# What's the deal with lawns? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894 "2009-11-01T00:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/41 "2009-11-03T00:52:10Z")
> [@silk1976](#): > > But I think JKilez point does have some validity - if left untamed, clover can take over. However, I’d much rather be fighting clover than crabgrass. Umm… I guess I agree with your agreement! I was not trying to say that white clover is some insidious pest that needs to be eradicated; for the most part it is harmless and has some benefits (filling out a lawn and enriching the soil). Left unabated, however, it can help bring a weak lawn down as it will thrive when the grass is struggling. I personally do not mind have a sprinkling of it in my lawn. As you note, it is certainly more favorable than grabgrass (or red clover for that matter). ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/42 "2009-11-03T01:15:54Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Clover is often considered a broad-leaf weed. It is undesirable as it can take over a lawn starving the wanted grass of nutrients and sunshine. You are avoiding the question: Why do you prefer grass to clover? > [@Dangerosa](#): > > Clover doesn’t handle traffic well and is something the neighbors are trying to keep out of their grass. Don’t plant invasive weeds - they become your neighbors problem. Clover is a step up from creeping charlie or dandelions. All have their place and can be very charming - outside of the suburban lawn. Whether dandelions or clover is a weed is just your opinion. Anyway, people don’t like _dandelions_? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/43 "2009-11-03T04:56:36Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Are you even bothering to read these posts? _Your_ situation is not the same as everyone else’s. 3 trees? That’s a _trivial_ amount of leaves. > > And don’t assume that everyone is tossing their leaves out. As I mentioned earlier I put aside a small portion for composting and gardening. I can’t use them all because they are just way too many. They are useful, but one can have too much of a good thing. Sigh. That would be 3 trees worth of leaves raked into 1 pile and then mowed in place. It is far more leaves per square foot than you could possible ever see on a lawn. The following year the grass in that spot was the healthiest of the whole lawn. You CAN mow leaves into the lawn if you so desire. My point is that the time spent raking and bagging can be substituted by multiple passes of a lawn mower. The leaves HAVE to be dry to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/44 "2009-11-03T05:23:42Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I kind of have to do a combination of both. I get so many leaves that if I raked and bagged them would fill 60+ bags. > I run the mower over them to chop them into a fine mulch. That does leave a heavy mulch on my lawn so I do run a rake over that which helps get the finer particles down to the soil. I end up having to bag maybe 3-4 loads of excess mulched leaves. Sure beats the 60+ bags though. We lived there for 13 years and tried everything possible to not have to rake. We finally got it down to a routine that left the lawn pretty clear. We had 4 oaks approximately 150 years old and about twelve that were around 40-60 years old. It was more like woods so too many leaves left would make a forest floor situation and being on the north side of a hill the leaves would just stay in a sodden mess if left. We would leave just enough to cover the non grass garden areas near the fence. Before we got the fence it was great, the leaves would blow away. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/45 "2009-11-03T06:01:48Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > \Anyway, people don’t like _dandelions_? No, they really don’t. There are many uses for dandelions, but mostly they make an ugly weed once they go to seed. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/46 "2009-11-03T06:03:44Z")
Are dandelions those common yellow flowers or those kind of seedy greyish things that you blow to know what time it is? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/47 "2009-11-03T06:09:09Z")
They start off as yellow flowers and then turn into the poofy things that blow away as they go to seed. They’re fast, too. Leaves: we mow/mulch part, compost some, and put quite a lot out for the city to take away. They have this giant compost farm out by the airport. Raking is fun and good exercise, pleasant for the kids–we enjoy raking. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/48 "2009-11-03T12:33:12Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Well, I think you could debate it, but to say that it is “downright wrong” would in itself be incorrect. Do not conflate things that are good for the _soil_ with things that are good for competing _plants_. If a plant blocks sunlight and absorbs water that another species would otherwise use, it will have a detrimental effect on the other plant. […] As I said in a previous post, we had a patch of white clover that was crowding out the grass, but after several years, it improved the soil enough that the grass was much healthier. The clover is still there, but it’s now mostly grass. In patches where clover has come more recently, including a spot in the lawn where the soil has always been bad, the grass that is still there is greener and healthier. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894/49 "2009-11-03T14:14:09Z")
> [@valleyofthedolls](#): > > What’s wrong with fences around lawns? A friend was telling me about a relative of hers who put up a fence around her lawn. She lived right next to a street and had a young child with a tendency to bolt out of the house and into harm’s way. Before she installed the fence, this woman went around to all of her neighbors to apologize and explain exactly why she was putting up this (very expensive, wooden) fence. I can understand why people wouldn’t care to see chain link but nice looking, well-maintained fences? Does anyone have a problem with these? I think it could have been that the woman was worried that her neighbors might see the fence as being unfriendly and withdrawing from the neighborhood. Without a fence, everyone can hang out, see each other, play tag on each other’s lawns, and so forth. A fence can be ‘I don’t want any of you jerks being part of my life; just keep out!’. And remember, golf-course lawns can be a competition. Having the greenest, most immaculate lawn is like having the most expensive car or watch or fastest computer or whatever. (for people who are into that kind of competition) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-lawns/515894.md?page=2)