Landscaping (aka. mowing the lawn)

I''ve never tried going in a big square before... I imagine you would kind of "spiral" in? In my yard (which is pretty small), I usually go back and forth along the width on one the edges (the short direction) so that I have more room to turn around in. Then I just up up and down the length and drag it backwards; move over a little bit and repeat. Give both a try and see what it''s better (interesting topic, btw )

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Original post by Peon
(interesting topic, btw )

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Absolutely.

Certainly, you should take into account the geometry of the particular lawn in question. Tight square corners certainly invite a back and forth motion, and a lawn with rounded rambling borders invites the spiral method.

If you opt for the back and forth method, and your mower is the type that pulls backwards easily, I would recommend moving forwards down a row, shifting over 2/3 the width of the mower, and pulling it backwards all the way to the opposite side, and then repeating.

Of course, if you have an absolutely giant lawn, then it seems reasonable that you''d want a riding lawn mower, in which case, it seems that you''d want to do the spiral method so you don''t have to constantly pull tight turns.

On a sidenote, I''ve been learning about soil analysis and grasses for equine nutrition, and which grasses grow in which climates, etc. Smaller areas should be separated into separate pastures used on a rotating basis for grazing, allowing each pasture to recover. Of course, you realize that such a concept means you don''t do any mowing, but rather, your horses mow the grass for you. However, you must put in an equal or greater amount of work with regard to management and maintenance of the pasture.

A little advice - don''t mow it the same each time. Always mix up the direction you mow it or else the grass will form a ''memory'' and start growing oddly. It''s best to rotate the direction you mow each time.

Well, I have lots of turning space and it is a push lawnmower so I can back it up whenever I need to. I wish I had a riding one, it''d make life much easier. And the horse idea is a good one, but would probably cost more for maintenance and upkeep than if I did it myself or hired someone.

I never heard of grass keeping its memory after its been cut. I just thought it grew out randomly. I''ll keep that in mind to cut in different directions.

I cut in a square with the grass shooting out the side of the mower towards the middle. Makes raking a little easier Disregard if your mower has a bag Mow in rows from one side to the next if you have no plans to rake at all so it spreads out and no one notices

Chris Barry (crbarry at mts.net)
My Personal Programming Depot

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Original post by Hitchhiker90
And the horse idea is a good one, but would probably cost more for maintenance and upkeep than if I did it myself or hired someone.

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The horse is not a good idea for mowing grass! It would cost you all of your time and huge amounts of money. On the other hand, the horse is a good idea for one who wants a horse.

The most important thing to do is to lower the blades so that you don''t have to do it every week. You have to figure that out yourself, though, because your old lady probably isn''t going to be happy with it

I used to start with a spiral for the first two rounds, to give me some space to turn, and then split it into roughly rectangular regions that I would mow back and forth.

Cédric

Horses work pretty good for mowing the lawn. As long as you have a rather large space so that you can allow the pastures to recover, since they have a habit of eating everything edible. Rather interesting is that my mother''s horse (A beautiful solid red coated Pinto) has a distinct taste and will avoid certain plants in the grass.

As for your lawn... Geometric patterns. They are the only way. I used to do diamonds and robus and for the hell of it a circle in a box. Takes time but looks neat for the first couple of days.

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Original post by bishop_pass
The horse is not a good idea for mowing grass! It would cost you all of your time and huge amounts of money. On the other hand, the horse is a good idea for one who wants a horse.

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LMAO, Mr. _pass.

Hitchiker90: surely, rather than cutting the grass, you could just install Linux on it? Then it would fall apart of its own accord.

Whatever you cut will be visible for a little while (albiet seen best from the air). Thus, I''d go with geometric patterns.

Of course, here''s a solution: Get out of mowing the grass by spending all your time working out the most efficient way to mow the grass.

Superpig
- saving pigs from untimely fates, and when he''s not doing that, runs The Binary Refinery.

I like to smoke a fat joint while I'm mowing. Then I just get meticulous, and make sure every blade of grass gets cut. Then I smoke another, and chill on the deck, chillin.

Oh, and I chill

[edited by - Funkymunky on June 15, 2003 6:20:07 PM]

Welps, I finished cutting the grass. I did both ways. Went back and forth in rows in the smaller spaces where there were obstructions, and did the spiral on the bigger spaces. About half way thru I realized I was pushing all the grass into the area that needs to be cut. Now thats good for people that rake it like someone else said, but I''m just not a raking kind of guy. So I had to change direction so that the loose grass would land onto the grass that had already been cut, that way I''m not mowing over it again and again. Plus it clogs up the mower.

I do it different each time I mow. Sometimes I do side-by-side in columns or rows, or sometimes, I make a square, and just work my way in. *shrug*

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Original post by reaptide
Rather interesting is that my mother''s horse (A beautiful solid red coated Pinto) has a distinct taste and will avoid certain plants in the grass.

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It''s a learned skill of distinguising between plants. by observing their mother, using taste, and then application of their vision to discern the different plants type. Horses deliberately seek out certain plants, and pick and choose them among those growing together. Some plants are toxic to horses.

Well he''s a plenty smart bugger. Needed to change the latch on the gate twice, when he figured out how to open it.

Damn those prehensile lips.

Personally, I use the flame-thrower method.

Keeps the neighbors out of my hair. Not to mention my lawn.


-geo
red eye is coming back (the old site is still around, albeit in a weird transitional form)

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Original post by reaptide
Well he''s a plenty smart bugger. Needed to change the latch on the gate twice, when he figured out how to open it.

Damn those prehensile lips.

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The lips are represented in a horse''s brain much the same that our hands are represented in our brains. Also, notice the extension and control they have over their lips, without even unclenching their teeth. Their hooves may not allow for opposable thumbs, but there''s the functionality, right there in their lips.

If you don''t wanna rake stuff you should just get a mulching blade. I used to bag and that just blows.

As for patterns, I miz it up to keep things interesting, but I think the best looking way to do it is to mow two or three rows along the side and then mow this rest in diagonal lines.