Lawns Hub

Remote control lawn mower technology has actually reached a viable stage. Mind you, there is a learning curve with this sucker and there are not many brands out there, but someone has combined game technology with a gasoline-powered lawn mower resulting in a machine which you can actually drive from elsewhere. This thing has to be a hugely fun toy for the guy who has everything! Or it may be just another cool way to have some fun while enjoying your lawn maintenance chores.

I would be interested in a consumer report on this monstrosity, myself, before I begin advising anyone to buy one. Besides, they price may just be through the roof as yet. There are questions begging for answers: How does it do in rain? Can a starter be locked to prevent kids from using it as a toy? What is the software or guidance failure rate and what are the implications in terms of safety if the guidance system fails? If I chop up my neighbor’s angry dog who follows it all over my lawn while it operates, will he sue? I can think of about 100 other scenarios for resistance.

Funny enough, however, I confess to a certain love for the project. I guess I have to relegate that to my male personality in the end, sigh. As in: The bigger the boy, the bigger the toy,” I may love it but I can think of 1,000 reasons a wife might not, especially if she is in the field of Law. Then again, she didn’t like the convertible either, but changed her mind one fine Spring day. Come to think of it, her feelings for basketball changed with tickets to a game too. Maybe there’s still a chance yet with the remote control lawn mower!

A lawn “slit seeder” is supremely useful for lawn renovation projects. Slit-seeders combine vertical mowing with seeding. As the machine goes across the lawn, it opens the soil and deposits seed directly into the soil opening. Most slit-seeders have a roller that helps firm the soil after seeding. Seed is metered at a predetermined rate; it’s suggested to apply half the desired seeding rate in one direction and the other half on a second pass perpendicular to the first. These machines have an incredibly high success rate for seed taking root and growing. Obviously, seeds are protected and nearly guaranteed protection from sun, birds and drought by being packed firmly into the soil where, once it grows, it will remain in place.

These units are hydraulically powered and are quite ingenious. By allowing the seed to go neatly into the subsurface of the soil, one saves in all the preparation labor of grading and amendment entry and goes directly to the source of what will be new: the seed placement. As mentioned, the protective layers of soil serve as the perfect medium for a new lawn.

Lawn service fertilization weed control can represent an efficient and healthy way to approach the issues of green lawns and clear-looking gardens without the attendant bother of having to purchase applicators and tots around heavy bags of the necessary maintenance products that represent lawn maintenance. An efficient lawn service fertilization and weed control company can take care of these things on a recurring basis based on need and appropriateness.

Many companies program visits for preselected times of the week and year and can be safely considered reliable for it. It is, after all, their bread and butter too. Their knowledge of local forces, such as weather, predictable weed species and the timing involved in maintaining the utmost in timing regarding both is an awesome tool they possess that not many homeowners possess on their own.

Generally, their prices are not that bad, either. For the services they render, it;s highly doubtful a homeowner can match the price even considering he does not charge for his time. The buying power of bulk quantities of these businesses typically means they can charge a pittance for the materials. Also, the labor for much of their work tends to be mechanized, another huge time saver. They tend, as mentioned, to be very reliable. If they are not, there are few businesses which can show this more out front than a lawn and weeding service. There is much to say for hiring these services. Your lawn tends to be their worry then, at least regarding the more complex aspects.

Great prices on riding lawn mowers can take place at a variety of times and places.  it pays to check, for example, business pages and announcements of businesses who might deal in these lawn mowers going out of business or moving.  Sometimes, a move alone will motivate a dealer to unload his inventory for much less pricing than normal. Garage and estate sales on large properties, if one has a resource to alert him, can be another hot source.

In the end, there are some very predictable times for great prices on riding lawn mowers.  Off-season, in early or late Fall can be excellent times, as dealers will want to move stock to take in newer inventory and make room for snow blowers and winter type machinery.  The dead of Winter can find some deals, as well, especially prior to New Year’s when companies will want to begin thinking about the upcoming Spring inventory and the end of many businesses’ fiscal years.

Other occasions are simply checking the small newspapers specializing in reselling machinery or those Nickel Ads type papers whose purpose is a cheap method for advertising the disposal of almost anything.  Craig list and eBay are under rated for good buys on riding lawn mowers, providing one can go pick them up. Shipping such large items can be prohibitive over distance.

Ok, not that kind….

Dog lawn ornaments are in fact hugely popular for almost all the right reasons. I laugh when I say that because there is some terribly funny stuff going on in the old dog statue game, including their “evacuation practices”, to be gentle. Yes, leave it to someone to make a statue of a dog with his leg up! Well, there you go. There is, of course, more than one out there. Funny stuff. But isn’t that dogs for you?

