You can't borrow a mower forever, you'll either have to buy one or hire a kid to mow for you.

Oh good god, mowing the lawn is not that difficult. Buck up.

The new rechargeable lawn mowers are great, quiet, no gas smell, easy to use.

I had a reel mower. If your yard is much bigger than a postage stamp or isn't level, it's hard work. I also never got a nice, even cut out of it. I ended up giving it to my mother in law, who has a tiny yard with very little grass. It works well for her. I tried to be green, but it didn't work. We have a self-propelled mulching mower that does the job much quicker and with better results.

Looking at that yard, I'd recommend hiring a lawn service for the first year to handle mowing & getting the lawn in shape. Then overseed in the fall with a grass that's appropriate to your area & won't require lots of maintenance or watering. Then, next spring, you can decide about the mower.

A reel mower is good is you do not have a lot of grass and if your yard is mostly flat, else you will have to go with an electric or gaz mower. I just bought a house with a 7000 sq feet yard and passed the lawn mower (the last owner gave us his gaz mower) for the first time last week end, it was not as bad as I thought it would be ;)

When we bought our new house almost 2 years ago, I gave push mowing a try. Our lawn is more dense and on a less steep slope than yours and it was hard going (major upper body work out for this woman). I gave up after a few months and hired a mow & blow crew for the lawn intensive front yard. The nice thing about the crew is that they also edge the lawn, weed whack around trees, and keep the hedges tidy. Your site looks like it needs a periodic weed whack/mow to me. I don't think a push mower would get through that tall fibrous stuff. Good luck!

You're renting right??? Then don't blow the bank on your lawn. If you think you'll never go back to an apartment - then yes invest in a good push gas mower. Otherwise try Craigslist. By the time you pay for a lawn service for a year - $20 a month you would have paid for the mower.

I agree with byron_wilde, go for a good push mower. But not all push mowers are alike. I worked in the CU grounds dept. for many years, graduating up through the various sized mowers. If you're renting, of course have someone come and do the tall grasses the first 1-2 times, then take it over yourself. We've gone through several push mowers over the years and nothing beats our Honda mulching mower. Get the blade sharpened once at beginning of season and once in the middle (local guy, costs me 5 bucks). And mow at the highest or next to highest setting. This will keep the lawn green when all the other short-cropped ones are browning off in July and August. The mulch laid down feeds the grass, mowing high shades the roots and keeps the little grass plants mulched and hydrated. Hope this helps.

We found a push mower getting thrown out and it works fine for our small, uneven, hilly yard. We too are recent home owners after years of living in a city apt. and quite frankly I could care less what the lawn looks like as long as it doesn't piss off the neighbors. The nicest thing about a push mower is it is silent and you don't have to have a gas can around. Even brand new they cost about $100.

Go for an electric, cordless mower if you think you're going to live in the place for a while or foresee moving to another place with grass, too. They're a little pricier, but you do not have to deal with gas or yearly tune-ups. In the long run, they're cheaper than the gas mower you might've saved money on upfront.

Don't bother with a push reel mower. They're great if you have a tiny yard with grass. However, you have a good-sized yard full of weeds and some of those weeds are no doubt woody.

If the yard was in that state when you started renting, then your landlord will probably be content that you just mow it regularly and water it enough to keep it from dying. As a renter, you shouldn't be expected to put grass where there is none.

Wow, that's a brave and crazy landlord to let the tenants be responsible for the yard.

Most rental properties I've encountered expect you to maintain the lawn, unless it's part of a larger townhouse/condo complex or half of a duplex.

Granted, it results in yards that look like that. My house was formerly rented prior to my purchasing it. As a result, my yard is 95% weeds in the front (all bur clover) and 90% weeds in the back. I have the brownest yard in the neighborhood currently because the bur clover has gone to seed. :T I'll probably overseed it with buffalo in the fall.

The reel mowers require a regular mowing schedule - if the grass gets too high, it just won't work.

