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).
You are avoiding the question: Why do you prefer grass to clover?
Whether dandelions or clover is a weed is just your opinion. Anyway, people don’t like dandelions?
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.
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.
No, they really don’t. There are many uses for dandelions, but mostly they make an ugly weed once they go to seed.
Are dandelions those common yellow flowers or those kind of seedy greyish things that you blow to know what time it is?
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.
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.
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)