Life at Zero Turn

Several years ago, I bought myself a leaf blower because, after observing every male neighbor spending joyful ( ? ) hours using theirs, I decided it must be the most fun a person could have in the great outdoors!  But, I have to admit, I never fell in love with the sport of leaf blowing.

So, that might have impacted my skepticism when He assured me that a Zero Turn lawnmower would be life-changing. Well, when he’s right, he’s right. Friends, if you have never experienced the joy of operating a Zero Turn mower, walk-don’t-run to your local Land & Coates dealership.  A Zero Turn mower is part carnival ride, part three-year-old stallion and part race car! All that, and it edges square brick corners and zips around shrubbery in tight efficiency.  In the first fifteen minutes, I nearly wiped out a Service Berry shrub, but after about thirty minutes the whole process became intuitive. . . And so much fun! 

The new equipment was welcomed and well-deserved fun after two weeks spent stapling weed cloth to the future rose and lily beds. That was hot, knee-breaking torture.  I hope it will pay off, and though weed cloth is not great for maintaining soil microbes, weighed against spraying chemicals, I decided it is the lesser evil. Eventually, we will top it with fat stone instead of bark mulch for the rose beds.

The upside of spending hours on knee pads in the flower beds is that nature sort of forgets you are there, and I have enjoyed some pretty great critter life, including a river otter, a sleeping bumble bee, a crane being chased by an osprey, a fit and healthy raccoon. . . And I also got a close view of this scarlet pimpernel.

JRG

Land & Coates

Rose Beds

Laying the Fabric

Preparing the Rose Beds

Plump Raccoon

Crane

Osprey Attacking Crane

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Great Spangled Fritillary

Scarlet Pimpernel