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Old-Fashioned Tools Give A Cleaner Sweep

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By CRAIG CHANDLER

Special to the Tribune

Published: March 22, 2009

Leaf blowers are effective at moving dry leaves and other debris, but they're noisy and generate polluting gases - unless they're electric and the electricity comes from a nuclear, wind or hydroelectric power plant.

They also can be downright dangerous if the operator doesn't remember to use ear plugs and a dust mask or respirator.

There is a tried-and-true green alternative to the leaf blower: the rake and broom. These tools have worked fine for centuries. A rake moves leaves with ease, and a broom can move small materials without stirring up too much dust. You can use these tools personally, or request your lawn service to use them.

String trimmers often are noisy and polluting too. Although they may be helpful for edging turf on large commercial and public properties or for cutting back brush along rights of way, we can easily do without them in small residential landscapes.

Their main use is for edging along driveways, curbing, and sidewalks. But what if there was no turf between the sidewalk and the curb? It's an area that tends to be problematic for turf anyway, because it's hard to get uniform sprinkler irrigation there. Then there would be no need to edge.

Instead of turf, try planting low-growing, drought-tolerant herbaceous perennials, or install stepping stones and mulch. Reduce turf and you reduce edging. Small edging jobs can be handled easily with a half-moon edger - a simple cutting tool that makes no noise and generates no pollution.

Craig Chandler is a professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in southern Hillsborough County.

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