City Mouse needs advice from country folk about land maintenance

[Harriet Vane]

We have lived most of our lives either in a large, dense, urban neighborhood or in a suburban neighborhood of the big city.

 

We are now living our dream on a wooded acre. Our front yard has several large trees and a sunny patch right in front of the house. The back yard has lots more trees, with full sun right next to the house. The back of the back yard is fully forested.

 

Some of the trees drop large, greed pods, bigger than a golf ball but smaller than a baseball. They look exactly like walnut pods, but none of our trees are walnut.

 

We have a riding mower.

 

Do we need to pick up all the pods before mowing? Dh says not because the blades are above the pods. I also think we have to pick up the nuts because they are annoying underfoot and make it hard to use the yard for play (badminton or various running silly games).

 

How often do you pick up sticks? Trying to pick them all up right before mowing can take all four of us an hour or so.

 

Do we have to pick up tiny sticks too? We don't want to wreck our awesome riding mower.

 

Any tips for restoring grass to the shady, mossy parts of the yard?

 

Any other tips for caring for our pretty property? We love the view and the quietness, but are a little overwhelmed with the maintenance and want to find a good routine.

[In The Great White North]

We have a tree that drops large green pods, that crack open to leave a chestnut-type thing (not edible).  We don't rake it up at all.  We also don't run around barefoot in that area (too near the driveway/street).  

 

We do pick up larger sticks (>1/4 diameter or > 2 ft long) every spring or after a storm.  It takes several hours/days.

 

We have to sharpen the lawn mower blades every couple of weeks. This is routine maintenance.  Rocks, big sticks, etc can nick the blades and cause dulling so if you don't pick them up, plan on sharpening the blades more often.

 

For restoring grass to the shady, mossy area, you can try grass seed that is formulated for shade and trimming the trees overhead so they are not so dense. We have areas that are so densely forested that we make no attempt to grow grass.

[Guest]

Are the trees Hickory? It sounds possible. We have Hickories; some areas have quite a lot of nuts on the ground. We never pick them up. Dh's mower is a Kubota. Don't know if that matters. I have the boys pick up larger sticks now and then. No set schedule, but most often after a hard storm has come through. We don't pick up small sticks, just larger branches.

 

I would not bother trying to grow grass where it is shady or mossy. Just shape out a bed, throw in some Pachysandra or Vinca, and call it good.

[Harriet Vane]

We have a tree that drops large green pods, that crack open to leave a chestnut-type thing (not edible).  We don't rake it up at all.  We also don't run around barefoot in that area (too near the driveway/street).  

 

We do pick up larger sticks (>1/4 diameter or > 2 ft long) every spring or after a storm.  It takes several hours/days.

 

We have to sharpen the lawn mower blades every couple of weeks. This is routine maintenance.  Rocks, big sticks, etc can nick the blades and cause dulling so if you don't pick them up, plan on sharpening the blades more often.

 

For restoring grass to the shady, mossy area, you can try grass seed that is formulated for shade and trimming the trees overhead so they are not so dense. We have areas that are so densely forested that we make no attempt to grow grass.

 

Okay, I feel like a real idiot.

 

How does one sharpen the mower blades?

[Harriet Vane]

Are the trees Hickory? It sounds possible. We have Hickories; some areas have quite a lot of nuts on the ground. We never pick them up. Dh's mower is a Kubota. Don't know if that matters. I have the boys pick up larger sticks now and then. No set schedule, but most often after a hard storm has come through. We don't pick up small sticks, just larger branches.

 

I would not bother trying to grow grass where it is shady or mossy. Just shape out a bed, throw in some Pachysandra or Vinca, and call it good.

 

Hickory sounds right.

 

How do you manage with all the nuts on the ground?

 

Our hickory is dead center, so playing badminton or other games is definitely affected.

[TammyS]

Are the trees Hickory? It sounds possible. We have Hickories; some areas have quite a lot of nuts on the ground. We never pick them up. Dh's mower is a Kubota. Don't know if that matters. I have the boys pick up larger sticks now and then. No set schedule, but most often after a hard storm has come through. We don't pick up small sticks, just larger branches.

 

I would not bother trying to grow grass where it is shady or mossy. Just shape out a bed, throw in some Pachysandra or Vinca, and call it good.

 

:iagree:   In fact, I would be trying to NOT grow grass, because then it will need to be mowed.  I would probably be planting some kind of moss that will make a nice flat area that won't need mowing.  That's what I did when we lived in the woods.

  Now we live on acres of grass.  Ugh.  My teen spends about 4hrs per week cutting grass. 

 

As for sticks and nuts, if you are really, really sure that your blade is well above them, go ahead and leave them.  The worst you're likely to do is tear up a blade.  Unless the mower picks up a nut and throws it at  your house.  We used to live under gum trees and those suckers could sound like we were under automatic gun fire if a batch hit the house.  We used to use dirt rakes to push them out of the yard and into the woods.  Took about an hour once per year.  It was worth it.

[VeritasMama]

Hickory is worth quite a bit of money, you might be able to have a tree removal service pay you to come and remove it. They would be paying you for the wood, since they can resell it.

[In The Great White North]

 

 

How does one sharpen the mower blades?

Well, the easiest way is to take them to a small engine repair shop and for $10 or so, they'll sharpen them.  Or you could buy the equipment to do it yourself.

[Harriet Vane]

Well, the easiest way is to take them to a small engine repair shop and for $10 or so, they'll sharpen them.  Or you could buy the equipment to do it yourself.

