DH and I are about to get a divorce over the guy who mows our lawns. No not what you're thinking LOL! DH thinks he mows far too often during the season (about 6 months here, and he mows every week on most of them, twice a month at a couple.) Mostly $40 per property, one is $60 (almost an acre.)

We only have the mowing done at multis - SFHs take care of their own yard, and honestly NONE of them look as good as the duplexes and quads LOL!

He said mowing less than once a week in yards with lush grass means they get too high, and he has to go over them twice so it isn't saving us any money and is hard on his equipment.

I talked to another guy, who quoted the higher price and up, and they also said it had to be once a week.

It drives DH crazy to see the lawns so well-manicured. Just a real fluke of his psyche, because I think it's nice to have nice-looking lawns!

He is saying next year he's buying a lawn mower and doing it all himself (no he isn't. He doesn't have the time or inclination, and is definitely not weed-whacking and other details at 6 properties on a regular basis.)

It's become a real point of contention though!

I might add the guy does more than mow our lawns: he has done grading and fill works and driveways for us at REALLY cheap prices compared to others who've quoted for those jobs. To give an example, one sinkhole area in one driveway, a concrete company located ACROSS THE STREET wanted thousands to fill it. He charged us $250 plus materials.

So what we pay in mowing is paid back in the occasional bigger job in my opinion.

WMH,

Assuming your hubby has a riding mower or a Zero turn mower, I would let him mow as much grass as he wants to. Many DIY type men get a certain 'pleasure' from mowing their lawn. It is a male ego thing. It is just the way we are wired.

You're going about this all wrong. You sit down with your husband and ask him what else he's not doing that he has time for? He wants to take on extra yard care. Why stop there? The building windows need more frequent washing to maintain a high curb appeal. The gutters really need to be cleaned four times a year and not just once. Brainstorm a plethora of tasks. It won't be hard. He will soon realize he has awakened a chores dragon and is soon going to be sorry for mentioning the yard maintenance. Do this all with a straight face and pre thought out plan. He'll know you're serious. Hot potatoes won't get dropped as fast as the lawn maintenance issue.

I agree with you about your current lawn service. It is a dream to have rain, large lots with green healthy lawns, and an extremely reasonably priced yard maintenance worker like yours.

I agree with Roy that it is an issue with ego or testosterone. In this situation. I liken the lawn care with a barbecue grill, your husband saying, "Oh, I can do what the the lawn guy does." You could show your DH examples and figures about maintaining the lawns, and I think that he will still adamantly profess that he is right.

Dear or Darling, same thing. Term of affection. Sometime it can mean "Da*m Husband" too.

We don't own a lawnmower. Every one we have ever owned has broken down and he doesn't know small engines. So time was lost and MUCH frustration was incurred and half the time, the lawn never got mowed.

That is a reasonable price compared to here.

It depends on the amount of rain, but your mower guy is right.

If your DH does decide to buy a mower a trimmer to do all of these yards, he is going to need to buy commercial equipment. Have you ever bought a commercial mower and trimmer? Get ready to spend a lot of money. However, they will last for years doing proper maintenance. Yep, more to store, insure, maintain, and something to haul it with.

A good female friend got married and purchased an electric lawn mower and a long cord. The husband was expected to mow their rental lawns and their home. Three lawn per week. On top of that the husband was expected to make the money to pay the bills working overtime and keep the wife happy.

So one day when I was over their new home replacing a garbage disposal, she unloaded all the short comings of her husband.

I said stop! Why are you sabotaging your relationship with your husband over yard work! You NEED your husband to MAKE YOU HAPPY, not cut your lawn. You can hire anyone to cut lawns but only your husband and do things to make you smile. She had said she wised she married me, I'm handy. I told her she could find a thousand handyman/contractors, but she has only one husband.

When they had twins, the she was so happy her DH didn't have to run to fix rental problems....she had guys on speed dial for that.

And, I bet this lawn care guy would let you know if something unusual was going on at the rentals. That is valuable too. I agree with the weekly mow, done by the guy who does it for a living. Much better for the lawn, keeps the lawnguy’s schedule more manageable, and good tenants DO notice a well kept yard. Those nicely manicured yards may have kept good tenants longer, or even swayed good prospects to your places. Also, well-kept landscaping possibly deters property crime. Sounds like your DH needs you to find another property to buy for him to fix up. ;-)

Oh, and, if DH takes over the mower, his schedule for repairs will now be dictated by THE WEATHER. I mow my sfh, and all of my larger repair and renovation projects get interrupted by a day of mowing. Sometimes, I just try to get the mowing done while I am already at that property, but then, things don’t always fit in the vehicle. Or, if I do cram everything in the vehicle, it is a pain in the tookus to find things. I end up unloading half the vehicle just to get to the tool I want.

