1995 |
Larry did two of my machines for $120. I am very happy with the service
there. There has to be a good explanation. Larry is very reputable.
|
remmers
|
|
response 69 of 172:
|
Apr 23 11:21 UTC 1995 |
I notice that my lawn is growing pretty fast. Hope it doesn't get too
long before I get the mower back from Larry.
|
n8nxf
|
|
response 70 of 172:
|
Apr 24 13:23 UTC 1995 |
Larry does seem to have a decent reputation. My next-door neighbor likes
him. Larry lives about a block form me. I can't comment from personal
experiance since I repair my own stuff. (Yes, I did the valve gides in the
Toro. I'm also restoring a 25" cut reel mower from the 40's. A wild
machine with huge air-filled tires, able to pull a person on an attachable
seat; all powered by a *2-1/2* HP engine!)
|
mcpoz
|
|
response 71 of 172:
|
Apr 24 22:58 UTC 1995 |
A guy I worked with had a son who won first place in statewide competition
for small engine troubleshooting & repair. Larry's hired him so that
may be an indication of the quality of help Larry's attracts.
|
remmers
|
|
response 72 of 172:
|
Apr 25 10:52 UTC 1995 |
Well, I hope he's speedy. The spring growth spurt is going full blast
and the grass is getting pretty shaggy. I *need* my mower back by this
weekend.
|
n8nxf
|
|
response 73 of 172:
|
Apr 25 12:53 UTC 1995 |
Since the dog tonic on our lawn was not as great as in previous years, our
lawn is going a bit slower. Your welcome to borrow my Toro for the weekend.
You can't have the Snapper though. It's a 300 lb monster from the 50's with
a cast iron snapping turtle figure head on the front!
|
remmers
|
|
response 74 of 172:
|
Apr 25 16:36 UTC 1995 |
Hmm, that sounds like it belongs in a museum.
Thanks for the offer.
|