05-08-2013, 05:16 PM
Jim,
I feel for you. I tend to two acres of land here and its a lot of work. The older I get the harder it is do get things done. Last decade I could mow the whole two acres with the push mower in a single morning. Now I need to take a break and have divided it up into two mow days, mowing half the property one day, and half another.... LOL The grass has gotten tougher with time.... its not me.
I don't know what kind of ants you have, the ones around here are beneficial in that they destroy soil pests like the cut worms, they send out armies to hunt those suckers down. As such, I only keep a barrier of diatomaceous earth around the house to keep the ants outside and let the ants have the yard.
Around here I only have to lay in the diatomaceous earth each spring, we don't get much rain in summer, only the wet winters. It also keeps other things out from under the house and in the house, such as our snails which love to climb up the wall of the house, they hate crossing the great diatomaceous earth barrier.
You may want to seriously reconsider the war on insects in general. I have millions of lady bugs, praying mantis and other 'helpful' insects which do the job of keeping down the pests like aphids, cut worms and the like.
You may want to also consider allowing flowering native plants to take over here and there... What some people call weeds can make a beautiful garden. Around here we have wood sorrel which is considered a weed by most people, I have purposefully spread it around the yards and have cut out two months of mowing just by allowing the wood sorrel to take over the yard. It comes in white, pink and yellow - spring time around here is brightly colored.
Clover and other broad leaf ground covers may be more to your liking, they spread out and keep things like Bermuda grass in check. These typically require less mowing than traditional grasses.
Can't help you on the chalking. Get new windows?
There is the saying, a good home is never finished - it relates to the upkeep and continual maintenance.... I suspect its just a ploy to get people to buy more stuff
I feel for you. I tend to two acres of land here and its a lot of work. The older I get the harder it is do get things done. Last decade I could mow the whole two acres with the push mower in a single morning. Now I need to take a break and have divided it up into two mow days, mowing half the property one day, and half another.... LOL The grass has gotten tougher with time.... its not me.
I don't know what kind of ants you have, the ones around here are beneficial in that they destroy soil pests like the cut worms, they send out armies to hunt those suckers down. As such, I only keep a barrier of diatomaceous earth around the house to keep the ants outside and let the ants have the yard.
Around here I only have to lay in the diatomaceous earth each spring, we don't get much rain in summer, only the wet winters. It also keeps other things out from under the house and in the house, such as our snails which love to climb up the wall of the house, they hate crossing the great diatomaceous earth barrier.
You may want to seriously reconsider the war on insects in general. I have millions of lady bugs, praying mantis and other 'helpful' insects which do the job of keeping down the pests like aphids, cut worms and the like.
You may want to also consider allowing flowering native plants to take over here and there... What some people call weeds can make a beautiful garden. Around here we have wood sorrel which is considered a weed by most people, I have purposefully spread it around the yards and have cut out two months of mowing just by allowing the wood sorrel to take over the yard. It comes in white, pink and yellow - spring time around here is brightly colored.
Clover and other broad leaf ground covers may be more to your liking, they spread out and keep things like Bermuda grass in check. These typically require less mowing than traditional grasses.
Can't help you on the chalking. Get new windows?
There is the saying, a good home is never finished - it relates to the upkeep and continual maintenance.... I suspect its just a ploy to get people to buy more stuff
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