TOOLS YOU'LL NEED TO CARE FOR YOUR LAWN
Recommended Tools To Make Your Lawn One Of The Best Looking In The Neighborhood
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Just The Basics, Please
Even if you only have grass and have no flowers, shrubs, trees, or hedges; there are still some basic lawn care tools that you will need if you plan on doing your own lawn care. We'll start with the most basic tool of all: the lawn mower. There are several types, depending on your lawn: the old-fashioned push mower, the gas mower, the electric mower, the cordless mower, and a riding lawn mower. These are all well covered in our article on Lawn mowers. Here are some other useful tools to make doing even basic lawn care a breeze.
String Trimmers
Even if all you have is lawn, you will still find string trimmers to be very useful. No lawn mower will be able to cut close to an obstacle such as a house, garage, tool shed, or fence. You'll need a way to cut this grass, too, so it's not standing inches above the rest of your newly-mowed lawn. See our separate article on String Trimmers for more information.
Hand Grass Trimmers
If you don't want a string trimmer, the next choice is a had grass trimmer, to take care of the grass that your lawn mower can't cut due to proximity to other structures. These are usually much cheaper to purchase, but the biggest disadvantage is that you must get down on your hands and knees to use these. If you have good knees, or kids you can assign this chore to, these will work.
Edgers
If you like a neat, trim edge around your sidewalk and driveway, this tool is the one to take care of the job for you. For the environmentally-minded, there are the manual edgers, which are on a pole and you push along as it trims the grass away from the sidewalk. Of if you want the job done quickly, there are electric models, too.
Weed Control Tools
You can use chemical weed control products to rid your lawn of unsightly weeds, but if you are concerned about the environment, you may want to do it manually. If your knees are strong, you can get down on them with a hand trowel or garden knife and dig them out one by one. But for a quicker and easier way to deal with weeds, try a weed puller like the Weedhound. These allow you to stand upright rather than be on your hands and knees; and will quickly pull up the weeds with little effort on your part.
More Tools To Make The Job Easier
Most of us have more to our landscaping than just grass, so we'll find more tools that will make caring for our lawn and landscaping easier and more efficient. We may have shrubs, hedges, trees, flowers. We'll want to include these in our lawn care ritual.
Tools For Shrubs and Hedges
There are many types of hedge trimmers to do the job of keeping your shrubs and hedges in an attractive and well-trimmed manner. For the true environmentalist, the manual pruning shears get the job done, but if time and efficiency are important to you, you'll find electric, cordless, and gas hedge trimmers that will keep them trim in a lot less time. See our related article on hedge trimmers.
For Trees
Trees benefit from periodic pruning. Pruners and/or loppers are what you need to get the job done. You'll find manual and power pruners and loppers. If you have tall trees to prune, consider something like the Pruning Stik Tree Pruner. This is on a 62-inch pole, so most of your pruning jobs can be done without a ladder. There are smaller pruners that can handle branches up to 3/4-inch thickness. You can find hand-held pruners for as low as $25 (Fiskars), and hand held loppers for as low as $20. The pole pruners are more money ($50-$65), but if you have a lot of tall trees, you may find it well worth the extra dollars NOT to climb ladders.
Garden Tools
If a garden, either flower or vegetable, is part of your landscape, there are tools to help care for these as well. You may find a rototiller to be a handy tool to dig up new garden area quickly and painlessly, compared to just a shovel. They can be a little on the expensive side, so consider renting one rather than buying, unless you can get a great deal on one. Shovels, rakes and hoes will also be useful as you work your garden, especially for weed control and planting. Shovels are used to dig holes, or pick up and move dirt and soil to other areas. There are several types of rakes you'll find useful, such as a steel rake for smoothing your garden area and breaking up chunks of dirt; or a flexible rake, which scrapes out leaves and other small debris from your yard or garden. A hoe is a good weeder, as you scrape it along the surface of the garden, removing the weeds as it goes.
Other Useful Tools and Accessories
Nice to have because they make your lawn care job easier, the following tools and accessories are also found wherever gardening and lawn care equipment is sold.
Kneeling Pads and Seats
Safety Glasses, Gardening Gloves
Pot Lifter
Garden Hose, Nozzle, Sprinklers
Garden Carts and Wheelbarrows
You'll find these gardening tools and accessories at your local Lowe's, Home Depot, Target or Walmart, or at a garden supply store near you.