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Lawn dilemma

T

timH

pfm Member
Father-in-law died at beginning of September and one of the many things we’re trying to sort out is care of his beloved lawn which was one of his two lifelong passions. He was a member of the same golf club from age 15 to his death at 84. And lawns and areas of grass were not just his hobby but also his business (irrigation systems). Anyway mother-in-law is struggling to maintain lawn with a self propelled petrol mower. Lawn is say 30m x 20m and she is 78.
We have two questions
1. Would a cordless mower give her the stripes he loved and
2 what should the frequency of mowing be in each season (she’s in Surrey)

I’m of the opinion she should get a gardener who could use the existing mower so the answer to question two could be used to give us an idea of how much that might cost her
 
timH said:
Father-in-law died at beginning of September and one of the many things we’re trying to sort out is care of his beloved lawn which was one of his two lifelong passions. He was a member of the same golf club from age 15 to his death at 84. And lawns and areas of grass were not just his hobby but also his business (irrigation systems). Anyway mother-in-law is struggling to maintain lawn with a self propelled petrol mower. Lawn is say 30m x 20m and she is 78.
We have two questions
1. Would a cordless mower give her the stripes he loved and
2 what should the frequency of mowing be in each season (she’s in Surrey)

I’m of the opinion she should get a gardener who could use the existing mower so the answer to question two could be used to give us an idea of how much that might cost her
Click to expand...
Not an expert, but as I understand it:
1. No. You need the weight of the rollers to create the striped effect.
2. Once a week during the peak growing season if you want it to look impeccable. Every two weeks might be more realistic, but spacing it out more than that will not maintain the lawn to the level your FiL would have liked.

A gardener seems the obvious way to go if your MiL can afford it. The gardener can also take care of all the other stuff that needs to be done and that your MiL will struggle to do on her own: fertilizing, spiking/airing, etc.
 
Thanks for that. Should it still be cut regularly throughout the winter (I have no idea because we just have a postage stamp of grass now and we let it run free and brag that we’re doing it for the wildlife)
 
timH said:
Thanks for that. Should it still be cut regularly throughout the winter (I have no idea because we just have a postage stamp of grass now and we let it run free and brag that we’re doing it for the wildlife)
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No, everything slows down and you don't need to mow between late autumn and mid-spring.
 
Stripes are produced by cylinder mowers as they "drag" the grass towards the shear - the grass is all dragged in one direction on each cut. Nothing really to do with weight or the roller on a cylinder mower.

Best option - find a local, retired person who does odd-job gardening. Paying a professional to achieve what you have mentioned would be eye-wateringly expensive.

Frequency of cut, any time of year depends entirely upon personal preferences, rain/watering and night-time temperature (if memory serves, grass stops growing when night-time temp's drop under 7C) - in other words - how long do you want it to get before cutting.
Super-keen lawn-owners will be cutting every day during peak growing season. Golf greens will be cut more often than that.
 
timH said:
Father-in-law died at beginning of September and one of the many things we’re trying to sort out is care of his beloved lawn which was one of his two lifelong passions. He was a member of the same golf club from age 15 to his death at 84. And lawns and areas of grass were not just his hobby but also his business (irrigation systems). Anyway mother-in-law is struggling to maintain lawn with a self propelled petrol mower. Lawn is say 30m x 20m and she is 78.
We have two questions
1. Would a cordless mower give her the stripes he loved and
2 what should the frequency of mowing be in each season (she’s in Surrey)

I’m of the opinion she should get a gardener who could use the existing mower so the answer to question two could be used to give us an idea of how much that might cost her
Click to expand...

I think that if she's proud of her lawn, loves it, then she should get a gardener. From mid April to mid June, I would cut ornamental lawns I could see from the house twice a week. I'm fit and strong -- but cutting lawns was too much for me in summer. Even though it's only once a week or less when it's hot, it's the last thing I want to do in the humid heat of Surrey in July and August. I gave up on stripes -- they're hard work and didn't seem to last long.

I would say she should get a specialist lawn company to maintain it if possible -- they will time their visits appropriately and do a proper job -- which is more than just a cut if you're lawn-proud. Weeding, getting the moss out, dealing with die back etc -- if you don't do it then your lawn will deteriorate after a couple of years.

