Mega trees and lawn mowing

[videoman3857]

How does everyone else overcome the Turf / grass in my display problem ?

Being on acreage, a lot of my display in on grassed areas. (acreage does not have " Turf / Lawn")
Unfortunately, at this time of year grass in SE Queensland, grows as fast as you can mow it and it is a super pain having to move the displays and dodge all those 240 volt, ELV wires and data cables that interconnect those blinky things and their brains. - yes I have to dot my controllers around the property and run 240 volt power to them.
Last Christmas I decided I would put Shade cloth beneath my two Mega Trees. This certainly helped with grass control and I didn't have to cut grass for the month of December.
I don't really want to cover my whole display area in Shade cloth - does anyone else have this problem ?

 

[djgra79]

Weedkiller?! I don't have the acerage you have, but in mid November I spray around the concrete edges and fenceline where a few of my elements are located. That way when i do mow the lawn 1-2 times during December, I can mostly leave them in place and mow around them as the spray has killed off the grass within a couple of inches of the elements (stops it growing up in front of the lights too)
As for items located on the lawn, I just have to manually pick them up and put back when done cutting. For me it's only couple of items, I'm guessing more so in your case!

 

[fasteddy]

When designing and installing elements for your front lawn then its always good to think about how these will be managed when you need to cut the lawn. Either make things easy to move or have them slightly raised so you can use a whipper snipper to cut the grass around it with out causing any damage

 

[djgra79]

Another possible idea is to run cabling in conduit or piping? That way there's less chance of the wires being cut if mowing or using whipper snipper. Next level would be to actually dig these conduits/pipes under the surface, and possibly leave the wires there all year round?

 

[damona]

Create a garden bed. I have power cables going to the garden bed and network cables. These are easy to remove vs actual lights and controllers. All my elements are on the garden bed. Choose plants which are small, less than 30cm. However some times plants like the condition and grow to 1m.

 

[videoman3857]

When designing and installing elements for your front lawn then its always good to think about how these will be managed when you need to cut the lawn. Either make things easy to move or have them slightly raised so you can use a whipper snipper to cut the grass around it with out causing any damage

Errr umm. My front lawn is 150 mtrs x 50 mtrs
Mega tree 1 is 7 mtrs high and 4 mtrs wide and made out of steel.
Mega tree 2 is 4 mtrs high and 2 mtrs wide.
Not something I can actually pick up and move That's why I have Shade cloth under it.
it worked a treat and the grass underneath didn't die off like it would if I were to use a tarp
I am looking at running 240 volt power to "select locations" to make set up easier - good call
I have a 2 mtr high candy cane made out of PVC propped over a star picket which is awkward to lift, so a little bit of lateral thinking on it's set up will be warranted.

So thinking about ripping up the smaller turf areas between the house and the path
(2 mtrs X 22 mtrs) where we place a lot of deer, Santa's and their helpers, with artificial turf.
Just got to get it past the cheese n Kisses first.

That way when i do mow the lawn 1-2 times during December,

Whoa. I have to cut the grass that many times a week !!! Lucky you.

 

[QLDKing(Brad)]

Don't know why but I keep thinking of this:

Don't grass always seem to grow
That you don't know what you've got til its gone
They paved the front yard
To put up your Christmas lights.

(Apologies to big yellow taxi)

 

[Lishfish]

Tempted to put fake grass down out our front. We come across this grass growing issue every year and then have to pull the entire lot up and mow it really low again

 

[ShellNZ]

I use weedkiller where I can, always bounces back by say Feb/March

 

[scamper]

You could try a growth retardant. There are a few out there similar to below. They are not cheap, but then again neither is anything in this hobby
http://livingturf.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Primo-Maxx-Tech-Sheet.pdf

 

[the grinch]

We no longer have this problem used to though ! Front yard is 60 m wide once upon a time had beautiful front lawn and roses every where so was lots of mowing pruning fertillizing watering etc but was a pain with the xmas light period I do recall collecting wires with the whipper snipper and trying to mow around things and moving things constantly also being cut up by rose thorns as lights in all rose bushes . then one year it started water restrictions in South Australia plus ever increasing water prices everyone using less water but prices kept going up didnt make sense . So eventually came to realize spending enormous amount of time and money to have a nice green lawn and garden in front yard for others too look at was not worth it . So we had an earthmover come in with a bobcat removed the lot ! Then we created a waterless almost no maintenence garden (weeds still pop up here and there )designed around crazy light lady's xmas display ! Using retaining wall bricks made separated garden beds for megatree sleigh reindeers etc etc and using different colured stones .the only plants put in where slow growing conifer pines wich only had water from tap for first few months and haven't been watered by me for close to ten years now! Also have poles concreted in the ground cut down to soil level for mega tree etc etc have caps on them just kick back the stones remove cap insert poles easy. My only regret was not too run conduit or pipes or some sort of permanent wiring underground . But still can oneday . Although the initial cost was expensive luckily we did all the Labour ourselves saved a lot I feel in the longrun haved saved thousands on water fertilizers lawnmowing etc etc plus time . I still have a smaller nice lawn in backyard and front yard still looks nice but as said I came too realization that its only for others too look at or drive past and when we have visitors or entertain its the backyard thats important unless xmas of course ! Thats my experiences anyways so for video man understanding that you do have acreage you still could create garden beds for different elements or some type of ground cover to stop weeds then mow around and putting wires through pipes or conduit to save them from the ghastly machines lol . Good luck

 

[the grinch]

Haha just thinking my house is like a mullet style hair cut business at the front party at the back lol