What would happen to my lawn if I just didn't rake the leaves? [more inside]
posted by Flunkie on Oct 28, 2009 - 25 answers

I'm looking for grass for my backyard, but we have two major problems. The ground is wet pretty much all the time because it's so low. I'm told it barely perked enough when they did the perk test for the septic tank (the main field lines are in the front, only the emergency overflow lines are in the back, and our system is properly sending all liquid to the front). Also, the yard is very shady. Some parts never get sun and at most some parts get 4-5 hours a day. Unfortunately, cutting down trees isn't an option. [more inside]
posted by atm on Sep 28, 2009 - 7 answers

We've been getting molehills in our front garden lately, and we want them to go away. Which anti-mole technology is best for us? [more inside]
posted by Artw on Aug 24, 2009 - 10 answers

anybody know of a grass / synthetic surface for a run in the bay area? [more inside]
posted by evanm on Aug 22, 2009 - 1 answer

I'm thinking of replacing my lawn with artificial grass or some other thing that doesn't require constant upkeep. I'd like to hear your experiences with such horticultural matters. [more inside]
posted by reenum on Aug 13, 2009 - 22 answers

How to kill grass on a playground? [more inside]
posted by roaring beast on Aug 12, 2009 - 23 answers

When was the poem "Kinderlied" by Gunter Grass written? [more inside]
posted by Planet F on Jun 14, 2009 - 4 answers

Does anyone know how a gas powered reel mower will handle tall grass? [more inside]
posted by barc0001 on May 22, 2009 - 5 answers

newbie looking for a sturdy, dog-friendly groundcover for our back yard! [more inside]
posted by thinkingwoman on Mar 9, 2009 - 15 answers

Help me get a good start on my lawn [more inside]
posted by drstein on Feb 23, 2009 - 12 answers

AnswerAnOngoingFamilyArgument-Filter: My sister says one of her highschool history teachers mentioned in class a month or two ago that in China, people use scissors to cut their lawns instead of lawn mowers. Obviously, this is pretty crazy (right?), but my sister says that's what he said. Is there anything reasonable along these lines that could have been what he really said?
posted by niles on Dec 24, 2008 - 31 answers

I just want grass! Help me turn the last home owner's garden into a simple grass yard. [more inside]
posted by toekneebullard on Aug 12, 2008 - 18 answers

My garden is being overrun by grass. How do I get rid of the grass but keep my existing perennial plants? [more inside]
posted by crazycanuck on Jul 19, 2008 - 14 answers

Why can't I have a weed lawn? [more inside]
posted by walla on Jun 5, 2008 - 46 answers

Recommend a lawnmower, please. [more inside]
posted by found dog one eye on Apr 26, 2008 - 18 answers

Did I totally mess up by meticulously preparing our yard with a tracter/box blade, spending days removing rocks and debres, planting 50 pounds of Fescue seed, thereafter covering it with 23 bails of straw, and watering it almost daily, but completely skipping the part about raking the seed into the soil? 7 days and counting. [more inside]
posted by passtehbrainz on Apr 25, 2008 - 13 answers

How do I convert all-crabgrass and sand to grass, on a low budget? [more inside]
posted by theredpen on Feb 25, 2008 - 11 answers

Here in sunny Florida, my two large dogs tend to wear my back lawn down to the dirt. Is there a grass that recovers easily? [more inside]
posted by cmiller on Feb 20, 2008 - 6 answers

Please help me dramatically update my chosen perfumes. The problem is: my favourite scent is the smell of... soap. [more inside]
posted by DarlingBri on Nov 22, 2007 - 22 answers

How can I kill the grass currently growing in our backyard? We live in the Northeast, and we have a small (15' x 40'?) patch of lawn in our backyard. I'd like to kill all the grass there, and replace it with thyme as a groundcover. I've already found a source for the groundcover. [more inside]
posted by deejay jaydee on Oct 10, 2007 - 19 answers

What is the best thing to plant in the hellstrip/parkway in terms of selling a house? Also, best resources for staging a house to sell? [more inside]
posted by sLevi on Jun 25, 2007 - 8 answers

Lawn Rehab! [more inside]
posted by bradn on Apr 9, 2007 - 14 answers

After years of renting apartments, I have moved up in the world: I am now renting a house. Strangely, the house comes with small organic green things projecting from the ground. Having never been responsible for a lawn before, I don't really know what to do with it. I also have two, I don't know, shrubs (I think). One is low growing, thick, with branches that kind of double as rhizomes, and one might be a juniper. As you can see, I'm pretty clueless. What do I need to know/what must I do/what must I buy to take good care of my lawn and it's various planty inhabitants? [more inside]
posted by arcticwoman on Mar 31, 2007 - 17 answers

In the Steppenwolf song "Don't Step on the Grass, Sam," is "Sam" in reference to a real politician?
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on Dec 6, 2006 - 3 answers

Lawn alternatives! Has anyone here tried replacing their high-maintenance grass lawn with an alternative lawn? I've read about some of the no-mow lawn grass types, and I understand other people simply let the moss and clover grow. Have you seen a lawn like this? How did you like it? [more inside]
posted by agropyron on Aug 7, 2006 - 28 answers

