Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterTime to Cut the Grass
Apr 11, 2008 13:34 - 4 Comments
Ah, Spring. The daffodils are smiling, the tulips are dancing … and there is the roar of yard gadgets in the air. Nothing like going outside to enjoy the warm spring air and being assaulted by the start up noise of a lawn trimmer and being choked by gas fumes.>
When my husband and I were first together we lived in a charming ground-level one bedroom apartment that just happened to be next to the caretaker’s work room. It seemed to me that not a day would go by when my senses were not violated by the earsplitting whine of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, or edgers. You name it he had it-and seemingly really enjoyed using them. The gas fumes would invade our home through the open windows, so the pleasure of nice weather was often met with the need for great tolerance of things smelly and noisy.
After so much experience with the racket and reek of all those different machines I swore to myself that if we ever had a house I would only use lawn equipment that was hand powered.
After buying a house the first lawn mower we bought was the old-fashioned push reel mower. I never taught myself how to properly care for the mower and after a couple years the blades dulled and I took it to be serviced. The mower never seemed to work nearly as well after being serviced though and I’ve invested in at least 2 reel mowers since moving into my home 14 years ago.
A couple years ago we were given my grandfather’s gas mower when he passed away. We were happy to get it because, as anyone with a reel mower knows, if you wait to long to mow your lawn, it can become quite a torturous chore. We told ourselves we would only use it on those occasions when the grass was too tall to mow using the reel mower without exposing the neighborhood children to language they shouldn’t hear. We actually stuck to that plan and only used the gas mower once or twice.
Last year, however, when Spring rolled around and grass cutting season followed close behind, I tried to use the reel mower and the blades were so dull they would not cut the grass so I shamed myself by using the gas mower ALL THE TIME. Why I didn’t get the old reel mower serviced, or buy a new one, I’m not quite sure. I think I just got lazy and enjoyed not having to mow the grass as often, or fight with objects that get stuck in the blades and prevent the mower from moving.
There are other advantages to the loud, stinky mowers, too. The grass is certainly easier to cut and I don’t think I swore once while using it, except maybe when it ran out of gas. Also, with a bag to collect the grass, we don’t track the newly cut grass into our house for the next several days after mowing.
Just when other people have become more environmentally conscious with their yard tools (I’ve seen at least 3 other families on my block with reel mowers) and with gas prices well above $3, I’ve sunk to an irresponsible low. I haven’t cut my grass yet this Spring because I’m still trying to motivate myself to get out the reel mower and give it another try. I caught a glimpse of my back yard today, though, and I don’t think the reel mower’s going to cut it, literally.
I guess I’ll do the first mow of the year with the loud, stinky, polluting one and go invest in my 3rd reel mower. I don’t think I can live with the guilt for another grass-cutting season.
When we bought our first house in Twinbrook, I insisted we get a reel mower too. Neighbors found this very amusing but I liked the exercise. Everytime my husband brought up the subject of getting a different mower I would spout statistics on how mowing the lawn would create as much pollution as driving 220 miles, etc. Finally he convinced me to get an electric mower which he still uses. One day a boy asked,, “Why is that man vacuuming his lawn?” It is slightly better and you don’t have to drive to get the gas, plus the cords come in handy.
Why didn’t you like the manual one? Tough to use? >
Monique - where do I find one?
They sell them in our local big box hardware store. >
My husband says that it really was because you could never miss mowing or wait too long. It is true that it was often less than one week in the Spring. If you went away or had too much rain, it was tough. We didn’t have any other way to cut the grass.
When we both took turns it wasn’t bad. With the arrival of the first bundle of joy, I took sleepless pity on him and let him get the electric one.
These are interesting comments about mowing lawns. Have you noticed that the men are not weighing in on this subject?>
I can relate to both Monique and Cindy. My first reel mower was a rusty hand-me-down from my brother-in-law who was graduating to a power mower for his many acres in New Jersey. Whenever I hauled it out, the male neighbors would watch spellbound and express concern that I’d have a heart attack. Some even offered to let me borrow their mowers or to mow for me.
Twenty years later, I am using a mower I bought from a “green” vendor on the Internet. And, yes, the blades are dull and a blade sharpener place on the Pike is no longer there. The sharpener that came with it is a pain to use.
I’ve also used a series of electric mowers picked up on the curb in Twinbrook. All have eventually bitten the dust.
My next-door neighbors moved back to Germany last fall and bequeathed their mower to me when they left. And another neighbor has mowed my lawn twice this spring. But I still have the rusty reel mower and will pull it out sometime this year. I don’t intend to give up.
Carol Hannaford
Twinbrook