Help with grass erosion.

[UntilWeBleed]

Grass erosion is, by far, my biggest pet peeve of this game. It has annoyed since I got this game way back in Nov. 2013, and it hasn't stopped being a nuisance. When I first got this game I had no idea that grass erosion was a thing, at least in-game. The only AC game I ever actively played was Wild World, and there was no grass erosion in that game. I mean, I understand that grass erosion happens in the real world and that the in-game erosion is meant to reflect that and blah blah blah, but does anyone really like it? Unless you're using the erosion to make paths I really see no reason why anyone would like it; it's not very nice aesthetically. (And really, why does it need to be a thing? The game has talking bipedal talking animals; it wouldn't be so far fetched that the grass wouldn't wear down, I mean really.)

Now to my purpose for this thread: I need advice on how to get rid of the erosion, and how to keep it away. I've seen many threads on various forum sites and I have never seen a straight answer on how to deal with this problem, which leads me to believe that there is no one-way (or any way) to do it.

One of the most common methods I've come across is planting flowers and watering them over the eroded patches of grass, but I've also had people say that that does absolutely nothing. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of it? I've heard that TTing works absolutely but I'm hesitant to do it (don't want to lose any villagers or have anything bad happen to my town), though if someone would have advice on how to successfully TT without losing villagers I would probably try it. I've also heard that placing patterns down on the ground stops the ground from eroding underneath it in the first place, so would putting patterns on dirt repair the damage, or no? I also came across a thread somewhere in which people said that the amount of times you load up your game causes erosion, and if that's true that absolutely SUCKS for me as I am someone that plays everyday. I really wish this game had an option to either toggle the erosion on/off, or better ways to get rid of it, like a fertilizer of some sort (not the existing fertilizer).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[Karminny]

So plant flowers on the part that's eroded, or eroding. Each day, water the flowers. You can only step on each flower ONE TIME, the villagers don't count. Over time, the spots grow back

Edit: The flower thing does work, it just takes a long time, patterns don't help AT ALL, you repetitively walk over those patterns, and that causes MAJOR erosion, and yea, I think that loading up the game thing is true

 

[UntilWeBleed]

So plant flowers on the part that's eroded, or eroding. Each day, water the flowers. You can only step on each flower ONE TIME, the villagers don't count. Over time, the spots grow back

Edit: The flower thing does work, it just takes a long time, patterns don't help AT ALL, you repetitively walk over those patterns, and that causes MAJOR erosion, and yea, I think that loading up the game thing is true

Ah, thank you! I've been trying the flower method for a while now and some spots did grow back, but by the time they had grown back other spots had to started to erode, and thus started a cycle. I'll try it again and hopefully I can do it better this time.

 

[mogyay]

honestly it seemed to me like staying completely away from the dirt erosion was quicker than watering with flowers over the spot. especially in larger areas where you're having to step on the erosion further.

tiles on the ground don't work, they'll cover up any dirt patches but it's still the same as stepping on the ground. however placing paths down will help erosion in the long term as it will help stop your mayor running over various patches of ground. so basically concentrating the erosion to where you have your paths down (and you can't even see the erosion anyway if they're under the tiles)

loading up your file doesn't make it worse, i believe that was only the case in city folk.

it might be tedious but i've learned not to run in my town at all and i have very little problems with grass erosion, although that may be because i don't actually play it too much haha

tting is by far the best method, there's a ton of guides that tell you how to do it safely here's a pretty simple one however wooooooooooooo you'll start to see a difference much quicker than playing in your file day by day as well

 

[AnEndlessOcean]

The flower method does work, it just takes a while. You should see results after several days to a week. Like said above, you can't walk on those spots often, either. TTing might work, but it's risky, and patterns definitely do not work. Additionally, there's "permanently eroded" spots in your town; meaning, there's no way to re-grow grass there, they just stay like that.

Hope I helped a little! You just have to be patient.

 

[UntilWeBleed]

honestly it seemed to me like staying completely away from the dirt erosion was quicker than watering with flowers over the spot. especially in larger areas where you're having to step on the erosion further.

tiles on the ground don't work, they'll cover up any dirt patches but it's still the same as stepping on the ground. however placing paths down will help erosion in the long term as it will help stop your mayor running over various patches of ground.

loading up your file doesn't make it worse, i believe that was only the case in city folk.

it might be tedious but i've learned not to run in my town at all and i have very little problems with grass erosion, although that may be because i don't actually play it too much haha

Yeah, I try not to step on the eroded areas at all and I honestly walk as slow as I can anywhere around my town so I don't disturb the flowers, though I'm not sure how much it actually helps. I may try to put some patterns down in a few spots just to see, but I'm believing that it won't work. Ah, I heard of how much of a mess City Folk was when it came to erosion; glad I never played it all that much.

- - - Post Merge - - -

The flower method does work, it just takes a while. You should see results after several days to a week. Like said above, you can't walk on those spots often, either. TTing might work, but it's risky, and patterns definitely do not work. Additionally, there's "permanently eroded" spots in your town; meaning, there's no way to re-grow grass there, they just stay like that.

Hope I helped a little! You just have to be patient.

Alright! Glad to hear at least one method works. Ah, I'm probably not going to do TTing then if I don't have to, I just heard that TTing 2 weeks into the future would get rid of the erosion. I wish I remembered where the permanently eroded spots were in my town =_= You did help, thank you!!

