[FreeSpirit777]

Am I the only one who really hates the concept of leaf blowing, lawn mowing, tree cutting etc?

I really hate it for two main reasons:

1) It's extremely loud and invasive; to be walking down the street, riding your bike etc and to have three people leaf blowing on the sidewalk right by you as you pass by, is extremely irritating..

2) It is incredibly meaningless... if the loud noises were because something practical and important was being done, I wouldn't get as irritated; but the fact that the loud noises are because of something so completely meaningless, makes it so much worse!

The concept of blowing leaves serves no purpose other than image.. same with lawn mowing. It's all for show.

It's like paying someone to create all this commotion and extremely loud noise, for nothing.. it's like going around town destroying paintings..

The leaves are beautiful, and are meant to be left ON THE GROUND.. not gathered into a pile and thrown into trash bags. How dumb when you think about it. Leaves are beautiful art, leave them be.

------------

Nobody seems to notice or even question the concept of leaf blowing and other meaningless lawn care.. as long as it's quiet, it doesn't usually bother me; but man either way it's so pointless.

 

[charlie.elliot]

Wow. I wasn't expecting this, but I actually completely and totally agree with you. I have gone on many rants in my time about lawn-mowing. It wastes energy, it wastes time, it's ugly anyway (grass is worst shade of green, as well as those parallel lines), it's noisy and annoying, it robs people of shade, it robs animals of habitats, it's not even good exercise for the people doing it because they're riding, and to top it all off, the vast majority of people don't even use their lawns at all, they just feel the need to have one because it's what "looks nice", OR they want to show off their big fancy house.

I live in rural Maryland and it especially pisses me off because many rich people want to both have their houses sitting back from the road, but ALSO be able to show off how big their house is, so they end up with effing giant expanses of lawn going from the road to their house. And they make it unpleasant for everyone walking or biking on the road because they're destroyed the shade.

So, yes, I too hate lawns.

 

[Kirjuri]

Am I the only one who really hates the concept of leaf blowing, lawn mowing, tree cutting etc?

I really hate it for two main reasons:

1) It's extremely loud and invasive; to be walking down the street, riding your bike etc and to have three people leaf blowing on the sidewalk right by you as you pass by, is extremely irritating..

2) It is incredibly meaningless... if the loud noises were because something practical and important was being done, I wouldn't get as irritated; but the fact that the loud noises are because of something so completely meaningless, makes it so much worse!

The concept of blowing leaves serves no purpose other than image.. same with lawn mowing. It's all for show.

It's like paying someone to create all this commotion and extremely loud noise, for nothing.. it's like going around town destroying paintings..

The leaves are beautiful, and are meant to be left ON THE GROUND.. not gathered into a pile and thrown into trash bags. How dumb when you think about it. Leaves are beautiful art, leave them be.

------------

Nobody seems to notice or even question the concept of leaf blowing and other meaningless lawn care.. as long as it's quiet, it doesn't usually bother me; but man either way it's so pointless.

Edit: The following is mostly true of Finnish lawns, and I bet it's different in countries where most people has a lawn in front of their houses (America, hmmmm). It isn't as much a thing here, but if a lawn exists, it's cleared only as often as needed to keep it from interfering with walking.

----
While the noise sucks, and does have alternatives, collecting leaves and mowing grass do have their benefits.

Rotting leaves aren't especially pretty, and mowing the grass keeps lawn from overgrowing. If the leaves and grass turn into detritus, it will begin to grow exponentially over the years. Plenty of wild animals and plants start to invade, and it'll be even more difficult to keep traversable. I prefer the option of keeping a lawn clean every once in a while to murdering a copse every ten years. Better keep it from becoming a home than to destroy a home over and over.

Every time we arrive at our summer cottage up north we have to reap the entirety of the yard of two-foot grass, just to traverse easily. Also the same grass will definitely wet your pant legs up to the knee at the very least. It's quite the chore, especially without a machine. (Idk if there even are consumer machines for overgrown hay-lawn.) We also have to clear out small trees where we can't reach with scythes. If we didn't, the whole yard would grow sealed within a decade or two.

 

[charlie.elliot]

@Kirjuri: so clear just around the sidewalks and roads and any surface that you're actually using. No need for huge swaths of grass that just sit empty with nary even a kid playing soccer on them to give them a reason to exist.

Also yes we know everything is better in Scandinavia, you don't have to rub it in!!!! lol

 

[Kirjuri]

@Kirjuri: so clear just around the sidewalks and roads and any surface that you're actually using. No need for huge swaths of grass that just sit empty with nary even a kid playing soccer on them to give them a reason to exist.

I agree, huge fucking lawns for no other than status purposes is... stupid. Meaningless. Void.

Also yes we know everything is better in Scandinavia, you don't have to rub it in!!!! lol

Stop it, you! :blushed:

 

[raschel]

I heard somewhere motorcycles or vacuum cleaners don't need to be noisy but they were made that way, at least in the beginning, to convince people they work.

I had a lawn growing up. Both back and front. I prefer mowed lawns. We did use them. We had gatherings, we had a vegetable garden as well as fruit trees. I also had to pass through them from school and there was no walkway in those areas.

I have seen a mower that doesn't make noise. It's manual with no electricity. I don't know if it truly works...
I've seen the same for a vacuum --that one doesn't work

I think honestly cleanliness does well to the spirit.

Being around people who leave dishes, don't clean the bathroom...
It seems on the surface it's just for show but you discipline your consciousness -- I have never had a problem with a clean person at work. I have always found them to have excellent work ethic. Isn't that interesting...

 

[charlie.elliot]

I heard somewhere motorcycles or vacuum cleaners don't need to be noisy but they were made that way, at least in the beginning, to convince people they work.

:laughing: That's hilarious

When I was growing up, we had a manual lawn mower. It did make some noise, but not a lot... and it gave you exercise! lol. But it would definitely take a lot longer for a really big lawn.

I think honestly cleanliness does well to the spirit.

Very true, but untouched nature has a certain perfection and cleanliness to it as well. It's only when you start meddling that you have to work to make it perfect...

 

[yentipeee]

mow-and-blow = cut grass and blow the clippings onto the neighbors' yard. My neighbors take turns tormenting each other and scaring people out of their sleep. And lets not forget the 3d instrument of terror -- the weed-whacker.



It's mostly an American obsession. If you run such a device in a French neighborhood you'll be arrested within minutes. Unlike other countries, Congress allows these infernal machines to be sold without mufflers or emissions controls because it's more profitable for manufacturers. Congress allows it because they're nothing more than employees of corporations & special interests.

 

[Daiz]

While I love the look of an overgrown garden, it's not practical. Waist-high grass is visually pretty but unsafe, especially where I live. You get snakes. And in the US, we let the lawn grow super high and all these bizarre bugs made their home in it, which is not bad in and of itself, but those things can start getting into your home.

So, I think lawn mowing has a place and is necessary. Just not lots of it.

 

[Vahyavishdapaya]

Keeping the grass short and leaves clear is absolutely necessary for the safety of human habitation. Long grass means weeds and weeds mean structural weakness. You must have never seen roads and sidewalks and sewers being torn up by poor maintenance. The grass gets through the gaps in the concrete and weakens it structurally from within. Plus long grass is a nesting place for pests and snakes.

Dry, dead leaves are a serious fire hazard. Have you ever seen what happens when you park a car over dry leaves? The heat from the catalytic converter causes the leaves to ingite, causing the vehicle to explode. It's a genuine threat to public safety.

Even without cars, dry leaves around the place is perfect fuel for naturally occurring fires, and here in Australia, we have a surfeit of those. Every summer we are advised to clear out dry leaves from our properties in order to make them safer in the likely event of a natural wildfire.

