Why wait to mow your grass? A magic 50F

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Do you remember all those b citypublic service messages or they talk about the
bird habitat messages basically allowing beneficial insectstimes to hatch before you start mowing your
grass. Well, that's okay.Most people don't remember those either. I'm
just in hit with prosperity homestead.I posted a public service message. It
said, remember those public service messagesthat talk about not mowing your grass until

(00:24):
after the temperature is consistently above fiftydegrees fahrenheit. In some places they have
a no mow march, some placeshave a April. Now. I shared
this message because it's still thirty fiveto forty five degrees fahrenheit out night,
and by holding off mowing, itactually improves root development that makes lawn look
better, and then your lawn requiresless water and it also chokes out broad

(00:49):
leaf weeds. Another thing this doesis allows the creatures that have left egg
casings in leaves and near the rootsof the plant in your brush, they
get a chance to prosper They geta chance to hatch as the temperature changes.
You're also working with the chemicals inthe plant themselves, the hormones and

(01:12):
such that are stimulated at fifty degreesfahrenheit. So what really happens when mow
your grass before it's fifty degrees fahrenheitconsistently or above fifty degrees fahey consistently,
Well, you actually stun your grass. You cause it not to grow.
Now, this is great for theindustrial chemical fertilizer complex because you're going to

(01:33):
require more overseeding, more top seating, more things to keep the grass growing,
more services. And of course landscaperswant to get out there and start
mowing right away because that's how theyget paid. But if you want to
do something, you can put downa small amount of lime, you can
top dress your yard with compost,because a lot of people do like to

(01:53):
work in their yard and it feelslike an accomplishment to work in the yard.
But overseating and doing those things aregoing to do a better job of
giving grass that is strong, healthyand green. Now, in my program
All Year Round Green, we talkabout this. There are cycles that are
contrary to the rest of how peoplemanage your grass. And a lot of

(02:15):
people want their grass to look verycosmetic and they want their grass to be
everywhere. But really what benefits wildbirds, beneficial insects, and such is
planting native plants. Grass itself isa throwback to the days when wealthy people
had these big palatial estates that essentiallythey were cutting for hay, or they
were cut they were having sheep graysbecause they ate the sheep. Well,

(02:39):
today we've bought into this thing thatyou've got to have a certain yard.
You've got to have certain types ofgrass if you want better and healthier habitat
for wild animals that are enjoyable towatch, and you need to have these
this practice to allow these all caterpillarsand worms and other things to prosper,

(03:04):
because birds eat more than grass seedor more than just putting out seed.
Because that's kind of the response.A lot of people will tell me,
hey, you know, I seeall these notices. They're going to pass
them around on their social media,these memes and such, and then they
tell me, oh, well,you know, we have bird feeders,
that's how we're helping the birds.Well, did you know that bird feeders

(03:24):
are actually not very helpful to wildbirds. They tend to attract certain types
of birds that are enjoyable to watch, the cardinoles and the blue jays and
stuff like that. But when itcomes to bird seed, it's actually a
lot of hassle. It attracts rodentsand raccoons and squirrels and other creatures that
come to your yard. It's avery messy thing to work with. Bird

(03:46):
feeders can be messy, They canget mold in them. We can be
feeding the birds these peanut butter andbasically waste from agriculture, fats waste,
fat waste. It's not really healthyfor the birds themselves. See birds,
they don't really have teeth. Theygotta you know, they got to crush
stuff up. And while they're gettingthat extra protein off of the peanut butter,

(04:08):
for example, they're also being attractedto a single location and crapping all
over your yard or crapping all overyour car. But the larger point is
if you simply go down to yourgrass, if you have grass, and
you start reducing the amount of grassyou have and get more hedgerows, more
small little tree sections, trees thatare appropriately sized for your house, if

(04:29):
you start slowing down the cycle ofmowing in your grass and so literally just
read the advocacy things. I knowlandscapers are ready to mow, but you
know, if you want to takecare of your investment in equality lawn.
Then wait till the temperatures are abovefifty degrees fairneit. What will happen is
the hormones will start changing in theplant. The plant will start getting into

(04:50):
growing cycles, that slow growing cyclewhere we have the temperature variation like it
might be seventy three degrees during theday. Those slow cycles are going to
start getting those deeper roots into theground. They're going to get you taller,
more healthy grass, and then oncethe temperature is better, they'll have
the ability to heal themselves after they'vebeen cut. Now it's a great time

(05:11):
if you like the mow to getyour mower serviced. So as it's warming
up, you go get your mowerservice, you get the blade sharpened,
because those things are going to bevery valuable when it comes to keeping your
lawn nice looking. But I wantthick, dense grass, and if you're
cutting it in the winter, thenyou're going to be fighting bear spots.
Then you're going to be doing alot of extra upkeep. Then you're going

(05:34):
to be basically behind the eight balland be tempted to use these services or
like where they'll spray nitrogen on youryard or which is liquefied chicken manure.
Or they'll come in and they'll haveto air rate every year because the ground
is starting to get so compacted,or you'll have to do weed and seed,

(05:54):
or we basically try to kill thebroad leaves rather than adjusting the pH
of the soil and improve drainage ofthe soil. There's so many things that
can be done that would actually makeyour yard much better. Because I do
get people that'll tell me, oh, I had this one person and says,
oh, you're probably one of thosethat have a million things that could
be done to improve their own property, So stay in your lane. See

