I realize 1.5 acres would be a lot to mow with a manual mower, but what about the rest of us? Push mowers use no gas, and you get the added benefit of a little effort being exerted—it's good for the heart.

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Even better, consider converting some into a meadow. Many enviro and personal benefits.

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My parents tried this back in the 70s --my dad thought he'd save money by not having to buy a mower if he got a goat... turned out Elijah ate anything but grass and was so lonely he would break down the kitchen door to try and get some company of humans. If you get a goat, you might try to get two.

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I second Eric's comments, I have used a push mower for about 2 years and I love it. I also let my neighbors borrow it too. I think a goat might be more work then it is worth.

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You could also try getting a horse. They are larger and thus tend to eat more grass. They do need human companionship but they don't tend to eat "other things" like goats do. You could even sell your car and start riding you horse to work. Think about the environmental savings of that! But if you are just looking for a manicured lawn, you gain a ton of karma by rescing an abused horse or just get an older horse needs a good "retirement" home.

BTW, I have been trying to figure out how to make riding a horse as transportation financially feesable for a while now but haven't been sucessful. Probably because I live in a big city and I can't just satable a horse on the sidewalk or in my 500sq ft 4th floor apartment

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I've had a Neuton battery-powered mower for a couple of years. It works great and was inexpensive. When I mow I get my Vitamin D and some exercise. No one "needs" a grass-eating animal (that has to be bred and transported and will need veterinary care), nor do they need to eat one.

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I have horses...
If you're looking for a manicured lawn, they're not the way to go.

1. They do eat other things, I can't tell you how many trees my horses have killed. They enjoy ripping the branches off and hitting each other with them. (Forget television, get a horse!) You also have to be careful as to what you plant in your yard - there are many different plants that are poisonous to horses.

2. Their hooves, if properly shod, will rip up your grass. If you plan to use your new horse as transportation, then he (or she) will need to have shoes to protect their feet from the pavement (and the added stress of being ridden.)

3. We STILL have to mow. They don't like the weeds, so the weeds take over and we end up mowing those down.

So all-in-all, not necessarily a great choice for 'manicuring' your lawn - but if you're looking for a loyal, loving, fun, high maintenance pet/friend/family member, horses are definitely the way to go.

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Try an electric lawnmower. It is a great way to get the work done and have minimal environmental damage. But, yes, having a manual around, even for just emergencies or exercise, is a good idea.

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I've used a manual push mower for 6 years, which is pollution free (perspiration is NOT pollution at least in my case), makes its own mulch and allows me to get a decent workout and absorb some vitamin D from the sun. Not bad!

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Can you turn your yard into a forest? My last property was 5 acres that I didn't want to mow. When seedlings from other trees popped up in the spring I transplanted them to my property. For a few years it looked pretty ragged, and I continued to mow - actually I used a scythe - near the house. But fairly quickly critters learned about the place and I ended up hosting my own little ecosystem. Then I visited the house last summer - 10 years after I started planting trees - and fortunately the new owners allowed the forest to continue. Looks pretty good. Feeling of satisfaction.

(My current house is a quarter acre of jungle. Main problems are neighbors who might view the place as overgrown, and a spouse who believes that a lot of grass equals civilization.)

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Goats are browsers, not grazers -- they will typically look up for their food and they prefer trees and shrubbery to grass. Horses are quite selective grazers, preferring certain grasses and avoiding weeds entirely. Sheep might be the best bet.

We have horses and goats and we still have to mow. The best thing I can recommend is to encourage the growth of clover instead of grass. Clover is low-lying and needs mowing much less frequently.

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We have a push mower to use on our very small urban front yard & tree lawn, but after two years of trying it, it wasn't cutting the grass very well! So we got an electric line trimmer, and that does wonders. The whole backyard is a garden, so that solves that problem! I'm considering planting the whole tree lawn with strawberries or some other low lying human edibles. I've heard a lot about local, water free landscaping as eco-friendly, but I'd love to see more people using their landspace to grow food! Solves more than one problem...

