Do you do your own yard upkeep?

[gackle]

One thing I've heard about lawn services is that they have the potential to spread weeds from yard to yard if you're concerned about that. Weed seeds can collect on the bottom of mowers and if they're not washed off between yards can be spread. I'm not sure how true it is, but it kinda makes sense.

[zetta]

I see a lot of justifying going on here. . .for a "Frugal Forum" and "Savings Advice" forum.

No, seriously, every expense is a judgement call as whether it is a luxury or a necessity. I would say, being that I am an able man, that having a lawn service is a luxury. . .so I do it myself. I was not particularly "green thumbed" when I started but it ain't exactly Rocket Science either.

Just wanted to chime in that it's ok to purchase a luxury as long as you are out of debt and meeting your other financial goals. Sounds like a lot of people here (more than I expected) feel lawn service is a luxury that has a positive impact on their lives.

We have about 1/8 acre (a big yard for our area). DH does the mowing, I do the edging. We often spend weekends (more than I'd like) maintaining raised garden beds, potted plants, trees, and bushes. The majority of our neighbors seem to be using services that run about $75/mo for biweekly mowing/edging and light weeding, "complete care" is at least double. For us the mowing/edging only takes about 30 minutes tops biweekly, so it's not worth hiring someone else to do it. The rest of the work is self-inflicted.

[Aleta]

gackle: That's pretty interesting information about the seed thing. It makes a lot of sense. They just go from one yard to another so it could easily happen.

[PrincessPerky]

Just wanted to chime in that it's ok to purchase a luxury as long as you are out of debt and meeting your other financial goals. Sounds like a lot of people here (more than I expected) feel lawn service is a luxury that has a positive impact on their lives.

Ditto

[MonkeyMama]

Agreed.

No doubt lawn service is a luxury but I didn't know being frugal meant we couldn't have any luxuries. & some luxuries make sense emotionally, physically, mentally, etc. More to life than money. You know I would have said the same thing though - when we made six-figures we never would have considered hiring someone to do work we could do ourselves. But since I Was depressed I had to spend the weekends doing chores and never see my kids, it changed my tune. I made enough money and love my job so why not work a little more to pay for it and have even more time to enjoy with my family.

But I agree on the environmental aspect. I do not like our homewoners association and I hope to move some day. We are thinking of putting desert landscaping or astro turf in the back where it doesn't matter though. We have to keep a patch of green in the front for now. The rules. Terrible waste of chemicals and water in the 110 degree summer heat. All the lawns turn somewhat brown anyway, there is only so much you can do in the high heat. This is another reason I HATE yard wok because I do not use chemicals, takes much longer to pull weeds by hand. & I am terribly afraid of the spiders which we don't spray for either. I can pretty much think of nothing worse than yard work personally, because of these reasons.

But I have a friend who has an astro turf backyard. Genius! I get inspired by some of the desert landscaping in Arizona and Nevada as well. Rocks and cacti - not much upkeep - that is more my speed.

[Elgin526]

Do it ourselves. I think the only people around here that hire it out are seniors, I don't see many landscapers around here. Well, I do, all the landscapers actually live around here! But you know what I mean.

[Aleta]

I think that a yard service is an extra expense that seniors may have to think about for retirement. When people say to figure on 80% of your retirement, I tend to think of all of the jobs that you once did that for whatever reason won't be done by you and that includes painting the house.

[boefixepa]

I do it myself and I have liked learning about the yard and what works. I go to the local IFA store and I spend maybe an average of 15-20 a year on stuff to put on my yard. It's small and the IFA selling a large bags, so one bag and/or bottle last me years. It gets me out of the house so I enjoy that aspect of it too. I also grow a little container garden and I get lots of personal enjoyment out of that.

[DealCrunch]

I couldn't imagine paying someone to do my yardwork. It's great to get outside, get some exercise, and get a nice looking yard in the process.

[Ima saver]

Well I loved it when we first moved in. We did our own landscaping and did a pretty good job, but now it is just too much work. I hope our next property is real wooded, so we can just leave things naturally. I think if I had a small yard like some of you mentioned , it would not be too bad, but we have 2 acres of grass!!

[scfr]

We generally do our own, but have hired help in the past when we felt we needed it:
- For major relandscaping
- For mowing when DH was away for several months (We have a hand-push reel mower and I'm just not strong enough to push it)
- When I hit a very busy time at work and fell behind on the weeding I hired some neighborhood kids who pulled weeds for cheap!

My husband loves trying to make the lawn look like the fairway of a golf course ... He's a bit obsessive about it, actually. But he leaves the pruning and weeding and raking (grunt work) to me and I'll admit I'm not a big fan of yard work. I hope my next house will be very low-maintenance.

We are currently in a home-between-homes rental, and it's really nice to just have to do the minimum to keep our landlord from getting in trouble with the homeowner's association!

For the $20 Challenge this year, I'm giving growing vegetables in containers a shot!

[scfr]

I think that a yard service is an extra expense that seniors may have to think about for retirement. When people say to figure on 80% of your retirement, I tend to think of all of the jobs that you once did that for whatever reason won't be done by you and that includes painting the house.

Excellent point! My late grandparents were avid gardeners, but once they hit 70-ish they just couldn't do it any more. They gave up on their flowers/fruit/vegetables, and hired a man to mow their lawn.

[Gruntina]

Despite the fact we live in the forest and do not have grass, we do however plant trees and shrubs for privacy and a feel of garden. It is our hobby. My fiancé also cuts the trees every two years so they do not catch onto the power line.

The city would do it for us free of charge but if we let them, they would cut down the whole trees and there would be no privacy. We prefer the latter.

[nitajaye]

I live in an apartment complex but I have to take care of my "yard" myself.
My "yard" is a 10' x 10' patio and 2/3's is concrete. I have covered it in mulch with the well placed plants.

I remember as a youngster growing up I would mow our lawn then go to the neighbors behind us then ride the mower, pulling the push mower behind me and go to my grandmothers and do her lawn and then my mom would drive me out to my aunt's and I would mow her acre of land. I loved doing her lawn. I would pull my hair up, put on a halter and shorts and prop my legs up on the fenders and sunbathe while I mowed. My mom and aunt thought I was nuts but didn't complain a whole lot cause the job got done well.

[tgavin71]

Hubby does ours. When we moved into our previous rental acccommodation the yard had very little grass and lots of bare dirt. When we had final inspection a year later the landlord was thrilled to see a lush green lawn. We didn't fertilze or water it (that is what rain is for!). Our secret was to mow without a catcher. It gets the job done in half the time and the mown grass acts as a mulch and because you leave it on the soil doesn't loose any nutrients as they are eventually broken down and reenter the soil. The kids had great fun picking up the grass and moving it to cover the bare dirt. After a while grass started sprouting there too.