But it goes with the dog lawn ornament story, somehow. There are of course huge numbers of statues of “Man’s Best Friend”, many depicting species and others depicting actions. Among my favorites, and requiring a good expanse of lawn, are a group of beagle statues, all in frantic motion chasing a fox. Others I have personally seen include some very noble species depictions, including dignified-looking German shepherds and boxers. These come in a wide variety of styles and detail, from some very nice and totally pedestrian models of statues to the most elaborate and impressive artistic renderings, very noble indeed.

In the end, they highlight an area of that gorgeous expanse we often proudly refer to as our lawn. These dog lawn ornaments serve as compliments and reveal something very personal about those who choose to use them. Needless to say, an appreciation of dogs is foremost among the representations and may in the end be all the lawn owner is trying to get across. Speaking for dog lovers everywhere, I like that they want to honor dogs with something so permanent and solid. Will Rogers once said: “I don’t know if dogs go to Heaven or not. But when I die, I want to go where they go.”

A lawn mower starter can be man’s worst enemy. There, I said it. These infernal little necessities rank somewhere around computers for sheer irritation value. The worst case scenario has it thusly: You wheel your mower out to commence a mid Summer mowing before the heat comes up. Bending down, you give your starter a crank with a mighty pull, yet it won’t catch. Pulling again, you feel a twinge in your lower back, ripping that sucker out this time with a bit more force. Still no luck. Finally, you give a mighty heave, feeling a certainty that your effort plus luck itself will get her going and you hear a “snap!”……….whoa, the cord is broken! Your day now consists of trying to rewind the cord (perhaps driving down and getting a new one) and challenging you already limited Mr. Fixit abilities. What a nasty start to a fine day.

Well, I can only help a little. One secret now possessed by people who use motors daily, starting and stopping many times, is to make certain of a few needful items before commencing. One, the spark plug is something of a Holy Grail for starter cords. These get fouled in may ways, sometimes by age and sometimes by the contaminates in those gas tanks we store for weeks at a time. Insuring a good spark plug is a necessary factor in success against the whims of machinery. Be sure you know how to replace them, when necessary and have an extra one around. Making sure you have clean, uncontaminated gas is next. Water in gas can kill a spark plug and foul a carburetor. This you want to avoid like a plague.

Both these small checkups can save a lot of grief. But what saves more is having an automatic ignition system, lol. Imagine using a pull cord to start your car! My advice here is to either get a battery powered electrical engine or an electronic ignition for true relaxation over starters. Both are available and while neither is particularly “Macho”, both are pretty daggone satisfying.

The truth about cats dogs and lawn chemicals is not as unpleasant as one might fear. There had indeed been some input into the hazards of animals in the vicinity of chemical applications after some horrible events made this entire study necessary. These are unpleasant as they can be and there is undoubtedly more to come.

Having said that, there are increasing numbers of benevolent chemicals and substances that can be used for the same purposes in a much safer way. As well, when we use these chemicals, the written instructions which too many people ignore to their and their animals’ detriments should be strictly observed and adhered to. For example, many chemicals which are toxic from the bag or spout require watering into substrates of the soils they effect. Had this been done properly, rather than relying on unpredictable rainfall to supply the leaching effect, many animals would be healthier today.

More organic and animal-friendly substances are being developed to supply maintenance chores to act as pesticides and lawn illness remedies. There is constant study in these substances owing to a new concentration on “green” and more environmentally-friendly substances. Some of our very best scientists and young horticultural testers are finding solutions to agricultural and horticultural problems by their researches using natural products. The truth about cats dogs and lawn chemicals is that we need to be more circumspect ourselves and respect those products we use in the smartest possible way.

Thinking lawns is thinking green. And in that area, sharing some thoughts on my mind today.

Lawn care products pollution can be a scary look at a potential problem. The tendency to urbanize has pushed people closer together and created situations where this massing can produce any number of effects, among them, unfortunately, a tendency for lawn care products pollution. Frequent uses of machines generating gas-powered carbon monoxide emissions spew from those gas powered machines we all love to maintain our lawns and gardens with. Pesticides and fertilizers can also create a witch’s brew of poisonous run off, especially so when irrigation practices include over watering. Mowing for an hour is the pollution equivalent of driving a car 20 miles. Spreading 40 pounds of a petroleum-based fertilizer is the equivalent of pouring 2.5 gallons of gas on your lawn.

These represent some scary facts when one considers the sheer volume of thier usage. Having said all that, you often need to drive 20 miles. 2.5 gallons of gas will get a normal car about 40 miles. These are all actions within a certain reason and are only alarming when considering a vast and compressed scale of usage. Help is on the way for these things as remedies are appearing, especially considering herbicides and pesticide usage,factors which I have not yet dealt with here but which could well be far more dangerous in terms of soil and water contamination.

There are abundant examples where we can do better. And I, for one, feel we will gradually become less dependent on these inorganic methods, especially when one considers the number and quality of folks now bending their backs into the science of finding alternatives. Some of the more promising findings yet involve genetic manipulation of grasses and more drought-tolerant plants and crops. These can also be made more disease and pest-resistant.