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Thanks for all of the responses! To those extolling the exercise value of mowing, I felt the same way doing it in Atlanta, yeah, it's good for me....although sometimes in the summer heat when I spied my flushed face in a mirror, I thought it could be more of a health risk than a health boost. My yard was pretty big and on a slope. It was work! But I saved a lot of money through the years doing it myself and that is a bit of a source of pride. I will have to mull over whether it is worth paying to move yard equipment to TN and then having to store it someplace at the new house. The mowing crew came today as I was heading out to pick up mulch and flowers to plant. So, I got to do the part I enjoy outside, leave the mowing/edging to someone else and still had time to wash the car. Feels like a win, win so far. I have a few weeks before the movers empty the house in Atlanta, so will definitely consider everyone's advice. Thank you!
Location: Foothills of Maryland Blue Ridge mountains
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JOinGA
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!
Isn’t retirement wonderful?
It’s such a shock to the system at the beginning. We hire out mowing and have the house cleaned every other week. We could do it....well, I couldn’t easily due to medical issues....but we could cobble together and get the job done. But we don’t want to. Like everyone else, we worked hard. This is how we choose to spend our money. We don’t feel guilty, we feel extremely grateful that there are few chores left hanging over our heads.
My Grandmother mowed front and rear yard with a push reel mower since she bought her home back in the 40's...
It was her dream to have a home and she just wouldn't hear of paying for something she could do herself... they married in 1927
He Doctor said her landscaping activities kept her young and active... thing is she was not alone... many well to do widows with park like homes around here do the same...
Now all the young married couples hire out everything... I think I am the only one that mows...
Our last pre-retirement home was on 5 acres and about 1/3 of it was lawn. I used a garden mower. Also took care of 5 different flower patches (were existing when we bought the house). Most of the year I spent half of my Saturdays doing this.
In retirement we have 2 homes, one in Central FL and one in Central Mexico. I use a lawn service in FL at $120 a month year round....it's a 10K sq. ft. lot and it takes the guy about 1 1/2 hours to mow, edge and blow. In winter he comes 1x or 2x a month, in summer he comes weekly.
In Mexico we have a part-time gardener who works 10 hours a week (2 hours a day, weekdays). It is also a 10K sq. ft. lot, but the gardens are extensive with exotic flowers, banana trees, poinsettias, lime trees, avocado, etc. There is also a lawn. The gardener also maintains our swimming pool so I do not need to have a pool service. I pay him 70 pesos an hour.
Bought a house in fall '16, bought a self-propelled mower the following spring, and spent an enjoyable summer mowing the lawn.
I've used manual mowers and traditional power mowers, and I'm convinced that self-propelled mowers rank up there with the transistor as a great innovation.
To the O.P.--perhaps you might give a self-propelled mower a try. It's the closest thing to taking a nice walk. Perhaps wear noise cancelling headphones to complete the experience?
DH still enjoys mowing, edging, blowing, etc. so he does it. I trim the bushes. I don't mind doing it anymore because I got a cordless rechargeable trimmer.
We hire a service to fertilize and weed spray. They seem to have chemicals that work a lot better than the stuff we buy at the Depot. In the past we did all the tree trimming and stuff ourselves, but now we hire it out. They can do it faster and better, and they have all the right tools, so we just hire it out. I finally broke down and started getting the windows cleaned by a service once or twice a year. I hate doing windows. We got gutter guards so we wouldn't have to do the gutters. Our new house is too high for us to do them, and we don't have ladders that tall, and wouldn't want to get up there if we did.
Well, think about the fact that you are adding to the income of a deserving person....And that you have earned your lil luxuries like a nice walk.....while someone else does your lawn
I think our neighborhood has created an entire economy just supporting all the service needs of the people who live here, everything from gardeners and house cleaners to movers, gutter cleaners, window washers, remodelers, handymen, carpet cleaners, boat detailers, mobile dog groomers, pet sitters, and on and on.
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