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[Homeowner/House] Thread. How long is it going to take? Two weeks!

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Posts

  • StarZapperStarZapper Vermont, Bizzaro world.Registered User regular
    The only way to truly get rid of dandelions is to poison the heck out of your lawn. The closest you'll get otherwise is to hand-dig them out every year, which will slowly reduce their numbers.

    Or you can learn to love your dandelions, and fry them up like the Italians do (they're delicious.)

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.almanac.com/recipe/fried-dandelion-blossoms?amp

  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    or use them to dye protein fibres like knitting yarns or silk scarfs or easter eggs.

    also make dandelion mead like somebody i know does.

    plus, you feed the bees.

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    You can kill them individually by pouring boiling water on them, too. But if you have a bunch of them, this gets tedious very quickly.

    Boiling water also works great on grass/weeds growing through cracks in sidewalks and driveways.

  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    the bees like clover, too!

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    Dandelion greens are very tasty, nice and bitter without the overbearing flavor that arugula has. They add some nice depth to a salad.

    They are especially good when done in a wilted salad with blue cheese and bacon.

    They also grow like crazy when grown with hydroponics. I got like 3lbs of greens from 4 plants.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • OptyOpty Registered User regular
    My HOA considers clovers weeds, so I can't have clovers in my yard even though I think they look nice.

  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    Opty wrote: »
    My HOA considers clovers weeds, so I can't have clovers in my yard even though I think they look nice.

    start a campaign to disband your hoa

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • PailryderPailryder Registered User regular
    the other problem with ridding yourself of dandelions is your neighbors. if they don't have the same level of commitment then you will never be free. i'm not saying don't make the effort, just embrace the reality that they spread very easy.

  • Red RaevynRed Raevyn because I only take Bubble Baths Registered User regular
    Aioua am I remembering right that you're in the Seattle area? I got the same compulsion last year and didn't wanna load the lawn up with stuff to run off into the water or go into my kid's mouth, and read an article from the Sequim Gazette (that I'm not finding right now) suggesting you just reseed twice a year. You do it in late November and early February and the grass will germinate and grow in the bare spots where a weed would before it is warm enough for the weeds to. The other critical component is to keep your lawn longer, 3-3.5" iirc, so that the weed seeds have less sunlight. According to this article it will take a few years but if you do those two things consistently it'll fill in nicely without needing a bunch of chemicals poured onto it (and the local waterways). There will always be some weeds present, but not tons. I started last fall and I do already see a lot of little places where grass is filling in (I notice it because at least these clumps are a different variety than what I started with).

  • SimpsoniaSimpsonia Registered User regular
    Speaking of weeds in the lawn, my neighbor has what I thought was some very pretty vines growing on the rod iron fence between our yards. They have beautiful purple flowers in the fall. Though I've started to notice that it has absolutely been infesting my lawn and garden beds. A quick googling shows this is bindweed, and incredibly invasive weed and also responsible for the invasion of black flies in my yard attracted to it. Pretty much the only way to kill it is with chemicals (ie Round Up). Even covering it with black plastic for years won't kill it, since it can grow up to 20ft underground to shoot back up somewhere else. So I think my only option is to go nuclear. I gotta spray the gardenbeds with Round Up, cover with black plastic for a year or two, stealthily snip every bud that tries to grow on the fence, and continue to spray my lawn with the lawn-safe Round Up until it's gone. It sucks that I have to resort to a herbicide like this though as my lawn has a pretty fair amount of green clover in it, which I like for its appearance and drought tolerance (and also helps the bees), but the Round Up will likely kill it all, and I'll have to re-seed clover in a few years.

  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    Oh my other question: watering...

    Is that just to keep things pretty during summer or is it necessary to keep things from dying?

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • ChaosHatChaosHat Hop, hop, hop, HA! Trick of the lightRegistered User regular
    I believe it is something that you do so your grandchildren will go "you wasted potable water on WHAT?" when they ask you how society was back in the day.

  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    Grass rebounds well. The kind of drought that it would take to actually kill your lawn would kill everything else too. People who water regularly expect it to look like a golf course.

    nibXTE7.png
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    We water the lawn around the perimeter of the house due to fire danger during the summer, and the flower beds and garden beds. The rest of the lawn is left to dry out.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    Decided not to pay anyone to mow my lawn this year and now doing it myself for the first time in a couple years. Boy I forgot how much this sucks.

