I grew up on house/lot that size. It was a time consumer in the days prior to weedeaters. So here's thirty-five years of experience:
My suggestion is to get a really fine, top-notch self-powered mower (Kubota used to make a really fine one),
but,
more importantly, work the lawn so that mowing is easy:
1] No places where mower must be pulled back towards operator.
2] Eliminate all corners in favor of curves.
3] Eliminate steep slopes with appropriate groundcover.
4] Maintain a minimum of 6" bare strip (mulched) off of any fenceline, building -- especially trees -- preferably 12".
5] Buy and use an old-fashioned 4-cycle edger with steel blade. Use it establish proper border lines, and use to dig deep at sidewalks, driveways, etc.
6] Mow grass before it needs it, so to speak. 5-days versus once weekly. Sounds like more work, but it isn't. The ease of a quick-time mowing more than offsets the shorter interval. Never bag; mulch clippings.
7] Mow in a different direction each time to keep grass blades from growing over. Buy three blades and keep razor-sharp.
8] Do edging, raking, general clean-up the night before (hire a kid).
9] Use a wholly organic program to avoid other than steady growth.
My last yard -- a beaten hard black clay "lawn" suffering under thirty years of neglect, preceded by a century of intensive cotton farming, took three years to come fully to life: beautiful friability, increased cationary exchange, all bug problems eliminated (the fireflies came back!) -- became a pleasure to keep and improve as I worked the above steps.
It was small, so I mowed it twice weekly (North Texas mowing season is 1 April thru 1 December) to make it easy: A quick "zip mow" on Tuesday evening, and a full-out approach on Saturday morning. A few hours per week. (Same approach to fall/winter leaf fall, only as needed).
Now I am faced with a much larger lawn, destroyed by chemicals and must start from scratch: sod-cutter, compost & worm castings, tilling, hydromulching, etc.
A rider is, IMO, only justified if the lawn (not yard) is enormous. A walk-behind gives a great deal more control to the lawns finished appearance.
In this part of the world, 1 February is the time to start: pruning trees and other dormant growth, laying out borders, serious clean up (starting on roof and working down to all areas of concrete, decking, fencing, alleyway -- got to dig up whats' growing back there -- and get pressure washer to same areas to avoid problems with spring growth).
(Use FUEL POWER and LUBE CONTROL to keep the 4-cycle equipment like new!)
[ January 25, 2005, 11:09 PM: Message edited by: TheTanSedan ]