That said, you live in LA, where keeping a lawn alive takes quite a bit of water. Maybe try a replacement like this:

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/676/116

No mowing required as it stays pretty short...

Older Push Lawn Mowers are great, esp for LA yards. However, I would have guessed you would be going permaculture and ditching the grass all together and planning your veggie garden bed! tomatoes, squash, onions, greens! you can do it!

I didn't vote because I didn't care for any of the options given. My vote would be to purchase an electric or gas push-mower secondhand. Unless you're a serious lawn aficionado (which it sounds like you aren't) you don't need a high-tech mower with all the bells and whistles. You just need something that runs reliably and gets the job done.

A reel mower is a good idea, too. I have one that I use for a small, fenced-in area of my yard that is mostly flat. They only work well on flat terrain and on grass that isn't very long. If you let it get too long, the reel mower will just push it down flat without cutting anything. Also, the blades need to be sharpened periodically.

We have a reel lawn mower for our 1950's size lot. It is quite a work-out to use. It is much easier in many ways than a gas powered mower--no needing to gas it up, no noise and the blades don't need sharpening. My husband does the cutting and loves the noiseless cut and eco-friendliness. I've used it a few times and find it very frustrating--hard to push, twigs get stuck in it, and takes longer. We cut our grass twice as often as those with gas mowers--to be effective grass must not be too long. It works for my husband, though.

If you choose a reel lawn mower, you'll have to borrow a gas powered mower at first to get it under control. Yikes! Good luck.

How much money can you spend on this project?

I agree with elankat -- hire someone to get the yard under control, and then I would seed with some no-mow grasses and wild flowers. Depending on your geography, no mow grasses are an wonderful and beautiful alternative to thirsty, high-maintenance lawns. Grasses themselves are not bad for the environment, but traditional lawns can be a huge waste of water.

http://nomowgrass.com/

http://www.for-wild.org/download/wantnomow/wantnomow.html

http://www.pacificearth.com/cont/nomow.html

The thing is, that isn't really a lawn. If you hire someone or get a mower, it won't look any better, just a cut tangle of weeds. Another thing to note, lawn is never a 'green' option. Too much detail for here, but it requires fertilizer, pesticides, and lots of water but doesn't tend to retain water (on and on). I vote for none of the above and think you should pull out the weeds, grab a cheap bag of native wildflower seed mix or something, and sprinkle that in the yard. Set up some soaker hoses on a timer and it would look decent with less maintenance. Get creative, this could be a great yard!

all these ideas for seeding, soaker hoses, etc.. are great, except you rent, and you landlord probably wants to keep a lawn. if you're terrified of a lawn mower, then hiring someone is the way to go. find a neighbor kid who will cut it for fairly cheap. those weeds will look better trimmed down.

I am actually so surprised at the number of people suggesting you hire this work out, or use a reel mower.

I wouldn't suggest buying the most expensive, powerful gas mower; I use a cheap WeedEater mower and it works just fine. My yard is sizable, bumpy and hilly, but the work is absolutely manageable.

You don't need a super expensive mower or a lot of strength and endurance to take care of your lawn.

Also please note that planting a yard full of wildflowers is likely to result in rodents and insects, which could make their way into your house. I don't use fertilizer, extra water or pesticides on my lawn. I pull weeds the old-fashioned way with a trowel and gloves, and let rain do the watering.

Edging the lawn will do wonders for making the lawn look tidier. To get a yard like this into good shape will require several seasons of work. If any of your neighbours are gardeners try to get plants that they are thinning out, that way you already know that they grow in your area. Also look in among the weeds for any plants that can be salvaged by eliminating the competition from weeds.

If it's easy enough for you, I would borrow for a few tries yourself since it's been a while, and see if you enjoy and are willing to make the commitment. If it's always going to be a "why don't you do it" chore with each other, then skip buying the tools and pay someone to do it.

I'd say hire a lawn service to do one big clean up job for you, then take it on yourself. A lawn service will mow, edge, define any existing planting beds etc. After that, managing it yourself will be much easier.