If I weren’t so blasted fussy about how my houses look, and if I didn’t hate going round and round with tenants to keep it mowed, then I’d turn it over to tenants. But, I KNOW that my good lawn care has encouraged neighbors to improve their yards, ( they tell me they have to look better than my rentals, lol!) and in a city where things can go ugly fast, I will continue to take the trouble.

As you have a good lawn care person, and the price is good, I’d say to put efforts into other maintenance tasks, or another property, or even hobbies.

Short answer: let the yard man do the mowing.

More details: I own a zero turn mower, sharpen my own blades, and change my own belts. I mow MY yard every 4 or 5 days at the peak of growing season. The rentals are somewhat different. I have in the lease mowing required a MINIMUM of once every two weeks.

A few rentals I mow myself, and they get mowed at least weekly.

And then I hire out two of them, they are mowed more frequently than every two weeks.

I mow a class C differently than a class A or B.

A and B are that class because you do everything to a better degree. If you expect better results you might need to grease up the hands that complete these task.

It can be be done with large jobs, gift cards or just a few more dollars each time. How, doesn't matter as much as they understand you appreciate them.

At my own home, I mow once a week during mowing season. And then throw snow a couple of time a week in the winter.

Here's a question to ask him.

"Honey, there's a landscaper looking for extra workers in the evenings and on weekends. They'll pay you $40/yard as long as you provide your own mower. We could buy one for $X,000. What would you think about doing that to bring in extra income?"

Betcha he's not excited about it. He'll probably connect the dots without any help.

Here's a question to ask him.

"Honey, there's a landscaper looking for extra workers in the evenings and on weekends. They'll pay you $40/yard as long as you provide your own mower. We could buy one for $X,000. What would you think about doing that to bring in extra income?"

Betcha he's not excited about it. He'll probably connect the dots without any help.

Here's a question to ask him.

"Honey, there's a landscaper looking for extra workers in the evenings and on weekends. They'll pay you $40/yard as long as you provide your own mower. We could buy one for $X,000. What would you think about doing that to bring in extra income?"

Betcha he's not excited about it. He'll probably connect the dots without any help.

Wow, lots of interest in this! My DH tends to be that way, too. But he responds well to logic, and to reminders of what would be involved for him to take on something best left to someone else.

The mower maintenance is VERY compelling, along with the hassle of loading and unloading.

WMH, that’s hilarious! Everyone has those things that are always to “expensive” no matter what.

Maybe explain to him that nice lawns help to rent out quickly at higher prices. And another point, it tends to help with neighbors and goodwill. The neighbors are less likely to complain about tenant issues if your places look so nice.

Tell him to sit back and enjoy your beautiful lawns! Idk if it’ll help, and I totally understand

W,

You have a great husband. Let him do whatever he wants. He’ll be happier and you will continue to have a great husband.

The WORST thing a wife can do is try to logic her hubby into something.

Give him an big hug, tell him how proud you are of him, and help him do what he wants. Be his best friend that does not try to fix him.

God looked at Adam and said he needs a helpmate…because inside we men need a cheerleader.

We men need to do stuff. With tools and machinery.

Or a hobby.

Retirement is tough on a guy. We kinda lose our identity.

Or Let him buy a Porsche and take you to dinner!

Brad, DH works 7 days a week already, EXCEPT when he is riding his bicycle! If he takes on the mowing, which as pointed out is weather-driven, those are missed bike riding days.

AND it's like pressure-washing. There are dozen of guys out there with a pressure-washer, including our painter. But when I point out that a house needs a bit of a clean, DH says, "I'll do it..."

If I read it correctly he's charging $40 per mow (not $40 per month per property)....that isn't cheap but it isn't much higher than what I'm paying. I'm paying $104/month to a service to mow a large property. They mow every week during "season" and once or twice a month during winter.

If you do not mow every week here in Florida in the hot months you'll have a problem. It gets wildly overgrown and you could even get a code violation for overgrown lawn. And if you use a push mower the grass height and the dew make it very difficult to mow overgrown grass.