Mowing, Mowing, Over the Bounding Blades

[Opsa]

It's that time again, around here. The grass has begun its skyward reach.

We have had a small arsenal to keep it in line. We have several reel mowers, a couple of used gas mowers, and an electric weed eater edger. This year when we realized that the last used mower had gone kaput we decided to look into battery-run mowers.

I love the reel mowers because they are quiet and earth friendly, but sometimes they can't handle the taller or tougher grass. Mr. Ops usually runs the power mowers, but doesn't like the gas, the noise, the way they tend to break down. Neither of us wanted a mower that plugs in. That just seems too dangerous, and though we don't have a huje yard it is long enough to be problematic with electrical cords.

We researched battery mowers online and there were quite a few options. We read opinions on them and most people complained that the batteries only go for about a half hour or that they were too heavy, too small or too hard to maneuver.

We went to three stores last Sunday and finally decided to try the Greenworks 40V Lithium-Ion Dual blade mower. It has a 20 inch cutting width, two blades- we thought that made sense and makes it quite light, and two batteries so you can run it for 70 minutes. Our yard generally takes two hours to mow, but we thought that we could just do it on two separate weekend days. Some batteries take up to 12 hours to charge, but these charged in an hour each. It was $399 at Lowe's.

Mr. Ops started it up this afternoon and we marveled at how quiet it is. It sounds like a big fan. He found it easy to maneuver because of it's light weight which we think is due to two smaller blades rather than one big heavy one. It did a nice job on the grass, and has a mulching feature. It also came with a bagger, but we prefer to mulch the lawn as we go.

So we'll see how it wears and get back to you.

[pieces o nine]

I want to know how it does if raced down the street and across the lawn, then jumped over a retaining wall heading for a garden-level apartment...

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

That's cool!  I've always admired the electric mowers, but balked at the price.

Yes, let us know how well it does over the next months.

[Opsa]

We figured that it didn't cost too much more than the power mowers, and that we'd save on gas and oil.

It does sort of look like a little green race car, Pieces.

The front yard, where Mr. Ops mowed yesterday looks very nice. It has a natural look to it, as if it just happened to grow short, instead of looking chopped. Maybe that's because of the two smaller blades.

[pieces o nine]

Hey -- could you use one of the reel mowers in conjunction and make your own crop circle!

[Opsa]

Sure, I've been doing it for years- wait, I've said too much!

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Hey!  I thought crop circles used dry grasses (like wheat) and the stalks were carefully bent over with something flat, like a board... wait.  Did I say that out loud?

[pieces o nine]

If I had a front lawn to mow, I would *so* make a crop circle at least once...


Wait!
There *is* a front lawn-ette here!   

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

If I had a front lawn to mow, I would *so* make a crop circle at least once...


Wait!
There *is* a front lawn-ette here!   

If you wish to make a subtle, but distinct statement?   Make an anti-crop circle.

How, you ask? 

Easy:  buy a small bag of grass fertilizer, and a  large-necked watering can--one that you can remove the sprinkler thingy, leaving just an open spout.  Fill the can with the granulated fertilizer.  Now... carefully sprinkle the grass food into the design of your choice.  Then water it until it's gone.

Wait.

In a week or so?  The fertilized design will appear as a lush, darker-than-green against the paler unfertilized grass.   

Lovely.

And nobody can accuse you of vandalism-- you were helping the grass grow-- it's just that you were very selective in which grasses you wanted to grow better... 

[Opsa]

Jolly good idea, that. Oh, the possibilities.

Mower is doing well, so far. It even managed some rather tall, thick grass in the wetter back yard. Mr. Ops threw out the box it came in, so methinks he's happy with it.