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I have been mowing my yard in Atlanta myself and generally spending about 45 minutes to an hour each mow, ever since my divorce in 1997. I have had my retirement home in TN since last year and, since I couldn't be in two places, I have had to hire a lawn service. $30 a week to mow/edge in growing season. I have made the decision to give away my lawnmower and edger in Atlanta before I move at the end of the month and get out of the mowing business. I will still do yard work, but I am done with the mowing! I have to admit, I carry a bit of guilt about it. The yard in TN is smaller and I COULD do it myself. I just don't want to! How does everyone else handle the decision to hire out work that you used to do yourself...and still could. Do you feel guilt at spending the money? BTW, I am in my second week of retirement and spending my time in TN while the Atlanta house is on the market. I have to say that walks by the lake with the dogs in the middle of the day are fabulous! I even took in a movie matinee. Still hard to wrap my head around the fact that this is now my life!
I'm 54, get around with a cane, and will need a knee replacement this summer.
Guess who still mows his lawn with a push mower??
I don't need the cane so much if I have the handle of the mower to hold on to, though if I fell, it's go down with me.
If you want to hire it out, go ahead, but I'll still do it, If need be with the cane in one hand and the mower in the other.
Still rake my leaves, just raked the remnants of last year this morning. My knee is a throbbing reminder I shouldn't, but still do. After all, it throbs at rest too.
A couple years before I retired, I got pneumonia. For several weeks, I was so weak, I hired a cleaning service for my little condo, and used a laundromat wash and fold service for my clothes and linens. The condo laundry was in another building and down a steep flight of stairs. Didn’t take long to realize this new hit on my budget was a good thing, worth the expense. So both were continued until my retirement. Now, in my retirement home, I can reach out and open the bathroom door while sitting on the side of my bed, and while standing on the threshold of the bathroom, can open the door to the laundry room. A laundry room in my own home! Right next to the bedroom! Laundry is no trouble at all now, so I’m back to doing my own easily and happily. But the cleaning service had been a pretty nifty thing, so I continue to hire a lady to clean once a month. My only input is do what feels right for you, and when that changes, change your plans to fit.
I paid $60 per month to have a crew edge, mow and blow my yard. Then I realized they were scalping the grass around the walls, birdbath and sidewalks leaving huge dirt patches. I resented paying them to kill my grass. The final straw was when I caught them "exchanging" their old worn-out trash barrel with holes in the bottom for one of my newer barrels.
For the last 12 years, I have been doing it myself and I have one of the nicest lawns in the area. No weeds, all one species of grass, really green, and no dead spots. I use a reel-type push mower and a broom. The only power tool I use is a battery-powered edger. My allergies are not bothered too much, because the mower and broom don't make a lot of dust. The edger kicks up some dirt and stuff, but not too much. It doesn't take long and is good exercise.
Another reason I do not want to pay a crew is I do not want to be part of the problem where people hire illegal immigrants and pay them low wages. Besides being unfair to the workers, it's unfair to any legitimate business trying to compete. The legit business inevitably pays higher costs, making it doomed to fail. One never hears about these points (the slave wage and effect on other businesses) when debating immigration policy.
One problem I have when using lawn companies for rentals is they are always damaging the sprinkler systems... or the guys have the to cal the irrigation specialist.
Funny... when I mow, I never have a problem and have never sheared off the top of a sprinkler head.
I just bought a new self-propelled lawn mower yesterday, but I still have to walk behind it and push it. I can’t wait for the self-driving ones to come out.
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