We have lived at our residence for twenty years. In that time, the yard has seen anything and everything weather in the Northeast US can provide. Thirty inches of snow and ice at once. Eight inches of rain in an hour. Two months with 90 degree temperatures and no rain. Numerous demented squirrels.
You can find great advice on the Internet about taking care of your lawn and in many cases it is contradictory. The only foolproof advice I have ever gotten for lawn care actually came from my wife. It was the year I accidentally grabbed the nonselective herbicide RoundUp instead of the selective herbicide Ortho Weed Clear and sprayed several dandelions in the front yard with it.
After we examined all the deceased grass in the wake of making that unfortunate substitution, Mrs. B’s sage advice was if I ever did that again, she would round up my sports memorabilia and spray RoundUp on it.
One of the things I obsess over is when to execute the very last mow of the year, trying to guess when grass-growing will slow to a crawl, as well as how high to leave the lawn for the off-season. Ten years ago, there was a particularly snowy and icy period one Fall before the yard had a chance to freeze, and with the grass sitting higher than I’d usually let it go, we had a resulting touch of what I learned later was snow mold. Snow mold does not do any permanent damage, but it was weird seeing parts of the lawn a shade of pink. At least we were fortunate enough to get the more colorful version, as the other shade of snow mold is apparently a very dull gray. However, you might not be shocked a partially pink yard isn’t that visually appealing either, so the goal since that incident is to keep any snow mold from happening so the lawn has a quieter transition into and out of dormancy.
I am admittedly a bit melancholy when the last mow of the year takes place. While the front yard here is for the most part level, the lawn on both sides of the house slope down severely through the backyard until it reaches the invisible property line shared with the home behind us. Push-mowing our yard provides good exercise, and when not mowing for a few months, I do try to incorporate other activities to replace it. Snowfall removal certainly gets the blood pumping, but that activity is sporadic as we don’t get quite as much snow as we used to. In any event, it is a good thing I am a “winter person” to begin with, as I do like to get outside no matter what the weather. I’ve been known to go to the basketball courts in the park and shoot hoops in snow flurries.
I’ve also been known to mow the lawn in snow flurries. I’m actually a bit of a celebrity in that regard. One of my neighbors told me after one late-year mow several years ago, I had been a source of great amusement for both her and her husband.
“Hey honey, come look. Bruce is mowing in the snow.”
Maybe I try a little too hard to coordinate and calculate the end of the growing season, getting the length of the grass just right. For those who enjoy lawncare analytics (no one), looking back over the last ten years my final mow of the year has occurred as follows:
2015 – 10/31
2016 – 11/19
2017 – 11/20
2018 – 11/8
2019 – 11/1
2020 – 11/20
2021 – 11/10
2022 – 11/10
2023 – 11/8
2024 – 10/15
(The irony is not lost on me the fact I have these dates may very well be a sign I take this too seriously….)
In any event, I am monitoring all the weather forecasts, examining the length of the blades of grass, and trying to time that final mow perfectly to ensure the yard has the best chance of staying greenish instead of pinkish. Or grayish. I know if it changes colors again, the lawn will eventually be fine, but I don’t want the yard to be stressed.
I could hire a lawn service to keep myself from being stressed, but could I ever put my yard in the hands of others, even if they appear to be as competent as I am?
Pictures Courtesy Advanced Turf/Great Lakes Landcare/Universal Studios
Doing it yourself is the only way to guarantee it is done to your exacting standards. I salute you in that regards!
But keeping track of the dates? That seems a wee bit much 😉
Yes…let me make a note of that.😁
Hahahahahaha!
I learned a new term- snow mold. I suppose if it happens you could just advertise your yard as an abstract art installation. Maybe even charge a nominal viewing fee? Keeping those dates, if you are scientifically inclined, could be tied into a record of things like climate change, precipitation trends, global warming, etc. not just your possible quirky personal choices. I think I’d suggest going with that. Makes you sound very weather aware and conscientous 🙂
Deb, I think if the snow mold ever happens again I might do just that…put a sign out and lean into portraying I wanted the lawn to look like that.😊
You sound just like my husband. We used to call him the Lawn Ranger due to his obsession with grass. This year was beyond challenging due to our drought conditions and we had awful dead patches scattered here and there. He thought he was done mowing for year last week and sent his tractor to the shop for maintenance, then had to break it back out again when it rained. We mow almost 3 acres, some with a push, some with a tractor. It’s hard to keep it looking uniform.
I knew you guys had a nice-sized property. We had an acre to take care of once, and that was a riding mower/push mower job to be sure. It sounds like you had the drought we had last year. I really thought the lawn would never come back…just brutal.
