Dave Weller
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If I'm not willing to water my lawn in the summer...

is there any point of continuing to pay for lawn care ? Earlier this year I got [a] lawn service to spray my yard for weeds/fertilization and a once anti grub x spray. So in all 6 treatments and 1 treatment for grub x, came out to around 325$.

Well now in Ohio it's really starting to get hot like in the 90's. Grass is starting to dry and soon I won't have to cut the lawn often anymore till it starts raining in the Sept or so. They sprayed for weeds like twice I think and did the grub x treatment. So out of the 7 total visits I think they came like 3 times. They got rid of all the weeds that were growing quickly in the spring but their all gone now.

My question is should I call them and cancel the rest of the appointments and save my money ? I mean if the grass is turning yellowish and there is no weeds anymore is there any point of continuing the service if I'm not willing to water my grass?

I will not water my grass cause it cost too much at where I live. I watered my grass once years ago and my water bill was over 300$ for just 3 months. Yeah the grass turns yellowish but it always comes back.

Thanks

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Location: Amherst, MA USDA Zone 5a

I don't see the point.

As for Grub X, why pay for someone to spray to get rid of grubs when birds will do it for a significantly less expense? My mother in law has a heated bird bath hanging off her deck that she can see out her kitchen window. She waters it every day and tosses out bird seed for all the critters. No grub issues in her yard. There is every kind of bird out there, including wild turkeys. She's in a suburban area, close to Mystic, CT, not in the woods in Maine. So it's through her effort that many species of birds have come to call her yard home.

Robins are native to Ohio and overwinter in some places.

Dave Weller
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I'm not feeding a bunch of birds no thanks, also I guess you never had a real grub infestation before.

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webmaster
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Location: Amherst, MA USDA Zone 5a

Sounds like you want to get away from the expense of keeping up a lawn. I agree with you. You're right to want to get away from that.

Check out this book, it's written by a guy named Paul Tukey, he's written an amazing book about getting away from chemicals in lawn care. I can't recommend it any higher. Don't be put off by the title or have a knee jerk reaction to the word organic. The point is that there's a different way to go about lawn care and it might be what you're looking for. The Organic Lawn Care Manual.

You don't have to feed the birds. Just give them some water. I don't have a grub problem because I let all the critters chase each other around. There's a mole out there eating the grubs.

I don't feed the birds because the seeds attract bears. I would like to feed the birds because they're fun to have around but I can't because I don't want a bear problem so I don't. :P

Nevertheless I have many species of birds, two squirrels (one gray and one black), a hawk that hangs out in the big tree at the end of my yard and flies over my house in the afternoon.

I mow the lawn every once in awhile but it's about an acre or more of lawn. Takes me awhile, lol. It's not going to win awards for velvety carpet of grass but it looks really attractive when mowed. I don't do anything to it, not even water it. Except last year when we had a drought and when the drought got bad I stopped.

I'm in New England and in the woods so it takes a bit of effort to keep the ferns and wild carrots from encroaching but it's doable. Beyond that I planted flowers to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

It's a habitat. And so is my MIL's but she's in a suburb. She made it that way. I even saw a wild turkey mom with her babies there over the weekend. She made it a habitat and she doesn't do a thing for her lawn except hire a guy to mow it now and then. Almost all yards can be improved in that manner.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I don't like to water my lawn either. I would rather save the water for plants I actually like. I have gotten rid of most of the lawn and only kept what the HOA required. However, I do have to water it some especially in summer or the weeds will take over. I turn the water off in the rainy season. If I had my druthers, I would rather take out all of the grass and just put in xeriscape plants that don't need a lot of care or water.

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rainbowgardener
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No reason at all to keep fertilizing/ treating grass that has gone dormant.

We had terrible heat and drought last year. I refuse to water lawn also. That means my lawn is now more weeds than grass, since the weeds survive the drought better. You may not have the same experience if your lawn has already been treated for weeds a couple times. I also refuse to put chemicals on my lawn. But kept mowed, the weeds look as green and even as the grass does. We are gradually re-seeding some of the worst spots.



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