Worrying About The Lawn

I am waiting with bated breadth to see if my lawn will grow. I really think we cut off too much. parts of it so brown. I am so depressed worrying about this lawn. Alot of my joy has evaporated. By next week I will know if the lawn is good or if we did irreparable damage.

hubby watered with some miracle gro pant food before going to work this morning. we will see if that has any effect. I kept telling him that it is time to lay the fertilizer

1st Mow of New Sod

So hubby mowed the lawn yesterday. The Homelite worked okay but then again we have nothing to compare it. It is our fist lawn mower.

I am beginning to hate this sod. It gives me so much worries. Now I think it is looking too dry. All my luscious green is gone. Once we mowed it down, you could see the dry spots.

2 things, I think the lawn was too high and I think we took too much off. I hope the amount we cut was not too much and damaged the lawn.

funny thing is the lawn seems to be forever damp. I have not watered in awhile and I thought it would be dry...

I am just hoping that if grows back nice and strong. I am going to do some research on fertilizers this week. I think it is about time that it gets an application base don what I was reading. I really wish the gardening center that I hired to do this would have provided more information on how to maintain the lawn....

sigh, will it always be like this.. this constant worrying about the lawn. My mom mentioned today that is why she wanted us to do it ourselves - so if it went bad - no worries - since we did it ourselves. If it goes bad, I will be out 1,200 bucks.

How To Mow New Sod Lawn

So hubby just put together his brand new Homelite lawn mower. Took a break to have breakfast. And now watching an episode of Ultimate Fighter, at least it is one of those fighting shows, UFC?? something like that. But I digress this blog is about how to mow new sod lawn.

Since this is Fathers Day I am not nagging about him watching his fighting show instead of mowing the lawn. Normally I would be on him to mow this lawn already. I am a big believer in work first, relax later. But if I see him watch 1 more episode, fathers day or not I will have to gently suggest mowing that lawn - since it needs mowing.

So let's see what the Internet has on mowing your lawn.

First site - not much..not worth giving out the address. Said

• mow 14 days after installation and to mow high (cut only 1/3 of the grass)

Second stop - much more information

• When the sod has a height of 3-4" don't water for two days in a row
• On the second day of no water, mow the new lawn
• mower should be set to the highest cutting height
• then mow again in the opposite direction at the normal height of 2 1/2".
• be sure to rake and remove debris weekly. Debris that is left on the lawn will kill grass, leaving dead patches and inviting pest problems

Cool information.... sounds legit.. will use this one unless fins something else.. let's continue with the search

next stop was a forum... everyone there pretty much mentioned now is a good time to mow and to mow at the highest setting to keep the grass form being stressed..

tip from another site:

• if you start to bring the sod off the ground from the suction of your mower, you have tried too soon. Stop and wait a few more days.
• Mow new lawns approximately 2" from the ground and always remove clippings.
• After initial mowing, subsequent mowing should be done before grass height is more than 3"
• As a rule, the ideal cutting height for most grass blends is 1½" to 2". Never cut more than 1/3 of the total height at any one time. Removal of all clippings is recommended.
  

hmmm..another site tip: do not remove more than 1/3 of the grass height per mowing

seems to be the main point.. okay.. enough research on this topic...

hubby just finished watching his ultimate fighter show, so I mentioned to him he should read my blog on the information I just spent 45 minutes accumulating. His response, "Can't I just mow?"

Sigh.. if I can't get my own hubby to read my blog.. who will..LOL

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Your Contribution To My Blog

So what am I looking for from you? Your experiences with your lawn:

• What kind of lawn you have
• Your watering schedule
• Your fertilizer
• Pictures of your lawn
• Your mower - why did you pick it, how does it work for you
• Anything else who want to share that I have not thought of yet

Sure we can talk. What I am not looking for is critique of my writing style. This blog is written in the 'rambling thought' format with a purpose. Punctuation is not at the top of my list. I am not looking for comments on my jokes, some might be funny, some might be not - heck you might not even know if I am joking. So hubby if you are reading this, just read and enjoy - no critiques..LOL

What is this blog about

Finally, this blog has come into its own. It has a purpose! Being the first blog and all, took a little while to focus, hence the first post "This took too long".

This blog went through 3 name changes. First name "This Took Too Long". Did not like it. I am all about theme and consistency. So finally brainstorm hit me with an idea that I love. The "Lets Talk" series. Something easy to remember for all my hundreds of subscribers to remember. LOL. How long does it take to get people to come to your blog?

So name change to "Lets Talk: My House". But as I went to bed last night with thoughts of my blog on my mind. I thought, hey all my posts have been about my lawn. Granted that is the main house project going on right now. But I think I can maintain a blog about my lawn.

I am going to have to do research and all on fertilizers, proper mowing and all. I think I can build a huge following on that. LOL.. I know boring.. But I spent $1,200 having my ground tilled, mowed, raked, graded, installed, who knows what else they did for that money.. so for 1,200 buck-a-roos, that lawn better grow, prosper, thrive, stay green and give me back 20% ROI on my house value!

