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Posted by Not@home on July 29, 2006, 12:24 pm
Ron Hardin wrote:
> Not@home wrote:
>
>>I think a push mower is a much more practical option. It's good for the
>>grass, and good for the pusher. I think a scythe, should you be able to
>>find one, would be hard to maneuver around the edges of your lawn and
>>would produce, at best, a raggedy look that, at least around here, would
>>have you on a first name basis with the building inspectors.
>
>
> http://www.scythesupply.com has everything you need.
>
> It will run into a couple hundred dollars.
>
> I've found the lawn looks nicer if scythed than if mowed; the drawback is
> that it takes LOTS of time, and you have to deal with the neat rows of
> clippings you produce. (I do a swath up and back, producing a pile
> between them, and leaf-sweep the pile up to the back fence; and call it
> a day until tomorrow. I do an acre that way.)
>
> Other drawbacks are that you have to develop some skills in cutting,
> and figuring out what's wrong when it's not working right, which is going
> to take about a year.
>
> Mostly you do neatly right up to the edge, as well as a string clipper, except
> for corners that restrict you from getting into them. Certainly better than
> a mower, as to edge closeness.
I have no problem edging with my push mower; I just run one wheel in the
flower beds. And since I have no corners, I don't even own one of those
noisy polluting string trimmers.
>
> Going out and mowing a couple 10' wide swaths has to be a regular hobby for
> you, each day, or you won't like it.
>
> On the plus side, the grass never grows too long for a scythe. It beats a
> power mower even, in that regard.
>
> A push mower leaves you in trouble once the grass is too long for it.
That is true, but I've read that cutting off more than a third of the
length of the grass blade stresses the grass, which is why well kept
lawns have to be mowed often. Another advantage is that the clippings
don't have to be picked up; they can be left to decompose.
The people who sell push mowers assert that the scissors action of the
mower produces a cleaner cut than a rotary mower, which is supposedly
better for the grass. I wonder what they would say about a scythe,
which appears to cut (or tear, as they would say) in the same manner as
a rotary mower, but slower?
We used to have our family reunions at the farm of one of my great
uncles, and he always brought out a scythe to demonstrate the ways of
his youth, but it was not practical for his lawn (farmers don't have a
lot of free time for hobbies), so the single day demonstration was the
only time he actually used it.
For someone with a lot of time who enjoys it, a scythe is not a bad
thing. It's sort of like golf, without greens fees, and you don't lose
any balls, I would hope.
>
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