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Del Sol Lawn Care Hawaii here for a quick chat about electric lawn mowers. Many of you may be due for a new lawn mower or at the very least a good tune up. In the mower and hand tools world you’ve got three options; Gasoline, Electric and Manual. These all have their pros and cons, but I want you to consider upgrading your old machine to a new battery electric machine.
Pros Maintenance- An electric lawn mower only requires maintenance on 1 part, sharpening the blade. Unlike a gas powered machine that requires fresh gas, spark plugs to be cleaned, carburetor cleaning, air filters, oil changes, and blade sharpening. This means lower operating costs for you, as well as less time and hassle to maintain the machine. Noise- Electric lawn mowers are quiet, about the same loudness as a vacuum cleaner. A quiet lawn mower in Kona means you’re free to mow your lawn earlier or later in the day to avoid the heat, without upsetting the neighborhood. Happy neighbors are good neighbors. Storage- Traditional mowers need to be stored flat on the ground requiring about 16sqft of real estate On the electric side, these mowers can be folded and stored vertically against a wall, needing but 3sqft of space. Hawaii isn’t known for the most spacious of garages, this makes electric lawn care machines a great option. Neutrals Cost- A good quality electric mower will cost about $400-$600. This is about the same as a top level non-commercial gas mower. However after this initial purchase you will no longer need to buy gasoline, tuneups, and oil. Runtime- A modern electric lawn mower will last about 45minutes on the charge of a single battery. For most of Kailua Kona this is plenty, but some you need more. Recharging the battery packs can take upto 2hrs, luckily most homeowners will purchase 2 batteries to get their large jobs done. Cons- Less powerful- Electric mowers are not as powerful as their gasoline counterparts. If you are someone who lets their yard get to a foot tall between mowings, this isn’t a good option for you. Electric lawn mowers are ideal for a maintained lawn. Brand Loyalty- When you purchase your electric lawn equipment, you’re committing to a specific brand and tool line. Most every electric lawn care brand has all of the tools you need to maintain your lawn. Unfortunately their batteries are proprietary, encouraging you to only buy tools from the same company. Electric mowers and hand tools have improved to the point in the last few years that they are viable even for commercial operations. With new improved motors, longer lasting batteries, and higher outputs most homeowners will be able to happily swap the gas can for a battery pack. Low noise, no fumes, and no gas, what could be better? The favorite electric equipment line for 2020 is the Stihl machines for heavy duty, and the EGO machines for homeowner duty.  Lawn mowers are very simple machines, an engine (electric in the case of Del Sol Lawn Care), spins a blade at about 3,000 rpm. This blade cuts the grass that goes under it to a specified height. One piece of maintenance that goes neglected in both the commercial and residential world of lawn mowing is sharpening that blade. The difference between a sharp and dull blade is easy to detect. The easiest way to tell the sharpness of your blade is to physically inspect it. Verify that the mower is turned off, and remove the battery, or the spark plug wire before starting this procedure. Prop the mower up and look for pitting and chipping on the edge of the blade, this is a sure fire indicator of a dull blade. Further feel the blade, it should be sharper than a kitchen butterknife. Alternatively, we favor a different approach. After cutting a swath of grass, get in close and investigate the cut quality. The cut should be square and smooth, with limited fraying or excess marks on the grass. In the picture from Rain Makers, exhibit A is a clean cut from a sharp blade, B, C, and D are all examples of dull blades damaging your grass. The problem of dull blades is two fold. Primarily the grass will become stressed and prone to infestation. Additionally the grass tips will brown, ruining the lush green you’ve been managing for. The second issue of dull blades is the excess stress on you and your equipment. It takes more effort to slice through grass when the blade is dull and damaged. This makes your mower work harder, and forces you to mow slower. A sharp blade may be the difference between a green lawn and a browned lawn. If you find your blade is dull, take the mower to a local shop to sharpen and tune it up. Or if you’re feeling handy, tackle the project yourself with a fairly basic set of tools. The Corona Virus outbreak and concurrent response is everywhere in the news, including our website. We’re here to help you know what to expect out of your yard and property services during this unprecedented time. If your lawn care provider isn’t offering something in this article, ask! We all are here to help and want to make your experience the best possible.
Your lawn crew should be limiting their in person contact with you. This comes in a few ways. The most important is to offer digital billing, payment, and communications. This alone can prove enough that you never have to come in close contact with them. You should further be seeing smaller crews on your property, this limits the quantity of people interacting with each other and your property. You should expect your lawn specialists to be more flexible on scheduling and services. If you’re now working at home and can’t have the noise from their engines at a certain time, ask! They should be happy to oblige. Alternatively, feel free to use your free time to do yard work. Just let your lawn care service know, with at least a day's notice, if they don’t need to come on your scheduled day. Finances may also be getting difficult for some out there. Your lawn care provider can likely help by extending due dates and adjusting services to just what is necessary. Communication is the key here. Lawns and landscaping keep growing throughout this and most businesses would rather delay payment than fight an overgrown mess. At Del Sol Lawn Care, we’ve taken these measures and more to help our Kona ohana. We’ve set all of our invoices to a 45 day due date, with the ability to extend if needed. All of our invoices, payments, communications and quotes are digital. We offer contact free quoting, and all new customers get the same grace period on billing. If there’s anything we’ve missed or something you would like to add, reach out and let's chat!