Do you like to garden? Start replacing some of that grass with plants! The more plants, the less mowing.

I think that yard may be a little much for a manual mower to handle. If you can swing it, invest in an electric one. There is no need to add another pollution producing gas mower to the environment.

...why doesn't AT have a garden section? Tons of people out there who know and care! I for one would love one.

goats.

Your options for what to do with your lawn (wildflowers, no-mow grass, regular grass) will all depend on the health of your soil which, based on the weed situation you're describing, isn't great. I recommend you look into "sheet composting," which would basically mean covering the areas you want to plant (whether you plan to plant grass or perennials or whatever) with a layer of cardboard or newspaper, then compost, then straw, and then leaving it for awhile. The yard will essentially "compost" itself, and if you leave it like that over a winter (or 3-4 months), in the spring, you'll be able to plant whatever you want, and it'll be sure to thrive.

How to tame the beast initially - I don't really know. But we use a reel mower on a fairly large yard - well, large for our neighborhood, that is - and it's not a big deal. We do have to run over the yard twice in different directions (making a cross/t) but it takes about an hour and looks fine. We don't obsess about the yard that much. We want our yard house to look nice and not as though we are related to the Beverly Hillbillies; the reel mower an inexpensive (in our case, free/inherited) electric trimmer that we use only occassionally work just fine.

Good luck!

i agree with the garden option - we have the same situation and just spoke with our landlord about putting a garden box in the front yard, since it gets lots of light. she actually loved the idea, and we'll be building it ourselves out of reclaimed materials!

Haha... I like potluck's suggestion!!!

Seriously though, my vote is for a push reel mower. My husband an I have just under a quarter acre of mostly flat land, and the push reel works fine as long as you don't let the grass get too long. It takes a little more effort, but you can always count that as exercise for the day. ;-)

I've used a push reel mower for years. They are lightweight, particularly compared to the alternatives. They are quiet and easy to maintain. Also completely different from the alternatives. To keep them in good shape make sure you clean the blades when done mowing, oil as needed, store in a dry place and once a year get the blades sharpened. That shouldn't cost more than $15. I do it myself with a Dremel so avoid that cost as well.

Depending on your lease agreement (condo? a bit confused here) you can also get rid of the 'grass' and put in lots of beautiful shrubbery and flowers. If you want a space to use for relaxing purchase some pavers and make a nice space for yourselves. Grass is an eco disaster. Uses up lots of resources to keep it green and provides very little in ecological payback. If you can get rid of it do so. Plus, putting in a variety of beautiful plants (look for local garden clubs and seed sharing organizations to get cheap or free plants as well as good advice for your location) means you will attract lots of wildlife, birds in particular. You also gain some privacy and beauty instead of the boring hard work of mowing a lawn.

I have reduced my grass to a small percentage of the plot and only left it because the landlord requested it.

If you have a healthy garden with a complementary variety of plants you will have more than enough birds to feast on the bugs. As for rodents, well I see them in neighborhoods of million dollar homes as well as the streets in front of the Capitol building in DC. If you have a storm drain anywhere nearby you have rodents in your neighborhood. They are an intimate part of your landscape, even if you don't see them. And they are attracted to human trash, not to petunias. I live next to a park that has rats, mice, raccoons, foxes, herons, ducks, crows, bats and more birds than I care to list. It is a joy to have a small piece of the planet not paved with cement or grass.

If you do some research and plant wisely you can turn even the smallest spaces into a certified wildlife habitat. Here is a link, if you're interested.
http://tinyurl.com/2facxub

Whether you hire a lawn service or not will depend on how you feel about mowing, watering and maintenance, lawn size, your available spare time, the monthly cost, and how particular you are about your lawn. If you have the spare time and like lawn care, handle the maintenance yourself. If you're already overscheduled, hire a lawn service. Assuming the posted pictures are of your yard, you will need to buy an electric or gas mower, preferrably one with an effective self-propulsion mechanism. I assure you that despite any fitness aspirations, pushing and pulling a heavy lawn mower up and down that slope will quickly become unacceptable. Given the quantity of weeds in your pictures, you may wish to hire a lawn service, while you concentrate on removing the weeds and reseeding.

