My Eco-Friendly Landscape Maintenance Routine

A few months ago I shared my quiet landscape maintenance routine in hopes that people would change their minds about loud, gas-guzzling equipment. Well, this year I was besieged by narrowleaf plantain, an invasive weed with tall spindly stems that are immune to my manual reel mower. In previous years, I had to deal with mostly weedy grasses and the reel mower cut through those like butter, but with these spindly stems I suddenly found myself having to do a lot of bending and weeding in the hellstrips, which was time consuming and physically exhausting.

So I decided to take the plunge and buy a small electric mower. I spent a few days looking at different mowers online and comparing specs, and the one that stood out the most was the Greenworks 16″ cordless mower. This mower is not as quiet as another more expensive brand, but it is definitely not as loud as traditional mowers, it’s more like a vacuum. I still have butterflies and birds hanging out as I mow. My heart is always full when I see these creatures relaxing and NOT fleeing in terror from the noise and exhaust. Here’s a short video of my tools and my methods:

Takeaway messages:

• Be considerate of your neighbors and of wildlife when you maintain your property.
• You don’t need a bunch of gas-powered tools.
• If I can do it, you can too.