I am quickly learning, it’s not always easy being green.
Since the purchase of our home, we’ve had to invest in several “homeowner items”- rake, ladder, hose, etc. However, when it came down to purchasing a lawn mower, maybe we were in over our heads.
You see, we aspire to live green(er) when possible. We purchased a large capacity, front-loading washer to save on water and electricity, use re-useable grocery bags and energy saver bulbs. I’ve even posted a long list of other ways in my Project Support Beauty in Nature posts here and here. So when we strolled through Sears seeking a lawn-mowing tool, we immediately thought “Gas is expensive. Lets get a ‘Reel mover’” (the one without an engine).
Can you see the naivety in our actions already?
Well before you think we’re a bunch of tree hugging loons, please keep in mind that when we purchased our home MOST of our lawn was dead. I mean D-E-A-D, as in, nuthin’ but dirt kind of dead.
So this lawn mower would just be a simple tool to hold us over until we could afford some sod or as grass seed slowly grew in. Here is what our backyard looked like when we moved in…
See those tiny flecks of green beneath the vast landscape of un-raked leaves (thank you lazy previous homeowners)? I promise that was the ONLY patch of green on our entire property…until about 3 weeks ago.
Now we have this…
Try mowing ALL of that, plus a decent sized front and side yard with this…
My arms feel like they’ve been rung through those dull ass blades all. weekend. long.
If you’re considering one of these an alternative to a mower with an actual motor…DON’T DO IT! Fork over the extra dough to get a real mower. You have to roll this heavy, non-powered contraption over a blade of grass 15 times to get it to cut evenly or at all. And dandelions? Ha! Their flimsy seeds that blow off in a stiff breeze will just scoff at one of these barreling down on them. It took me 2 hours to finish our yard.
Maybe next time I shoul