Lawn Care Tools
In this section, of Landscaping Info 4U, about lawn care we are looking at the various tools, equipment and other supplies available to help maintain the perfect lawn. In the previous article we took a look at one of the most important of lawn care tools, the lawn mower. In the following article I shall be taking a look at some of the other tools available to the home gardening enthusiast.
In my previous article I took a close look at the various lawn mowers available and some of the pros and cons of electric and gas powered mowers. One of the most important factors in choosing your lawn mower is actually the size of your lawn as you do not need to buy a huge expensive item if your lawn is only the size of a postage stamp. However, whatever the size of your lawn you will need a lawn mower and a handful of other lawn care tools.
If you have a lawn surrounded by a border of flowers you will need to define exactly where the lawn begins/ends and the border begins/ends. A clearly defined lawn with clean cut lines or curves looks far better than one which has ragged edges. There are times when this can be something of a problem and, in particular, large shrubs or trees can cause severe shade which can cause your grass to thin from lush green compact grass to bare soil the closer it gets to the trunk. It is far better to lose the lawn around such a shrub than have this fading effect so cut it back. While there are lawn care tools which have been designed for this exact job, if you are unlikely to use such a tool often the expense can not really be justified as you can manage with a sharpened garden spade (if it is done carefully).
Once you have your lawn edges clearly defined you will need to maintain their sharp, clean cut look. This is not as easy as it sounds as a lawn mower will keep the grass short but at the edges the grass will grow out sideways, avoiding the blades of the mower and making the edge of the lawn look untidy. Of all the available lawn care tools the lawn mower is the most important but another important tool to remember is a set of grass shears. Grass shears are rather like the short handles shears, that you use to trim hedges, but with much longer handles which are set at right angles to the cutting blades. Such shears enable you to cut the edges of your lawn from a standing position looking down on the grass so that you can judge the cut perfectly.
When using grass shears take great care not to cut the grass too short as you stand the risk of cutting into the edge itself. Safety should always be a primary concern and, as shears should always be extremely sharp, you should clean them immediately after use and put them away safely. I tend to grease my blades and then tie them together as my garden shed is rather disorganized and accidents can happen so easily!
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