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Distasteful aspects of lawn care.

10K views 113 replies 51 participants last post by  moondawg 
#1 ·
While almost everything in yard care, even fall leaf clean up, I find very satisfying, one thing comes to mind that is a real fly in the ointment.

Poplar tree fuzz. My yard is bordered by a dozen Poplars, each at least 24 inches in diameter. From June 1 to June 30 each year, they put out tons of fuzz that drifts like snow in every corner of the yard, drive, and even into the garage. On calm days, my yard looks to be covered by snow and it takes daily vacuum cleaning of the outdoor AC unit, as well as tractor air cleaner...cleaning.:tango_face_sad: If they didn't contribute significant value to the yard, and provide almost full shade, they'd have come down years ago.

This is the only thing I can think of that is distasteful in my yard care work. Anyone have other pet peeves you'd like to off load?
 
#2 ·
.....This is the only thing I can think of that is distasteful in my yard care work...
Apparently, you don't have a dog. ;)

My neighbor has a massive cottonwood tree doing the same thing right now and unfortunately, I live downwind.
 
#3 ·
We have it here and since I live next to a forest reserve area with loads of various trees my place gets hit with the blizzard of fuzz. I have just learned to live with it as it provides a interesting mess. I have found the fuzz even in the house in my computer room so it is what it is.
 
#5 ·
Yepers, here in eastern Washington, we now in many places have Russian Olive tree forrest’s. The smell at times is truly repulsive, and those, who like my wife, that have allergies experience various reactions. None of which are good as you can guess. In the last 10 years, we’ve had 2 major fires in those forests. The property owners AND neighboring residents asked the fire fighters to “LET THOSE #*#$%@^* (Bleeping) BURN”, but were told they were required by law to put the fire out. AND, to add to the stupidity, Russian Olive trees are advertised for sale at many businesses. Some people never get out of controlled environments, house to sealed car, from car into environmentally controlled building and lunch in a nearby environmentally controlled eating establishment. Sadly, a lot of them are the elected officials who write the regulations that limit fire fighting options, not knowing the consequences of those regulations. Oh well, at my age, I only have to feel sorry for people with allergies for a rather limited time.
 
#6 ·
Had a problem at work with air conditioners plugged with cottonwood fuzz. Bought a large piece of household window screen material and wrapped it around the air conditioner. Was easy to remove fuzz with a glove rubbing over the screen. Before we needed a power washer blasting from the inside to the outside to clean the metal grids on the air conditioners.
 
#8 ·
IKWYM about the cotton. Parts of my yard turn white as if it snowed and I run around with my sweeper trying to pick it up. I did say "trying" as it is so fluffy that it won't stay in hopper. It's times like this I wish I had a yard vac or a decent bagging mower. Sometimes, I will mow first to mix it up with grass clippings so it can be swept up.

My tractor has an oil leak so the underside is wet with oil and the cotton sticks to it like baby poop to a mohair blanket. I had to take the pressure washer to it once already and will need to again. I really should pull the motor and fix the leak before it catches on fire but with having to mow every other day since the grass is growing so fast, it will just have to wait. If it burned, I'd have a good excuse to go buy a new one. LOL

As for the A/C unit, it still has the cover on and won't get uncovered until the cotton abates. We also hold off putting up the window screens to keep them from getting full of cotton so between no screens and no A/C, it can get a tad warm in the house.

I trained my dog to poop in the bush so the poop only becomes a problem if I am stomping around in the bush and step in some.
 
#15 ·
Rocks. In my part of Arkansas the ratio of rocks to dirt is 7:1. If you dig a post hole you don't have enough dirt to put around the post after you put it in the hole--not kidding. Makes keeping blades sharp very difficult.

Dad came to visit from SC, asked "Why are there all these rocks lying on top of the ground?" Errr, that IS the ground here dad.
 
#17 ·
Rocks. In my part of Arkansas the ratio of rocks to dirt is 7:1. If you dig a post hole you don't have enough dirt to put around the post after you put it in the hole--not kidding. Makes keeping blades sharp very difficult.



Dad came to visit from SC, asked "Why are there all these rocks lying on top of the ground?" Errr, that IS the ground here dad.
I grew up 14 miles from here. We had rocks like that so I understand. There is a quarry that opened a couple miles from there when I was a kid, and that rock vein is coming towards there. Now it's about 1/4m. away.
I live in the next county over and rarely see a rock when digging. My spring and creek are on a rock bed.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk
 
#25 ·
LOL yes. I had this problem at my old house. luckily they were in a row at the back of the property, only had to make 2 passes under them. You could always tell when the birds were eating them... purple ***** everywhere!
 
#26 ·
Ahh yes I forgot about the berries. I think the ones I have are a Hawthorn but not certain. They grow like weeds and choke out any nearby shrubs or small trees. They are a variety that put out purple berries like a small blueberry. Around here, they come out in late summer early fall. Once fallen from the tree, they turn into a sticky mushy berry that oozes when you touch them and stain whatever they touch.
 
#27 ·
After disassembling my AC cabinet past couple years to get the fuzz out of the cooling fins, I also have tried the window screen wrap. Seems to be a good solution so far. Although this year been so cool and rainy, I'm wondering if I'll even need the AC during June, the fuzz month around here.
 
