My father had me mowing our rather large lawn which was a chore I shared with my older brother using my Dad’s old Masport mower. It wasn’t long before one of our neighbours (an old lady) agreed to have us mow her lawns for a small fee. Her lawn was even bigger than ours and we used to do it for about $8 which was pretty good pocket money back then. She supplied the petrol and the mower which was a Victor mower. We took turns at first until my brother lost interest, then I did it regularly myself.
I’d far sooner mow the lawn than do housework if it came to a choice between the 2 so needless to say even when I went flatting as a young person it was usually me mowing the lawn in most of the places I stayed. These days I still get a sense of satisfaction from mowing my lawns at home. For me there’s something familiar and homely about the smell of freshly cut grass.
A couple of years ago a friend of mine who lives in a shared housing complex with a medium sized lawn surrounding it asked me if I’d be interested in caring for their lawns. Although it had been a long time since I mowed lawns for money, I decided to do it to help him out, as my other business interests were not that busy at the time. It turns out that the price I quoted them was less than their previous gardener was charging, so they were very happy for me to do it.
After doing it regularly for a few months I started thinking about perhaps taking on 1 or 2 more lawns in the area and then spending say 1 day a week caring for lawns to help supplement my income. So I decided to place an ad on the CLASSIFIEDPAGES website showing a few pictures from my garden at home.
The key to a nicely mowed lawn in my view is to always use the catcher. Although it usually takes a bit longer and requires more effort on a sloping lawn, there are 3 main benefits. 1. It looks nicer 2. Any children and pets that run around on the lawn afterwards don’t get covered in grass clippings and then walk them into the house creating more work, and 3. Grass clippings are excellent for composting.
So, I kinda feel like I’ve gone full circle, returning to the days of my youth. It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out. Click here to visit my lawn mowing ad.
