<p>I am desperate for an answer on this, so I’m hoping someone will have a suggestion / idea. </p>
<p>When it snows, the snow always melts very quickly on my lawn only. ALL of my neighbors still have snow covered lawns…and mine is totally green (grass). This happens each time it snows. I noticed it earlier this winter and mentioned it to some of my neighbors, who now comment on it each time it snows. </p>
<p>I know it isn’t related to the sun, because my other neighbors on my side have the same sun exposure.</p>
<p>Also, where my lawn meets my next door neighbor’s lawn, there is a perfectly straight line of snow meeting grass. </p>
<p>It’s very strange and I hope someone can shed some light on what might be going on…everyone says my house is haunted. It’s weird!</p>
<p>Can’t remember where you live, momsdream. Do you have a septic system?
The leachfield warming the ground is one explanation.</p>
<p>I saw this same effect at a friend’s recently, and it wasn’t the leachfield. He told me what caused it,but I forget (remember me? I’m the one from the 'I knew I was old when…" thread). If no one answers, I’ll check with him. I think it might have been a wind condition thing - the other lawns were more protected from prevailing winds by the houses themselves (they are also near the ocean, can’t remember if that was a factor).</p>
<p>Could it be some sort of fertilizer? Weird that there is a line at the edge between the two lawns; if it was a leachfield something tells me the melted spot would be irregularly shaped…</p>
<p>No, we don’t have a septic system. No dogs. </p>
<p>SBmom, I also thought of the fertilizer. When we bought this house in 95 we had the entire lawn dug up because of weeds in the grass. The soil was completely tilled and there were nutrients added…and a new layer of soil was added - about 1 foot on top of what was there. The new soil consisted of some sort of peat moss, sand, soil and nitrogen mixture. This was only done to the front lawn…not the side. The side and rear lawns are snow covered now…just like all fo the neighbors. I wonder if it could be the fertilizer. This might be a good question for the lawn guy at home depot.</p>
<p>Of course, the haunted explanation is more interesting. It might also explain why socks disappear in the wash…which both kids always say is due to “the ghosts”.</p>
<p>BHG, I do have three trees…one large japanese maple in the middle of the yard and two large pine trees at the property line, there the snow meets the grass. The things is that many of my neighbors also have trees. Though, the neighbors on this side of the street don’t have one in the center of the lawn like me…only the pines at the property lines. Maybe that’s it. </p>
<p>Kat, I forgot about the sock monster…and the milk monster who drinks all the milk and puts the empty container back.</p>
<p>This would make a good SAT question Here’s my W.A.G.:</p>
<p>10 years is a long time, but a foot or more of new soil loaded with organic matter could still be generating warmth through decomposition. It wouldn’t have to be warm to the touch, just warmer than the surrounding yard areas to melt snow at faster rate. A very interesting situation!</p>
<p>It also doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with “heat”, but your soil could still have more of the nutrients that were added than your neighbors’ and this would caused the snow to melt for the same reason that “salt” causes ice to melt faster–chemical reaction.</p>
<p>Couldn’t resist adding this, we actually went over similar chemical reactions in chemistry last month. It’s amazing how these things actually <em>are</em> related to “real life.” :D</p>
<p>…is that the same monster that never replaces the empty toilet paper roll? At my house we also have the ice cream bar monster, the cereal box monster, the mom’s mascara monster. Many monsters. Ah, but northern California so…no snow :).</p>
<p>It does depend on what is under your “yard”. We have discovered that our yard has a lot of rock and clay, and that the builder who was impatient just bought a lawn carpet over a bare minimum of real dirt. Although we have too many other mitagating factors to say that is one reason why our yard thaws faster (too many dogs and kids using the yard even with the snow), I would wager that the fact that our neigbors have a more absorbant yard would create a coolant effect under the snow, whereas, we have that unabsorbant rock and clay.</p>
<p>All my life I had heard it wasn’t true, I assumed it wasn’t true. All my life, it was a maxim I held near and dear. But now the truth finally comes out and now I learn -</p>
<pre><code> the grass IS greener on the other side…
</code></pre>
<p>My yard always did this and I attributed it to my father and I heavly fertilizing the lawn with alkalines. Alkalines (salts) can quickly make the snow melt faster. The ground is usually very cold anyway.</p>
<p>It’s also possible that your lawn is more porous than your neighbor’s. From what I recall, grasses vary in terms of how dense a lawn they produce. If yours is more porous or if you aerate your lawn regularly during the growing season, then that may absorb the melting snow better. Just a thought.</p>
<p>I’ve given this some thought–here’s a working hypothesis and a methodology for testing that hypothesis. Hypothesis: Since your lawn contains more organic material, theoretically it contains more food for soil organisms. Soil organisms, when they metabolize the material stored in the peat moss, go through respiration, which releases heat. This heat means that snow melts sooner on your lawn.</p>
<p>Testing this hypothesis: 1) Using a dissecting microscope (low-power, wide field microscope), compare numbers of soil organisms in your lawn and your neighbor’s lawn.</p>
<p>Flaws with this testing: you could have more soil organisms but the heat might still not be the cause of the melting. You could test if it’s the soil by exchanging soil with your neighbor for a small patch of each lawn. (Peel back the sod. Preserving the layers, move a few cu.ft. of soil between the two areas. Replace the sod. You don’t want the sod to be exchanged as well.)</p>
<p>Hypothesis: different kinds of grass. Testing: exchange sod between the two yards, but not soil.</p>
<p>Hypothesis: better drainage. Testing: replace sub soil in your neighbor’s yard with gravel. Observe relative melting.</p>
<p>jmmom - why, thank you! It was very nice of you to post that.</p>
<p>Actually, I have another (awful) theory. I believe the snow melts quicker on momsdream’s lawn because it is planted with Bermuda grass and is therefore warmer.</p>
Here’s my W.A.G.:</p>