Here's a photo of my fieldstone path, lined with boxwoods. If you've never laid one, consider not doing so as it takes a lot of time to solve the puzzle of getting all those rocks to fit. The tree on the left that looks like it's in fall colors is a Flamethrower Redbud. It's the greatest tree I've ever planted, as it's either red, yellow, and orange or red and green. Yeah, it give you fall colors six months a year.

 

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

My property came with a pretty big yard and ever since I bought it, I have been eliminating grass. My garden is a winter garden. I built it to be beautiful in the winter, which I achieved with a LOT of evergreens, punctuated by red-barked, yellow-barked, and exfoliating-barded bushes and trees. It has a lot of boulders too because they're abundant in Maine.

 

I built three flowerbeds abutting the house, all lined with granite cobbles. I also built three, freestanding mounded beds. One has a mass of red twig dogwoods and another has a mass of yellow twig dogwoods. Both give me winter color. I'm building a fire pit right now and hope to finish my Japanese garden this spring.

 

My Japanese garden is my yard's best feature. My first garden won Best of Show in my city. My second was featured in a magazine. My Japanese garden is the culmination of all I learned building the first two gardens. I'm close to finishing. I need to build a red slate patio and add a few more plants, but the skeleton is already there and it's good.

 

I also have seven, high raised beds and just planted asparagus in one. Two have red raspberries. One has black raspberries. One has low bush blueberries. And two have tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet peppers.

 

Paperbark maples line my driveway and I have a double line of Green Giant thujas lining the road.

 

I'm also in the process of planting a line of high bush blueberries. Their leaves will be orange and red in the fall and backdropped by the green thujas, that color combination will really pop. 

 

In the end, I want just enough grass to rest the eye, but grass for a gardener is a dead zone that doesn't support life. A garden buzzes with bees and birds. A lawn is silent. I sometimes look out the window and see 80 Goldfinches, as well as Robins, Bluebirds, Chickadees, Mourning doves, Hairy and Downy woodpeckers, turkeys, crows, gray squirrels, ground squirrels, red squirrels, etc. It's busy out there because my garden supports them.

 

Finally, I have a dozen Japanese maples, which might seem like overkill, but my last property had 82. I also have an abundance of blue evergreens, like tree form junipers and various spruces, both tree and bush form. They thrive in my garden's climate, so I keep buying more. 

Wow!  My first thought was to try hiring and bringing you to Arkansas during one of your Maine winters.  You could landscape my badly neglected yard while Bass and Trout fishing at the same time.  My second thought is " bad idea".  When you returned to Maine I would be stuck doing the maintenance on all your work.  All kidding aside, what you have described is beyond impressive!

3 minutes ago, Tackleholic said:

When you returned to Maine I would be stuck doing the maintenance on all your work. 

 

Ha! I do try to lessen maintenance. For example, look at the outside of  the boxwood beds on both sides of my path. They have edgers designed to run mower wheels over them. And the boxwood beds are coated with mulch. Still, there is some work, but I'm happy working in the dirt. 

 

5 minutes ago, Tackleholic said:

All kidding aside, what you have described is beyond impressive!

 

Thank you. Here's part of another garden I made. What you can't see is the Secret Garden, the Tea Garden, the patio, and the orchard.

 

 

15 minutes ago, Tackleholic said:

My first thought was to try hiring and bringing you to Arkansas during one of your Maine winters.  You could landscape my badly neglected yard while Bass and Trout fishing at the same time.

 

You had me at "fishing."

 

note to self:

 

never post a photo of my yard.  ever.

7 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Ha! I do try to lessen maintenance. For example, look at the outside of  the boxwood beds on both sides of my path. They have edgers designed to run mower wheels over them. And the boxwood beds are coated with mulch. Still, there is some work, but I'm happy working in the dirt. 

 

 

Thank you. Here's part of another garden I made. What you can't see is the Secret Garden, the Tea Garden, the patio, and the orchard.

 

 

 

You had me at "fishing."

 

I don't know how you find time for fishing.

Nope I'm retired and live in a condo so the HOA covers it & we cover the HOA,

9 hours ago, Junger said:

My two boys do the mowing, edging, and picking up sticks/debris. They're not professionals, and my yard reflects it, but they get better every season and they're learning work ethic and that's what matters to me.

 

That's exactly what I had to do growing up too.  It was required otherwise I was shown the door.  Might sound a bit harsh but I believe it greatly benefits a life long work ethic.

5 hours ago, gim said:

 

That's exactly what I had to do growing up too.  It was required otherwise I was shown the door.  Might sound a bit harsh but I believe it greatly benefits a life long work ethic.

me too.  I had hay fever bad!!  my pops got me a dust mask...which I immediately coated the interior with snot.  hahah..  we had this edger that was essentially an electric motor with a long handle.  it has in inline switch to turn it on..and it stayed on unless you felt down the cord and found that switch.   the spinning wires were replaceable hard wire you clipped on.  zero protection from the spinning wires.  the most dangerous tool I have ever operated.  no kill switch, no guard, no eye protection.  I wish I could find a pic of one.  it was like dangerous!!!  I worked that thing like a pro when I was maybe 8years old.  today, child protective services would have had words to say.  hahahaha...  I lived. 