 

[AnEndlessOcean]

Alright! Glad to hear at least one method works. Ah, I'm probably not going to do TTing then if I don't have to, I just heard that TTing 2 weeks into the future would get rid of the erosion. I wish I remembered where the permanently eroded spots were in my town =_= You did help, thank you!!

I'm glad I could help!

I definitely agree that you should not time travel, going 2 weeks (let alone 4 or 5 days) into the future poses an extreme risk to losing a villager. When you're using the flower method and flowers begin to replenish the other eroded areas, you'll be able to see the permanently eroded spots appear since they do not replenish I used to have a huge eroded spot right in the middle of my town, and when flowers filled it up, it became completely grass. Now it's an elaborate cosmo garden. Haha! ^^

 

[UntilWeBleed]

I'm glad I could help!

I definitely agree that you should not time travel, going 2 weeks (let alone 4 or 5 days) into the future poses an extreme risk to losing a villager. When you're using the flower method and flowers begin to replenish the other eroded areas, you'll be able to see the permanently eroded spots appear since they do not replenish I used to have a huge eroded spot right in the middle of my town, and when flowers filled it up, it became completely grass. Now it's an elaborate cosmo garden. Haha! ^^

I would definitely NOT like to lose a villager, so TTing isn't an option for me now that I know it's not worth it. I have flowers in almost EVERY single spot in my town, so I'll start the watering method tonight ^^ I had a massive eroded spot under where my Re-Tail is, but it's slowly being repaired and I hope it'll be perfect one day soon ^^

 

[AnEndlessOcean]

I would definitely NOT like to lose a villager, so TTing isn't an option for me now that I know it's not worth it. I have flowers in almost EVERY single spot in my town, so I'll start the watering method tonight ^^ I had a massive eroded spot under where my Re-Tail is, but it's slowly being repaired and I hope it'll be perfect one day soon ^^

If you're up for suggestions, have you considered changing your town's ordinance to Beautiful Town yet? I think that might possibly help, because villagers water plants more often and it's also possible that grass repairs more quickly!

 

[UntilWeBleed]

If you're up for suggestions, have you considered changing your town's ordinance to Beautiful Town yet? I think that might possibly help, because villagers water plants more often and it's also possible that grass repairs more quickly!

I have the Beautiful Ordinance in action and have for a long time, and I'm not sure if it helps since I only noticed the erosion happening AFTER I enacted the ordinance.

 

[AnEndlessOcean]

Hm, that's very strange! The ordinance and erosion likely don't coincide, but I think the flower method under that ordinance will definitely help your town like it helped mine!

 

[UntilWeBleed]

Hm, that's very strange! The ordinance and erosion likely don't coincide, but I think the flower method under that ordinance will definitely help your town like it helped mine!

Okay, well I'll definitely try the flower method today and hopefully it works! Seeing the dirt everywhere is really quite annoying =_=

 

[maarowak]

Remember that there are areas in your town that will never grow grass, and they can be pretty big.

What I do in my town when I realize that the dirt is getting a bit out of control is:

a) wait until a villager pings me to move
b) say no
c) TT 5 months or so into the future
d) talk with everyone and stop villager from moving out
e) go back to original date

that's also good to see where the permanent dirt is (on case you missed it on the first weeks of game)

 

[Icewolf]

Grass erosion is my enemy! I really hope it won't come back in future games! I feel that I spend more time on watering flowers than actually playing the game, haha.

But, I must admit that the grass erosion is much better than it was in City Folk. It grows back much faster and it doesn't get worn down as long as you don't run everywhere. I've never gotten any dirt paths. I only got those patches that somehow grows bigger even though you don't thread on them.

 

[LadyJ]

you could always turn the eroded parts into a little dirt path. might make it look nice if it really bothers you =)

 

[Shimmer]

There are natural eroded spots in every town that you can't get rid of that just came with your town, am I right? Those bother me so much.

My advice is to either use paths and NEVER run off the paths. I'm trying to make natural paths so the grass eroding can work in my favour. Otherwise, yeah. I hate eroding grass. :/

 

[ssvv227]

I have 2 villagers living right next to my house so the patch in front of my house used to be heavily eroded from constantly visiting those 2. So I planted some flowers over the patch and what is nice about having 2 neighbours is that they will water the flowers for you if you have the Beautiful Town Ordinance. The flower trick does work and the grass grew back. You can also TT, but before you do so, talk to everyone in the villager to make sure that NO ONE IS THINKING ABOUT MOVING. The same goes for when you decide to TT back to the original date.

 

[Luxanna]

I put paths where I walk past everyday so It would go away
Now I never lose a villager when I do this( I did it on my main a few times/ and my cycle) As long as I go around making sure no villager is palnning on leaving or if they do I tell them no I TT like anytime I want years and all the Erosion is gone ( beside the spots that are there naturally) The game does it best to make it so you dont lose villlagers if you dont play for a while
Make sure you talk to your villagers before TTing back!!!!!!!! 99.9% of the time a villager will be moving out

 

[okaimii]

You can also try planting trees in the dirt patches~

 

[UntilWeBleed]

Ah, I've gotten many ideas now, so thank you all! I'm still wary of TTing (had a bad experience with it back when I played Wild World), but I am seeing that some people can do it successfully so I may do it if the erosion gets out of hand. Also, quick question; do you actually have to water your flowers or will ran have the same effect on them? It's been raining non-stop in my town lately and it would be cool if rain would have the same effect that watering would have.