Any tips/advice for dealing/not dealing with dandelions? My back yard is exploding with the things, and while I don’t really mind a bit of wild weed mucking up my backyard (the clean lawn look is very much not my thing), I think I may have some responsibility to mitigate the impact on my neighbors.
They make dandelion pullers. Alternately something with a longish flat blade to chop the root (diagonal slice down below), then pull out the untethered dandelion. I usually fill about 2 garden carts/year
Cut off the heads before they spread seed? If you're worried about using chemicals, you can kill them with boiling water
I guess my question is, aside from trying to keep them out of the neighbors’ yards, is there any particular reason I should kill them? Like, will all my grass will be starved of nutrients?
Edit: Left to my own devices I’d keep my yard walkable and maintained but otherwise let nature do what it will back there, so I’m not super looking to start a war with weeds unless there are risks I’m not aware of or if it’s going to infuriate the neighbors, really.
My lawn was/is claimed by the dandelion gods. It doesn't really do anything to the grass. It's basically an aesthetic issue. They look fine when they're in bloom if that's your thing. But when you mow the lawn and cut the heads off, you're left with tubular stocks that look downright alien in origin. If you're also fine with that, then you can just leave 'em. Outside of completely reseeding the entire lawn, you'll never get rid of them. I tried picking them early when they started popping up, and for every day I'd pick 20, 40 would appear the next week. Even trying to be preventative and yanking any visible starting roots with a tiller or using weed killer didn't work.
If you don't mind them, then don't worry about it. If you do though... well you've got a massive job ahead of you.
I'm guessing its a neighborhood collective action problem. Dandelions are very good at spreading their seed.
Cut off the heads before they spread seed? If you're worried about using chemicals, you can kill them with boiling water
I guess my question is, aside from trying to keep them out of the neighbors’ yards, is there any particular reason I should kill them? Like, will all my grass will be starved of nutrients?
Edit: Left to my own devices I’d keep my yard walkable and maintained but otherwise let nature do what it will back there, so I’m not super looking to start a war with weeds unless there are risks I’m not aware of or if it’s going to infuriate the neighbors, really.
My lawn was/is claimed by the dandelion gods. It doesn't really do anything to the grass. It's basically an aesthetic issue. They look fine when they're in bloom if that's your thing. But when you mow the lawn and cut the heads off, you're left with tubular stocks that look downright alien in origin. If you're also fine with that, then you can just leave 'em. Outside of completely reseeding the entire lawn, you'll never get rid of them. I tried picking them early when they started popping up, and for every day I'd pick 20, 40 would appear the next week. Even trying to be preventative and yanking any visible starting roots with a tiller or using weed killer didn't work.
If you don't mind them, then don't worry about it. If you do though... well you've got a massive job ahead of you.
I'm guessing its a neighborhood collective action problem. Dandelions are very good at spreading their seed.
Yeah dandelions aren't hard to keep under control as long as everyone is doing it. But all it takes is one neighbor that shrugs their shoulders and they'll spread everywhere.
Now thistle? Fuck thistle.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
The landscapers that mow our lawn were bugging me to sign up for weekly lawn mowing again this year. I sent them the signed contract last Monday and it's been radio silence ever since, haven't responded, haven't posted anything to their social media channels. I assume they are effectively shut down. Would be nice if they said something though.
Weekly is unnecessary. Fortnightly if your grass grows fast and you want to keep it looking neat and groomed.
I'd say that depends on where you live and time of year. Come summer and all the rain here in florida, if I skip a week my lawn is a jungle. I've had to mow twice in a week some years/grass types.
Most of the broad-leaf lawns I'm familiar with grow at about an inch per week in good conditions, some of the more aggressive strains can get up to about two inches of growth in a week if they're getting plenty of fertiliser along with their water and sunlight. Which means four inches of growth in a fortnight worst case scenario, still pretty easy to mow with a gas-powered push mower like my Honda.
Something I would like to try and do this year is keep the weeds that grow in our gravel driveway clear. It's not a big issue since we don't have a car or anything, but that's the one thing that really looks tacky. I played around a bit last year with boiling water and drowning what I could. It seemed to work a bit but I was never really able to get it under control. I'm worried that the real answer is going to be something along the lines of raking all the gravel away, laying down a new layer of weed paper, then putting everything back. It's not a large driveway or anything, maybe 2 cars wide and 1.5 cars long. It's one of those tasks that looks pretty simple in theory, but I'll probably be wishing for death before I even get halfway started.
