CasaSugar

Casa Quickie: Mulch Your Fall Leaves

CasaSugar — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:30:08 -0700

When your trees' leaves have all fallen to the ground, it's customary to bag them up to be hauled away by your garbage man. But before you go there, consider mulching them to help enrich or insulate your soil. To turn them into mulch, all you have to do is run your lawn mower over them, which acts like a food processor! It helps to spread them out in long rows instead of one big clump. Then you can spread the chopped up decaying leaves around any plants, trees, or flower beds you have!

Casa Quickie: Save Water and Time by Mowing Less Frequently

CasaSugar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Love the look of a nicely cut lawn, but hate to mow it? Try this quick tip. You can still get a tidy look to your lawn, as well as reduce your lawn's water needs, by simply raising your lawnmower's blade level. Raise the blade so it will cut grass two to three inches or higher. Longer grass needs less water, since it shades the plants' roots, which in turn encourages deeper growth.
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Casa Verde: Google Rents Goats For Lawn Mowing Alternative

CasaSugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:00:02 -0700

Lately, I've been showing you ways to go green without spending money, since being eco-friendly isn't always about dollar bills. Sometimes, though, all it takes to get into the earth's circle of friends is to spend your money differently.
Google knows what I'm talking about. The Internet monster has switched up its lawn maintenance routine by abandoning a lawn-mowing service for a more holistic approach - the service of goats. To trim the fields at its Mountain View, CA, headquarters, Google has hired the folks at California Grazing to bring about 200 goats and goat-herding border collies to the office for a week to clear weeds and eliminate brush-fire hazards. The service costs about the same as mowing, curbs air and noise pollution (except a few bahhhhs), and eliminates gas usage. Would you consider doing the same at your home?
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Would You Try an Eco-Friendly Push Mower?

CasaSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:30:51 -0700

I have a hard time believing that anyone could get this excited about mowing the lawn, even if it was with an eco-friendly Brill Razorcut Rell Mower ($249.99). The new eco-friendly reel mowers have improved dramatically, and are efficient, green ways to cut your backyard green.

Casa Quickie: Lawnmower Cleanup

CasaSugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:00:36 -0700

Depending on where you live, if you haven't been excessively watering your yard like Lance Armstrong, you may not need to mow your lawn come Fall. But if you've gone though a muggy, rainy Summer in the Midwest, I'm sure your lawn is in need of a trim. After your last mowing of the season, you should clean out your lawnmower of its flammable fuel, and send it into hibernation for the Winter. To do so, find a block or brick. Prop your mower over on its side against the block, but don't turn it completely over. Drain any gas that remains into an approved portable fuel tank, and bring it to an oil-change location to be properly disposed. Then, rinse off the underside of the mower with a hose, and let it dry. Then, store it for the season and get your rake handy!
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Nice and New: Neuton Battery-Powered Mower

CasaSugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:00:36 -0700

I've already shown you plenty of ways to make your home eco chic indoors, but there are also some ways you can eco-fy the space outside your home. For one, you can sprout a couch which will actually produce oxygen (!), and you can also be smart about the hour you water your garden. Beyond that, you can trade in your loud, gas-guzzling lawn mower for the Neuton Battery-Powered Mower ($479). Obviously, this mower cuts back on CO2 emissions, but it doesn't contaminate your ground water either. According to the product description, "The EPA estimates that of the 800 million gallons of gas used to fuel lawn mowers in the U.S. every year, about 17 million gallons are spilled, which can contaminate ground water." Running on a 24-volt battery, the mower will cut your grass for 45 to 60 minutes, and it also features a mulching plug, bagger, side discharge chute, safety key and two wrenches. Now if you could only hire someone to do it for you, sit back, and enjoy an ice-cold brew, poolside . . .

Goodbye to Another Season of Lawn Mowing

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:35:18 -0700

For a lot of homeowners across the country, fall brings with it a welcome respite from a long season of lawn mowing. When I was a kid, we always mowed our lawn with a gasoline-powered push mower, while my grandparents favored a riding gasoline-powered mower for their gigantic green spread.

I've been meaning to invest in a human-powered mower for a while now, and while I could get away with a push-style one, given the tiny plot of grass in our backyard, some people may not be so keen to try a human-powered mower on their big backyards. So I was both amused and inspired when I came across these human-powered riding mowers over at Treehugger. Somebody obviously took a lot of time designing and constructing them. I think they're both brilliant and hilarious.

What about you? Willing to try one of these on your lawn next summer?

Registry Roundup: Outdoor Living

CasaSugar — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:30:01 -0700

I love finding ways to make my outdoor space seem as welcoming and comfortable as my living room. After all, it's hard to beat the views and ambiance of a great outdoor space. Whether you have a small patio or a couple acres to stretch out on, you'll want to consider your outdoor needs when registering for wedding gifts. Do you barbecue a lot? Do you entertain guests with cocktails on the porch? Do you have a pool? How about a garden? Think about how you use the space before you register for an unnecessary item.

Since my guy and I are already set up with many of the items we need for outdoor entertaining, we're only registering for those things we need to fill in the gaps - like some cool '50s-style metal chairs, an eco lawn mower, and a sturdy hammock. If you're not sure where to even start when it comes to registering for your wedding, take a look at my downloadable registry PDF. And for all of our wedding coverage, check out IDoSugar.

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