Sammamish sits on a plateau above Lake Sammamish, and most of it was built out as subdivisions in the last thirty years. Under a thin layer of topsoil is glacial till, a hardpan that water barely soaks into, and many lots back onto tall stands of Douglas fir. Under trees, a low deck turns the lawn into a brown mat and then into moss. Height is the whole trick.
King County · ZIP 98074
Mow the grass, do not shave the moss
Shaded lawns stay at a taller set all year. We blow clippings off the beds and off the walks, and we leave them on the grass if they disappear into the blades. Needles and cones get blown or bagged so we are not mowing gravel.
We will not mow a circle of dirt around a cedar and call it a clean edge. That ring is roots and shade. It should be bark, and we can do that as its own job.
The ground in Sammamish
The till is the reason so many yards here stay soggy in winter and dry out fast in summer. Water sits on top of the hardpan, so a new lawn or patio needs drainage planned in from the start. We put in French drains, grade the yard away from the house, and build patio bases deep enough that they do not heave.
Many neighborhoods have HOA rules for fences, front yards, and plant choices, and we work to those standards. Lots along the greenbelts get heavy shade and needle drop, so we use shade-tolerant planting and bark where grass has given up. Larger backyards here are a good fit for a full redesign: a paver patio, a low retaining wall to level the slope, and irrigation on a timer for the dry months.
How we do the work
We mow higher than most people expect, especially from October through May, because a short lawn in this climate is a moss invitation. Blades stay sharp. Dull mowing tears wet grass and leaves the gray tips everyone blames on fertilizer.
Clippings stay on the lawn when they are short. They are not thatch. Bags come out when the grass is long and wet and would clump. We do not mow a saturated yard into ruts and call it service. We skip or we reschedule that corner.
Edges are trimmed. Walks are blown. A mow that leaves a windrow on the sidewalk is not finished.
What we look at first
- How soft the ground is that morning
- Obstacles, toys, and the wet spot we should walk around
- Edges that need a trimmer without scalping the tree wells
- Whether the lawn wants a higher set this month
Clippings
Short clippings stay. They feed the lawn. Long wet clumps get removed because they smother and they track into the house. Bagging every light mow just to have a empty look is how the lawn gets hungry.
What weekly means here
In the surge of spring, weekly. In a dry August, often every other week. In a soaked January, sometimes not at all. A rigid calendar ruts wet lawns and scalps dormant ones. We mow when the grass is growing and the ground can take the machine.
Edges
Trimmer lines along walks and beds, kept vertical. We do not trench the edge a little deeper every visit. When the bed line is lost, that is an edging job with a blade, once, not a weekly excavation.
More from this crew
- Lawn mowing across the region
- Lawn aeration in Sammamish
- Lawn fertilization in Sammamish
- Lawn weed control in Sammamish
- Yard cleanup in Sammamish
- Lawn mowing in Mercer Island
Sources for the climate and the water
- USDA plant hardiness map for choosing plants that can take a King County winter.
- EPA WaterSense on watering less once a lawn or a new planting is established.
- EPA Soak Up the Rain on keeping roof and yard water from becoming someone else’s problem.