And here's the problem with having neighbours. One of our neighbours has also advised us not to sweat about the weeds/dandelions because we'll never get them out. But then I look at her gravel driveway and how it's immaculately clear, and it's shockingly hard for my first thought not to be "...you fucking assholes...".
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Burn 'em with a weed torch. Boiling water will burn the leaves, but a weed torch will toast them all the way down to the roots.
You are lucky that they are still doing your inspection. I'm in Philly and ours was cancelled. If it was me, I would want to be at the inspection, but I understand the circumstances. Good luck!
Oh we had every plan to do be there, but the guy specifically requested it to limit exposure and I can't really argue right now. As you said, we are really lucky to get an inspection at all right now. I was tempted to put up a fight but decided to take the win on this.
I figured as much. If we could've done that, I assume we would've jumped on it just to have it done.
You can also spray them with a simple mix of vinegar/salt, and honestly that's enough to keep most of the weeds in the driveway down if they're annoying you.
I decided to fight the weeds, at least a little. I’m cutting off flower heads and pouring boiling water on those located near the perimeter of my lawn.
I’m fully aware that this will likely turn into a depressing metaphor for the US response to Covid-19: I started late, I don’t really know what the weed is (leaning towards thistle after observing further growth, but god knows which), and I’m unlikely to maintain focus on the task at hand.
That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
My coworker has ALL of his money invested in AirBnB ventures. He took out a mortgage for 1 property and took out a bunch of loans to build out a basement apartment in his house. He was already struggling before the outbreak. IDK how he's going to handle this now.
My coworker has ALL of his money invested in AirBnB ventures. He took out a mortgage for 1 property and took out a bunch of loans to build out a basement apartment in his house. He was already struggling before the outbreak. IDK how he's going to handle this now.
Stuff like this is why I tend not to view real estate as an investment. An investment is something you throw money at and wait to change in value. Making money from real estate is a second job that has business expenses.
Hmm, I want to get a smart lock for our house, but as we're not living in it right now, there's no wifi to hook one up to.
I have a Schlage smart lock I've been happy with. It doesn't have wifi capabilities built-in. There's a phone app that I think works via either bluetooth or NFC or something to let you program and schedule door codes and lock/unlock the door from your phone. There's a wall wart you buy separately and plug in near the door to enable wifi connectivity.
Hmm, I want to get a smart lock for our house, but as we're not living in it right now, there's no wifi to hook one up to.
I have a Schlage smart lock I've been happy with. It doesn't have wifi capabilities built-in. There's a phone app that I think works via either bluetooth or NFC or something to let you program and schedule door codes and lock/unlock the door from your phone. There's a wall wart you buy separately and plug in near the door to enable wifi connectivity.
Hmm, I'm looking at the Schlage Encode, looks like the deadbolt has a key function too so I guess I could just use the regular key until we're moved back in and have wifi
Hmm, I want to get a smart lock for our house, but as we're not living in it right now, there's no wifi to hook one up to.
I have a Schlage smart lock I've been happy with. It doesn't have wifi capabilities built-in. There's a phone app that I think works via either bluetooth or NFC or something to let you program and schedule door codes and lock/unlock the door from your phone. There's a wall wart you buy separately and plug in near the door to enable wifi connectivity.
Hmm, I'm looking at the Schlage Encode, looks like the deadbolt has a key function too so I guess I could just use the regular key until we're moved back in and have wifi
I have the Schlage Connect but I think it's fairly similar to the Encode. There is indeed still a key you can use. I've never used mine but I've got it on my keyring in case the battery dies or something. Like I said, you don't need wifi to set up a door code and then you can open it by punching numbers on the keypad.
I finally got a mower and mowed the backyard last week and it's a weed fiesta back there. Real bad.
My fiancee has lived with me for almost a year now but has only been in the back yard maybe 3 times. It was kind of a horror show out there with damage/leftovers from my ex-wife's dogs. I'm finally getting it straightened up and trying to rehab it into a useable space I'm not embarrassed by. Partly so we can use it, partly so we can hopefully sell the place in a year or so.
Anyway, she's out there and looking around and she says, "I don't know why you paid someone to mow this. It's like 100% weeds."
To which I said, "Yeah. That's why. They're hard to mow and if they don't get mowed regularly they explode..."
So if you come up with some kind of affordable, broad-scale means of attacking weeds, let me know. Hosing down the entire back yard with roundup doesn't seem economical...
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
I finally got a mower and mowed the backyard last week and it's a weed fiesta back there. Real bad.