#28 ·
Weed whacking: I guess I really don't mind this chore that much. My Husqvarna seems to do a pretty good job. Although I've learned to wear my -up to the knee- muck boots as the wet grass in the ditch will bind itself to your jeans otherwise. Just part of my pre tractor cutting routine.
 
#29 ·
Alien(Carl?) Hawthorn are very easy to identify: A 10'high Hawthorn will have 2"-3" long hard and VERY sharp thorns...hence the name hawTHORN, or that's how I think of it! Bob
 
#30 · (Edited)
Living on the main road into the neighborhood I always find a Heineken bottle or a beer can that someone throws out before making the turn in the neighborhood. A lot of people throw their trash out when they drive by. One day I picked up a chicken box and heard a noise it it like small change. I opened it up and found $7.45 in it. The person probably got his change and threw it in the box and after he ate everything threw it out the car. Every Friday morning, I would put the trash out by the driveway. After they pick it up I would see latex gloves everywhere. Then one Friday, I found out where they were coming from. I'm the first pick up for trash on the route, so the trash guys would get out of the truck and put their gear on and put latex gloves on dumping the box of gloves on the ground.
 
#31 ·
My weedwhackin is done with roundup!---cottonwood trees came down as did all mulberries! --- and did I mention I HATE mowing grass???? ----Mostly use the Simp. 20 with the 60" deck. --get's over the ground faster!---don't care what kind of job it does as long as its cut! ---Next choice is the low-boy 185 and 60" woods mower! Roadsides are the worst!
 
#32 ·
I have 380 feet of road frontage on one side and 425 feet of tree line on the other side of the property. So like My Craftsman posted before me I have to pick up after the litterbugs. Chew cans, soda bottles, energy, drinks, half filled bottles of urine, dirty baby diapers. Then there are all the freakin' sticks and limbs to pick up on along the tree line. Two of the trees are horse chestnut trees. There is nothing like getting hit with hard, spike covered golfball and tennis ball size nuts. There is also a boysenberry tree that makes quite a mess. That being said I still love taking care of our place. It gives me a purpose but is also kind of a hobby.
 
#36 ·
Aside from all the cotton, the other thing I hate about these trees is they shed small twigs when it gets a little windy. I walk around picking up cart loads of them. The sweeper doesn't pick them up well and mostly just breaks them into smaller twigs so there are more to pick up by hand.

Today I pulled the cowling off the engine and used the leaf blower to get all the fuzz out of the engine fins and from the tractor. The foam air prefilter was full of it too.
 
#40 ·
I live pretty far out, so, if my yard doesn't look pristine, it really isn't that much of an issue. This year has been excessively wet, so, about a third of my yard simply isn't getting mowed. It would swallow my tractor, and I would never see it again....

The wife and I spent a couple days last fall picking up the sticks and such. Winter was interesting, and come spring, it didn't look like we had done a darn thing last fall..... some pretty significant limbs came down, so, we got to spend another couple days doing yard cleanup again.... I have a couple dead trees on the north side of my property, that should REALLY come down..... Already taken out two of 'em, but, three or four more are still there, and they drop a LOT of stuff. Trouble is, they are in the low area between the old railroad bed, and the dirt road, so there is about a foot of water in there. Not exactly ideal terrain for cutting trees. :)

Week Whacking..... I can't do it any more. I can run the gas string trimmer for about 20 minutes or so, and then I start losing feeling in my hands and arms. (health issues are a major contributor here.....) so, chemicals are the answer. Friend of mine that works for a tree service got me a jug of the stuff they use. Spray it lightly along fence lines, and around buildings, and NOTHING will grow there for a couple years.

I have a fine crop of dandelions..... spraying them individually is a non-starter. I am VASTLY outnumbered, and have three acres and change that I (should) mow. I just don't worry about them. They win. :)

Biggest issue I have is thistles...... the wife made the mistake of having one of the local farmers come and spread manure on the garden area....... the thistles took over. There is a veritable FOREST of them where the garden once was, and I have not come up with a good way to get rid of them. Currently, a third of the garden is covered in black plastic, in hopes that if we leave it there for a year or three, it will kill everything under it. We'll see how that works out......

Wabbits. Since I DO live out in the country, and the soil is rich, and easy to dig, the rabbits love to build nests around the grass near the barn. (it grows the best, the rest of the yard may not need to be mowed, but, it's 8 inches tall around the barn.....) I usually find them by seeing rabbit parts being sprayed out the discharge side of the mower deck. That's just nasty....... and not a darn thing I can do about.... Usually, the dogs will keep the assorted critters in check, but, this year, our smaller dog screwed up her knee, and is on 'bed rest' for the foreseeable future..... (yeah, try convincing HER of that....) So, we don't let them outside to just run around much this year.. She's doing better, so, probably toward the end of summer, she should be good again.

Bees, hornets, wasps..... I have a HUGE crop. Carpenter bees in the eaves of the barn, that think they need to chase me away when I mow down that side. They are idiots, and think that's actually going to work..... (though sometimes it does.....) I have long hair, and the stupid carpenter bees will get tangled up in it, in their efforts to chase me away..... No fun at all. (though, rumor has it, they don't sting??) And the yellow-jackets. Those guys will nest EVERYWHERE....... It's almost a full time job finding and spraying the nests...... Fortunately, they will only use a nest for a single season, then move on. However, others move in, and look for nice places to nest as well...... That's about a once a week exercise.

Yep. We are indeed having fun. :D
 
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