The Must-Have Lawn Care Tool That Garden Enthusiasts Are Absolutely Loving

Caring for your lawn can be one of the most arduous parts of owning a home. The upkeep, maintenance, and tools required to enjoy a fresh, green yard can quickly become overwhelming. As it turns out, though, some of your gardening tools might be a way you're secretly ruining your lawn. If you're part of the vast majority of homeowners who cut their grass using a standard rotary mower, we've got a cost-effective switch that will likely improve your yard, using nothing but a bit of know-how and some good old-fashioned elbow grease. Reel mowers, which utilize a manual push style and a cylindrical set of blades (rather than the horizontal fan-like blades of most power mowers), might be the solution to all of your problems. It can allow you to focus on basic care and upkeep, leaving the constant worry about unhealthy grass in the past.

Unlike traditional rotary lawn mowers, reel mowers typically forgo motors, requiring you to push them manually. While this may sound like the kind of thing that would make your life more difficult, reel mowers actually simplify the grass cutting process: They feature a lightweight frame, no motor to maintain, and a set of blades which clip the grass in an even, scissor-like pattern. This cut style is actually much healthier for your lawn than the standard shredding cuts provided by rotary mowers, which can leave behind a jagged, shredded look and reduce the overall moisture content in the grass. Aesthetics aren't the only issue at hand either: grass shredded by standard mowers is susceptible to more insect attacks and fungus or other contaminants. This forces grass blades to work harder to grow, and causing grass to grow in patchy, which can be easily fixed. 

Motorized rotary lawn mowers — whether you choose a push or self-propelled mower — have obviously become the standard in today's society, but that doesn't mean they're superior. These gasoline or battery-powered rigs offer a bit more convenience and customization, at the cost of potentially harming your lawn. Reel mowers snip the grass in a single, uniform layer, providing an even, short surface that retains moisture and remains resilient against disease and pests. Since the standard reel mower is manually operated (no motor), it also reduces both your carbon footprint and neighborhood noise, allowing you to hit the lawn at all hours of the day. Needless to say, your maintenance costs will also be reduced, since you won't need to worry about routinely caring for a 4-stroke combustion engine on wheels. Whether you're concerned about cutting costs, becoming more eco-friendly, or just interested in choosing the perfect lawn mower for your grass type, reel mowers seem to be a no-brainer.

Of course, it should be noted that reel mowers are not perfect. Homeowners with disabilities or those who have trouble walking for extended periods may want to stick with a riding mower, as the manual option requires a lot of physical effort, especially in tall grasses. It's important to keep the blades sharp, which you may need to do by hand, and in general, you will spend more time clearing the yard of sticks and debris for these more finicky mowers. Having said that, a reel mower is certainly worth the investment for homeowners looking to do their own yard work.