Permies Poll: How do you mow your lawn?

Brian E Schreiber wrote:No, I did NOT know, until speaking with a cattle farmer yesterday, that fermented grass(hay in his case) was used. . . He explained how in the winter here in Minnesota he feeds 2 to 1 ratio of dry / "wet" bales to his cows.  The wet round bales were wrapped in plastic so they did not dry over the winter months.
My concern, mold, you address by hand picking it out.  Somehow that does not seem very time / cost effective for a big operation so I figure you only are keeping a couple cows vs this guy's 150.  Also, your hand bagging, double bagging . . . just too . . . MUCH!

I learned this from my farmer a couple years ago. Same ratio, personal dairy. 4a Quebec

We have a battery operating push mower as I get sick from gasoline fumes. Plus, fuel mowers have the dirtiest engines possible so that's not for me.
Presently another 10% of the former lawn are covered with cardboard, awaiting a brilliant idea as to what I can plant there (under three 3 years old fruit trees).
One part is meant to be turning into a wildflower area but I fear it's a buffet for pigeons and mice. At least some yellow rattle comes through. Next year I'll put in buckwheat to try and suppress the couch grass.
Another area is now shrubs and herbs.
The higher the growth, the more life returns. Above and in the ground.

This is a very complicated question … for me.  Depending upon what I had for breakfast, the phase of the moon, and if my cat saw its shadow, I might use scissors, gas trimmer, push mower, Dr. Brush cutter, tractor, or riding mower.

This year I have been using my lawn for feed for livestock.  Hay has been getting exceptionally pricey, so my yard represents $$$ saved. But, it is getting out of control, so I plan to break out one of the larger machines and attack it.  Of course, I will put the cuttings to good use.

I plan to go back to hand baling my own hay later in the summer. The last time I checked hay was just shy of $10 a bale.   Putting up 100 bales would represent a significant savings.

I currently use a 40 volt battery push mower. I have a LOT of area to mow primarily for a fire buffer but also for ease of getting around: the land is former pasture so it is covered with grasses that will grow to 3-5 feet tall and native volunteers (various thistle, buttercup, etc).  I am trying to turn one of my battery mowers into more of a field mower by using larger tires so I can cut at 5-8 inches height but am having trouble assembling various parts necessary to use the larger wheels/tires (different size hubs and the tires run on mower housing).

The elk do help quite a bit but they are not here all the time, so not really reliable for keeping things down as needed. I am not here all the time either so do not have the luxury of having 4 footed mowers that I keep, darn it!

Hello! I live in a rental, with a nice yard. The owner loves her cookie cutter yard. But as nature needs our cooperation I let the grass and “weeds” grow. Today they re knee high. I dont have a scythe, just an electric mower. In Belgium we have may not mow month, and except for the stubborn one many seem to like it. Only thing is, end of may, the flowers are not yet in seed, so to cut them off would be ridiculous. The grasses are high, many varieties and swing beautifully in the winds.Someone advised me to cut the high grasses as they would inhibit the natural evolution of a flower field?
Anybody any advice? When to mow, how much what and when?
What would happen if you just let nature do its thing? That’s what I m inclined to do but my landlord will not be happy.
Her main concern was that the cookie cutter lawn would be well maintained and not a wilderness.
VERY UNFORTUNATELY

Tractor with rough cut mower for large portions of the back pasture
Zero-Turn for the areas I can't maneuver with the tractor
Push string mower for along the tree lines and hills
Hand-held string trimmer for anything I still can't reach

I'm considering switching to thermite and kerosene for all areas.

I don't have a lawn per say. I do use a gas powered brush mower from DR to mow my easement road and my septic drain field. I also use an electric trimmer to get things the mower can't.

But then I live on 40 acres in a rural area rather than suburban or urban.

P.S. I have watched a lot of sickle videos on youtube (over 3hrs of them). Unfortunately my land is too rocky and woody for a sickle to work well. Not to mention most of it is very uneven with little to no flat ground.

Until I finally get it all mulched and planted, I have 2+ acres of weedy grasses that have to be mowed, constantly it seems.  I have it down to about 4 big patches my wife can do with a gas riding mower from last century, while I get the edges of the property, and around the house with a gas self propelled walk behind and a string trimmer.

It's been 2 years and so far I have converted about a 1/4 to 1/2 an acre into a potager garden and food forest.  If deer weren't so plentiful, I'd probably be farther along.

gir bot wrote:Last vote in apple poll was on June 4, 2024

Yeah, that was me. And NO, the thumbdown on Gas Riding Mower was not intentional.

Devin Lavign wrote:I don't have a lawn per say. I do use a gas powered brush mower from DR to mow my easement road and my septic drain field. I also use an electric trimmer to get things the mower can't.

But then I live on 40 acres in a rural area rather than suburban or urban.

... Unfortunately my land is too rocky and woody for a sickle to work well. Not to mention most of it is very uneven with little to no flat ground.

Easements: good point.
I am also rural with big rocks and small boulders hidden in my easement.

The half acre of forest alongside the road requires no upkeep, but the adjacent half is a bend in the road with grass and even bigger rocks from a municipal backhoe clearing mountains of snow (I get extra smowfall.)

I was 18v cordless trimming this easement but have gradually been moving it towards wilding like I've been doing elsewhere, especially the septic tile bed, my first permie project, about 9 years ago wheh I discovered permies while trying to find out what I can grow on it other than grass. (Its a Monarch / bee wildflower wilderness).

Along the easement, to respect my neighbor's lawn, I hand pick the dandelion flowers before they seed, and they go in the compost tea shed rain catchment bath.

So I guess you can say I trim what's left literally by hand.

This easement has a row of tall spruce trees -- it's a mixed forest zone. I encourage my neighbor to send all their leaves up against the spruce, rather than bagging them (I'm downwind so that's easy) and I have been slowly working on a small swale along the whole this easement.

Next spring, all along the swale, i will be relocating some rubris odoratus from beside my tile bed, and will continue to fight the battle to eliminate cultivated grass. Every year I have less grass, more acidic mulch, and the municipality stopped cutting it with their tractor about the time they were using a bucket, so i have a chance to wild it, while producing flowers and berries.

The tile bed is also due for a workout: I eliminated more of my remaining lawn, but some grass has seeded in the tile bed (and rubris odoratus has been rooting out the moist soil up against the tile bed but
not in it, surprisingly.)

Need a reason to reduce your lawn? Check out this video

Last vote in apple poll was on January 4, 2025