As well as non-opening windows and the remains of a bonfire slap bang in the middle of the garden, one of the things the previous residents left us was knee high grass covering what we have now christened “the meadow”. For several weeks, we have been tackling it in stages: we started off with the mower, which even at ‘transport’ height struggled to cope, then moved onto an electric strimmer, which worked but wasn’t exactly quick.
A new petrol brushcutter speeded up the process, but even so we were struggling. I’ve been out a few times and thought “I’ll finish this off now”, and two hours later found that I’d only done a tenth of what was left…
This weekend, two men went to mow a meadow (no dog was available, and the cat wasn’t interested), and it’s finally done. Again, I totally underestimated the effort required – I thought it would take most of the morning, but actually took nearly six hours. However, I’m left with a sense of satisfaction, and hopefully it will never be that bad again.
And to all those who have suggested it: yes, I think we really do need a ride-on lawnmower. I just need to find one that looks like a proper tractor…