petrol cutter, grass trimmer close-up. Lawn care

petrol cutter, grass trimmer close-up. Lawn care

“Wow” is an exclamation that is very multipurpose. It can be used to express pleasure, as in, “Wow, Dennis, I never expected a Porsche for my birthday!” (That is not an actual quote, by the way.) It can be used to express puzzlement: “Wow, what’s wrong with the washing machine — it worked fine yesterday.” (Said while scratching my head, looking at a pile of dirty laundry.) Or, it can be used to express displeasure: “Wow, the weather reporter said it wasn’t supposed to rain until tomorrow.” (Stated from tractor seat, towing a baler, retreating from the hay field in a downpour.)

The W.O.W. I want to talk about is an acronym for “weedwhacker on wheels.” I’ve owned the weedwhacker for about 20 years, but it had been out of commission for the past two years or so. Dennis took it to the repair shop this spring and, now that it’s back in operating order, I wonder how I did without it for so long.

For those who live on sizable properties, like our farmstead around the house and barns, you may already be familiar with that discouraging feeling that happens, especially around this time of year. The combination of rain and sunshine has led to growth spurts on your property, not just on the cropland, but also in your grassy lawn areas. It seems that you no sooner get done mowing than its time to start all over again.

In that brief — and rare — period when you actually have everything mowed to the proper height at the same time, perhaps you’re tempted to think, as I sometimes do, “Wow, this place almost looks like a country club.” A little self-congratulatory behavior isn’t a bad thing, and can even prove motivational; however, it’s that little word “almost” that can be particularly annoying.

My “almost” is usually due to the need to trim along fence lines and buildings, around shrubbery and beside the little stream that flows through our farmstead. Weeds tend to spring up there, just beyond the reach of the riding mower.

Usually, the trimming of these plentiful places falls to Dennis, because he can operate a heavy gas-powered string trimmer. I can heft around 50-pound bags of feed to unload them from one of our trucks, or carry them over short distances. However, I just don’t have the arm strength to wield a hefty string trimmer for longer than a minute or two — which doesn’t even start to get the job done.

Through the years I’ve owned a series of lightweight string trimmers that are rechargeable. They’re convenient to use, but aren’t very heavy duty, nor can they deal with more than relatively thin blades of grass that aren’t very tall. Unfortunately, that description doesn’t apply to most of the overgrowth around here that needs attention.

We’ve got too much tall, coarse grass and woody weeds, not to mention random little locust tree shoots and the ever-present stems of mulberry. They call for both horsepower and thick string. My trusty weedwhacker on wheels ticks both of those boxes. It has a 6.5-horsepower engine and uses “string” that is almost as thick as a pencil. It whips its way through most underbrush, and can even cut through things you don’t want it to, like a garden hose or thin metal.

I like that its pull cord doesn’t require hard tugging to start and that its motor idles nicely until I pull back and grip on a bar, which sends the spindle holding the thick string flying into action. I also like that it doesn’t push much harder than the average walk-behind power lawnmower.

Dennis and I are both happy that, now he’s not the only game in town when it comes to getting rid of those scrubby little areas that detract from the appearance of the whole farmstead. We can work as a team and, one of these days, we might even get everything mowed and trimmed at the same time. With the help of a little herbicide, we should even be able to keep things looking prim and trimmed right into the fall.

What can I say but, I’m loving this W.O.W. factor?

Sue Bowman is a freelance writer in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Columnist Sue Bowman reports from the frontline in her war against the weeds in her garden in this week's Rural Ramblings.

Trees provide us with many gifts: oxygen, shade, habitats for birds and critters and so much more.

Sue Bowman is a freelance writer in southeastern Pennsylvania.

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