My fiancee has lived with me for almost a year now but has only been in the back yard maybe 3 times. It was kind of a horror show out there with damage/leftovers from my ex-wife's dogs. I'm finally getting it straightened up and trying to rehab it into a useable space I'm not embarrassed by. Partly so we can use it, partly so we can hopefully sell the place in a year or so.
Anyway, she's out there and looking around and she says, "I don't know why you paid someone to mow this. It's like 100% weeds."
To which I said, "Yeah. That's why. They're hard to mow and if they don't get mowed regularly they explode..."
So if you come up with some kind of affordable, broad-scale means of attacking weeds, let me know. Hosing down the entire back yard with roundup doesn't seem economical...
Lol nope, dedicate a Sunday to getting out there and ripping those bastards out one by one.
It'll fucking SUCK, but once you're done you just have to keep on top of them a little bit at a time, it's WAY easier.
My war with weeds has escalated, for what it’s worth. I gave in and decided to pull every single thistle I could find up by the roots - the boiling method works but was time-consuming. It’s stopped the insane growth into the lawn, but now it’s creeping out into the more wooded/abandoned part of my yard and regrouping for future attacks.
I pulled a few trash bags worth of plants out of the ground, it took a couple afternoons, and I’m expecting to be doing this for the rest of my life now, so, take all that into consideration. Yard also looks pretty rough from the resulting divots, but hopefully the grass will fill in. If (read: when) the spread continues into the yard again, I’m considering picking up a pump sprayer and some thistle-killing herbicide to see how that plays out.
There was a brief period following the second afternoon of scanning my yard for thistles when closing my eyes meant I immediately saw the rosette pattern of leaves and main stalk of the plant, like when I played Tetris or DDR too long in the past. Patterns are patterns I guess.
Edit: Wear gardening gloves if you decide to pull them out. I did not, and my fingertips are still sore.
I believe we also have the Schlage Connect deadbolt. Ours isn't connected to WiFi; we use it for the keypad access so the kids (or my mother) don't have to futz with keys.
We love it!
Admittedly, I saw the deadbolt offered by Simplisafe and I've started lusting after it. We already have a SS system so incorporating the deadbolt would be a great add.
My bank sent me a wonderful $1000 bill to cover mortgage payments because apparently two years in a row now the account has run dry for covering taxes and insurance payments. I have the option of just letting the montly payment jump $100 instead, but I'm leaning towards just the lump sum. Anybody ever run into this kind of thing? I'm sort of confused how it happened two years in a row.
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ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
My bank sent me a wonderful $1000 bill to cover mortgage payments because apparently two years in a row now the account has run dry for covering taxes and insurance payments. I have the option of just letting the montly payment jump $100 instead, but I'm leaning towards just the lump sum. Anybody ever run into this kind of thing? I'm sort of confused how it happened two years in a row.
Hrm, just out of curiosity, does your impounds/escrow account pay for anything else besides property taxes? The way I have mine set up is property taxes and my condo's insurance. Some even handle HOAs if you have one in your living situation. It's possible one of those may have gone up, or have any legislation passed in the last year that are upping property tax amounts somehow?
Or the occam's razor is something is goosing up somewhere. I'd check your online statements for your impound account and see what's going on. I've dealt with it myself before, but it never was that amount, usually it was something like it was off by bout 50-100 bucks, not $1000.
My bank sent me a wonderful $1000 bill to cover mortgage payments because apparently two years in a row now the account has run dry for covering taxes and insurance payments. I have the option of just letting the montly payment jump $100 instead, but I'm leaning towards just the lump sum. Anybody ever run into this kind of thing? I'm sort of confused how it happened two years in a row.
Happened to me once when my property taxes jumped a ridiculous amount. The bill was closer to $500 though. We opted to let our payments go up instead of coughing it all up at once.
My bank sent me a wonderful $1000 bill to cover mortgage payments because apparently two years in a row now the account has run dry for covering taxes and insurance payments. I have the option of just letting the montly payment jump $100 instead, but I'm leaning towards just the lump sum. Anybody ever run into this kind of thing? I'm sort of confused how it happened two years in a row.
Happened to me once when my property taxes jumped a ridiculous amount. The bill was closer to $500 though. We opted to let our payments go up instead of coughing it all up at once.
We had a similar issue, since we bought new - it's difficult to get the tax rate dialed in for new construction, since there's no history. The standard is to assume 1% of the purchase price as the tax owed, but it doesn't always work.
