It’s becoming increasingly clear that perfectly manicured lawns are not the best thing for the environment.
Aside from the constant watering they need and the fact that they don’t provide any nutritional benefits to local wildlife, a lot of people use gas-powered mowers as part of their weekly routine.
There are a lot of electric mowers out there nowadays, but unless you’re charging them with solar power, it’s possible that the electricity used to charge them will still be using traditional fuels somewhere down the line.
If you’re a city gardener like me (i.e., if you don’t have acres and acres of lawn to deal with), a reel mower might just be the perfect solution.
I have an Earthwise 16 inch reel mower that you can get at Lowe’s for $159 ($139 as of this writing), but there could be better ones out there.
Benefits of reel mowers
One of the best things about reel mowers is that they can cut grass that’s still a bit wet, meaning you can cut the grass at times that your neighbors wouldn’t want to risk it with their gas mowers or even their electric mowers.
On top of that, maintaining one isn’t much different than maintaining a bike and its chain, and you can get reel mower sharpening kits for cheap.
I have about 1/6th of an acre to mow, and there’s enough bumpy areas with hard clay soil and irregular grass that it can take about two and a half hours to finish everything off if it’s been growing well.
I just take this as an opportunity to get some exercise while listening to some of my favorite podcasts.
I also take comfort in the facts that I don’t have to use gas and that the grass is better off with the gentler treatment of the reel mower’s blades.
Drawbacks of reel mowers
The main drawback with reel mowers is that they can’t cut through thicker weeds in the way that gas/electric mowers can.
I’ve solved this problem with an electric string trimmer/edger (specifically this Ryobi string trimmer/edger, but again, there might be better ones out there) that I use after mowing to clean everything up and make my lawn look great.
They also take longer and can be less effective than gas/electric mowers, but you can also just think of it as committing to a weekly or biweekly exercise routine.
Happy mowing!