So hence the latest name of this blog. "Lets Talk: My Lawn"

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Buying a Homelite UT13122

So I am a proud owner of the Homelite lawn mower. As mentioned I wanted the black & decker but that was not sold at Home Depot. I just went online and I think Target sells it but already have th Homelite now.

It is 12:03am.. I really should go and get some sleep.. 1 quick research on this Homelite lawn mower. Here goes.

First Stop
Not so encouraging. That darn black and decker getting better ratings.. they did not say anything bad about the Homelite, just not as much.

Not much out there. We will see how it goes tomorrow..

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Benefits of Electric Lawn Mower

Okay, so why did I leave the last post firmly stating that I will be getting a self-propelled gas lawn mower and why did I come home 8hs later with an electric lawn mower?

After all my diligent work this morning, hubby threw the idea out there of getting an electric lawn mower. Did I not mention before that we are not big maintenance people...

So here I am with a Homelite electric lawn mower in my basement.

It is 11:40pm in NYC... the girls wake up anywhere from 6 to 7... I need sleep, but I am quickly going to do some research on electric lawn mowers. I will let you know what I find

First Stop

• for lawns under an acre, the electric lawn mower is supremely useful,
  
• with near silent operation,
  
• instant start,
  
• and generally smooth operation.

Hmmm not bad I am feeling our choice already... Okay not much good info out there.. went to page 5 of the Google search and did not come up with much...

So still not sure how we ended up with the electric lawn mower. Actually that is not true... low maintenance was what we are looking for. Can you believe our first question was where the heck do we get gas for the lawn mower. Gas station duh!.. so we have to like take one of those jugs and fill it up and then store and then tune ups and yadda yadda yah...

So electric it is. I really wanted the black & decker MM875 but Home Depot did not carry that brand. They did have the Homelite and it was one of consumer reports recommended so we went with it.

Tomorrow we mow!

Lawn Mowers: Self-propelled vs Push Mower

Okay. As I alluded to in my last post, couple weeks ago (let me check my google calendar to get the exact date) , okay May 26. On May 26, we had a sod lawn installed in our backyard. It's cool.. But now comes the dreaded part.. maintaining this sod lawn

First things first, the lawn needs mowing. Being NYC folks, what the heck do we know about lawn mowers. So now comes a lesson in lawn mowers.

I always trust my handy Consumer Report to guide me through the process of unfamiliarity product buying, but they failed to explain what the hell is the differences between self-propelled and push mowers. Sure it sounds obvious but lets be precise. So here comes the tedious task of researching.

First Stop - Some agricultural center
Based on information gleaned from site up above, I think I am feeling the non self-propelled, otherwise known as the push mower. What I like:

• lighter, less expensive, need more effort than a self-propelled model
• on a small lawn can be good exercise
• less expensive to maintain.

Key notes, less expensive to maintain - not big on maintaining. But how much more effort are we talking on this pushing thing. Have to check with the hubby to see what he likes..

Next Stop
Something new learned these 2 type of mowers are also known as walk behind mowers. That makes sense. Also reinforced the notion that the push mowers with big back wheels make for easier pushing. This is good if you have rough terrain.... Our backyard is pretty much straightforward..

Third Stop
Okay, by this time I am going towards the self-propelled. Not much choices in the push mower business... seems as if there is more support on the self-propelled variety.. maybe I do not need that much exercise.. I do have an unused treadmill in my basement...

Fourth Stop - Chicago Tribune - Excellent article
An excellent article from the Chicago Tribune- The Whole 9 yards on mowers, recently published on June 7th. Damn this article is mighty long.. sheesh and my 3yr old has been asking to play Max & Ruby on nickjr.com for the past 30minutes. Have to make reading of this article mighty quick.. here goes...Okay 5 minutes later skimmed the article... liked the following points:

• self-propelled mower "pulls the mower along, and you guide it with the handle bars
  
• a push [mower], you'll have to push it with your legs and arms
• Self-propelled, for the extra money, it's so much easier

Okay 75 minutes later I have decided on the self-propelled lawn mower. Of course these needs approval from the hubby, but I am sure he will be impressed with my meticulous research. He will pour over these websites, reading my notes into the wee hours of the night and we will spend countless seconds debating the merits of each. All my hard work will be well worth it. Side note: hubby will not read my research, he will listen for the first 2 minutes, tune out for the next 10, want the bottom line and decide then.. LOL

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This Took Too Long

Okay, starting this blog took way too long. I have 2 daughters, a 3yr old and an 18 month old... My time is limited... Why did I just obsess over what the name and URL should be... Now my hour that I was going to use to create an astounding and literary masterpiece of blog is gone..

I wanted a name with home in it. This blog is going to be all about this house, the events we do, the planning, yaddda yadah yah....

Like I have a BBQ coming up in July... To do the BBQ I need a lawnmower to mow the sod we just put in..

So if you are interested in Top Ten lawnmowers this is the place to be..... I know you will be waiting with bated breath for this interesting piece.. LOL......

My other blogs will be on cool stuff, like movies, magazine etc...

There I will look for opinions and stuff.. it's like a movie club, or magazine club...

Gotta go shopping for fathers day dinner..

lata

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