My backyard stinks like a stable. Not all the time, but when we have dry, hot weather (as we do this week). What to do? [more inside]
posted by The corpse in the library on Jul 28, 2006 - 12 answers

Do you have any suggestions for a concrete yard garden ? [more inside]
posted by vincentm on Apr 21, 2006 - 8 answers

What do I do now in autumn, to get a jump start on growing grass in spring? [more inside]
posted by FunkyHelix on Nov 6, 2005 - 7 answers

Both my dog and my cat eat grass. The dog will eat until she vomits and then will eat no more. Sometimes the grass will cause instantaneous diarrhea. I do not know as much about being a dog as my dog does and I am assuming that she is doing this because she needs whatever relief she is getting. Why do dogs and cats eat grass?
posted by Raybun on Oct 1, 2005 - 9 answers

My back yard sucks. I need help growing some grass back there. [more inside]
posted by ajpresto on Sep 3, 2005 - 7 answers

I recently seeded a new lawn, about 50x150 feet, in buffalo grass seed. the entire thing is now sprouting in bindweed. is there anything I can do to get rid of bindweed without killing the seedlings? I have been hand pulling them, but it takes approximately 20 hours each weekend. I'm open to any suggestions. thanks!
posted by pamohearn on Jul 27, 2005 - 4 answers

In in New Jersey. How often should I be watering my lawn, and what time of the day should I do it? [more inside]
posted by exhilaration on Jul 27, 2005 - 9 answers

My backyard needs help! We tilled / seeded / hayed it in mid-April but grass has only sprouted across 50% of the area. I'm big into organic lawncare, I follow most of the basic rules, but I just can't get my grass to grow. What should I do? [more inside]
posted by bjork24 on Jul 5, 2005 - 9 answers

Recently I moved into a rowhouse with a number of other people. The previous tenants left the backyard looking like a jungle, a poison-ivy filled jungle of death. Help. Oh God, please help. [more inside]
posted by schroedinger on Jun 21, 2005 - 24 answers

How do the cut the big socks into the grass of the infield at Fenway? Giant baseball diamond sized graph paper? GPS? A guy with a walkie talkie circling in a blimp above barking instructions?

And a follow up; How do they layout corn mazes? Layout the maze with string/surveyors tape and plant accordingly?
posted by Keith Talent on Oct 27, 2004 - 3 answers

Neighbors be damned, is there any reason to not have a lawn of crabgrass as opposed to normal grass? And, if not, where can I get some seed?
posted by adampsyche on Jul 25, 2004 - 18 answers

I'm looking for places that have a lot of grass. I'm doing a research project on commercial lawnmowers and I need to find places that use a lot of them. Golf courses are an obvious start, but where else do you see a lot of big lawnmowers? In particular, where are they most obnoxious/loud?
posted by rorycberger on Jul 2, 2004 - 14 answers

Doesn't it seem like I always have a question about my house or lawn? Well, here's another one: My Gladys-Cravitz neighbor just called to tell me that the guy who mows our lawn mowed it the other day when it was WET. Can you imagine the horror? Could anything actually result from mowing a wet lawn, other than clogged mower blades?
posted by LittleMissCranky on Jun 28, 2004 - 6 answers

What do you do when the lawn gets so long your mower can't possibly cut through it?
posted by TurkishGolds on May 28, 2004 - 29 answers

LawnAndGardenFilter: When they built our neighborhood last year, the builders gave us Bermuda grass and our neighbors St. Augustine grass. Now the neighbor's very healthy St. Augustine is, of course, sending runners all over my lawn. What's the best way to stop this lush green menace?
posted by vraxoin on May 17, 2004 - 2 answers

My lawn needs some TLC, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to become your typical Suburban Lawn Nazi. I'm interested in lawn services, but I also have a toddler, and I'd like her to be able to play in the yard without wearing a hazmat suit. Anyone have any insight or knowledge about less-toxic lawn care (preferrably available from a service, not something I have to give up my Saturdays to do)?
posted by briank on Apr 21, 2004 - 4 answers

Is there a formula for figuring out the most efficient pattern to mow a lawn? Something that takes into account obstacles and elevation changes.
posted by grefo on Apr 15, 2004 - 6 answers

When I let my cats outside on a sunny spring day, the first thing they do is eat grass. They're like miniature lawnmowers. Later, they hack the grass back up (like a hairball). Why do they do this? (Meaning: why do they eat the grass in the first place, and why do they then spit it back up?)
posted by jdroth on Mar 5, 2004 - 13 answers

Oh, my lawn, my beautiful lawn. . .could anyone help me with a problem lawn in Houston? [more inside]
posted by LittleMissCranky on Feb 3, 2004 - 5 answers

I've decided to bite the bullet and start mowing my own .25 acre lawn. There lies the rub, as I'm a small woman with not much in the way of upper-body strength. Riding mowers are out because they won't pay back the original investment (I'd have to install a storage shed). I've been looking at mowers for some time, but haven't really been able to get much in the way of "um, but will I be able to maneuver this thing?" advice. Any suggestions? If it helps, I can afford to invest about $600 (what I pay to have the lawn mowed in the first place...).
posted by thomas j wise on Jan 19, 2004 - 24 answers