Rental House- Yard Questions

[Virginia]

DH and I are moving from an apartment to a rental house in a fairly wooded/shady area. We're responsible for yard upkeep, so I have some questions...since we've never ever had to keep a yard before

1) What lawnmower would you suggest?
2) How can we get weeds out of our gravel driveway?
3) When winter comes...how do we deal with snow removal on the gravel driveway?
4) What other tools do I need? What else do I need to think about?

I loved yardwork as a kid. Not so sure I'm going to love it as an adult...but I'll give it a shot!

[Mother of Sons]

We have an old Groundsmaster for mowing the lawn. A walk behind would take forever. We've never had weeds in the gravel so no issues there. We have a plow so that's how we usually clear the driveway but sometimes the kids use snowblowers. Over time it will removes some of the gravel. The bigger issue with gravel is the mud in the spring.

You will need a weed whip.

[Pragmatist]

We have an electric corded mower that I love. It is less expensive and lighter weight. It might not be practical for a very large yard, however.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_506579-53393...uctId=50129046

[Virginia]

Thanks, Mother of Sons (I just typed "Songs" first, haha). We only plan to be here for one winter, so I'm thinking a snow blower will be more practical than a plow for us.

I didn't even think about mud Any advice?

Sara, thank for that link! Since it's electric, does it have to stay plugged in...? It looks from the reviews like it does. Doesn't the electric cord get the in way? I like the price and the reviews I'm seeing on Lowe's, though.

[Pragmatist]

It does have to stay plugged in. I start mowing closest to where it's plugged in and move farther away and I'm fine.

[Mother of Sons]

The mud depends on how much gravel there is. If it's well graveled right now you won't have trouble with mud. You really mainly run into that when the gravel wears away and it's more dirt than gravel. Here we have some low spots and get big puddles but not sticky mud. At our old house I got stuck a few times!

[FaithnPraise]

We just bought this mower from Lowe's, we used the 10% off coupon we got in our movers packet from the USPS. Our yard is too big for a plug in so this was just right for us.

DH has cut the yard twice with it, no complaints!

[squiddles]

weeds in gravel can be burned with a weed-burner, or killed with vinegar and then dug up...

[ValiantJoy07]

We have a moderately sized yard (double city lot) and we have a rotary mower. I pushed for it because I prefer to do the yard work and large power tools (essentially) intimidate me...At least when I'm working with them around my kids.

The mower is fantastic as long as we are consistent to mow every week. I love it because I can just pull it out and get going, no worrying about trying to figure out why it won't start, or fumes. The newer ones take a lot less sweat to "go". We've had it 2 summers and it still cuts as well as it did when we bought it (and we mow 1-2x a week depending on rain levels).

[Thia]

The best thing to do with a gravel driveway is to scrape it off and smooth it back out. My husband does it a few times a year and it always looks great.

[esperanza]

I'm not much help in the mower department, but you will need a rake for leaves in the fall.

[Virginia]

Thanks for all the advice, y'all!

We actually went to the house today to start moving stuff in and happened to run into the owner, whom we had not met before. He told us he had sprayed the driveway with Roundup on Sunday and was coming back to do a few more rounds. He was very, very helpful and told us that if there were any changes to be made to the yard, let him know and he'd either do them or let us do them. "Make it look however you want it to look" was his phrasing, haha.

[Soliloquy]

How big is the yard? I have a Yard Machine push mower that I love. I have to mow over 2 acres so it's a lot of work but that thing can handle whatever.

You can kill weeds in a driveway with a homemade, vinegar-based weed spray. Lots of recipes online. Get a pump sprayer (they're about $10) or you'll wish you had.

For a gravel driveway, you must have a 2-stage snowblower, not a 1-stage. Or, shovel. If the driveway isn't that big you can just shovel.

[Virginia]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

How big is the yard? I have a Yard Machine push mower that I love. I have to mow over 2 acres so it's a lot of work but that thing can handle whatever.

You can kill weeds in a driveway with a homemade, vinegar-based weed spray. Lots of recipes online. Get a pump sprayer (they're about $10) or you'll wish you had.

For a gravel driveway, you must have a 2-stage snowblower, not a 1-stage. Or, shovel. If the driveway isn't that big you can just shovel.

The yard's not that big I know the entire lot size is half an acre, but that doesn't take into account the house, deck, and driveway.

Thanks for the pump sprayer advice- we'll look into that for sure.

I didn't even know there was a difference in snowblowers, haha Good to know!!

[BarefootBetsy]

I love it when landlords don't care what you do with the yard The only sad thing is that when we plant something awesome (like our two fig trees!), we might not be around to see them at their best (or most productive).