Gardening Tools Grow More Sophisticated

"Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all," --Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle in 1833.

Compare the lawncare and gardening tools your grandparents used with those of today. My grandmother's front yard had very little grass in it, but instead several flower beds. What grass was there was often cut away with a garden hoe.

Conversely, the tools in use today are becoming every more sophisticated, saving the homeowner time and back-breaking work. For example, one company has put together a heavy duty set of 18-volt battery-operated garden tools that includes a rechargeable string trimmer, hedge trimmer and broom/hard surface sweeper. Included with the set is a unit to charge all three batteries at the same time. They can be left in the charger, ready whenever you need one.

String trimmers have become more heavy-duty and easy to use - though I never can seem to keep from the getting the line untangled so that it automatically extends itself. Even still, think of having to trim areas of the lawn the mower can't reach by hand or edge the lawn using a garden hoe or some other less technologically advanced implement.

These "new-fangled" lawn care devices may cost a bit more, but they are certainly worth it in terms of time saved and muscles strained.