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I finally got around to the latest round of mowing the grass at our new place yesterday. I spent a couple of hours and got through one section over behind the dam - about 20% of the total grass area at present. My arms are sore and the whole thing is made worse by the knowledge that, with summer arriving and lots of recent rain, I won't get through the whole thing before I need to start back at the beginning.
You need to get yourself a nice big ride-on with a leather upholstered driver's seat and a humedor in the glove box and a beer chiller in the arm rest.
We will be keeping the grass to a minimum when we get around to landscaping (apart from a large area out the back for the kids to play on and a small lawn out the front). In the meantime, I need to keep things under control, because landscaping is time-consuming and expensive, so won't be started until the house is finished. Of course, it seems like we will never get it even started at this stage - still waiting for approval to cut down trees so we can get the earthworks done so we can get the drainage in so we can get the slab poured ...
Sheep. A flock of sheep will do nicely. When we honeymooned in Bermuda, one of the historic fort areas had a flock of sheep to keep the grass trim. Same thing with the oil refinery.
By the by, I kind of like the wild look, but you're right, snakes in the grass are a downer.
A friend of mine had her lawn seeded with a mix of plants and low-growing flowering things. She waters it about twice a year, and mows two times a year. And it looks great.
We didn't plant the grass, it was already there. We are planning a predominantly native, "water wise" garden with lots of rocks and bird-attracting trees.
People that live in the area say that there are deer around, although we haven't seen any yet.
Sheep are fine if you don't mind cleaning the sheep shit out from between your toes every time you go into the house.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