 

Thanks! I never knew this needs to be done.

 

[Guest]

Hickory sounds right.

 

How do you manage with all the nuts on the ground?

 

Our hickory is dead center, so playing badminton or other games is definitely affected.

Yeah, our hickories are not in the main yard area. We are on ten acres, but only about an acre is actually "yard." Most of the hickories are in a side yard, where dh's shop/garage is.

 

There is a contraption that looks like a push mower with a "cage" that rolls along and picks up nuts. I have never used it, but I probably would give it a try if that was in our main yard area. Here is a link of a nut roller:

http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Weasel-95306-Gatherer-Pack/dp/B0042U6GE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409159972&sr=8-1&keywords=weasel+nut+gatherer

[PeterPan]

In our area the companies that lumber trees will *not* use yard trees.  The trees can be valuable, but if they're yard trees, they may have had nails or other things in them over the years. (for bird houses, signs, whatever) that could harm the sawmill blade.  Maybe that varies with the company, but that's what we were told.

 

See if you can get a Trees of (your state) through the library.  It exists and might solve your question on what it is.  :D  I'm not seeing what you're describing, but around here we have chestnuts, buckeyes, other types of walnuts, hickory, beech, all sorts of things.  You could collect them and keep your ds busy all winter cracking.  You wouldn't BELIEVE the amazing pie you can make from your nuts.  My FIL did this with some (I forget which kind of less common nut) this summer, and honestly it was unbelievably good.  So fresh and rich.  You could crack nuts while listening to audiobooks or something.  :)

 

[TammyS]

You might want to look into permaculture.  There's a lot in there about land management.  You can make your land much more productive with less work than you think. 

 

I would be looking at those nuts both as food and product.  Nuts to eat or sell, obviously.  But also the outer shells can be used for decorative purposes, carving, mulch, and dye making.

[MotherGoose]

You don't have an osage orange do you? Where I live Hickory nuts are smaller than a golf ball. We don't have osage oranges here though. You might google and see if that's it. I don't think I'd want to hit one of those with a lawnmower blade.

[Harriet Vane]

Yeah, our hickories are not in the main yard area. We are on ten acres, but only about an acre is actually "yard." Most of the hickories are in a side yard, where dh's shop/garage is.

 

There is a contraption that looks like a push mower with a "cage" that rolls along and picks up nuts. I have never used it, but I probably would give it a try if that was in our main yard area. Here is a link of a nut roller:

http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Weasel-95306-Gatherer-Pack/dp/B0042U6GE8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409159972&sr=8-1&keywords=weasel+nut+gatherer

 

BAM!

 

You're the bomb! This thing could save us a great deal of backache.

 

Thanks!

[PeterPan]

You can follow it up with this  http://www.amazon.com/Nut-Cracker-Dukes-Pecan-Comfort/dp/B000FNK8JK/ref=pd_tcs_compl_lg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=11M8NS23W4JADHV8CG92

 

We have one (a gift from a friend) and ds and dh use it daily.  :)

[Harriet Vane]

You can follow it up with this  http://www.amazon.com/Nut-Cracker-Dukes-Pecan-Comfort/dp/B000FNK8JK/ref=pd_tcs_compl_lg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=11M8NS23W4JADHV8CG92

 

We have one (a gift from a friend) and ds and dh use it daily.   :)

 

Okay, so I have this ridiculous fear of eating something I didn't plant myself or buy in a grocery store. My fear is probably born out of reading too many mystery novels. I think especially of one in which poisonous mushrooms were a key feature in the mystery.

 

So, here's my silly, naive, city mouse question: How do I know if these nuts are safe to eat? Do I have to roast them or something? And how do I get the green husk off?

 

We lived for fourteen years with a humongous walnut tree and never once ate any of the nuts. In that case it was because I had no idea what to do with them and was too busy to put the effort into figuring it out.

 

:blush:

[alisoncooks]

Okay, I feel like a real idiot.

 

How does one sharpen the mower blades?

 

You can do it yourself with a file.

Not that it's not a legit maintenance task -- but I doubt you'll need to do it every few weeks.  Do a google search: recs seem to run from every few weeks to every 6 months.  (Psst...we've had riding mowers for the past 7 years and have never sharpened a blade. Oops.)

[Miss Tick]

You didn't miss anything with walnuts, they're a pain to get out. Seriously difficult.

 

At the end of the mowing season we pay a mower dealership place to come pick up our mower and do yearly maintenance. Sharpen blades, change oil and filter, light bulbs, check battery, fuel stabilizer for the winter, etc.

 

It is not cheap and all stuff we could do ourselves, but I know it won't get done anyway, that's the easiest way to get the blades sharpened.

[PeterPan]

Okay, so I have this ridiculous fear of eating something I didn't plant myself or buy in a grocery store. My fear is probably born out of reading too many mystery novels. I think especially of one in which poisonous mushrooms were a key feature in the mystery.

 

So, here's my silly, naive, city mouse question: How do I know if these nuts are safe to eat? Do I have to roast them or something? And how do I get the green husk off?

 

We lived for fourteen years with a humongous walnut tree and never once ate any of the nuts. In that case it was because I had no idea what to do with them and was too busy to put the effort into figuring it out.

 

:blush:

Get Trees of (insert state) and then you'll know what you're eating.  Really I think you're going to be fine.  I think it's even possible to eat acorns if you cook them, and you're not likely to do that.  Nuts, just normal nuts?  No prob.  Be brave, be adventurous.  It's not like it's nettles or something you could confuse with poison ivy.   :lol: