Lawn Care

 'A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.'  -Michael Pollan

We have entered a new stage in our home ownership.  The spring.  Buying our house in the fall we didn't have to worry about much lawn care.  The only thing we had to deal with was raking leaves.  While it is time consuming to do so, raking leaves does not require a lot of effort or equipment.  A rake, some bags, and that's about it.  After all the snow melted away from the winter, and the occasional snow storm, we started thinking about a lawn mower.  We don't have a large lawn, so a push mower is in our future.  There are just so many options.  At least more than I had originally thought about.  From mulching to bagged, gas to electric (corded or cordless), just many more than I thought.   

We (mostly I) thought about battery operated push lawn mowers.  I don't know if it's because it's newer technology that hasn't been improved, but I was disappointed in the reviews when it came to battery life.  The 'best' reviewed mower I could find was, first off, about five hundred dollars.  It also had a running life of about forty five minutes.  If I'm going to invest that kind of money into a mower, I better be able to cut the lawn without having to take a thirty minute break while the battery recharges.  To be fair, they are not all that expensive and most are priced about the same as some of the gas powered mowers we have looked at.  Yes, it would be nice to get away from gas powered mower.  It would be more cost efficient in the long run, but what kind of time frame would you be looking at for it to basically be paying for itself.  Take into account cost of gas/oil and cost to recharge the battery.  This might be a viable option eventually or if we really dove into researching the right mower we might be able to come up with one right away.  

No matter what we end up going with, this is just another exciting facet of owning a house.  Sure, by the time the end of August rolls around I'm sure I'll be excited to no longer be cutting the grass, but for the foreseeable future, I'm looking forward to it.  Just like with shoveling snow or raking leaves, it comes with the territory.  It shows you care for your house and property.  It might be just another job to some, but to me it shows investment in your home.  You don't want to be the house on the block that has an unkempt lawn.  It just looks trashy.  Let your neighbors be the trashy people.