A Push for Lawn Care

Environmentally conscious gardeners — especially those with smaller lawn areas — enjoy the exercise they get from using a push mower.
Lars Hundley, owner of Clean Air Gardening, an online gardening store (www.cleanairgardening.com), shares these tips for the best mow using a manual reel mower:

• Get moving at a comfortably quick walking pace and you'll get the best results.

• Overlap rows. This makes the mower easier to push because you're cutting less unmowed grass.

• Don't allow grass to get too tall. Manual mowers are harder to push in tall grass. Mow weekly.

• Embrace imperfection. Grass is a living organism, not a carpet. If you miss a few blades of grass, move on. You'll get them next week.

• Mow early. One of the beauties of a push mower is you can get out there early and not wake up the neighbors.