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Like several of the earlier posts, goats are browsers - they will not manicure your lawn, but instead will strip the bark off of your trees (eventually killing them). decimate available shrubs and ornamentals, climb on your vehicles and anywhere else they can jump to, all while leaving your grass growing waist-high as long as they can find sources growing off the ground. As an owner of five goats, we have had to install fencing around all of the trees in their pen/pasture to keep them from killing the trees. They are also amazingly dexterous/clever about opening gates (I kid you not), and we have had to take extra gate-closure measures to prevent this, otherwise they head straight for the trees and shrubs near our house. If you are looking to clear brush and brambles in an indiscriminate manner, goats may be helpful ... but steer clear of them for typical lawn maintenance!

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Goats prefer shrubs and trees to grass, if they eat grass at all. Get a sheep. Sheep eat grass and leave the shrubs and trees alone.

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I use a manual lawn mower and find it very easy to use. Farm animals create a green house gas called methane which is 24 times more potent than CO2 as a green house gas. Plants absorb carbon. Maybe take some of the grass out and plant healthy vegetables and fruit. Exercise from the push mower and nutrition from the garden.

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I bought a rechargeable cordless electric mower (Black and Decker CMM1100, latest model is CMM1200) a couple years ago. I was laughed off the ultra-green sites when I suggested this option, since it is not a goat, or a push mower.

Yes, it uses ... electricity. To charge the battery. I measured it with my Kill-a-Watt meter, and it uses about $0.03 of electricity per mow of my admittedly smallish suburban yard.

To assuage my guilt, I have bought TerraPass offsets for my house ... and contributed generously to the New England Wind Fund ... and also pay an extra $5/month to my electric utility so that my electricity all comes from wind power.

To be sure we're all clear here: the villain here is crappy, incredibly inefficient, polluting, noisy, smelly gas mowers (and all the other gas-powered landscaping equipment).

The cordless mower is just one good option that those of you who can't afford a goat might want to consider :-)

Tom

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Alas, sheep are not the answer either. I've kept sheep for the past few years, and they are also very picky eaters, so they leave the weeds behind. Granted, they technically graze, but like goats they can make short work of your favorite trees and shrubs. They'll even kill full grown trees by stripping all the bark they can reach! And don't get me started on bloat ... My work in progress: plant up some nice perennial gardens and lots of edibles and do away with the lawn completely!

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I use an electric mower; I've tried various reel mowers but there are just too many trees that drop too many twigs and so on to use a reel mower without stopping every ten feet.

Yes, my electric mower uses electricity, but at least the power plant has pollution controls that a gas-powered mower doesn't.

Not everybody can get away with it, but I've been letting about half of the (formerly mowed)area revert to meadow and eventually woods. Hollies and maples and oaks are knee-high now. Ever so gradually, I'm reducing the lawn area by allowing groundcovers to spread.

Lawns are great if you need a place for kids to play, but if you don't need that, there are plenty of alternatives that don't need any maintenance at all once established.

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I don't think my neighborhood would allow a goat, but I did get a non-gas powered push mower right after Hurricane Katrina. It's lightweight. I actually think it's safer since it doesn't throw things the way a gas powered one does. It's cleaner. The only drawback I've found it is doesn't cut antenna weeds.

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Plug in lawn mowers are much better than gas mowers. Running the average gas mower for 1 hour is equivalent to driving an average car for 550 kilometers.
I enjoy my push lawn mower but the comment about charging an electric mower for 3 cents is interesting. I hope that we can charge our cars up someday soon by plugging them in at night. That would really make a huge difference to slowing down global warming. Electric cars and less methane from farm animals could make a big diference.( re; my earlier post about methane gas from farm animals -- 24 times more potent than CO2)

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Carol is right about sheep. They are not only selective, but also stupid. This means you need very sturdy fences, so if you thought the weeds can be hand removed, well no, even a sheep on a collar and chain, will most likely HANG himself. Yes, they are that stupid.

Carol says plant gardens. If that looks attractive for your NO FENCES front yard, please consider ground cover that does well in full sun verses partial, dry VS wet, and various soil types.

Maybe a walk around your neighborhood will show some periennials that work. If it were my adventure, I'd next ask the neighbor if i could get a clipping. [Get many samples of different plants.] Then go to a greenhouse, to see if these can be identified.

From their you could buy it, or cautiously do more research. Species names in Latin work well in Google.

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