Your lawn: mow yourself or hired service?

[Julie's Haircut]

When I was a teen boy, I had no say in the matter LOL

Yep, as a teen if I wanted to eat and have a bed to sleep in I damn well had to mow the lawn. And I mowed lawns in the neighborhood for spending money.

I have less than 1000 sq. ft. of actual lawn now, so it's senseless to pay someone to do it. Another 2000 sq. ft. of ground cover that only needs mowing two or three times a year. The rest of the yard is wooded.

 

[MIGrandma]

We mow our own lawn, it takes about an hour and a half to two hours with a rider. We bought a new ExMark commercial mower late this fall and I was able to use it a couple of times before the season was over. It's actually enjoyable to mow the lawn now with that machine.

Our kids both mowed lawn when they were teenagers, not only our lawn but for a few neighbors (they were hired) as well. I don't understand why my sister-in-law doesn't have her teen daughter (16) mow their lawn. She works full time and I see her mowing a couple times a week. If I worked full-time and had a teenage daughter she would definitely be doing the lawn mowing as one of her chores.

 

[DVC-Don]

At my New York home I take care of the lawn myself with a lawn tractor. It takes me a little less than an hour to mow and trim. My son did it during his teen and early 20's until he got his own place. At the Florida home the homeowners association contracts out all lawn maintenance.

 

[xlxo]

I mow the lawn myself..... hired help likes to mow them super low cut like a golf course. However where I live, chauffer beetles like to lay their eggs on short lawns. 5 months of the year, the lawn is dug up by wildlife as they enjoy their shrimp buffet. Amazing what two crows can do in 30 minutes!
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/chafer.htm

Next year, I'm thinking getting one of those lithium powered mowers. Neighbors have one and they are so light and convenient compared to my old corded mower.

 

[nkereina]

they are out there in December when I don't really feel it needs it.

Not sure where you live but if you're in the Northeast where it's been unseasonably warm, it's very possible your lawn could have needed it. Going into the winter months, it's best for your lawn to be kept short. If you're in an area where it snows, you want to keep your lawn short to avoid snow mold in Spring. The better you avoid snow mold, it will help your lawn to be greener and healthier even sooner in the Spring. Another benefit to keeping your lawn short this time of year is that any remaining leaves from the Fall (both in your yard and neighbors' yards) tend to blow across shorter grass rather than hanging out in your yard, which also creates snow mold if not cleaned up. You can probably advise your lawn service to quit coming after a certain date, but we just mowed our own lawn last weekend here in Buffalo, NY and may need to do it again before year's end if it really does go into the 60s next week as forecasted! With the warmer than usual weather, lawns are still growing and still green. Not browning like they normally would this time of year.

Anyway, we mow our own yard which is relatively small, in a subdivision. In order to weed-wack, trim the edges of the lawn, cut the grass (bagging it) and blowing away remaining grass clippings with the leaf blower, it probably takes about two hours.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We live outside Chicago. Have about 3/4 acre inside a city with a lot of trees and very elaborate landscaping. Wish we could pay even 100 a month but now spend 695 a month for 10 months which include spring and fall clean up. But does not include summer flower plantings or front porch large flower pots which change every season. Neither my husband or I like yard work and only want it to look good. We probably spend another 1500 a year on new shrubs etc to replace ones thst die off. The best decision we ever made five years ago was to put in underground sprinklers. Expensive but well worth the cost.

 

[VandVsmama]

Option C: No lawn!
We do xeriscaping in our front and back yards with local/regional plants which look nice with minimal care. No lawn! My front yard is lovely and very lush. My neighbors think that I do tons of yard work every week, but aside from trimming overgrown things once in awhile (and "once in awhile" = about once every 3-4 months), it takes care of itself! And now that the plants are well established after a few years, they all live off of natural rainfall.

 

[georgina]

^That sounds nice. I drove by a house yesterday that had a few trees but the rest of the yard was all red brick! (That did not look nice!)

We mow our own lawn with a cordless rechargeable mower which is heavy to push. It takes DH about an hour, me longer. (half acre lot)

 

[Liberty Belle]

Do you hire a service for your lawn or mow yourself? If you don't mind sharing, how much do you pay for the service, or how long does it take you if you do it yourself?

I'm disgusted with my lawn service - they are out there in December when I don't really feel it needs it. I think I'm being taken for a ride!

We do our own. We have a push mower (self-propelled, at least, thank goodness) and it takes about an hour and a half for mowing and 30-60 minutes for weedeating/edging, etc.

Editing to add: We just mowed last weekend. Hopefully that's the last time this year, though the weather is making that look iffy (we live in Kentucky).

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I have a large yard and pay $35 every 10 days, so $105 a month. I'd really rather not, but we live in the South and it gets super hot and neither DH or I is willing to deal with mowing in 100 degree heat.

 

[phorsenuf]

We have a lawn service. I pay $80 a month and that includes mowing, edging, weed treatment, trimming hedges and palms (when needed) and leaf blowing of the walkway and driveway. In the winter it's done every other week so only $40. a month. Neither myself or my husband have the desire to do it ourselves so it's worth every penny!