Good Luck!

A push mower will do nothing to that. (it's too high and weedy)
If you are scared of a lawn mower, then it sounds like you should hire a service, at least initially to get it cleaned up. Then, do some reading and thinking about what you want the lawn to be and if you want to do it yourself.
Good luck!

How about going a whole other direction? If those are mostly weeds (looks like it), why not give them the round up treatment (hey - even the eco people use that stuff) and scatter some wildflower seeds? If you can get ahold of more native flowers they'll be able to compete well against the weeds with very little maintenance. The last pack I purchased said it was good for 60 sq. ft. and cost less than $5 at Armstrong Garden (Xeriscape mix).

I've struggled with my yard here in Oklahoma since we bought our house 4 years ago. We have two lots, which gives us alot of space, but the "grass" grows faster than I can keep up with using my push mower. Last summer I took the brave move and killed every bit of green except for the trees. This only worked for a couple of months before the peripheral vegetation crept in.

What it did help was with the very tall weeds throughout the yard. This year the yard has been much easier to mow with my little $140 gas powered Honda. Edging it all back and maybe putting down some mulched landscaping in the especially difficult areas to mow could help alot.

Push mowers do NOT work, especially if you need to bushwhack an overgrown weedy mess. If you want to landscape you can put down a thick layer of newspaper and top it with mulch. It will choke out the weeds and grass without using chemicals.

My housemate and I kept our old yard in shape with a weed whacker and a push mower. With the push mower, you can't let the grass get too high or it won't do much good. Hire out the job the first month and then start regularly using the reel mower. I got one for like $80 at Home Depot.

Several co-workers swear by their electric mowers -- that would be a good option.

Just to make the distinction...a push mower is either electric or gas fueled. A reel mower is human powered. Some folks have confused the issue. Almost all good push mowers are now self-propelled, a must if you have any hilliness in your landscape. IF you keep/cut the grass high you won't have to water. We've never ever watered, nor have my parents...they've been in their house almost 50 years.

As some have commented above, that isn't a lawn of grass. To make something lovely out of it, 1) get rid of the weeds, 2) put something back into the soil, and 3) plant something easy to maintain. Nice to do this the greenest way possible, using the internet's DIY resources.
1) Use newspaper, black plastic, and Roundup to get rid of the weeds.
2) In the weed-free ground, plant a field of clover buy "inoculated" seed*, which fixes nitrogen in the soil -- natural fertilizer. When the clover is done, rent a machine to plow it under.
3) Plant lavender, rosemary, and other wonderful drought-tolerant plants suited to LA's unique climate. Roses work extraordinarily well.
If you love wildflowers, seek out a copy of "The Wild Garden" by Violet Stevenson ISBN 978-0140251531 (NOT the one by Rick Darke and Wm Robinson), because Stevenson describes in easy instructions with great illustration how to choose which kind of wildflower meadow you want, when to mow (once or twice a summer) to get the meadow to flower when you choose, etc.
I have more information if you like. If so, comment back and I'll give you my email. I

agreed with elankat
adding, the push reel will be difficult in the heavier weeds.

I had a reel mower for a while. I thought it was great...until I got an electric one. Now there's no going back. Reel works ok if you stay right on top of your lawn. If you let it go for 2 weeks you'll be out there for hours fighting with the reel mower. Go get an electric mower. You can get them for $200. No gas, no worries.

If your landlord will let you, get rid of the lawn, and plant veggies. Or something drought resistant. Put in a rock garden (if maintained, these can be really pretty).

If your landlord WON'T let you, just use a pushmower on a regular schedule. We had one, and we had a fairly large lawn. It was irritating, but less so than a huge gas mower that we would have had to maintain and fuel. Just keep it sharp, and you'll be fine.

Oh also, looking at the picture above, a reel mower isn't even an option for the initial mow. You'll just chew up the ground and give yourself blisters.

