Hello, I’m new here so please forgive me if this has been asked before. This place seems like there’s a wide range of different areas of expertise, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
I hate mowing the lawn. I can think of at least 100 other activities I’d rather do than mow the lawn, much less spend money on what I consider a waste.
Unfortunately, around here the last several years the rain has been pretty much perfect for growing grass. I usually have to mow at least twice a week if I wanna keep up.
So, I thought I’d ask the sdmb, is there any chemical, method, or general advice on how to slow the growth of grass? Or thin the lawn out?
I wish i knew because I have a nice garden spot but my aunt’s grandkid put a bird feeder out and the seeds weren’t sterilized and thees allsorts of things growing that don’t mesh with the vegetables …
The only advice I can offer, apart from replacing it with slower-growing grass, is to let it grow a bit longer (raise the blades on the mower) and do not put any fertiliser on it.
I’ve got the same problem. At some point, someone added some patchy seed to the existing lawn, and now the patches grow twice as fast as the old parts.
Some old historic books suggest salting the desired area … Although I’m not sure about side effects …
You don’t say where you are, but there may be some alternatives. The alternatives will vary a LOT depending on your climate, yard size, sunlight, and foot traffic. For instance, there are varieties of buffalo grass that mature at a height that requires no mowing, except maybe once or twice a year to tidy it up, and it is extremely drought tolerant. Some ground covers can be left to themselves with minimum maintenance after becoming established.
This thread also might get you better answers in Cafe Society.
Spectracide Weed and Grass Killer. Unless that slows it down too much.
Zoysia Grass doesn’t grow very fast, but I think there’s a give and take with it. When it’s cut, it looks great. If you let it grow too long, it doesn’t seem to grow even so it looks bad fairly quick. It also turns brown in the fall which is a turn off for some people. At least that has been my experience with it. Another nice thing about it is that it spreads out fairly fast. If you have the patience, you can put a handful of plugs in and it will spread out in a few years.
I have a neighbor that uses something called a “turf regulator” in a ditch on his property. He says that it keeps him from having to cut the ditch to only a few times a year.
Twice a week? What kind of grass do you have?
You can raise the mowing level, you could use salt which will dry out the grass, or use a chemical growth inhibitor. My understanding is that the chemical growth inhibitors are expensive and used mostly in commercial situations like golf courses.
I have to mow twice a week. I get the front yard fertilized & treated but the back yard is not fertilized nor treated and it grows just the same.
Here in NE Ohio at least, we have a lot of rainy days followed by warm sunny days and the grass just adores it. I can stretch it to once a week but then I have a lot of clippings and the mow looks terrible.
Lawns are dumb. Replace it with a meadow and mow it with a proper scythe twice a year.
Nobody mention Robotic Lawn Mowers yet?
Years ago my grass seemed especially lush, and needed mowed way more often than previous years. I eventually found out a friend was pranking me. He worked for a lawn care company and he would skimp his paying customers so that he could fertilize my lawn over his lunch. Knowing he was in lawn care, I eventually texted him asking what could be making my grass grow like mad, and he confessed.
Same here in Upstate NY. It’s the rain, rain, rain. The grass loves it. Springs look like a lush, dense, Irish countryside around here - if Ireland was a jungle.
I have to mow twice a week in the spring too, which is always fun in wet, soggy soil with very dense vegetation.
Lots of rain and cool nights. It doesn’t get better for grass.
There are some places that sell dwarf fine fescue grass. They claim that it doesn’t need mowing and grows about 4 inches tall. Once it gets to that height, it can make a swirl pattern in the lawn. They claim you can mow it every 4-6 weeks. I’ve never tried it and don’t know if those claims are true.
Your climate is very important as to what survives when you put it in the ground. What works in a warm climate, for example, won’t work in a climate where winter temps can go to some extreme sub zero temps that will kill tender plants. And, vice versa. Things that thrive in colder zones may not perform well in warmer zones.
If you have a local cooperative extension, give them a call during the week. They are often under the oversight of a university system. Around here, it’s Cornell, but pretty much every state has their own. There are usually local cooperative extensions in various places of your state, so there is probably one nearby. You can call or visit.
They can provide expertise on farming, agriculture, gardening, trees, landscaping - you name it. You can also bring in plants for identification, or diseased plants for disease identification. I’ve always had good luck with them. This is a taxpayer funded service, so there are rarely any charges.
I imagine if you want to get a plant or a plant disease DNA tested, there would be an at-cost charge for that. Or, if they are selling some of their stock plants, you can buy them. Advice, simple tests, information, pamphlets, and the like are all at no cost to you.
My sister tells a story about an acquaintance who stole some grass seed off the back of a lorry. He cleared his yard, prepared the soil and scattered the seed. He watered it until the shoots came up, but then had to go away for a while. When he got back the grass was up to the window sills. It turned out that the seed was destined for a farmer to make hay.
Depending on the type of grass you have, you can just do it directly.
Thank you everyone for the responses. To answer some of the questions (sorry I’m on my phone and not smart enough to figure out how to quote different responses)
I live in central Indiana. Im not sure what type of grass it is, it was just here when i moved in. There’s not much shade.
The advice about the cooperative extension sounds do-able(i like free). I think for starters I’ll just raise my deck height as was mentioned (also free-nice!). I got to thinking, but i do have an outside cat who’s always out on patrol. So, I may skip the use of chemicals for now. But if something ever happens to her, the regulator chemical would be tempting.
You might try a weed, grub or insect killer without fertilizer included that is made to go on lawns. I don’t know if they make them without the fertilizer component, but worth a look.
How would that make the grass grow slower?
In general, don’t apply any chemicals except for a specific problem that you know you’ve got; and not unless you can’t find another method to deal with it; and, if you do, be careful about reading the label and following its directions. (This also applies to fertilizers – though I don’t think the OP in this case should be applying any fertilizer.) Not only is there no sense in risking the cat, but the accumulated impact upon the area as a whole, including waterways at some distance from the individual lawn, of people applying unnecessary and/or excessive amounts of substances to their lawns can be considerable.
I’d second talking to your Extension office about which low-growing grasses and/or other ground covers will do well in your area. Also consider reducing the lawn area and putting in perennial plantings that need less care once established – again Extension can help you out with that. What is and isn’t recommended can vary drastically by area.