Safelawns Daily Post and Q&A Blog

The Black & Decker cordless electric mower comes with a bag attachment, but it's better to use it as a mulcher and allow the clippings to return to the lawn.

A local radio station and This Old House magazine both called on the same day recently to ask about essential lawn care tools. All publications seem to like top-10 lists. By the time I was done talking, I’m sure I gave them more than 10 items; I’m not really sure. But I thought I’d share some of my favorite items with you — all stuff I have in my own tool shed. As a disclaimer, a couple of these items come from SafeLawns sponsors:

GRASS SEED — Though the seed you plant isn’t technically a tool, grass seed is an essential part of any natural lawn program. If you have a thin or bare area on your lawn and your just hoping the grass is going to fill in . . . most times in won’t. The weeds will fill in instead. Our sponsor, GardensAlive, offers some good programs: http://www.gardensalive.com/category.asp?c=10&start=10 Another good site is www.seedland.com.

LAWN MOWER — If you have followed our Get Your Grass off Gas campaign, you know that we don’t recommend gasoline mowers for lawns of a third acre or less. The battery-powered mulching mower by Black & Decker is excellent. I’ve been using it for several years: www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/Product-Details.aspx?ProductID=16345

BAMBOO RAKE — Though you won’t find much innovation in bamboo, I’ve always found it essential to keep at least one in the shed. Plastic rakes are good for leaves, but not for scratching the soil surface and dethatching. The so-called dethatching rakes made of metal actually grab too firmly to the soil and make them difficult to use. Here’s a link to a common bamboo model: http://doitbest.com/Main.aspx?PageID=64&SKU=700511&utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=FREECSE&utm_term=700511&utm_content=6790&utm_campaign=DATAFEED

WEED HOUND — Since organic lawn care doesn’t allow chemical weed controls, hand pulling is sometimes used. This tool makes the task far easier: www.hound-dog.com/weed_hound.htm

LEAF RAKE — I’m not a big fan of gasoline leaf blowers and have found that nothing beats a rake and tarp for speed of leaf collection. This rake from Ames doesn’t clog and the sponge grip makes it easier on the hands. It’s nice and wide, too, so that you’ll get your lawn finished quickly: www.amazon.com/Ames-True-Temper-Clog-Free-1906500/dp/B000A1CIHW

COMPOST TEA KIT — I consider the application of compost tea essential for bringing dead or chemically treated soil back to life. You can make tea in a 5-gallon bucket with your aquarium motor, but this kit from Gardens Alive takes some of the guess work out of the process: http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8798 We also have a video about this process on our how-to video page.

STRING TRIMMER — My nod here goes back to Black and Decker for their battery powered model. Tons of power and decent battery life make this the trimmer of choice. If you have a large yard, you may opt to own two batteries: http://www.blackanddecker.com/18v/string_trimmer_edger/default.aspx

FERTILIZERS — Any of the sponsors at www.SafeLawns.org sell good stuff. We do our best to verify the safety and ingredients of all of a sponsors’ products before we allow them to come on board. Next week, we’ll officially be announcing the sponsorship of Fire Belly Organics, a company that has developed a 6-Step organic program that takes the guess work out of the process. The company mails the products right to your home no matter where you live: www.FireBellyLawnCare.com

WHAT ARE YOURS?
If you have favorite lawn and garden tools, we’d like to hear about them.