Our backyard looked just like yours. We borrowed an electric mower and then covered about half the yard with a layer of mulch and built a few raised beds for veggies and flowers. When we have the cash we'll buy our own mower and eventually get more creative with the ground cover and landscaping in general.

dude, you live in LA. get a lawn service.

I had a push reel lawnmower, and it was very good, but not for a large yard. If you have a smallish yard, definitely go for one of these. (If this is the option you choose, it would probably be a good idea to mow the lawn about every 4 or 5 days instead of once a week; it's a breeze if you mow frequently; infrequent mowings are exhausting!)

The first thing *I* would do is tell the landlord that if I am responsible for maintaining the yard, it will be pretty easy to maintain what's there, which is weeds. If he wants a nice lawn or any other specific look for HIS property, then maybe HE should fix it before you have to "maintain" it. (At the moment, he's not asking you to maintain anything, he's asking you to FIX things. If you have to do that on your dime, you should get a rent reduction!)

I'm old and gray and live in a "condo" community (we own our lot, but the street is private) with a homeowner's association that decided to collectively hire a lawn service -- so since I have to pay for my share of the service no matter what, I let them mow and fertilize and manage the sprinkler system. But I plant my own gardens and do my own landscaping. We don't own a mower any more. It's great since we have a steep hill in the yard, and I'd get killed trying to push a mower on it. (The landscapers have well balanced riding mowers and go across all the yards on them...)

You need to do what works out for you. I have planted wildflower seed mixes in part of my yard as someone suggested for you, and I have had no problems with wildlife -- but I'm in New England, not LA, so maybe there are different issues. (The flowers are lovely and many come back every year, bigger and better.)

I love the reel mower. It's obviously more environmentally friendly. It gives you a little workout. Plus, I personally hate the noise of gas-powered and even electric yard machine. Mowing with a reel mower is a much more quiet, soothing experience.

Your yard may not look as PERFECT as one mowed by a gas-powered monster. But so what? It's like getting your hair cut with scissors versus clippers. You want a perfect flat top, you better go with the clippers. Me, I don't need the aggrevation of worrying about my yard always looking squeaky perfect.

I recommend a reel mower with adjustable blade height, and make sure it's got four big wheels--some of the cheaper ones just have rollers on the back, and these are not as stable. This will set you back no more that two hundred bucks. And you will never spend a dime on gas.

We have plans to remove most of the grass from our 1/4 acre yard. Until then, though, a gas-powered mower seemed the best bet. There was nothing on Craigslist, and the new ones were more than I wanted to spend for something I hoped would be temporary. Then we spotted the lawn mower store - a local place that sells new mowers, but also sells refurbished used ones for about $100. I liked knowing they had checked it out, cleaned it up, and it was ready to go.

I suggest forgoing lawn all together since it doesn't look like there is actually any lawn there now and either go crazy with flowers like the seed bombs available at Anthropologie right now, native plants or huge succulents that will succeed in adding interest and don't need much maintenance or water.

If you haven't visited the blog of the Germinatrix.com, I highly suggest you do. She's a gardening genius from your area with great landscaping ideas.

Wow, I would never imagine that something as mundane and normal as mowing your lawn would generate such enthusiasm. Some of the suggestions here are just bizarre. Just go to your local hardware store and buy the cheapest mower you can buy. It will be gas, it will be easy and it will do the trick, end of story.

I have an older model and it's done its job very well for many years. I got it because there was nothing scary about it, I never have to tune it up or buy gas, and it folds up easily for storage.

http://www.neutonpower.com/

It will more than handle that yard full of weeds you have.

How much yard is there?
Are you obligated to have grass? Otherwise, you can set up the yard for fruit and veggie gardens.
We have a gas mower and a push mower. I like the push mower better ~ it cuts, doesn't smash the grass blades, and the grass is more of a carpet because the lawnmower blades are set to cut at 3" instead of buzzcutting. We've had it for 2 yrs. and it makes a difference in the look and feel of the yard, for the better. Regular maintenance is easy b/c we have a flat yard. The carbon foot print is better for sure.

