My lawn is a mixture of whatever the local field pastures are, dandelion, clover, buttercup, English daisies and spring crocuses I added, and some sort of smelly purple weed I've never bothered to ID (I just call it stink weed). We never formally leveled, raked and seeded it - just started mowing around the house as we were building it. It is nowhere near a manicured lawn, has low and high spots here and there, and I don't get tweaky when anyone drives on it, including my husband on his tractor. We mow it about every 5-6 days in the early growing season, then weekly through summer and fall. We have two mowers, one is a rider, the other is a tiny little battery mower for the tight spots and my herb garden, which has narrow grass pathways. We mostly use mulching blades, although I usually bag up at least one load for the chickens. We use the lawn for croquet, corn hole, bocce ball, badminton, and just sitting around in chairs. I love the feeling of bare feet in the grass.
Back to the original posting, I agree that if one throws grass with a mower, always aim it away from the flower beds. Grass is a tenacious plant and always tries to infiltrate my beds. I edge in the early spring using a square spade and making a deep cut, then kind of trench it up so there is a slope between the edge of the grass and beginning of flower bed. After edging, I put down a heavy load of compost/mulch. Even so, grass and buttercups are my most persistent garden weeds.