(06:15):
My response is I've done the homework. I've already gone out there, and
I have both internationally and regional credentialswhen it comes to the Master Naturalists or
the permon Culture Design certification. I'veworked with conservation biologists. I've worked with
experts at Virginia Tech and the Universityof North Carolina. I've been a party

(06:36):
to design meetings, including in MecklenburgCounty up in Maryland. There's a couple
meetings that I've been involved in wherewe're establishing green space and trying to help
people understand how to better manage theirown laws as a contribution to larger spaces.
Now, the green spaces I believeplay a bigger role because they can

(06:57):
demonstrate good quality, best practices,and so homeowners aren't just confused when somebody's
yard has an area that has wildflowers, and maybe it's beautiful when the wildflowers
go, but then at the endof the season, when the wildflowers go
to seed, everybody's confused, whydid they let their yard go? Well
again, it's the cycle. Now. I've done visits to like Reynolds Homestead

(07:18):
and other locations where there are videos, and I'll try to link to those
in the description below. There arevideos of wild grass areas that, if
edged properly, are going to lookbeautiful in a yard. There's some I
don't go around to take pictures ofother people's houses without permission, but there
are some examples in my community ofyards that have no grass whatsoever, yet

(07:41):
have a spectrum of beautiful flowers,small birds, beneficial herbs, even herbs
that smell great look great if youknow what you're looking at. A lot
of people will complain and they'll say, oh my gosh, the yard is
overgrown and really it is actually atended habitat. Short cropped grass does very

(08:03):
little for beneficial insects butterflies, birds, other things. I think really what
you need to do is go tothe local natural history museum and look at
their setups and look at how theyhave demonstration areas and understand that even those
places people will complain about a smallwildflower garden. And that's why again we're

(08:26):
going to do let's explore nature.I'm working on a television pilot so that
we can talk about the exploration oftrue nature that is creating beneficial insects.
Did you know there's five to tendifferent types of insects in the Middle At
region. They eat mosquitoes. Okay, so these insects predatate on the mosquito

(08:46):
larvae, or they predatate on themosquito itself, or they support the habitat
for frogs and other amphibians that eatmosquitoes. See, people hate mosquitoes,
and they're going to spray and pray, and they're going to do everything they
can to make their yard create moremosquitoes rather than help it. But the
hundreds of hours of implementation I doevery year, the hundreds of hours of

(09:07):
training that I do every year helpsme better understand. Now you don't have
to do all that training. Alot of these memes that folks have passed
around, and a lot of thesepublic service messages are right on the mark.
Now, it'd be great if yougot involved in a local b cities
program. It'd be great if yougot involved in bird watching or bird counts
or any citizen science projects. Buteven if you don't, rather than just

(09:31):
passing along a meme, actually readit and try to implement it at your
home. You will be surprised.There are probably millions of things that I
could do on my property to makeit more friendly to beneficial insects, the
deer to a lot of people complainabout deer damage. Well, let's create
some deer habitat away from the houseso that the deer just stay away from
the house. But again, Icould be a complete idiot. Maybe I

(09:54):
don't know what I'm talking about.But I do tell you that there's different
wildlife groups, and I'll include afew links below. There's definitely greenscape projects
that are going on that are reallyon the money. Your local Master Naturalist
program, or if you want toget a permaculture design certification. Those programs
will teach you how to make thesethings work in a way that you're actually

(10:16):
creating less work for your family andmore experience. So, if you enjoy
watching birds, if you enjoy notgetting stung by mosquitoes or having wasps all
around your house, there are naturalways to be a good steward of your
environment rather than to be fearful ofit and run towards a chemical or commercial

(10:43):
type of solution that tends to reallypush spray and pray, really push some
mechanical solution, really push this veryexpensive thing you have to do in order
to conform or fit into a asocietal area. Folks, if you want
to have a better lifestyle, healthierenvironment, more enjoyable beneficial insects and wildlife,

(11:13):
then pay close attention and give thesethings a try. Not everybody's gonna
be happy, because again, Iknow landscapers want to mow, but there
are great landscapers out there who arewilling to wait because they know that once
you have a garden environment, oryou have higher value trees, or you
have that look that comes with reallythick green grass, consistent or even and

(11:37):
a lot of times. We blendmultiple types of grass into an area so
it has consistent density whether it's inthe shade or in the sun, and
there's no special treatments or anything.It's just understanding how grass grows. Anyway,
I've justin hit with Prosperity Homestead.If you have questions about what we've
covered today, or even comments,there should be a place below you can

(12:00):
leave those, or you can visitwww dot prosperity homestead dot org. Do
you agree following these memes? Dothey really work? I'll tell you yes,
they do, but it often meansbeing more patient and slowing down with
nature, understanding the seasons and thecycles, and then understanding the appropriateness of

(12:20):
application onto your your lawn or theelimination of your lawn altogether, because we
waste hundreds of millions of dollars ayear on basically on resources going to non
agricultural crops. I'll just leave itthere because I've covered this quite a bit.
Thanks for listening. We're here tohelp you start your small farm or

(12:41):
homestead, help you create an environmentthat's like a garden of eden that provides
for you and provides you health andgood nutrition and provides to you relaxation and
success. Thanks for listening. Again, visit us at www dot prosperity homestead
dot org where we have a freenewsletter and you can of course ask questions
and I'll see those before i'll seethe comments. Thanks for watching. I'll

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see you the next one.