Where I am in Wimbledon, there people used to be very good.

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Vinny's suggestion (which I've just seen) of getting a cheap odd job person to do it will certainly help keep the length down. It's certainly something to explore, see what you can get, and whether the resultant lawn is satisfactory.
 
I rent a Husqvarna automatic lawnmower. It is excellent, keeps the grass short and neat and the finished texture is very acceptable. The device goes out for several hours every 2 or 3 days. No bits to pick up. On a cost basis it is very compettitive with employing a human to guide round a regular mower.
 
Much depends on the individual lawn but many benefit from raking or scarifying, aerating eg by spiking or slicing. Then there’s overseeding. There’s lots to do at certain times, it’s not just about mowing if you want a really good lawn.
 
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as above. Stripes are a manual cut affair only and a lawnmower with a roller is the only way. No rotaries, no robot movers, just a human marching slowly and carefully up and down.
Frequency is weather dependant but she'll want to cut it at least once a week for perfection. Gardeners here go from minimum wage to twice that, but if it's mow only there is no real expertise needed once mower height is understood. For a real bowling green look, the lawn will need to be fed/weed and moss killed/aerated and mown all at the right times, but theres a ton of info on line. Forget any comparison to a nature friendly garden. this is the diametric opposite. Think rulers, a complete lack of all signs of life and enough chemicals to start a factory!
 
You can get rotaries with rollers and they do very good stripes. I had a hayter befor my current cylinder mower and the stripes were great.
 
Thanks all. Gonna try to persuade her to get just a basic gardener and that way she can do the flowers and stuff she enjoys.
 
PsB said:
No, everything slows down and you don't need to mow between late autumn and mid-spring.
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I respectfully disagree. Grass grows, albeit slowly, if the temperature is above circa 4 deg c. Certainly mowing not needed as often but we usually mow once a month in Nov, Dec and occasionally Jan/ Feb. By March, it's growing again. Years ago, this wasn't necessary but mild winters recently have changed that.
 
Martian Sunrise said:
You can get rotaries with rollers and they do very good stripes. I had a hayter befor my current cylinder mower and the stripes were great.
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The stripes are simply made by having a rear roller on any type of mower. The 4 wheeled ones, without a roller, don't stripe.
 
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timH said:
Thanks all. Gonna try to persuade her to get just a basic gardener and that way she can do the flowers and stuff she enjoys.
Click to expand...

Very wise, though you might save some money by inspiring her with Andrew Marvell's poem Damon the Mower

I am the Mower Damon, known
Through all the meadows I have mown.
On me the morn her dew distills
Before her darling daffodils.
And, if at noon my toil me heat,
The sun himself licks off my sweat.
While, going home, the evening sweet
In cowslip-water bathes my feet.
 
I've known more than a few people hand over their lawn maintenance to Green Thumb with pretty decent results.

Depends how good your local one is of course.
 
With the effort that her late husband put into it, and the results she’s used to seeing when she looks out the window, it’s well worth getting a gardener in, but I’d personally look at a lawn care company if affordable for her, they’ll get the job done well, and because the father has done all the groundwork they’ll enjoy doing it and I’m sure the results would be fabulous.
 
I used Atco (now Allett) cylinder mowers for almost 40 years on and off in my fathers garden with lovely striped results. After a year of poor health on my part that lawn really has suffered with lots of weeds and moss taking over.

If I still had it the cylinder mower would have no chance of cutting it now bearing in mind it was cut very low maybe 6 or 7mm in its prime. I guess I could scarify it but really I can’t be arsed, it’s green and looks fine to the neighbors.

A powered rotary mower will be purchased next year which will take it down to around 22mm according to the specs which is good enough for me.

Only advice is get onto it or pay someone as if left it will start to deteriorate in quality which means more work later on. If you have a decent mower already get someone local in to cut it using your fathers old machine.
 
timH said:
Thanks all. Gonna try to persuade her to get just a basic gardener and that way she can do the flowers and stuff she enjoys.
Click to expand...
Definitely this. Lawns are really boring/laborious to maintain and 20m x 30m is quite big even for a fit 78 yo. I would also say your MiL is not obliged to maintain it to the same level as her husband did...
 
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