I would wait until it is 95% dead before mowing. Reason - the dead stuff will mow up pretty easy. When you come to a still-live patch, that mower will bog like there is no tomorrow. Ran into this Tuesday. I think you can do the second ap of Roundup as soon as you can tell what is died or is on its way to being dead and what you missed. I could have done my second ap 5 days after the first once I saw what I had missed but I waited until 7 days after due to time conflicts. And for a second ap, you only need to hit the areas you missed, not the whole yard again.

If you are like most of us, you have a beer budget. A new machine that is truly capable of doing all the things on your wish list will cost you ten to twenty grand. Deere only makes one garden tractor series and that's the X-700's. Go to Deere.com and look at the MRSP's for the BASIC models and then add on the cost for a loader, hitch and all the implements you desire. The top Sears tractor is over seven grand and the costs to fit it out will mount equally as fast. According to you, the property is ONE ACRE TOTAL in size. Subtract the foot print for the driveways and buildings plus any planted areas and you likely have a half acre of grass to cut. To use a garden tractor in your garden effectively, you need lots of open area on all four sides of the garden so that the tractor can leave the garden area on each pass and turn around on the lawn for the next pass. Most of the experienced gardeners cross-till the soil and some take it further by finishing on the bias. I think that your needs would be better served in the garden by way of a quality walk-behind, rear-tine tiller from Honda or BCS from the used market. After all, most people only conduct a full-till once or twice per growing season and then spot-till during the season for weed control and re-seeding of fast growing crops such as radishes, onions, lettuce etc. You already own a Mantis and those are perfect for spot-tilling. I think that your other needs would be well-served by way of a quality, used garden tractor that is simple for you to maintain. A Case 444 would fit that bill. As good as Deere and Simplicity tractors are, they are also a royal PITA to work on. Do some research by visiting the site below and learning more about what a Case can do for you. Here is a link that might be useful: link

reply by theodocus struck me as coming from the desk of the ad agency of MTD. No mention of the actual operation that involves rolling over uneven terrain and jarring action from bumps and uneven spots and the fragile fabricated axles that bend and crack easily. Oh, there is also the bushings used in place of ball bearings: bushing use requires higher horsepower to move the newer units. The Deere has points and condenser; cost $5.00 and 9.00 respectively and the sears is a solid state igntion. Newer technology is wonderful as long as it is coupled with quality assemblage in a product. I have a 1968 Sears GARDEN tractor with a 12HP Tecumseh Heavy duty cast iron engine with ball bearings and cut with a 42 inch deck and also have a 1976 John Deere GARDEN tractor with a cast iron 10 HP engine with ball bearings and cut with a 42" deck and use both alternately for mowing two acres and for tilling and moving earth, etc.. Each has cast iron axles and mutli-speed hi-lo transmissions and EACH is used for plowing, snowblowing, tilling earth, hauling 1100 lb loads in attached large carts. EACH will run circles around the new 20 plus HP light LAWN tractors made today. Spend 5,000.00 and you will have a comparable heavy duty GARDEN tractor. By the way, good luck on getting even 10 years of use with the new wonders.

Dchall was responding to your question about the lawn now being more susceptible to weeds. He was kidding you to say if you want weeds, then water every day. He was not suggesting you do it, and he would not suggest doing it under any circumstances. What your refer to as being more susceptible to weeds is simply that the lawn is now cut to such a short length that it no longer shades the soil, thereby exposing weeds/weed seeds to air and sunlight. Every plant needs those, but taller grass helps to prevent weeds by depriving them. I was suggesting that because it could be in shock from mowing so much off at once, it could be more susceptible to disease it may have been vulnerable to in the first place. In its shocked condition, it is in a somewhat weakened state and not able to keep fighting off something it is already open to. So, just keep an eye on it. I think we're all trying to say you really don't have to worry or do anything in particular right now except water it, which I'm sure you've done by now. I know you are concerned but don't have to be, and basically you cannot help it recover. It will do that quite on its own. If I were to suggest adding anything right now, it would be corn meal for its anti-fungal properties to help fight disease. But then, I would suggest that anyway. I'm kinda wondering if you know what we mean by "water deeply" or "water 1 inch" or "water infrequently." Please understand no one wants you to water your grass every day. That absolutely cannot help it to recover from being mowed too low. It can only cause very awful problems. We want you to water it just 1 inch all at once, and then not again until the next week. Deerslayer is explaining you must take rainfall into consideration. Your grass needs 1 inch of water each week. With 3 or 4 tuna cans placed in various places for your sprinkler to reach evenly, time how long it takes for the cans to get just 1 inch of water in them. That is how long it will take to provide 1 inch of water to your lawn. It might be 45 minutes. It might take an hour or more. It just depends on your sprinkler system, but you want to water for that amount of time. You want your whole lawn to receive 1 inch of water, so if there are areas that do not get any water, then position the sprinkler to irrigate 1 inch in one area, and then move the sprinkler to irrigate 1 inch in the other area. Hope I explained things a little better.