Mow your lawn the easy way — manually.
I thought these things were extinct, based on the fact that I only saw them in cartoons from the forties and fifties. But manual lawnmowers (or “reel mowers
- Don’t let the grass get ahead of you. That’s when these things tend to jam up and become a pain. Don’t let it go farther than a week. If you must, have someone do it with a power-model after a vaction.
- Walk at a very steady, brisk pace. Since your forward motion is what cuts the grass, you need to keep moving quickly to keep the blades spinning at their optimum speed. Slow down too much, and the grass will win.
- Mow in the morning. It’s cooler out, and since there’s no engine noise, no one will mind.
Of course, there are ways to avoid mowing altogether. Lesslawn.com has the story.
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Those are awesome. I’ve wanted one since the first time I saw one in a Berenstain Bears book. We have one like that for edging, but not a full-width lawn model [yet].
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Alas, the Smallcave is lawnless. Were I not in a studio, I would definitely use one of these. And keep it out on the lawn as a prop.
March 29th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
I owned the push mower shown in this photo, and used it for about a year on my first house.
I gave up after a year because it required really staying on top of your grass. Once it got over 2″ high, the push mowing was difficult and messy. So in the summer, I’d have to mow 2-3x a week when the grass was really chugging, and summer vacations meant that yeah, I had to borrow a mower off a friend.
Eventually I just went with an electric plug-in mower as a middle ground between totally eco and quiet vs. loud gas guzzler that cut well.
March 29th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
I had one of these a few years ago and the only reason I got rid of it was because I moved out of the country. I love it and will be shopping for a new one soon. I loved mowing my grass every 2-3 days. I lived in Alaska at that time and I could mow the lawn at midnight in the summer time and nobody complained. I even won yard of the month!
March 29th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
We live in the city, in an old neighborhood. Our yard is small and we bought a reel mower because it’s quiet, self sharpening and never needs gas. It takes my husband 15 minutes to mow the lawn, and he can do it whenever he wants because it’s practically silent. It doesn’t give the lawn the nice buzz cut look, but who cares? Make sure you check the height, many of these cut the grass really too short.