I'm beginning to get tired of paying someone to maintain my lawn. I am considering buying a lesser-priced gas mower, trimmer / edger, and hedge trimmer. I live in town and have a small lot and a pool in the back, so mowing-wise there is not a lot to mow. Frankly, I'll probably have to spend more time trimming the hedges and bushes than anything.

What are the brands to buy for each? For small lots, are corded electric or wireless trimmers and hedges a good option?

If I had a small lot, I would probably choose electric units, including a mower. But I would probably choose corded units, not battery powered. I can't recommend any specific brand because I don't have a small lot and most of my lawn tools are gas powered. I do have an electric blower (Toro) that blows better than my crappy Homelite gas unit.

Thanks. I was thinking a corded trimmer. I want an electric hedger as well, but the drawback of the corded (I have heard) is the cord tends to easily get in the way if you are not careful. I have not even considered an electric mower, but I might look into that as well.

if it is a small lot you can probably find a service to do it under $20.

I currently pay $50 for hedge and bush trimming (about once a month) and $17 per mow (from every week to once a month depending on the season). That tends to add up to over $100 a month during the late spring to early fall months. Yeah, it is not a huge amount of money, but it's still money, especially when I can buy some decent equipment for what it would cost me for just a few months of service.

Obviously I have no idea the size of your yard, if you have less than about 1000sf of grass I would suggest a reel mower, like scots new one. No batteries, and unlike the old style the blades don't actually strike each other so they don't go dull every few weeks. Same goes for the hedgers, just get a good set of shears and keep them sharp. Spend the money on a good electric trimmer/edger.

If you're only paying $17 for mowing, don't drop that. Mowing, edging, and blowing around a pool is a PITA. Just do the bush trimming yourself. For $17 per mow, its not worth it to get a mower, trimmer, blower, etc not to mention the manitenance on those and time savings.

I have corded hedge trimmer and did slice trough the extension cord once (easy to splice back together). Since I only trim the bushes maybe twice a year, I went with a really old one from a garage sale, and I'm happy I did.

My yard is small and decided to do it myself. Bought a Troy built from lowes that was returned cause a defective part that they fixed and sold for $220. It was $300 new, and wasn't even run yet since the starter was broke. So basically brand new. I wanted the gas mower to cut through the thick st Augustine grass if it's wet.

I bought the black and decker cordless edger/ weed eater and a seperate blower that run on batteries. It works fine for my small yard. Didn't want a cord since I think it's a pain in the ass. The trimmer/edger comes with 2 batteries and I use about 1 1/2 for my whole yard.

I would definetely buy gas trimmer if my yard was bigger but the cordless one is perfect for a small yard and it was cheap, I think like $79 it something and the little cheap blower is perfect also for a garage and small driveway and I think was $43 or something like that, and came with a battery also.

[This message has been edited by The d (edited 4/16/2012 7:42p).]

[This message has been edited by The d (edited 4/16/2012 7:48p).]

And I have the black and decker hedge trimmer but I bought it a while ago so it is the corded version and I have no complaints. Think it was around $50 or so

Our backyard where the pool is, there is no grass. Almost the entire backyard is patio and decking. We have two small side yards and a small front yard (circle drive in the front that takes up a lot of space). So, overall, not much mowing or edging. We have a lot of bushes and shrubs in the front though, that will probably be the most time consuming part, until I get the hang of it.

Thanks all the recommendations.

[This message has been edited by jtraggie99 (edited 4/17/2012 8:56a).]

I pay $25 every two weeks for mowing, edging and clean-up. Sometimes they will also bag up part of the trimmings if there are a lot.

It's a little pricey but the guy is always there every two weeks. I've paid less before but the service was unreliable and sometimes took the money without doing the work.

$50/month is worth it for me not to have to deal with doing the work and taking care of equipment.