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Photos: A push mower never goes out of style

By Howard B. Owens

Driving down South Jackson, I see a man in black slacks and a dress shirt with a push mower cutting his lawn.

If it were the 1950s or 1960s, perhaps that wouldn't be unusual.

Frank DeMare said it is a little unusual for him to cut the lawn. Usually, it's one of his sons.

DeMare has four sons and a small yard, so he's never seen the point in buying a power mower, or a power snow blower, for that matter. Shovels work just fine.

Jeff Allen

Ahhh, the memories of cutting grass as a kid with a reel mower then trimming on your hands and knees with hand shears. No loud engines, no gas smell, just the essence of fresh cut, finely manicured grass. I think that now, I wish I thought that way then. I might have appreciated it more.

Jul 30, 2014, 1:54am Permalink
Ron C Welker

I have been mowing grass since I learned to walk! When I seen your picture of the push mower the sound of the revolving blades came back to me in a heartbeat:>) We had a huge yard and it was not fun as I remember. Today I have power mowers and weed whackers that can cut through any weed on earth and I still hate mowing grass.
On a recent visit to Las Vegas I noticed the yards were covered with small stones and no mowers/tractors in the garages, no weeds or grass to mow, wow! this is heaven to me, just hose the stones off and head to the golf course.

Jul 30, 2014, 8:47am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

We had a large portion of our backyard in Bakersfield covered in stone.

Keeping the weeds out without killing other plants was difficult.

I spent about two months one summer with a shop vac meticulously moving the rocks and vacuuming up all dirt and date seeds off the mulch cover. It was the only way to effectively fight unwanted plants among the rocks.

Stone ground cover can looks like hell after a while if not properly maintained.

BTW: During the summer, it's 100 degrees every day in Bakersfield, so I had to get my yard work done by 9 a.m., before temps got over 90.

Jul 30, 2014, 9:39am Permalink
Ron C Welker

I was sure there was a down side to the stone idea, but maybe if the stones were six inches deep with concrete base complete with drainage system. Ahhh off to the golf course again.

Jul 30, 2014, 11:28am Permalink

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