If you’re new to the world of yard work, how do you go about getting your yard to look the way you want? What do you need to accomplish this task?
If these questions keep you up at night, here are a few solutions to help ease your stresses! Here are five tools that you’ll need to keep your yard looking fantastic:
1. Lawnmower
Lawnmowers should be the first thing that you invest in when looking to make your yard the oasis you desire. A lawn mower could be one of the most costly investments you make in your yard. In fact, they can cost upwards of several hundred dollars. There are very few things that look worse for your yard than an overgrown lawn that is begging for a trim.
When choosing a lawn mower, consider your budget, the size of your yard, and the effort you are willing to expand. Self-propelled mowers are nice, but if you’re young and healthy, you may be willing to spend a little less on a push mower that will give you a calorie burn.
2. Wheelbarrow
Your lawn could use a good and sturdy wheelbarrow. You may scoff at this old-fashioned aid, but when you’re mulching, creating new flowerbeds, or putting out new rock or gravel, a wheelbarrow will save your back and get landscape supplies where they need to go.
When it comes to picking a wheelbarrow, do you go with plastic or steel? Well for starters, a plastic wheelbarrow will not be as durable as a steel one. A plastic one could break in cold weather or even under the weight of heavy material. However, if your plan is to never transport heavy materials and light gardening, the plastic wheelbarrow would be a better choice.
Additionally, wheelbarrows come in a variety of styles – one or two wheels, straight handles or a bar across the front. Try pushing them at the store and consider the ground you’ll be pushing it on.
3. Rake
It’s not the sexiest choice for lawn maintenance, but a rake is essential for your yard. From clearing out dead debris from gardens to spreading landscape mulch to aggregating your lawn’s collection of fallen leaves, rakes can do it all!
Rakes also come in a variety of material and lengths. For instance, there are rakes made from bamboo, plastic, and steel. Rakes also come with heads from 8 inches wide to 24 inches wide, and their tines come in varying widths as well.
Depending on the intensity and type of raking you plan to do in your yard, any of the aforementioned rakes will work well for you. Bamboo and plastic rakes will be more lightweight and appropriate for leaf raking and light lawn raking. Steel rakes can provide more sturdiness and give you faster, more powerful lawn coverage. You can also find ergonomic rakes.
4. Hose
Keep your lawn and shrubbery in your yard looking great with proper watering with your home’s hose. But what type of hose do you need?
There are garden hoses, industrial-strength hoses, lead-free hoses – lots of choices for the homeowner. Typically, homeowners garden hoses are 5/8 of an inch in diameter. Rubber hoses are typically more costly, while vinyl hoses will be less expensive. Depending on the durability you want, and how long you want the hose to last, you can find something at every price point.
5. Sprinkler
A brown lawn is a dead lawn and dead lawns are gross. When you have a sprinkler at your disposal, you put your lawn on the fast track to green goodness. Sprinklers vary in the coverage, watering patterns, and water pressure they provide. So, your lawn size will dictate the type of sprinkler you buy. A pulsating sprinkler (one that sticks into the ground and directs a hard stream of water for a specified radius around it) is good for large lawns, while a fixed or rotary sprinkler may work better for a small yard.