My bank sent me a wonderful $1000 bill to cover mortgage payments because apparently two years in a row now the account has run dry for covering taxes and insurance payments. I have the option of just letting the montly payment jump $100 instead, but I'm leaning towards just the lump sum. Anybody ever run into this kind of thing? I'm sort of confused how it happened two years in a row.
I kept reading this as your bank sent you a thousand dollar bill. Like a dollar bill, only with the number 1000 on it. I was like, damn I didn’t know banks had thousand dollar notes. How do I get my bank to send me one, to help out with my mortgage payment?
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
For what it's worth, I beat back the dandelions in our lawn with a bunch of persistent pulling them up for one summer, and using the 'ecosense' Weed-B-Gon to keep them under control; the particular one I used is the one that's just rust in solution, so it's safe for pets / kids, and doesn't kill the rest of the plants. It doesn't kill dandelions as enthusiastically or quickly as roundup / killex / whatever, but it does slow them down enough that the lawn can win out with a bit of persistence.
There's not _no_ dandelions left at this point, but there's few enough that I can pull a couple out every day or so and that's all it really needs.
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That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
They used to print $1000 bills but they were discontinued in the 60s. The last thousand dollar bill sold at auction for around $20k.
My bank sent me a wonderful $1000 bill to cover mortgage payments because apparently two years in a row now the account has run dry for covering taxes and insurance payments. I have the option of just letting the montly payment jump $100 instead, but I'm leaning towards just the lump sum. Anybody ever run into this kind of thing? I'm sort of confused how it happened two years in a row.
Yes, this happened to my wife and I, though it wasn’t the lenders fault. The county screwed up the property split, decided we owed less in taxes than we really did, returned the check to our lender (who returned it to us) and got angry that they didn’t have enough taxes when they fixed the thing THEY messed up. Ended up costing us something like $1600.
Personally, I think county auditors/assessors should be held financially responsible when they screw up. Get it right, or pay the piper. It’s not the owners job to asses the house, it’s your job.do it right or don’t keep running for re-election.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
They used to print $1000 bills but they were discontinued in the 60s. The last thousand dollar bill sold at auction for around $20k.
Iirc they also used to print even bigger bills, but they were just for transferring large amounts of cash between banks - they were legal tender, but not available to the public.
They used to print $1000 bills but they were discontinued in the 60s. The last thousand dollar bill sold at auction for around $20k.
Iirc they also used to print even bigger bills, but they were just for transferring large amounts of cash between banks - they were legal tender, but not available to the public.
I believe the Swiss still have a 1000 Franc banknote. For reference that's equivalent to $1,030.
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They make dandelion pullers. Alternately something with a longish flat blade to chop the root (diagonal slice down below), then pull out the untethered dandelion. I usually fill about 2 garden carts/year
I'm guessing its a neighborhood collective action problem. Dandelions are very good at spreading their seed.
I've been meaning to grow some specifically for eating but I haven't had a chance yet.
Yeah dandelions aren't hard to keep under control as long as everyone is doing it. But all it takes is one neighbor that shrugs their shoulders and they'll spread everywhere.
Now thistle? Fuck thistle.
Most of the broad-leaf lawns I'm familiar with grow at about an inch per week in good conditions, some of the more aggressive strains can get up to about two inches of growth in a week if they're getting plenty of fertiliser along with their water and sunlight. Which means four inches of growth in a fortnight worst case scenario, still pretty easy to mow with a gas-powered push mower like my Honda.
And here's the problem with having neighbours. One of our neighbours has also advised us not to sweat about the weeds/dandelions because we'll never get them out. But then I look at her gravel driveway and how it's immaculately clear, and it's shockingly hard for my first thought not to be "...you fucking assholes...".
I figured as much. If we could've done that, I assume we would've jumped on it just to have it done.
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I don't have any money but I'm wondering if there will be some panicked vacation home selling with all this shit going on.
We've been talking about this over in the gig economy thread - COVID-19 has done a number on the ghost hotels using online services as a front end.
I’m fully aware that this will likely turn into a depressing metaphor for the US response to Covid-19: I started late, I don’t really know what the weed is (leaning towards thistle after observing further growth, but god knows which), and I’m unlikely to maintain focus on the task at hand.
OMG the assessment value. Somehow I think that's normal in the US (i.e. basically no reassessment since the structure was built)
No, it's just normal in California, thanks to the corporate giveaway known as Proposition 13.
Stuff like this is why I tend not to view real estate as an investment. An investment is something you throw money at and wait to change in value. Making money from real estate is a second job that has business expenses.
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Specifically it limits reassessments to only happen when a property is sold.
