Category: Mowing

cutting the grass

Mowing

After yesterday’s weed-pulling-bonanza I decided to tackle the second massive job: mowing. I’ve been keeping the front of the house trim but the back of the house has gotten out of control. There’s just something so unappealing about mowing what I know is all weed. Ug. Anyhow… it took hours but I got all of it mowed and bagged. Total between the front and back I produced another 7 bags. Won’t our trash collectors be happy when they pull up to my house and find enough trash for a small apartment building. Ug.

After mowing and getting cleaned up I headed to Home Depot and purchased touchup paint (we’re finally getting our windows painted!) and yard-staples for the weed barried I laid down yesterday. Right now I’ve just got bags of trash sitting on top of it. When that is taken I’ll need something to prevent it from blowing away. Turns out that a box of 75 costs considerably less than I would have spent on the packs of staples so I went for it and will just leave them in the garage until my next weed barrier project.

Mowing

The grass was looking a bit shabby so I decided to get out there for some mowing. I only mowed the front lawn but I also got the new string trimmer out and tried to use that. I followed the directions in the book to the letter and even used the oil that came with it to mix into the gas as instructed. First, it was very difficult to get it started. When it finally turned over I had to quickly jump to revving the engine to keep it running. Then it turned itself off after 20 minutes and wouldn’t restart.

I called the tech support number listed in the side of the unit. After waiting on hold for nearly 30 minutes total, the Ryobi technician answered. The first question out of his mouth was, what type of oil did you mix into the gas. I told him it was the oil that came with the unit. He asked me to describe it. I told him it was a black bottle with green writing and the letter G on it. He told me, without hearing more about my experience that he bet the unit stopped working after 20 minutes or so. I confirmed and he said it was because the G stands for garbage and the unit was ruined and needed replacement. I asked him for further detail and he explained that the G-Oil wasn’t viscus enough to keep the engine lubed at temp so the engine seized and the chamber was scared. (As a side note, the bottle says the G stands for Green. If by Green they mean they are using a grown-oil rather than a synthetic or a drilled, it should have greater viscosity than others due to the double bond between molecules in its octanes but who knows what Ryobi means when Ryobi says something is Green.)

I took the unit back to Home Depot as I was instructed to do by the Ryobi technician and before I even explained what was wrong they were offering to refund my money. I then explained what was wrong and they told me they hadn’t heard anything about it but that they’d exchange the unit if that’s what I’d prefer (which is what I wanted). Perhaps I’m putting too much faith in that technician (he did tell me some strange things about how I could get away with using up the remaining gas with the bad oil by adding good oil to it–a process which I have no intention of trying) but I figure I can give Ryobi one last chance. If if fails again with “good” oil I’ll trade it in for a different brand.

I should say, what little trimming I did do, it looked nice. It will be nice when I have the working trimmer to complete the job. I will have to get used to it, however, as it will take down anything in its path.

Mowing

Didn’t have to water this morning because of the overnight rain. Did get the mowing done, however. I still haven’t used my string trimmer but I think that’ll be on my list this weekend–to do the fine trimming around the edges. Yard looks nice trimmed up like this.

Mowing

I pulled some more weeds and did a little bit of directed watering on the new flowers planted yesterday. Randy, my father-in-law, was nice enough to mow our lawn and to work on the edges of the grass against the walkways in the front of the house. He was out there working with a manual trimmer when Tod, our neighbor from across the street, came over with a gas powered edger which provided a perfectly cut edge. I love having neighbors!

Mowing

Finally tackled the backyard. Got the jungle mowed down to a more reasonable height. I also pulled a bunch of weeds and did some serious prunning of the 4th of July Roses along the garage. Despite my cuts from the thorns it was totally worth it. It looks so much better. I also got the potted plant Cynthia gave me out in front of the house so it would get the sun and water it requires. I’d love to get it in the ground but I have no idea where and, at least for now, it’s doing fine in the pot.

Mowing

I got home from work early today and decided to take advantage of the overcast mid to high 70s and get the lawn mowed. I decided to set the blade height to cut the grass lower than I was. I tried setting it to the lowest it would go (testing it on a small spot in the back before moving to the front) and that was a big mistake–it cut almost all  the way to the dirt. I switched it to something in the middle but in retrospect I think that might have been too low too. The grass did look manicured though. The lawn mower stalled on me once during the cutting and I think it might have been out of gas so I filled it but it was still making funny noises and it was dumping a lot of clippings on the lawn. Not sure what that was all about. This is only the fourth or fifth time I’ve mowed the lawn with this mower. Ug.

Mowing

Finally got the mowing done between rain storms. Phew! That was a beast of a chore. I also got some weeds pulled in front. Nowhere near all of them but every little bit counts. We still have some bald spots and while I have nothing against baldies (being one myself) it would be nice if I could figure out how to get some grass growing on those spots. Ug.

Mowing

The grass is finally dry enough that I can mow. It appeared to us that Mile Hi Aeration may have aerated but it we couldn’t find any sign of seeding on our lawn so they are coming back tomorrow sometime (supposedly) to seed again. I decided that it was important to get out the mower (finally broke down and bought one–got a great deal too–and now I don’t have to mooch off the neighbors every time I need to mow) and give the yard a trim. Even though there are still bald spots (which will hopefully be taken care of by Mile Hi’s seeding) the yard is starting to look greener. We’ll see.