Some things are a matter of safety, and a little bit of noise and being destructive to your artistic taste is a small price to pay in exchange, as far as I'm concerned.

Congress allows it because they're nothing more than employees of corporations & special interests.

Smart man you are. Most people think governments are "socialist." In a real socialist country, corporations wouldn't exist at all, let alone dictate policy to the state.

 

[JazzPhilosopher]

I love mowing the lawn, assuming I can listen to jazz records (And by this I mean CD's) while doing it. I think a freshly cut lawn is much more aesthetically pleasing than a wild, unkept lawn. It just looks chaotic to me. The sound doesn't bother anyone, since everyone has to do it. And the smell of freshly cut grass is wonderful, to boot!

 

[Coburn]

I don't especially care. I can appreciate a clean-cut lawn just as much as a bunch of fallen leaves scattered across a walkway. I'll appreciate them in different ways, but one isn't inherently more or less beautiful to me.

The reason lawn care exists is for health, safety, usability, and home value.

 

[Northern Lights]

Dry, dead leaves are a serious fire hazard.

Your Australian dry leaf I raise the European wet leaf. It sticks to the paving, becomes soggy all through, and faster than you can say 'slippery slope', Granny from across the street has gone and broken her hip.

It's regulated by law -- whoever is responsible for the sidewalk has to de-leaf it. A different question is whether you need noisy machines for that, but then again, do you use vacuum cleaners and power drills or don't you? It's perfectly possible to dust and drill by hand ...

So that for context, @FreeSpirit777 , and on the bright side, no one has gotten the idea of tidying up the leaves in a forest yet. That has to count for something.

 

[Peppermintyy]

The noise doesn't really bother me, it's the dust and debris that get blown in my eyes and hair that I don't like. I know most people will politely stop if they see you, but that's if they see you :/

My boyfriend hates them and will go on rants, basically hitting all the points you did haha. But they're points I agree with. They're just blowing leaves and dirt from one place to another, making it someone else's job to clean up. I don't see why they can't just rake it up. I guess it's slower but definitely much cleaner and doesn't need gas to work.

 

[raschel]

Add me to the thing against bugs x( I'm wary of tall grass even just a little tall green grass --I've got squeamish ever since I had some really strange bites. And all the more if you bring those into the house as well.

 

[halfamazing]

This thread reminds me of all those questions I would ask when I was high... Basically, questions that I would ask myself, but nobody would engage in because there was no solution.

 

[Glassland]

Humanity's advances are only possible because we fight entropy.
Which is what you're complaining about.

Not keeping a city tidy would make it detereorate.

 

[Westy365]

I think mowing is annoying, so I want to use no-mow lawn alternatives. And yeah, leaf blowing gets excessive sometimes (and it doesn't seem like it's worth the noise, especially if the neighbors are trying to nap).

 

[yentipeee]

I think mowing is annoying, so I want to use no-mow lawn alternatives. And yeah, leaf blowing gets excessive sometimes (and it doesn't seem like it's worth the noise, especially if the neighbors are trying to nap).

There are no-mow lawn alternatives. I have thyme on my lawn, it's drought resistant, doesn't need mowing, watering or fertilizers, it smells beautiful, and in the spring it's covered in carmine-blue flowers. I have the only edible lawn in the state. The neighbors think it's weird, but who cares, the bunnies love it.

 

[Vivid Melody]

I've got no time for mowing or raking. I have more important things to do like....vacuuming!


In all seriousness though, the noise of these things doesn't bother me whatsoever. We have one of those mechanical mowers so it doesn't make any noise. It works well when the grass is shorter.


Sometimes this stuff is about image for people if it's not in tip top perfect shape. Some people thought one house sort of near us looked like an eye sore and in all honesty, I didn't even notice it even though we drive passed it almost every day lol. I couldn't care less. I often wished I lived away from other people (just our house) because neighbors can be judgmental and nosy over stupid stuff. Your property is some how a reflection of their image and their image alone and blah blah blah. It's annoying.