As the lone lawn-mower in my family for several years growing up, that photo does make me cringe a little bit (sorry).

Also, judging by what else I see in the image, this photo was taken in:

1 - late summer, or
2 - during a drought, or
3 - in a low-rainfall area

If any of these are true, like others said, you'll want to look into grass that's appropriate for your climate.

Also, if you're just going to tear it up and start fresh (my recommendation, but hard to tell your acreage based on this photo), then you may want to look into an underground water absorption system. I'm not 100% sure what they're called, but I've seen them before, where a hose is basically looped through the yard underground. While the initial cost of this is expensive, you'll save a TON on your water bill, as you'll only need a fraction of the water that traditional sprinklers use to feed your grass.

Using sprinklers just ends up putting water on the grass, not in the soil where it's needed. Especially in the afternoon, water will just evaporate off. Also, if I'm not mistaken, grass tends to be the most water-needy plant in your yard. Try lining your driveway with flowers or some other plant that works well in your climate.

Also look into planting a few trees. Sure, they take a long time to grow, but the eventual money saved on heating/cooling your place will make it worth it.

I mowed even 9 months pregnant with my fourth kid and a broken ankle. So seriously, not too bad.

And frankly, I would slowly plant things that don't need to mow and that you can eat... our yard gets smaller all the time with herb gardens and edible flowers.

You live in LA. Hire a gardener. You'll help him support his family, and you won't have to buy a mower. Then, take some free gardening classes, and install a non-lawn with native plants.

I agree with many of the previous posters. Get rid of the lawn and ask for a break on the rent. Good landscaping makes property more valuable. If you don't want the water demands of a food garden, go for drought-tolerant plants. Spring is a bad time to try establish plants, but you could start by doing a section close to the house and work your way out.

High Country Gardens is one great resource for drought-tolerant plants. They also have great pre-designed gardens.

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/?gclid=CPme44HCz6ECFQpcbQodPHC5Lw

It would be nice if AT thought about adding a garden section...

Wow! I'm amazed a property owner/manager would just hand you a lawn like that and make it your financial responsibility.

That being said, that lawn needs to be scraped (id est remove the top layer). Afterwards you can either lay sod or seed to your liking. Otherwise you are going to be dumping a ton of chemicals on to that lawn throughout the year to tame the weeds... and it will be a few years before you get it under control.

You could try renting a tiller from the hardware store and tilling the whole yard, but I am not sure that would completely eliminate the weeds.

Once you have scraped off the top layer, you can lay seed and cover it with hay (to avoid the seed blowing/washing away). Note that you may want to till or aerate before laying the seed, and hardware stores such as Lowe's or Home Depot can rent you those machines.

As far as a mower, given the cost and that you are only renting, I would suggest buying a gas mower in the $150 range or even check on Craigslist. That should work fine for your needs.

I would first though try to negotiate the cost of all this lawn care with the property owner/manager. Taming a yard like that is a vast undertaking and cost can easily add up. Perhaps the owner would be willing to deduct the cost of equipment, supplies, and rentals if you supply the labor? I used to deduct $25 from one of my tenant's rent when she would cut the grass at my duplex.

We inherited a rather new Scott's Classic Reel Lawn Mower, and even after we had its blades professionally sharpened, it does practically nothing to shorten grass, let alone dandelions and other lawn invaders. I definitely want to explore non-Kentucky-blue-grass options for our yard.

Neither! I loaned my inherited lawn mower to a friend with a bigger yard and decided to help out the local kids and pay them$10-$20 to mow our yard. I like that the kids learn early about the value of a dollar. Our neighborhood's not that great so I make a point to get as friendly with everyone- especially the kids- as possible. It's reassuring to think that they'd notice if we were getting broken in to.

I would suggest hiring someone for the first mowing, using an electrical or gas mower. After that, use a push mower. Any time the lawn gets out of control, repeat.