    Also my yard has gotten really uneven with lots of bumps and divots. Any way to fix that?

    cs6f034fsffl.jpg
  • jmcdonaldjmcdonald I voted, did you? DC(ish)Registered User regular
    Decided not to pay anyone to mow my lawn this year and now doing it myself for the first time in a couple years. Boy I forgot how much this sucks.

    Also my yard has gotten really uneven with lots of bumps and divots. Any way to fix that?

    Aerating and rolling

  • Red RaevynRed Raevyn because I only take Bubble Baths Registered User regular
    Aioua wrote: »
    Oh my other question: watering...

    Is that just to keep things pretty during summer or is it necessary to keep things from dying?

    Not necessary. Grass (in western WA at least) isn't dead when it is brown, it's going dormant. It is 100% normal and it will come back just fine when it rains again. Watering it is just a struggle because you're preventing it from going dormant and pouring heaps of water on it in the time of year when it doesn't rain for months and we should be conserving.

  • GilgaronGilgaron Registered User regular
    Is your lawn new or well established? We have been in our house less than two years and keeping the sod alive was harder than dealing with a mature lawn. Even with watering after last summer I have a lot of thin and bare spots My wife is having trouble reconciling her desire for a lush lawn and wanting to be green in terms of water and chemicals. I told her I can pull dandelions but I am not pulling clover... At least not the disperse growing type.

  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    Ah, yeah it's not fresh sod or anything, this lawn has been around the block.
    Mix of what looks like a few different grasses, clover, various weeds, moss in the shady spots

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • OneAngryPossumOneAngryPossum Registered User regular
    Pailryder wrote: »
    the other problem with ridding yourself of dandelions is your neighbors. if they don't have the same level of commitment then you will never be free. i'm not saying don't make the effort, just embrace the reality that they spread very easy.

    I am the only thing standing between my nice older neighbor with a nice lawn and my largely absent neighbor with a lawn that is, no kidding, 100% various weeds.

    I honestly like the way the weed lawn looks and hate the mono-cropping that is lawn maintenance, but somebody has to protect the city on the hill.

  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    Pailryder wrote: »
    the other problem with ridding yourself of dandelions is your neighbors. if they don't have the same level of commitment then you will never be free. i'm not saying don't make the effort, just embrace the reality that they spread very easy.

    This has been our struggle with thistle.

    I'm nearing the point where I want to politely ask my neighbors if I can get rid of the thistle in their yard for them.

  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    The only way to truly get rid of dandelions is to poison the heck out of your lawn. The closest you'll get otherwise is to hand-dig them out every year, which will slowly reduce their numbers.

    I hand attack them with blood streaming from my eyes

  • SyngyneSyngyne Registered User regular
    The only way to truly get rid of dandelions is to poison the heck out of your lawn. The closest you'll get otherwise is to hand-dig them out every year, which will slowly reduce their numbers.

    i hand poison them

    that way they know it’s personal

    5gsowHm.png
  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    jmcdonald wrote: »
    Decided not to pay anyone to mow my lawn this year and now doing it myself for the first time in a couple years. Boy I forgot how much this sucks.

    Also my yard has gotten really uneven with lots of bumps and divots. Any way to fix that?

    Aerating and rolling

    Oh, shit, is that what aerating does?

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    I presume that at some point I will run out of tree stumps to remove. That point somehow hasn't arrived.

  • CalicaCalica Registered User regular
    Dandelions are both pretty and edible

    I do not understand the objections

  • PeccaviPeccavi Registered User regular
    Calica wrote: »
    Dandelions are both pretty and edible

    I do not understand the objections

    And it's fun to blow their seeds off.

  • SeptusSeptus Registered User regular
    Aioua wrote: »
    jmcdonald wrote: »
    Decided not to pay anyone to mow my lawn this year and now doing it myself for the first time in a couple years. Boy I forgot how much this sucks.

    Also my yard has gotten really uneven with lots of bumps and divots. Any way to fix that?

    Aerating and rolling

    Oh, shit, is that what aerating does?

    Well I think you often aerate without rolling, to help fertilizer or water get further down to the roots. I suppose it makes sense that aerating with let the soil give way more for the roller. I have a super bumpy yard from a big (non grass)landscaping redo and I tried to use a tamper but it was slow going and then it broke.

