Just what we needed Dept: the DR Leaf and Lawn Vacuum
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10. 2.05
Our old leaf blower just doesn't cut it any more. The DR leaf and lawn vacuum will pick up and shred 3100 gallons of leaves before it needs emptying. Its 7Hp Briggs and Stratton 2 stroke will probably be as polluting and obnoxious as the old blower, but since you tow it behind a 14 Hp tractor you pack double the punch. Perfect for removing every leaf so that you can efficiently fertilize your lawn. ::DR Power via ::New York Times
Fertilize!?! Who fertilizes a lawn? Who needs to cut it at all? Landscape with species that don't need watering or cutting, please. Let grass go dormant if it prefers. It need not be green constantly.
The problem with using sarcasm is that humourless people never get the joke. Lighten up Ben and indulge in a little Sunday afternoon yard work - like spraying your roses.
Nearly perfect! All that's missing is a television on the tractor hood to keep the fat, lazy homeowner's mind anesthetized so they remain oblivious to the devastating effects of their hyper-consumptive lifestyle.
By the way, turf grass is the most widespread invasive species we have. It's the real weed! Landscape with native species like Ben says, use a push mower if you must have "lawn", and buy a rake - it's good exercise.
When I buy a house with a lawn, I'm going to cover the yard with low-lying sedum, and then forget about it. It never needs mowing, doesn't turn brown in droughts, and has so much more character than grass.
...I hope this is humor? You're far, far better off using a mulching mower. Just go over the leaves with the mower. Your grass will thank you later.
Sorry but if you have big trees like I do you can't mulch all the leaves. Better idea, make a circular leaf bin out of some harware cloth or metal fencing. Rake the leaves onto a tarp and dump them into the bin. They will compost naturally. They you go and not a drop of fuel spent sucking up or mulching and you got some exercise too.
While I don't propose pulling that behemouth around in everyone's yard, I'll stick my neck out and say that sometimes, power equipment can be the way to go. I bought a home last year with 6 magnificent 75 year old oaks in the yard. My nightmare came when I had to rake and bag 175 extra large leaf bags of leaves. This year, thanks to the weather, I have at least 10,000 acorns in my yard and driveway as well as the falling leaves. It is like walking on marbles to step outside my home. Resultantly, in part to avoid spending the next 12 weekends raking and sweeping acorns and leaves, I have just purchased a push lawn vacuum. It has a Honda engine and is rated as very non-polluting. Regular lawn mowers simply can't handle the acorns and I don't feel like falling every step I take across my lawn as the acorns roll around like ball bearings underfoot.