Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

For some yards, a little electric string trimmer is fine. You can handle all the weeds or tall grass along your fence before your arms give out. But if you’ve got a larger-than-the-standard lot and it’s overrun with three of the county’s most invasive weeds (been there, done that), then you may need a more serious power tool…

Let’s take a look at the Swisher Trim-N-Mow.

This is a string trimmer that’s more like a gas-powered lawn mower. Instead of holding it up (and getting a tired back and arms) while you work, you just push it along and watch as it mows down everything in its path. It’s got big all-terrain wheels that can work fairly well even on uneven ground, and it can take out waist-high weeds without flinching.

I actually have one of these, and I’ll vouch for the fact that it’ll take out just about everything shy of blackberry brambles. For those, you’ll have to rent a goat.

$430 at Northern Tool: Swisher Trim-N-Mow

If you’re digging up some lawn to plant an edible groundcover or some other large swath of plants, then you might get tired of attacking that dirt with nothing more than a trowel. There are power tools for everything these days, and as the “power planter” attests, that holds true for gardening too.

The fancy auger attaches to your standard 3/8″ electric drill, allowing you to quickly and easily produce holes 3″ wide and up to 7″ deep (perfect for small ground cover plants and useful for planting bulbs and such too).

Never break your back digging holes again (now if there were just a fruit-tree-hole size auger for the backyard orchard I’m putting in…).

$30 through Oregon Groundcovers.

There’s nothing like swarming mosquitoes, gnats, and yellow jackets to derail your outdoor entertaining efforts. And while there are plenty of chemical insecticides and bug sprays on the market, you may prefer something that gets rid of pest insects without damaging the environment (or without covering yourself with icky bug repellent).

The Botanic Bug Deterrent uses an EPA-registered insecticide that is derived from the Chrysanthemum. This naturally occurring pest control spray has been used for centuries to kill mosquitoes, flies, gnats, yellow jackets, ants, and other pests on contact, but it doesn’t harm the environment since it’s a natural liquid. And you don’t have to spray it on yourself to get it to work.

The machine has an electric pump and four adjustable hoses it uses to mist the liquid twice a day (for 30-50 seconds at a time). This can keep bugs out of a 1,000 square foot area all summer. It comes with a remote control that works from up to 100 feet away, so you don’t have to tramp across the yard to turn it on.

$500 from Hammacher Schlemmer:

Botanic Bug Deterrent

There are a lot of reasons to maintain a vegetable garden, but all that digging, kneeling, and bending over can be rough, especially if you have mobility issues, arthritis, or you’d just like your back to last for a lifetime.

The “deluxe tractor scoot” could be a useful gift for anyone you know who enjoys gardening (yourself included).

The tractor “lets you work from a seated position virtually anywhere in your yard or garden.” It looks like a perfect fit for those who use raised beds (as long as you’ve got wide enough aisles).

Some of the features include:

• Pneumatic tires that roll well even on rough surfaces
• Accessory tray and basket for holding tools, seeds, and gloves
• 360 degree, height-adjustable swivel seat
• 400 pound weight capacity

From Gardeners’ Supply Company:

Garden Tractor Scoot

As someone who isn’t crazy about noisy power tools (especially when it’s the neighbors using them), I’m glad to see the trend toward battery-powered and electric (plug in) power tools. The Poulan Pro Electric Chain Saw looks like a great alternative to noisy, smelly, and messy gas-powered chain saws.

You might not think a plug-in chain saw would have enough power to handle the cutting jobs around your house, but the reviews over at Amazon are largely favorable.

“I only need a chainsaw for around the house to cut fallen trees or the odd job. So the idea of keeping a can of mixed gas and oil didn’t appeal to me. Not to mention the saw would sit on the shelf for months at a time between uses and I didn’t care for the starting problems or engine repairs of a gas chainsaw. However I was worried that this electric chainsaw would not be powerful enough. I had 2 fallen trees with a bases of about 15 inches that I needed to cut into firewood immediately. This chainsaw performed perfectly.”

“As long as you can use it within extension cord reach, this is a great tool. the chain oiler is very good – the chain is always nice and wet without spraying oil, which is exactly the way I like it. And, of course with electric, there’s no gas mixing and start up problems, and the saw is considerably quieter and lighter than a comparable 2-cycle powered tool.”

It sounds like the four-horse-power engine and 18″ blade do the job. And at a pretty reasonable price too (it’s on sale for less than $100 as I write this).

Poulan Pro Electric Chain Saw

Some people get a kick out of doing things the hard way, such as mowing the lawn with a push reel mower.  Others… prefer to relax while technology does the work.