Perhaps not, if the property is transferred to a shell company, and then the company is sold - which is a classic dodge used in the commercial sector.
There's a reason I despise Proposition 13.
There's also a reassessment if you do a major renovation/change, I believe, like adding a new addition, etc.
I have a Schlage smart lock I've been happy with. It doesn't have wifi capabilities built-in. There's a phone app that I think works via either bluetooth or NFC or something to let you program and schedule door codes and lock/unlock the door from your phone. There's a wall wart you buy separately and plug in near the door to enable wifi connectivity.
Hmm, I'm looking at the Schlage Encode, looks like the deadbolt has a key function too so I guess I could just use the regular key until we're moved back in and have wifi
I have the Schlage Connect but I think it's fairly similar to the Encode. There is indeed still a key you can use. I've never used mine but I've got it on my keyring in case the battery dies or something. Like I said, you don't need wifi to set up a door code and then you can open it by punching numbers on the keypad.
My fiancee has lived with me for almost a year now but has only been in the back yard maybe 3 times. It was kind of a horror show out there with damage/leftovers from my ex-wife's dogs. I'm finally getting it straightened up and trying to rehab it into a useable space I'm not embarrassed by. Partly so we can use it, partly so we can hopefully sell the place in a year or so.
Anyway, she's out there and looking around and she says, "I don't know why you paid someone to mow this. It's like 100% weeds."
To which I said, "Yeah. That's why. They're hard to mow and if they don't get mowed regularly they explode..."
So if you come up with some kind of affordable, broad-scale means of attacking weeds, let me know. Hosing down the entire back yard with roundup doesn't seem economical...
Lol nope, dedicate a Sunday to getting out there and ripping those bastards out one by one.
It'll fucking SUCK, but once you're done you just have to keep on top of them a little bit at a time, it's WAY easier.
I pulled a few trash bags worth of plants out of the ground, it took a couple afternoons, and I’m expecting to be doing this for the rest of my life now, so, take all that into consideration. Yard also looks pretty rough from the resulting divots, but hopefully the grass will fill in. If (read: when) the spread continues into the yard again, I’m considering picking up a pump sprayer and some thistle-killing herbicide to see how that plays out.
There was a brief period following the second afternoon of scanning my yard for thistles when closing my eyes meant I immediately saw the rosette pattern of leaves and main stalk of the plant, like when I played Tetris or DDR too long in the past. Patterns are patterns I guess.
Edit: Wear gardening gloves if you decide to pull them out. I did not, and my fingertips are still sore.
We love it!
Admittedly, I saw the deadbolt offered by Simplisafe and I've started lusting after it. We already have a SS system so incorporating the deadbolt would be a great add.
Hrm, just out of curiosity, does your impounds/escrow account pay for anything else besides property taxes? The way I have mine set up is property taxes and my condo's insurance. Some even handle HOAs if you have one in your living situation. It's possible one of those may have gone up, or have any legislation passed in the last year that are upping property tax amounts somehow?
Or the occam's razor is something is goosing up somewhere. I'd check your online statements for your impound account and see what's going on. I've dealt with it myself before, but it never was that amount, usually it was something like it was off by bout 50-100 bucks, not $1000.
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
Happened to me once when my property taxes jumped a ridiculous amount. The bill was closer to $500 though. We opted to let our payments go up instead of coughing it all up at once.
We had a similar issue, since we bought new - it's difficult to get the tax rate dialed in for new construction, since there's no history. The standard is to assume 1% of the purchase price as the tax owed, but it doesn't always work.
I kept reading this as your bank sent you a thousand dollar bill. Like a dollar bill, only with the number 1000 on it. I was like, damn I didn’t know banks had thousand dollar notes. How do I get my bank to send me one, to help out with my mortgage payment?
There's not _no_ dandelions left at this point, but there's few enough that I can pull a couple out every day or so and that's all it really needs.
Yes, this happened to my wife and I, though it wasn’t the lenders fault. The county screwed up the property split, decided we owed less in taxes than we really did, returned the check to our lender (who returned it to us) and got angry that they didn’t have enough taxes when they fixed the thing THEY messed up. Ended up costing us something like $1600.
Personally, I think county auditors/assessors should be held financially responsible when they screw up. Get it right, or pay the piper. It’s not the owners job to asses the house, it’s your job.do it right or don’t keep running for re-election.
Iirc they also used to print even bigger bills, but they were just for transferring large amounts of cash between banks - they were legal tender, but not available to the public.
I believe the Swiss still have a 1000 Franc banknote. For reference that's equivalent to $1,030.