I enjoyed this post very much, Bruce. In northern Ohio, my dad had a theory that Nov. 15 was the cutoff for the last cut because after Nov. 15 the sun was hardly seen again until at least March.
Your story of mowing in snow flurries brought back a happy memory of my father and I trying to squeeze in nine holes of golf in northern Ohio in late November. Weather started out mild on the first tee and by the ninth hole we were having to stop every few feet and push snow off our cleats.
Mark, you made my day reporting in on that golf memory with your father. I golfed when I was in high school, and can identify with being out in the elements when they turned on a dime, especially at that time of year. From November on, people have to have orange golf balls packed in their bags just in case.
I wish I kept a record of the last day I mowed the weeds because I do like to celebrate such events. I am currently waiting for the last day of the fruit flies in the kitchen, so I can Blog about it this year.
It has been a very light fruit fly year here, and I am happy to say for my sake I’ve never captured any of those expiration dates.
I love that you record your last mow of each year, Bruce! I record when we turn on the A/C and heat every year. And the temp we keep it at. No. We are analytical. Definitely not OCD.
Here in FL, it’s when to stop watering the lawns, but it is always before Nov 11. That date starts the city’s 3-month water averaging to determine our water bill for the rest of the year.
Whoever said homeownership was easy?!
That city water bill thingy sounds like “fun.” I guess we’re lucky here to be able to just pay as we go for whatever we take, although they do make a habit of pointing out how much usage we have compared to the average customer. Who cares about that? We are above average customers!
Haha. Bruce, it definitely sounds like you’ve become the expert. Avoid the lawn minions if possible. The minions here are dishonest to the point of evil. If you can even find an evil minion…
I got a kick out of “Numerous demented squirrels.” There’s one here who arranges pecans in a straight line under my living room window. He doesn’t burry them… just lines them up. Hugs to you and Mrs. B.
Teagan, that squirrel sounds so adorable. I think some of them enjoy the collecting even more than the eating…like enjoying the journey more than the destination. Hugs.
When I lived in the country I had a small push mower and it took five hours to cut the grass. I spread the job over three days. But even though I loved to complain, I really enjoyed doing it. Few, if any, things give the same sense of satisfaction.
I was getting ready to comment something along the lines of “you take this too seriously” but you beat me to it. But I also spent time mulling the timing of the final cut. Just didn’t want things looking too gnarly when the snow melted in the spring.
Five hours of push-mowing over three days sounds most challenging and quite fun at the same time. I would like to think I would have felt the same way in terms of a job well done.
Thanks for he giggles. You clearly take pride in your lawn. I say keep doing it and tracking the dates.
You are welcome, G. It won’t be long now!
Excellent! 🤓🥂
The final mow of the season is to be celebrated with a beer! My last mow usually goes a little later. WE have some woods behind our house and thanks to a hill, my neighor’s trees like to shed their leaves on my property. I tend to use the mower to help with the leaf collecting. Oh, the fun, but still something to celebrated. Ha, ha.
Brian, even though we have zero trees on our property, due to the location of other trees around us we certainly still have Fall clean-up ahead of us.
That’s a new onw on me, snow mowing…smowing…snowing. You and my dad would have a lot to talk about!
I am sure that would be a wonderful conversation.😊
Bruce! I love this column. Believe it or not, I’m in a mowing league. I know what you’re thinking…. can I join too? For sure! It’s called the “Thursday Night Mowing League”, the TNML. It’s a real thing. It’s really fun too. Guys post their mows on X and one can learn lots of stuff about lawncare too.
I’m loving that you recorded the last mow dates over the years. I sometimes write mine on the calendar, but I’m not as organized as you. I do believe I usually go into December. A few years ago, I know it was on Christmas break, I think December 30. I KNOW! It was a mild winter. I wanted to get rid of the leaves and stuff.
Check out the TNML at https://x.com/OutKickTNML
Thanks!
Reid
Reid, this is awesome stuff, man. I can’t wait to tell Mrs. B you mowed two days before the New Year. I get wanting to at least knock the leaves down to a manageable level. I like leaving them on to a point, but where we used to live if we didn’t mow them late in the year the lawn would have died. TNML rules!
I remember when we got snow mold. Pink is a lovely color. True, our winters haven’t been as harsh recently. I remember when we had to get a roof rake, and use the snow blower to get to all sides. Hopefully never again. Now, the roof rake gets the leaves off the pool cover in the spring. This was a fun post, Bruce.
Thanks, Jennie…and I am very happy to hear the roof rake regrouped and found a new career!😄
Yes! Imagine explaining a roof rake to our more southern relatives. 😂
I enjoyed your story, Bruce! In the south we have Kentucky 57 Bluegrass and Bermuda (wire grass) The latter dies back all winter whereas the blugrass stays green most of the winter.