With a Robomower robotic lawn mower, you can do just that on your weekend afternoons.  Play with the kids, wrestle with the dog, read a paper, BBQ, whatever.  Meanwhile, the robot mower is zooming about your yard and clipping your grass for you.

The Friendly Robotics RL800 Robomower is “designed to replace your walk/push mower. It operates safely, quietly and automatically. Designed for one-time setup, it works in almost any lawn or garden environment, with wire sensors that prevent it from crossing the lawn perimeter. It even recycles clippings into nutrient-rich mulch for healthier grass. For hard-to-mow corners, switch to the optional manual mode with child-safety lock.”

Since it runs on rechargeable battery power rather than gas, it’s not a big noise maker (or pollution emitter) either. Eco-friendly and easy… that’s the life.

Alas the Robomower robotic lawn mower isn’t cheap. It runs $1,200 through Amazon:

Robomower

It’s a good idea to save kitchen scraps, leaves, lawn mowings, etc. in order to compost them and reuse them right on your own property (instead of having them hauled away and then buying compost for your landscape or garden…), but lots of people get impatient with the composting process. Heading out to the pile and turning everything over by hand gets old, and even with compost tumblers, you have to remember to do the tumbling.

This NatureMill electric composter makes everything automatic, and it can be stored indoors so it’s convenient to add scraps and coffee grounds and whatnot to. Don’t worry–there are no odors.

Here’s how it works:

“Items remain in the upper chamber, with ‘hot composting’ conditions: mixing, air flow, heat, and moisture. The energy released destroys odors, pathogens, and seed germination. The compost is later transferred through a trap door to the lower cure tray chamber, where it continues to compost while you add fresh waste items to the upper chamber.”

Looks pretty handy, though the downside is that–unlike the regular outdoor composters–you have to plug this in.

Available from People Powered Machines.

Sometimes you need to give a massive hedge a crew cut… and sometimes you just need to trim a little shrub.

A big gas-powered hedge trimmer can be overkill if you’ve just got a little job. That’s when a tool like the Black & Decker 6-Volt Cordless Electric Shrubber can come in handy.

“The Black & Decker cordless shrubber is ideal for trimming and shaping small shrubs around the yard, as well as touch-ups on larger trimming work. The ergonomic and lightweight design allows for better control and less fatigue…Using machine-sharpened 6-inch steel blades, this shrubber quickly and cleanly trims shrubs and bushes in either direction and features an integrated lock-off button to prevent accidental start-ups for added safety.”

The mini hedge trimmer only weighs 2 pounds, so it won’t be a burden to tote around the yard. You might even be able to get the kids to help with the landscaping (although, you might not trust their artistic trimming instincts!).

Black & Decker 6-Volt Cordless Electric Shrubber

Trees are pretty, but they’re a bit of a nuisance when they clog up your gutters with their leaves. There are a lot of gutter cleaning tools on the market, and today we’re going to peep at one that doesn’t require you climbing a ladder.

The gutter cleaning wand is a hose extension that increases your reach by twenty feet, which lets you clean even second story gutters while standing on the ground.

“The wand attaches to a standard hose and delivers a powerful stream of water through its nozzle to dislodge leaves and small branches from gutters or rinse dirt and dust from windows and siding. The unit extends from 5′ to 12′ by simply twisting the shaft, and the nozzle is curved downward, allowing you to quickly flush stubborn detritus out of a downspout.”

The gutter cleaning tool is made from aircraft aluminum, so it ought to be a durable enough gadget. You can turn the water on and off with a dial on the handle.

$80 at Hammacher Schlemmer:

The Extended Reach Gutter Cleaning Wand

If you’re looking for a way to keep the birds from eating your cherries, blueberries, raspberries, or other beloved fruits growing in your yard, then there are ways to convince them to go elsewhere (without causing them any harm).

For instance, the Bird Gard Electronic Bird Repeller ues warning chirps and trills get rid of flocks of birds. By emulating the distress calls of birds, it repels 8 different types of common pest birds including starlings, robins, and blue jays.

It covers up to one and a half acres, so it’s more than enough for the average suburban lot (maybe you can split the cost with your neighbors) or a small country orchard or blueberry farm (if you need more oomph, there’s also a 6-acre version of the electronic pest control device).

Since this does make noise in order to scare birds away, you might not want to put it right outside your bedroom window, but in an area where chirps and squawks won’t be a problem, it can mount unobtrusively to a post or outbuilding.

Both this and the 6-acre version are available at Northern Tool:

Bird Gard Electronic Bird Repeller