Week 3: Here and there

Task #4: Yard Maintenance etc.

Fortunately the prior owners were kind enough to keep the lawn in decent shape before they vacated completely. Now that a few weeks have gone by under new ownership, the lawn is beginning to look a bit amazon-like. I figured before I upset the neighbors, I should be a good citizen and get this situation under control. After some research, a few conversations with family and friends, and a helpful review from consumer reports (and a wild goose chase to 4 different Ace hardware stores), I purchased a Toro Super Recycler self propelled mower (#20092 for those interested). It looks like I may have gotten the last one of this model in DuPage County.



Matt mowing the front yard, trying to beat the sun going down.

 The other item that needed to be seriously addressed was the wild bushes growing all around the house. My inspector had warned me that bushes too close to the house would hold in moisture around the foundation (not recommended), and pruning them back would help with this. I picked up a Black and Decker electric hedger; they run about $70 and are actually very fun to use (I had never used one).  30 minutes into pruning I had 6 scalped bushes and a huge mess to clean up, not a bad start.