Scythes

coire · Scythes

Not sure whether this is the best place to post this....

Having broken 2 lawnmowers in the last few years, and being obliged by my tenancy agreement to maintain a lawn on a very hummocky, mole-infested garden, I was wondering whether to just keep the grass shortish by scything. (I hope I am a bit more robust than a cheap B&Q lawnmower... and I really do not want to possess a strimmer) I gather there is a knack to scything, and the blade needs frequent sharpening.

Anyone any advice or experience of this?

Meanwhile the grass is lovely and long, and a great refuge for hares and birds

Jane

Smooth Hound

scythings good, its easy once you get the hang of it. but i think you need to let the grass grow to scyth, not sure about trimming, id probably give it one scythe at the end of nesting season, say mid july to end, then once again at the end of the yr, about sept, you could dry it in to hay then

check for ragwort though

coire

Thanks, that's encouraging. I'm expecting some 'dont be daft' from certain quarters... not here maybe!

I'm told that, historically, scythes were used to cut bowling greens. I'm not aiming for that in my garden

Coincidentally I found this scythe art while browsing the 350.org website:

http://www.350.org/about/blogs/more-350-art-scythe

I definitely want one now!!

Jane

Smooth Hound

you need to keep them sharp and oiled, not sure where youd get a second hand one though, you could put a post on gum tree, or scot ads, or even try freecycle, you never know, next to that its a new one i suppose, not cheap, but neither are lawn mowers or strimmers, and strimmers are really noisy

anyway. but a scythe will last forever

Sassinak

I'm told that the new aluminium ones are much lighter and easier to use than the traditional wooden ones

JamesB

we have a new alu one and its fine for long grass.
if your lawn is small then I'd get a manual mower instead, you can get a reasonable one for about £25 and its much better for cutting short grass (but you wil have to keep it short to make it possible to mow with a hand mower). Think of the manual mower as a green gym (you wont even get gym membership for £25 a month!)
James

IainC

Yup, was going to suggest the same. I used a small manual mower at a previous job to keep the small patch of grass down. Doesn't really take too much effort if you haven't got loads to do.

Would imagine it'd be a lot quicker than a scythe. Other option would be to pay someone to come and do it. I'm fairly sure that someone (might have been on here) had done his sums and worked out that for him, it was as cheap to get someone in to do it every week than it was for him to do it himself. The grass would be cut by the time he came home from work, which meant he didn't waste his time, he didn't need space for a mower, petrol, etc and it meant he didn't need to pay out heaps of money for a new mower every now and then.

Julie

What about a strimmer? The ones that come with a full body harness are childs play to use.
I can't see a scythe being particularly easy to use on an uneven area. You will just keep embedding it in hidden molehills or chipping the blade on stones unearthed by the moles. If you glance off one of them you may injure yourself or someone else.

Sassinak

They might be child's play to use, but starting the b***dy things is a different story grrr
Me and 2 stroke pull cords just do not get along lol

IainC

Cheap 'leccy one then?

wildgarlic

I've been thinking of getting a scythe too but every time I mention it people tell me that I'll end up injuring myself. I guess our ground is quite uneven and the grass is very long at the moment. I'm keen not to use the petrol mower (couldn't at the moment anyway as it's seized up!) for cost and environmental reasons. We could put the goat up there but she'd eat the apple trees too so not ideal.

IainC

Old pair of sheep shears then?

wildgarlic

It will end up being the kitchen scissors if something isn't done soon

IainC

I look forward to your post about local back pain experts then

coire

wildgarlic

It looks very therapeutic and a whole heap more relaxing than pushing a loud and fumy lawnmower about the place.

Smooth Hound

as long as there is no one round you, then its pretty hard to injure yourself, but dont quote me on that

but a hand sycle , now thats another story, because its easy to cut your left hand whilst holding what your cutting, if your not thinking for an instance. saying that if its sharp you are less likely too need to hold anything with your left hand.

a few years ago i had a contract cutting the long grass round trees planted the previous year,

a nightmare, i was supposed to use a strimmer, and i started out that way, but it was needing continuous maintenance and adjusting of cord , untangling, it was a real battle. in the end i got myself a hand sycle, and a nice sharpener, and did it that way, it was a much more pleasant job that way, and if anything faster, none of this clambering around with a damn great engine on your back

no fuel, no repair bills, or having to service it in the evening.

Julie

There's a knack to using a strimmer in long grass. You need to keep the revs low and just tickle the grass if there is a tree/fence/stone close by or even strimmer line will damage stuff.
If the grass is very long, then a high pass first before you try to cut the lot down. That way you cut the length in half and don't get your head all clogged up with grass.
The strimming is my job since we got a decent beast. I look so glam in my outsized overalls and grinding helmet (don't ask......just think 'freckles') Gordon goes over with the mower and I get the bits the mower can't do.

Lord_Azrael

To diverge slightly...
I've just dug my old scythe out of the shed, something I bought whilst at boarding school (don't ask, I was probably considered slightly mad...nothing's changed!) and noticed the remains of the old sticker on it:
Staniforth's "Severquick"
Does anyone know anything on the history of scythes at all, as I'd be interested in finding out a bit more about it. I know they are from Sheffield and they were making them as early as the 1700's, but I imagine this one is probably early 20th century.
It's needing some work as the blade is very rusty, but I'm going to try and get it sorted as I need to attack the local weed population!