    PSN: Kurahoshi1
  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    Calica wrote: »
    Dandelions are both pretty and edible

    I do not understand the objections

    Trying to maintain curb appeal because I’ve been at the precipice of listing this house for 2 years now and one of these days it’ll happen.....

  • jmcdonaldjmcdonald I voted, did you? DC(ish)Registered User regular
    Aioua wrote: »
    jmcdonald wrote: »
    Decided not to pay anyone to mow my lawn this year and now doing it myself for the first time in a couple years. Boy I forgot how much this sucks.

    Also my yard has gotten really uneven with lots of bumps and divots. Any way to fix that?

    Aerating and rolling

    Oh, shit, is that what aerating does?

    Aerating (especially plug aeration) let’s oxygen get into the ground and ultimately makes for a healthier lawn. It also helps to decompress the soil, and let’s water penetrate better (especially for lawns with a lot of thatch). It’s a great thing to do.

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    So, my ice maker feed tube froze up and started leaking water out of the back of the freezer. It’s a slow leak and for the moment I’ve turned the water off because I don’t have the time to unthaw it right now. How screwed am I? I’ve never had this happen before and I really don’t want to buy a new ice maker right now.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • SiliconStewSiliconStew Registered User regular
    So, my ice maker feed tube froze up and started leaking water out of the back of the freezer. It’s a slow leak and for the moment I’ve turned the water off because I don’t have the time to unthaw it right now. How screwed am I? I’ve never had this happen before and I really don’t want to buy a new ice maker right now.

    Depends on what's broke. I had the feed line split inside the freezer (a hose that went from the ice maker just to the outside back of the fridge where the external water line connects) and leak water down inside the fridge. But it only took $1 worth of vinyl hose from the hardware store to fix it. Nothing wrong with the ice maker itself.

    Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    Calica wrote: »
    Dandelions are both pretty and edible

    I do not understand the objections

    So, do you want to eat 200 of them? A week? Because that's roughly what I pull out of my yard in dandelion war season.

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    They taste extra spicy when you mix in the dog and fox urine

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Double post: Lowes said they could make a standard width storm door work for the front of the house, so we saved about $400 there.



    So we promptly bought $400 worth of new light fixtures.


    Help.

  • SyngyneSyngyne Registered User regular
    This weekend I was surprised to discover you can fit 9 bags of mulch into an Altima's trunk.

    5gsowHm.png
  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    The only way to truly get rid of dandelions is to poison the heck out of your lawn. The closest you'll get otherwise is to hand-dig them out every year, which will slowly reduce their numbers.

    Assuming the yard isn't really infested with them, a stand up weed puller is quick and easy. Something like https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Deluxe-Stand-up-Weeder-4-claw/dp/B0030MIHAU You just step on it to push the teeth into the ground and then lever it out. Easier than a hand tool, or worse pulling by hand.

    I mostly eliminated my lawn's dandelion infestation with one of those. Couple of hours wandering the yard and I had a big ass pile of weeds. Almost none have grown back so far this year. Way more effective than when I tried to Roundup them away.

    I just got one of these and the work to reward ratio is off the chart.
    See a weed? Pull a weed. I'm a convert.

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    So, my ice maker feed tube froze up and started leaking water out of the back of the freezer. It’s a slow leak and for the moment I’ve turned the water off because I don’t have the time to unthaw it right now. How screwed am I? I’ve never had this happen before and I really don’t want to buy a new ice maker right now.

    I feel like it’s actually a super lucky exception for this NOT to happen and yeah a cheap line in the back is the fix, the ice maker itself is usually always fine

    I honestly expect my line to freeze up and deprive me of on-demand ice 2 or 3 times per year, that’s just the cost of doing business having an ice maker in the fridge

  • SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    edited April 2021
    Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.

    As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.

    Soggybiscuit on
    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
  • GilgaronGilgaron Registered User regular
    Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.

    As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.

    Ego sent me an advert for their zero turn, and while it looks nice and reminds me that pushing a mower around sucks, it made me think of Syndalis mentioning the price being more reasonable on robot mowers lately.., looking into it, I think when I get tired of my push mower I'm going to have to convince the wife to get a robot... probably I'll be pushing the mower for another year until I'm done with the basement and we figure out if/what we'll do outside before putting in guide wires and so on.

This discussion has been closed.