The Brass Age of the Lawn Mower
With a boiler mounted in the middle of the creation, and an open air oil fueled fire beneath it, the first motorized lawn mower was born. Gone would be the days of laboriously pushing a reel mower. This invention was born in Europe in 1893. The machine needed to be operated by a skilled engineer, but would displace the need of having an entire crew to run scythes, or the need for a team of draught animals. By 1902 America had designed the first riding lawn tractor. Powered by steam, this machine was multi purpose. It could cut and roll fields, run a wood splitter, and run a small saw mill. At Del Sol Lawn Care, we’re focusing on using the most modern electric lawn mowers and equipment. We maintain and groom Hawaii’s grass and landscaping in the most quiet and green ways reasonable. To learn more about the steam powered lawn mower visit the University of Reading.
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 The fishtail palm, a popular palm on the West Side of Hawaii and across the state. Named after the distinct fringed edges of its leaves. This clumping palm produces a natural privacy barrier, a cleaner and easier alternative to a bamboo privacy wall. The fishtail palm is happy in Kailua Kona’s climate, requiring little outside help to keep healthy. Place a few fertilizer spikes around your tree and your feeding requirements are done for 6 months. Maintaining the palm is easy as well, trim brown and discolored leaves from the tree. As the cluster ages, it will start sprouting keikis at it’s base, select a few you would like to keep and cut the rest out. Cut down the main stems at the base once they hit your maximum height, your keikis will fill in the spot. Fishtail Palms are ideal specimens for your landscaping, giving a full tropical feel. You can buy potted fishtail palms here! Learn more about fishtail palms here! |  |
The price paid for lawn care can vary drastically for the same lawn. There are many different aspects that affect the overall price of lawn maintenance. You can change things about your lawn to make it less impactful on your pocket book.
The primary factor effecting the price you pay for your lawn care is time. How long it takes your lawn care company to do their job is how much you will be charged to do the work. There are a few ways for you to supercharge the speed of your lawn company:
1. Pickup large debris, dog toys and kids toys, out of the lawn. The more time your lawn company spends picking up toys, the more they will need to charge to cover their time.
2. Remove any above ground sprinklers and garden hoses from the lawn. Rolling hoses is a simple task, but it can take time. By rolling your hoses before your lawn company comes out, you will effectively speed them up.
3. Think twice where you place your lawn ornaments. We enjoy bird baths and landscape lighting, but its worth knowing that each item you place in your lawn will require time to mow around and trim. Do your lawn company a favor by limiting the quantity of these items, and placing them more than 25in from any edges. By placing them this far from other objects you allow the mower to go unobstructed by.
4. Trim your trees. Trimming tree branches to about 6ft allows easy mowing under and around trees.
5. Lawn Edging. By having physical edging around your grass, you prevent grass from growing into your garden beds and hardscapes. This makes for quicker work of trimming your lawn.
By following these five recommendations you can easily lower the price of your lawn care. Don't be afraid to ask for re-evaluations for price after doing a yard project that quickens the service. Your lawn company will be happy with the new found efficiency, and you will be able to sit back knowing you're saving money every service.
The primary factor effecting the price you pay for your lawn care is time. How long it takes your lawn care company to do their job is how much you will be charged to do the work. There are a few ways for you to supercharge the speed of your lawn company:
1. Pickup large debris, dog toys and kids toys, out of the lawn. The more time your lawn company spends picking up toys, the more they will need to charge to cover their time.
2. Remove any above ground sprinklers and garden hoses from the lawn. Rolling hoses is a simple task, but it can take time. By rolling your hoses before your lawn company comes out, you will effectively speed them up.
3. Think twice where you place your lawn ornaments. We enjoy bird baths and landscape lighting, but its worth knowing that each item you place in your lawn will require time to mow around and trim. Do your lawn company a favor by limiting the quantity of these items, and placing them more than 25in from any edges. By placing them this far from other objects you allow the mower to go unobstructed by.
4. Trim your trees. Trimming tree branches to about 6ft allows easy mowing under and around trees.
5. Lawn Edging. By having physical edging around your grass, you prevent grass from growing into your garden beds and hardscapes. This makes for quicker work of trimming your lawn.
By following these five recommendations you can easily lower the price of your lawn care. Don't be afraid to ask for re-evaluations for price after doing a yard project that quickens the service. Your lawn company will be happy with the new found efficiency, and you will be able to sit back knowing you're saving money every service.
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