I found a pic!!! this one has a guard..  ours didnt.

 

 

Are any of you old enough to remember mowing your parents lawn with a reel type push mower?  I can't help but wonder how the majority of today's youth would react to one of those.

3 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

Are any of you old enough to remember mowing your parents lawn with a reel type push mower?  I can't help but wonder how the majority of today's youth would react to one of those.

Yep, had one of those...and made money doing neighbors lawns with it as well. Had the rear catcher so I didn't have to rake up the clippings.

My mom still has a Reel mower. It has a soothing sound 

reel mower was luxury!!  i had (TRUE STORY) to get on my knees and go around the house with this pair of hand shears.  the shears had the blades in a horizontal orientation,  and the squeeze handles were in a vertical orientation.  the shears were made to trim the grass the mower couldnt cut, right next to the house foundation.    i scissored around the house when i was 8!  hahah..i still remember the blisters.  the shears were too big for me and rubbed my hands wrong.  

44 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

reel mower was luxury!!  i had (TRUE STORY) to get on my knees and go around the house with this pair of hand shears.  the shears had the blades in a horizontal orientation,  and the squeeze handles were in a vertical orientation.  the shears were made to trim the grass the mower couldnt cut, right next to the house foundation.    i scissored around the house when i was 8!  hahah..i still remember the blisters.  the shears were too big for me and rubbed my hands wrong.  

Brings back memories from the 1940's and 50's.  Could be the reason why I am so adverse to yard work today.

Fishing doesn’t hinder me with my lawn/shrubs as much as my age…😅

 

I also work 2 jobs. I do ALL my lawn / shrub maintenance.

when I get around to it …

Like @A-Jay and @gim, I take great pride in taking care of my yard and property.

 

Live on the edge of a small villiage..our ~3 acres back up to corn and bean fields.

 

Best part, I get to drive this bad-boy for roughly 2 hours a week. It's equipped with a Yanmar 23hp 3 cylinder diesel engine, power steering, power deck lift, water cooled, cruise control, two wheel drive (I looked at a 4 wheel drive...but this one had less hours). In the winter the 60" deck gets swapped out for a 54" two stage snow blower.

 

I fish mainly on weekends, so weekdays the yard / property get lots of attention.

 

Like @Dwight Hottle, I also live in a condo. No matter how much I fish my yard always looks great 😊 

18 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

Are any of you old enough to remember mowing your parents lawn with a reel type push mower?  I can't help but wonder how the majority of today's youth would react to one of those.

Yes.

Use to push one around in the late 60's .

Problem is we had big dogs and I'd fly through the mounds and got covered in do-do 😳

20 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

Are any of you old enough to remember mowing your parents lawn with a reel type push mower?  I can't help but wonder how the majority of today's youth would react to one of those.

 

I've never seen one other than on TV or in a movie.

 

If I actually saw somone using one I'd question their mental capacity at this point.  I imagine it belongs in a museum now.  Not being used with actual grass.

14 minutes ago, gim said:

 

I've never seen one other than on TV or in a movie.

 

If I actually saw somone using one I'd question their mental capacity at this point.  I imagine it belongs in a museum now.  Not being used with actual grass.

They cut pretty well! Haha. My buddy’s kid saw the one at my moms and cut her front yard with it 

As long as we're on the topic of lawn mowing.

 

I'm thinking of upgrading this season.  Some of my suburban neighbors have transitioned to battery powered versions.  I'm not for or against a gas or battery version and would like to hear what people think.  My yard is a suburban one that sits on 0.38 acres.  Right now I have a self propelled gas version and it takes me about 90 minutes.

 

I am and will not consider a manual fossil that has been mentioned already.

10 hours ago, gim said:

 

I've never seen one other than on TV or in a movie.

 

If I actually saw somone using one I'd question their mental capacity at this point.  I imagine it belongs in a museum now.  Not being used with actual grass.

You must be one of those "today's youth" I previously referred to.

On 4/8/2025 at 11:29 PM, Tackleholic said:

Are any of you old enough to remember mowing your parents lawn with a reel type push mower?  I can't help but wonder how the majority of today's youth would react to one of those.

Im only 33 but my parents made me mow the lawn when I was a kid with one of those. And I remember it didn’t actually cut the grass. It just built character apparently. 

You can still get the manual mowers for under a $100.

Most are 14" - 18" cut, not much.

 

If I remember correctly, 

Tall grass required a running start and jamming would occur.

My youngest daughter bought a Green works electric push mower and loves it.

2 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

You must be one of those "today's youth" I previously referred to.

 

@Swamp Girl, That is some impressive landscaping! When you finish at @Tackleholic house, I live in south Arkansas, gonna need you to work on our place too! 
 

As far as our yards suffering, I pay a local guy to mow at both houses. Hopefully we’ll be down to one house soon. 🤞