Mower Extraordinaire

When I was old enough my Dad taught me how to mow. Oh how I was so excited to learn it. I wish I could have missed that lesson ;)

If you have never mowed a lawn, read this to find out how. It's good exercise and decreases your stress level unless you really hate mowing. It's not on my top list of things to do in life but once I start I enjoy it.

I grew up using all kinds of gas and oil powered mowers. Some mowers required you to prime them first before starting. All of these types of mowers required a pull string to crank the motor and cause the mower to start. I even had a mower that would move by itself when holding down a lever. Back then it was cool but it was still a chore that was not fun as a kid.

One day it was kind of late and I thought I would get out of mowing the yard but Dad made me anyway. So I threw a temper tantrum that lasted the whole time I was mowing. I was running with the mower over the grass. Dad let me finish and then told me that I went too fast and that I would need to do it again. I was livid but it was a good lesson to learn. You can't run over the grass and expect the mower to cut the grass. It takes a little more time to cut than that. Always walk when mowing. Not only does it cut better but it's safer. You don't want to slip, fall, and then the mower roll over a body part. That is never good :)

Believe it or not, mowing is the simplest part of keeping a yard. There are other parts to keeping a yard. The worst of which is weed eating. A weed eater is the worst tool mankind has ever invented. It does what it's supposed to do but it is the most frustrating piece of equipment. It doesn't matter if you are using an electric or gas powered weed eater, they all require the need to spool cord that cuts the grass. The best you can do is to learn to use it perfectly so that you never cause the cord to break off. Cord breaks off during normal use but it takes a good while before it does so. The thing that is hard is to keep the cord from hitting fences, dirt, and walls. That depletes the cord very fast. Once it is completely depleted, the spooling begins anew.

Now that I am older and have the experience of using those horrible gas powered mowers all my life, I have bought an electric mower that runs with just a rechargeable battery. It is so much nicer. All I have to do is put the battery in the mower, hook up the cable to the battery, and hold down the safety mechanisms that allow the mower to start. I don't have to buy gas or oil. I don't have to fight with pulling the cord to start the mower over and over. I can stop whenever I need to without having to fight it to start again. The best part of it is that it is quieter and there is no exhaust to have to smell. All you smell is the grass you are cutting and your ears aren't ringing from the loud engine. The vibrations of the mower are much less as well. I will never use a gas powered mower again. I have a good sized back yard and the front yard is smaller than the back but big as well. Unless I let the grass grow too high, I have plenty of battery power to mow the entire yard. I could probably go to my neighbor's house and mow their yard as well.

In hopes of not having to fight an electric corded weed eater, I bought an electric weed eater as well. Don't even bother. It is not near powerful enough to cut grass. The best you can do is pay someone to weed eat your yard. Otherwise enjoy the frustration of doing it yourself.

As I said previously, mowing is simple. Mow in rectangular areas to break up the yard. When you finish one rectangle, you get a feeling of accomplishment that you have completed a portion of the yard. Then mow the next rectangular area until you complete the job.

If you are using a mower that fans out the cut grass to the right of the mower's side, keep the right wheel to the right of the uncut grass. Never cut the grass the opposite way where the cut grass is fanned into the uncut grass. That will cause your mower to work harder by having to cut the already cut grass in addition to the uncut grass. The only exception to that rule is when you are cutting the edges of the grass near fence lines, house walls, etc. Use the side that does not fan out grass so you can get closer to the edge.

Make sure you watch the right wheel while cutting the grass so that you get a straight line. In addition to watching your right wheel, look in front of where you are cutting. You don't want to run over a rope or large rock. That will tear your mower up and possibly injure yourself or someone nearby. If someone is walking up near you, turn the mower off or, at the least, stop moving the mower. You might blow a small rock into them or fan grass onto them.