My policy is if its green and growing I mow it. If it has leave on it I mow them up! Works great for me.
Thanks, Dwight. Our lawns here hang in there as long as they can when it comes to staying green. And, we appreciate their effort!
You are welcome, Bruce. I still have a couple more weeks. We still have not had our first frost!
Lulu: “I am always up for rolling around in the grass, no matter what color it is!”
Lulu, that’s just how you roll!
The snowman costume looks good on you, Bruce! ✌🏼😊
Charly, it wasn’t snowing that bad but yeah…I did have snow on my jacket.❄️❄️❄️
English men are renowned for being obsessed with mowing the lawn, they are not alone apparently. Now we should all be rewilding and NOT killing dandelions. I do cut the grass on most of the back ‘lawn’ so I can get at the washing line, we can sit out and the grandchildren can play. Other grassy areas are rewilded, pretty grass seeds waving gently in in the wind….
I will claim to be obsessed the lawn is always green. But…it doesn’t have to be all grass. Last year, our 30+ days without rain in September pretty much finished off the lawn, so I rehabbed it with a mix of clover and grass seed, especially since we had some clover already in the lawn. The grass and clover are enjoying each other’s company now…and I have some greater insurance the lawn will stay green. Love the rewilding efforts everywhere.
I enjoyed reading this post, Bruce. I’ve deduced that we both might be sports junkies after reading your post as well as guys who actually like to mow.
We have 2/3 of an acre, which I foolishly tried to mow with my push mower the first time when we moved here (redwood country of California right on the ocean). After six hours, I was still not done and went out and bought a riding mower. Now, I cruise around ala Forrest Gump. We have gophers, moles, and I think voles in our yard, eing equally opportunity providers to all rodents who want to destroy our lawn. 😊
I don’t collect much sports memorabilia, but I can talk sports for hours. My wife and I have been going through football withdrawls this year as our son has been involved in the game for the last eighteen years after playing in junior high, high school, college, and then coaching college ball for eight years. Even though I know he still loved it, he has a son now and needed to be at home more, so he switched careers. He’s making more money and works fulltime at home. I’m proud of him for considering his family’s needs first.
Thanks, Pete. I am a total sports junkie, and it is also nice to connect with a fellow mowing “advocate.” I enjoyed a zero-turn radius riding mower at our prior residence, and managed to live through the experience on some rough terrain. At our current home, we have the afore-mentioned squirrels, as well as rabbits and groundhogs. All parties play nice with one another. Your son sounds like he made a very wise decision to pivot to a more stable lifestyle for himself and his family. If you like talking sports, I hope you’ll visit again. I don’t find a ton of folks looking for sports on WordPress, but I plan on sharing sports takes here as well. Thanks for stopping by!
Bruce, I think the only one at risk of getting stressed out is you lol. Your keeping a date log on when you last mowed is fascinating and a great source of amusement, so it does have value. Where I live you can’t make the grass stop growing. That said, it’s a mish-mash of varieties, a grass studier’s Nirvana.
Lisa, my wife considers me a great source of amusement also. I’m ok with our lawn being a mish-mash too. As long as it stays primarily green-ish, we welcome all varieties!
Exactly 🙂
“round up my sports memorabilia and spray RoundUp on it”…yep…that threat…no promise is the better word will work!
I had to chuckle when I saw the dates! You REALLY take it seriously! I’m in the south so I thought the dates would be earlier. October is when I usually mow for the last time in a year. You would think mine would be later than yours.
By looking at the dates you kept and how you take it seriously…something tells me, you would never be happy with a lawn service!
So, if you now the lawn during a snow flurry, do you use a Snowmowbile?
If I were to use a snowmobile on this particular lawn, it would surely wind up on top of me. Thanks for stopping by here!
Max, you are correct. I could never be happy with a lawn service. I am an overly-organized person, so keeping those dates kinda is my jam. I may not take lawn care as seriously as it sounds though. I just want green-ish!
I hear ya! I would LOVE to have one of those perfect green lawns…but I don’t think I have it in me.
I love that list of last dates. You are a serious mower! There’s no way you can ever pass this to someone else. It reminds me of my Mom who is now 89 years old. She cannot delegate her lawn to just anyone, because she claims her lawn is “too complicated.” I have a sense that there is a being in the equation that is “too complicated” and it might not be the grass. 🙂 But if you can keep it up yourself until you are in your 90s, that is a success.
I love your Mom not “complicating” things by having instead reconciled herself to the fact her lawn can’t be cared for by just anyone.😊I will soldier on taking the leadership role for mine.